We’ve spent our last Christmas shopping at Toys ‘R Us.
Beth came home this year and, holding a receipt in her hand, declared, “I’m never shopping at Toys R Us again.” She went on (I’m transcribing in the first person):
1) That partial refund debacle. I had a Toys R Us credit card and would earn points for every dollar spent.
When I used those points to make a purchase, if I had to return something, they would only give me the value of the dollars I spent, not the full value (including the value of the points).
I wouldn’t let the store pull that crap on me. I stood there saying, “Let me talk to the manager.” And when he showed up, I said, “It’s illegal to do this. That’s my money. You need to refund me for the total purchase. If you want to turn the points into a store credit, that’s OK, but it’s my money.” They did this to me twice (and I did get a full refund both times).
I later found out there was a class-action suit about this and I got a few pennies back. I think they don’t do this any more but it was the first straw.
2) Returns. Toys R Us wasn’t taking returns without a receipt – including returns of their private-label brand – clearly marked Toys R Us. Finally, a few months ago, they changed their computer systems over (like Target) to be able to reverse look-up purchases based on the credit card you hand them. But the fact they wouldn’t take their own private label stuff back? I mean, c’mon! That was the second straw.
3) Online purchases. I made an online purchase from toysrus.com and, even WITH the receipt, they would only give me an in-store credit stating, “Online is a separate entity from retail.” I said, “Not to the customer it isn’t!”
I said, “Either you make this right for me or you’ll lose me as a customer. I’m done with your ‘policies.’ Your policies are not customer-centric.” They STILL wouldn’t give me my money back!
Beth’s Brilliant Get-Her-Money-Back Trick
Not about to put up with that bullshit (my words, not hers), my brilliant wife devised this plan.
She had already bought something else at the store that day. She returned it. And re-purchased it with the online store credit she reluctantly received.
So there, Toys R Us.
Good luck selling to someone else. We’re done with you.
Love,
:: Joe and Beth Hage ::
P.S. Yes, I know the title says “my wife” instead of “we.” That’s because Joey doesn’t do the shopping. Think of it as a division of labor. It works for us.
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That’s why we do 99% of our shopping online places like Amazon.com and Lands End where they really care about the customer and have great return policies. I’m surprised more of these “big box” retailers haven’t gone by the wayside, actually. The days of making policies confusing and difficult so customers would just give up are OVER. If they don’t wake up, great online retailers will soon take a sizable chunk of their market share.
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I’m with you, Brandon. One of Beth’s best friends did 100 percent of her shopping online this year.
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Am I allowed to comment on this site even though I am not a dad???
I am surprised, in this day and age, how many stores still have crappy return policies. I definitely return frequently to the stores with the best return policies. Though in some stores it is just dependent on who you talk to that day. I love Kohls for this reason. In my experience, if you use your Kohls card they’ll return pretty much anything, no questions asked. It’s also why I still bitterly shop at Walmart. I purchased some baby formula there the other day and both can smelled funny. They returned both can even though they were both partially used.
Also, more importantly, this is one of the reasons that I really try to shop locally. Local retailers and vendors have a much more vested interest in making sure their customers are happy. Their reputation and survival is on the line.
Shopping locally you can often find gifts that are much more unique. Plus, there is the added benefit that the money you spend immediately gets invested back in your local economy.
I like online shopping for convenience or hard to find items, but I prefer to shop locally whenever I can.
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Tiffany, y’all come back and comment whenever you like. No paternity required.
As the non-shopper of the duo, all I can say is, “Yes, that sounds about right.”
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There are many benefits from shopping online, such as saving my time and money. http://www.pickcheaps.com, it is a good site, nice products, fast shipment, good reply, good service. I really appreciate that, reliable…
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agree