Save Your Receipt or Else . . .

Save your receipt or else . . . What does that mean?  It means that stores are becoming super strict on their return policies and you may be stuck with merchandise that you don’t want unless you have a receipt.

Just a few weeks after Christmas I went to Toys ‘R Us to return an unwanted toy.  As I was pulling into the parking lot I was on the phone with a friend.  I told her of my planned activities for the evening.  She said that she hoped I had my receipt or Toys ‘R Us would not take it back.  Huh?  Not even to exchange it?  Nope. 

The toy was a gift and I did not have a receipt, so I stood in line anyway, just to see if things were true.  Sure enough.  Without a receipt I could not return or exchange the item at all!  Unbelievable!  Toys ‘R Us has become as bad as KMart.

Since Toys ‘R Us would not take back the toy, I drove up the street to Target to see if they sold the toy.  Target had the toy in stock and they easily took the toy back, but after they did, they told me I had been banned from all returns or exchanges for a year unless I had a receipt.  What????  Apparently, I had two returns within the year so I was no longer allowed to return anything.  I think the returns totaled a big whopping $11.

Geez, you think they would have said that before I returned the item.  And don’t you think it’s a bit extreme to ban someone over $11 worth of stuff?  Come on, give me a break.  I don’t think $11 is going to kill Target, especially considering the money I spend in there every year. 

This is not the first run-in I’ve had with Target.  A few years ago my daughter got an outfit for Christmas that was huge on her.  I was concerned that the clothes would not fit her the following year, so I tried to take them back to Target. 

I took the outfit to the customer service desk and went looking around the store.  I could not find anything in the clothing department, so I got her a toy instead.  I was not allowed to exchange the outfit for a toy.  I was told that the item had to come from the same department.  Clothing from the infant department could only be exchanged for something from the infant department.

Fine.  I was annoyed, but I went to the infant department to look for a coat for my little girl. They didn’t have a coat, so I got some pacifiers and other things she needed from the infant department.  I took those items back to the desk and they still would not let me exchange the item.  This time the excuse was that I was returning one item so I had to exchange that one item for only one item of same or greater value and it had to be clothes.  Come on, give me a break! 

Back again I went and could not find any outfits that were of same or greater value that I wanted.  I think the outfit was about $15 or more.  There were not many outfits in Target that were over $15.  I went back up to the desk and tried to reason with the girl.  There was no reasoning.  I even asked to speak to a manager.  Someone else came out to speak to me.  I am pretty confident in saying that this girl wasn’t a manager.  She didn’t have on a name tag.  She gave me the run-around.  I told her they shouldn’t have these policies if they weren’t going to post them.  She assured me the policies were on the back of the receipts, which they are not.

I decided to keep the outfit and try to return it at another Target.  Thankfully, I did not have any problems at the other Target.  I exchanged the outfit for some pacifiers and other needed items for my baby.  So, was this whole issue a policy or not or was it someone just trying to give me a hard time?  It seems if it was a policy, then it should be printed somewhere for a customer to see and it should be the same at all Target stores.

There is one good thing about Target though.  If you purchase something with your debit card, credit card, or checking account, then they can scan your card or check to get a history of purchases.  This is a simple way to return an item without a receipt.  Although I like this method of returning things, it is a bit creepy.  I find it troubling that Target is keeping a history of my credit card information, along with a history of all my transactions.  Hmmm.  Something to think about.

I’ve also got recent wind of return issues at Wal-Mart.  I have received an email that states that Wal-Mart will not accept anymore returns over $20 without a receipt.  I also have an email that says Wal-Mart is now charging a $3 fee to make a return without a receipt.  I cannot find these things on their website, so I cannot say that these are true statements. 

Some people may say that you shouldn’t return anything without a receipt, but why hang on to something if you can’t use it?  That’s just waisted money and that’s not thrifty.   Have you had any problems returning things lately?   Let us know.