Target, your return policies are out of control

The BBQ Pit
41

[QUOTE=Shagnasty]
My wife asked me to return some extra baby things as well. I even had the receipt. Things looked well when I walked up to the desk. The carefully looked over my receipt and then asked me for the credit hard the purchases were made on. That was my wife’s and I didn’t have it. They told me no deal. I have no idea why it is a problem just credit ting things back to the original credit card even if it isn’t physically present. They have the number in their system. I would like to see that gambit explained as well.

[/QUOTE]

I don’t work at Target, but my store has this policy as well. My managers tell me that a card purchase must go back to the card it was purchased on, but our computers don’t keep the full card numbers for security. So no card, no return. Dunno if that’s Target’s reason, but it’s possible.

Come to think of it, a lot of these return policies are the same where I work. And we still see a lot of customers abusing the system. But I still can’t figure out the ‘store credit for same dept. and same price’ thing. I’m wondering if it was a newbie at the return counter that day.

42

[QUOTE=Merijeek]
Someone was in a mood.

Either the OP did something to piss off the Target worker or the OP stumbled onto a worker who wanted to use their little bit of power to make someone suffer.

-Joe
[/QUOTE]

No, I was polite to her.

We took the items to a different Target and they did NOT have the 5.99/8.99 same price exchange thing so maybe she was being lazy, but it did have to be from the same department. But I did learn one more thing that is annoying when you don’t have the gift receipt (which, with a wedding/baby registry, is likely for many of us):

You can only return two items per year per drivers liscence.

43

[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca]
Hmm. I have never had a problem in the past with returning or exchanging at Target. And the one time I used a gift card, I got the change in cash.
[/QUOTE]

Me neither. Actually, once I had gone into the Target to return something my friend had bought at Wal-Mart. Target gave the cash back. On the way out the door, I double-checked the receipt and noticed, “Hey, that’s a different company!” and went back in and they accepted the money and gave me back the item and we all had a good laugh about it. I then drove to the closest Wal-Mart and also had no problem with getting the money back–they wanted to give me back the tax in their area (higher than in the area where purchased).

So, no problem getting them to take stuff back.

44

[QUOTE=rainwalker78]
My wife and I registered at Target for our wedding last year. We had no trouble returning things that were either on our registry or we had a receipt. We did have a problem returning things that were not on our registry and we didn’t get a receipt for. But I blame the person who both shopped off of the registry AND didn’t include a receipt. That’s a double bad on their part. I can’t really blame Target.
[/QUOTE]

No, what’s bad form is: 1) Expecting your friends and relatives to buy you a gift at all; 2) Expecting them to purchase said gift from a list you created which detailed exactly what you wanted; and 3) Expecting people who didn’t use your registry to include a receipt so that you weren’t inconvenienced returning it.
:rolleyes:

45

I’ve never had a bad experience with a Target return. I’ve been told I should boycott them because as a feminist pro-choice cash voter I should be offended by their policy of allowing their pharmacists to refuse to fill certain prescriptions. I still shop there.

But I’ve worked for a huge chain corporation, I know how squirrelly corporate policies can be. (I don’t miss it)

And, Target donates a ton of money to local charities which has a very real effect. My mother (before retiring) worked for a local children’s shelter/home where Target every year donated gift cards ($100, $200) to each kid so they could go back to school shopping. This is awesome.
Kids learn budgeting.
They enjoy shopping in a group–while budgeting, all on a level playing field
They actually get to shop for back to school! Like the media tells them is the norm! They have their own money! That they have control of! All theirs to spend and decide on!

To kids that have been given nothing, had druggie parents (or worse, foster parents) who spent subsidy money meant for their welfare on other things, this was an amazing, wonderful experience. It makes them feel special, it makes them feel like they mean something. As silly as that might seem to people raised in different circumstances.
Anyway, amen to PunditLisa.

46

[QUOTE=PunditLisa]
No, what’s bad form is: 1) Expecting your friends and relatives to buy you a gift at all; 2) Expecting them to purchase said gift from a list you created which detailed exactly what you wanted; and 3) Expecting people who didn’t use your registry to include a receipt so that you weren’t inconvenienced returning it.
:rolleyes:
[/QUOTE]

Wow, not sure where that came from. Well, it is your right to disagree with, or even hate, wedding traditions. However,
bad form
is to not include a gift receipt for the gift you purchsed that wasn’t on the registry. In fact, it is bad form to purchase a gift not on the registry in the first place.

The whole concept of the wedding gift is to help the new family get started, what with the lack of money and the abundance of college furniture. The registry is to help make sure that you don’t get anything you don’t need, such as the three knife sets we received, despite already owning 2 knife sets (mine and hers).

Good for you that you didn’t need any help and so you didn’t have a registry or accept any gifts. MOst people getting married are not in that situation. IT has been my experience that when my friends get married, I want to help as much as I can. It is certanly more helpful to get people things that they need then whatever catches my fancy. Why is it so wrong to accept these gifts? I am surprised that as a married person you don’t have at least a passing familiarity with wedding etiquette.
Besides, these things tend to even out in the end .

[QUOTE=Tortuga]

Anyway, amen to PunditLisa.
[/QUOTE]

Perhaps you two would like to open your own thread about how bad wedding traditions are. Or maybe you could pit me for being such a jerk for buying my friends wedding gifts when they got married, and acepting gifts from my friend when i got married.

You know, you guys are right!! My frinds getting married this Saturday - no gift!! It is going right back (if Target will take it!). I will call my wife right now and tell her that she is not hosting the langerie [sp?] party, and for sure not buying the new bride any sexy underwear!! I am sure as hell not going to manage the parking at the wedding. I probably shouldn’t even attend. Down with weddings!! :rolleyes:

47

Nope, sorry, rainwalker78, etiquette is on PunditLisa’s side. A gift is never something that should be expected.

48

Yup, PunditLisa is right. Even if the gifts you receive for babies or weddings or whatever are multiples, you smile and say, “Thank you very much for your thoughtful gift,” and if you can’t return it, too bad. It was A GIFT. You are not put out by someone else’s thoughtlessness because they didn’t use the registry or include the receipt.

Gift registries and including receipts have become somewhat of a custom because most people are sympathetic with people receiving multiples that they basically have no use for, but it is by no means anyone’s obligation to use a registry or include a receipt when buying A GIFT for someone else.

But gift etiquette aside, Target’s return policies sound asinine.

49

[QUOTE=Guinastasia]
Nope, sorry, rainwalker78, etiquette is on PunditLisa’s side. A gift is never something that should be expected.
[/QUOTE]

Could you point to where I said I “expected” any gift from anybody? Here is what I wrote:

[QUOTE=rainwalker78]
My wife and I registered at Target for our wedding last year. We had no trouble returning things that were either on our registry or we had a receipt. We did have a problem returning things that were not on our registry and we didn’t get a receipt for. But I blame the person who both shopped off of the registry AND didn’t include a receipt. That’s a double bad on their part. I can’t really blame Target.

I have some friends that shop almost exclusivly at wal-mart becuase of the return policy. They buy stuff, and then later, when they need money, they just return it. So, I kinda like Target’s policy.
[/QUOTE]

Let’s actually read it. Hmm, I don’t see anywhere where I said I expected a gift from anyone. I did, however, provide a registry so that those people who chose to get me a gift would have an idea of what we needed. Some of my friends didn’t bring a gift, what with being poor college students. Guess what? Almost everyone of them asked if there was any other way they could help. 'Cuz that what friends do. Let’s read some more…Ah, I did say that some people got gifts not on the registry, and didn’t include a gift receipt. I said that these gifts were harder to return (which, incidently, actually addresses the OP - unlike your post, and PunditLisa’s). I suppose I should have,what, thrown them away instead? I didn’t. I even wrote thank you notes. Because I actually do have a grasp on wedding etiquette.

Oh, and according to this site , guests should not feel obligated to go by the registry, but the gift should be thoughtful, and that not giving a gift at all is in poor taste.

So to recap, having a registry is not bad form. Giving a wedding gift that is not on the registry, is not needed, or wanted, and not including a gift receipt is bad form and NOT thoughtful, and not giving a gift at all is in porr taste.

You don’t know me. You know very little about me. You weren’t at my wedding. You didn’t see any invitations. How can you be so quick to be judgemental? Explain to me what was in my post that was so wrong. What was it? Was saying that gifts that did not include a gift receipt and were not on our registry were hard to return really so bad? Especially considering that is the topic of the thread?

Or realize that you misunderstood what I read and apologize.

50

[QUOTE=featherlou]
Yup, PunditLisa is right. Even if the gifts you receive for babies or weddings or whatever are multiples, you smile and say, “Thank you very much for your thoughtful gift,” and if you can’t return it, too bad. It was A GIFT. You are not put out by someone else’s thoughtlessness because they didn’t use the registry or include the receipt.

Gift registries and including receipts have become somewhat of a custom because most people are sympathetic with people receiving multiples that they basically have no use for, but it is by no means anyone’s obligation to use a registry or include a receipt when buying A GIFT for someone else.

But gift etiquette aside, Target’s return policies sound asinine.
[/QUOTE]

Perhaps you can read my reply in the post above, I believe it applies.

Sereously, maybe you guys could read my post and not add stuff to it in your own heads. Cuz guess what? I sent thank you notes for every. single. gift.I. recieved. On or off the registry, cheap or expensive, good or bad, nice or crappy. You are jumping on me for stuff I **NEVER ** said.

51

When you get a gift, it’s the thought that counts.

Therefore, one should actually put a little bit of thought into the gift. If you’re not buying from a registry, and you’re getting standard baby/wedding gifts, it’s highly probable that your gift will be a useless duplicate. That’s the way the world is, like it or not.

Are you buying a gift so that the happy parents can put that third Diaper Genie in their attic? I hope not, I assume you are buying a gift so that the parents will have something useful for raising their kid, rather than to make yourself feel like hot shit. It’s a trivial exercise to include the receipt so that the parents/couple can exchange the item if it happens to be a duplicate or just not quite their style.

I’d also like to add that expect has more than one meaning. It can mean sup[/sup]anticipate, which anyone with a functioning braincell will do around weddings and new babies. It can also mean sup[/sup]require, which is rude and inappropriate.

When I got married I expectedsup[/sup] people to want to buy gifts, so I created a registry and told them about it if they asked. I did not expectsup[/sup] people to give me a gift from the registry.

52

[QUOTE=Cheesesteak]
When you get a gift, it’s the thought that counts.

Therefore, one should actually put a little bit of thought into the gift. If you’re not buying from a registry, and you’re getting standard baby/wedding gifts, it’s highly probable that your gift will be a useless duplicate. That’s the way the world is, like it or not.

Are you buying a gift so that the happy parents can put that third Diaper Genie in their attic? I hope not, I assume you are buying a gift so that the parents will have something useful for raising their kid, rather than to make yourself feel like hot shit. It’s a trivial exercise to include the receipt so that the parents/couple can exchange the item if it happens to be a duplicate or just not quite their style.

I’d also like to add that expect has more than one meaning. It can mean sup[/sup]anticipate, which anyone with a functioning braincell will do around weddings and new babies. It can also mean sup[/sup]require, which is rude and inappropriate.

When I got married I expectedsup[/sup] people to want to buy gifts, so I created a registry and told them about it if they asked. I did not expectsup[/sup] people to give me a gift from the registry.
[/QUOTE]

Hear hear.

-FrL-

53

[QUOTE=Cheesesteak]
When you get a gift, it’s the thought that counts.

Therefore, one should actually put a little bit of thought into the gift. If you’re not buying from a registry, and you’re getting standard baby/wedding gifts, it’s highly probable that your gift will be a useless duplicate. That’s the way the world is, like it or not.

Are you buying a gift so that the happy parents can put that third Diaper Genie in their attic? I hope not, I assume you are buying a gift so that the parents will have something useful for raising their kid, rather than to make yourself feel like hot shit. It’s a trivial exercise to include the receipt so that the parents/couple can exchange the item if it happens to be a duplicate or just not quite their style.

I’d also like to add that expect has more than one meaning. It can mean sup[/sup]anticipate, which anyone with a functioning braincell will do around weddings and new babies. It can also mean sup[/sup]require, which is rude and inappropriate.

When I got married I expectedsup[/sup] people to want to buy gifts, so I created a registry and told them about it if they asked. I did not expectsup[/sup] people to give me a gift from the registry.
[/QUOTE]

Hear hear.

-FrL-

54

[QUOTE=Cheesesteak]
When you get a gift, it’s the thought that counts.

Therefore, one should actually put a little bit of thought into the gift. If you’re not buying from a registry, and you’re getting standard baby/wedding gifts, it’s highly probable that your gift will be a useless duplicate. That’s the way the world is, like it or not.

Are you buying a gift so that the happy parents can put that third Diaper Genie in their attic? I hope not, I assume you are buying a gift so that the parents will have something useful for raising their kid, rather than to make yourself feel like hot shit. It’s a trivial exercise to include the receipt so that the parents/couple can exchange the item if it happens to be a duplicate or just not quite their style.

I’d also like to add that expect has more than one meaning. It can mean sup[/sup]anticipate, which anyone with a functioning braincell will do around weddings and new babies. It can also mean sup[/sup]require, which is rude and inappropriate.

When I got married I expectedsup[/sup] people to want to buy gifts, so I created a registry and told them about it if they asked. I did not expectsup[/sup] people to give me a gift from the registry.
[/QUOTE]

Well said