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Home > Beware - this is a rant about Target!

Beware - this is a rant about Target!

October 2nd, 2006 at 04:19 am

MERELY A RANT - READ ONLY IF YOU HAVE THE TIME!!This is an email I sent out to 42 friends. Hope they are still friends!

As a long time shopper of Target, they have finally driven me out of their stores. The over the top return policies have squashed any form of customer service. It is impossible to buy a gift there, knowing the recipient is forced to keep the item if they don't like it, unless you enclose the gift receipt and even then, chances are risky. Some flexibility should be given in certain cases, but this is not allowed. NO EXCEPTIONS. About the only thing Target is good for is buying consumables, that you probably will never have to return, like food or laundry detergent. I'll take my business to Walmart.

If you shop at Target, I am sure you are aware of their return policy stated on their receipt. I realize they need to protect themselves, but in doing so, the term "customer service" has become obsolete. I also realize, it is not the employees fault that they must follow these over-the-top insane RULES.

EXAMPLES (SOME ARE ON THE BACK OF THE RECEIPT, SOME ARE NOT. THEY CAN NOT PROVIDE A COPY OF THE FULL RETURN POLICY, NEITHER CAN TARGET. COM)

*It does indeed state ON the receipt that a receipt is necessary for a return -however if I lose my receipt (I am human), then I wouldn't be able to read that rule! Also, I am no longer eligible for a return - no exceptions.

*Okay, lets cut us a break. If your return is a gift and it is under $10 (tax included in amount!!!! No 9.99 items!!!) they will let you make a return for a gift card. But only TWICE per YEAR! No exceptions.

*If you have a receipt, but kept the item over 90 days (NO early Christmas shopping kids!), then too bad. No return - no exceptions.

*If you purchased something and return it within the 90 days, but it has since gone on clearance, you will receive the clearance price even if your receipt states you paid full price. They state it is holiday and seasonal items. Guess what- clothing and shoes are considered seasonal! No exceptions.

*If you choose to exchange an item, it must be exchanged for something from the same department only. Guess what, calendars are books, not stationary. Sorry, must follow by their set guidelines - no exceptions.

You may be addicted, or maybe you feel as I do, but at least you will be a little more informed. BEWARE TO THE TARGET SHOPPER!!!

28 Responses to “Beware - this is a rant about Target!”

  1. sarah Says:
    1159761643

    I had no idea

  2. Thrifty Ray Says:
    1159764667

    &%*$#(#@&$)( .... With one exception, I have had fairly good luck returning items at Target, but I also havent returned anything in quite a while, so maybe things have changed a little.

    Also, JC Penneys pulled one of these rules on me last year. My mom bought a blanket for me for Christmas and put it on her CC. When I went to exchange for an electric blanket, they were all out, so I asked for a refund. They would only give me store credit. I explained that they didnt have what I wanted and I was going elsewhere, they said , too bad...and gave me a store credit only.

    This is the policy at many, many stores now...it is also the norm for Mall gift cards...so buyer beware. I am getting close to just giving cash at Christmas because of the lack of service after the fact.

  3. boomeyers Says:
    1159797399

    I would have loved an in store credit. And because it was $9.99, I told him to just discount it to 9.50 and I would take less back just to avoid the hassle. He would have done it, but I was at my 2 a year limit. :-(
    Sarah, I am glad I could inform!!
    My DD's received a lot of cash for their birthdays. I am glad!

  4. Thrifty Ray Says:
    1159802721

    Boo- I would share your story with the higher-ups atTarget and see how they defend their rules...let them know how frustrating it is as a comsumer and that you wont return because of it...
    It will be interesting to see how they handle it.

  5. boomeyers Says:
    1159804294

    I guess I am already taking on the defeatist attitude of "what can one person do?". I guess I will try.

  6. reginaastralis Says:
    1159808125

    I guess I shouldn't worry about even trying to return the gift wrap I purchased only to find out from my mom she had some I could use.

  7. Sunshine Suz Says:
    1159808752

    I have a "Target Story" that I still don't believe happened. My company decided to give each employee here a $25 gift card....150 employees, which would be a $3.750.00 sale to Target. My coworker had called and talked to a Target manager and gotten the correct amount to have the company accountant cut the check. He told her she would just have to present an ID. Ok, so we get there to pick up the cards and the lady in customer service trys to verify the check. They couldn't verify a check that large thru the automative service they use. She refused to call the bank. We asked for the manager. It was not who was spoken to on the phone. This manager was the rudest person. She didn't seemed concerned about the sale at all. We got the check and walked out. We called another Target and the manager pretty much told us that they couldn't take a check that large. We should break the purchase up and use our personal credit cards. WHAT?!!?!?!? Needless to say, we returned the check to the accountant and are getting "Walmart" gift cards for the presents. What were they thinking.....It was a freaken simple sale for $3,750. So I'm with you....Boycotting Target!

  8. Gruntina Says:
    1159823774

    I am a little confused! I shopped at Target yesterday and this is what my receipt says: “A receipt dated within the 90 days is required for All returns & exchanges. Giving a fifth? Include a gift receipt! Gift receipts are linked to the original purchase, Bring the item and receipt back after the purchase date and before (date of 90 days after purchase) for a gift card. Some items cannot be returned if opened.

    Personally I never had returned items that were from a gift from another. I do with my own receipts and never had a problem. It’s usually clothes or bras. On gift item if opened, that I can understand unless the items were broken prior to the use.

    I am at loss... does this depends on what location and the manager of each store?

  9. Gruntina Says:
    1159828044

    Oops suppose to be Gift? not Fifth? lol!

  10. yummy64 Says:
    1159838400

    My boyfriend refuses to shop there. Something about a return that didn't go well.

    Reading your blog entry I think I got why he was so frustrated with them.

    If I had more time I'd go on their website to read about how customer focussed they are pffffffffffft.

  11. boomeyers Says:
    1159845095

    Gruntina - what if someone gave you three items from Target and no gift receipt? If any were over $10, you can not return it. Period. Any store. Company wide rule. If all items were under $10, you could only return 2 items as that is all the returns below $10 w/o a receipt you are allowed to return in a year. If you wanted to exchange the item, it can only be from the same department. So if you received a toy and you wanted towels, you are out of luck! And if you early Christmas shop 90 days before and they don't want the gift, too bad!

  12. getforfree Says:
    1159858176

    I would return 2 for myself. And I would ask my dh to return the 3rd item. And I think I could use something from every dept, except books and stationary. But I think they make all those rules just so you couldn't return it and they would make more money.Or forse you to get an item from the same department even if you don't need it, because they hopeyou still might buy those towels you need with your own money and they will sell more.

  13. Gruntina Says:
    1159912310

    I thought it was normal for any stores to require receipts regardless of gift or not? I would think that would be a safety precaution of any business? I guess I am the oddball here. But again, sorry for all the stress and frustration you are going through.

  14. boomeyers Says:
    1159939467

    We should all have receipts when we want to return something, but being human, this does'nt always work out!!

  15. elgin526 Says:
    1160061013

    I used to work for target 10 years ago, in returns (guest service desk). Back then the rules were a bit more leinant. It was still 90 days, but if you didn't have a receipt you'd get a store credit for the lowest price the item was ever sold for, or we would mail you a check in 10 days. We did track non-receipt returns but they looked for suspisious patterns rather than a hard limit to stick to.

    You would be amazed at the number of people who attempted (and sometimes succeeded) to rip us off. I could write a book.

    Target and other stores don't put policies like these in place to make life miserable for their customers. They do it because if they didn't they'd be robbed blind. And guess who pays for those that rip the company off? You and I do, in the form of higher prices. If you like low prices, this is what you have to put up with. It isn't fair that those who steal ruin it for the rest of us, but then life has never been fair anyway.

    BTW, I've always thought that 90 days is plenty of time. It's three months, for heavens sake! Why is the store responsible because a person likes to Christmas shop six months ahead of time? If you think a person may want to return a Christmas gift, just buy it in November and they'll have until the end of January to return it.

    Now, the poster who had trouble buying the gift cards, THAT was bogus and Target deserved to lose the sale. What bunch of idiots!

  16. boomeyers Says:
    1160082745

    I too worked in retail for many years in the customer service department. I still feel like they are ripping customers off. It is all already built in with their profit and loss margin. You are ALREADY paying for this in prices. Loosing up thier policy will not cause prices to rise uncontrollably. It WILL cause lost profits, cause I won't shop their any more!!
    The Christmas gift I purchased ahead of time was of course ON SALE as I am trying to be thrifty!! What are the chances of it being on sale right before Christmas?? I have no crystal ball!

  17. Thrifty Ray Says:
    1160230210

    Boo- I just emailed Target and asked them to send me a copy of their return policy. I also let them know that my questions come from a discussion on a large blogging site..and that people are frustrated with their return policy. Ill let you know when and what I get back.

  18. Thrifty Ray Says:
    1160230265

    Isnt it sad when companies write policies that punish the masses for the bad deeds of the few?? So frustrating.

  19. koppur Says:
    1160502742

    Huh. I've never had any problems with returns to Target. I've returned stuff w/out a reciept before; they just looked the transaction up w/my debit or credit card. I've also exchanged things there without a problem. I understand the exchange rule though..an exhange is one thing for another similar thing..if you want to exchange a book for a sweater, that is a return and a new purchase. Anywho, gotta say, still love the Target!

  20. PRICEPLUS Says:
    1160586917

    Return policy is bad. Handling of the 3750 sale was past belief. Shopping at Target is off my list.

  21. Great to be Debt Free Says:
    1160623013

    I've had similar issues. We moved from GA to MD last year and had bought some shelves at a great discount before moving. I taped the receipt to the boxes as we planned to install them in our new MD home. Unfortunately, some of our items got shipped to a different person's house and it included our shelves.

    Months later, we got our box, but by then, we had already replaced the shelves. The receipt was still taped to the box, but it was more than 90 days old. We couldn't return it for a dime.

    There have been other issues. Makeup I bought that once I opened it had nastiness inside (foundation gone bad) -- but I dind't have a receipt and since I only pay cash I got nothing because they couldn't look it up.

    And I have been buying Christmas gifts for months now because I don't know what's happening next -- a move to Colorado could happen any day!
    I don't buy ANYTHING from Target anymore, too bad for them! I'm a cash customer! The cheapest kind of transaction to process, yet tons o money they could have. And even if it is their policy, I don't need to be treated as rudely as I have by associates.

  22. boomeyers Says:
    1160626406

    Thank you GTBDF! You have summed it up and backed me up! I appreciate it! We suffer because we pay cash. We pay for buying ahead. Punish the frugal folk!!

  23. fern Says:
    1161104491

    i don't know, their return policies don't seem that much different from other stores. So many people try to rip off the stores any way they can, i really can understand why manyt stores eventually come up with more stringent policies to curtail that sort of stuff.

  24. budgetmom Says:
    1161224676

    I see both sides to this. I used to work in retail and I understand the 90 day policy.
    The consumers side:They sold an item to your sweet little old grandma (bless her frugal heart) in say June. Granny was asked by the cashier if she wanted a gift receipt for her purchase. After it was explained to her what a gift receipt was, she happily excepted. She bought you a nice practical nightgown and just wasn't sure of your size. She gave it to you as a gift on Christmas morning. The night gown didn't fit, but Granny says not to worry, you could exchange it for a different size with your gift reciept. You go to the store and try to exchange it, or maybe you just didn't really like it and decided that you needed a good hammer instead. Basically, they tell you to buzz of because of their 90 day policy. If this were me I'd be a little annoyed too.
    The businesses side: A consumer comes in June and makes a purchase and is informed that she can get a gift reciept for it. Hey, our employee is doing their job and informing the customer about different services we offer, great for us. A consumer comes in December (or January) and says they want to exchange it. We're sorry, we have a 90 day policy for returns. We have a 90 day policy because merchandise comes in and out of our store rather quickly. SO, even though your item is clearly brand new (possibly with tags still on it) it is old merchandise. It may have been deleted out of our systems to make room for the newer merchandise coming in. The consumer complains that the item is still being sold in stores. This may be true, but it is now a clearance item. Even if it was returned within the 90 day period, we would not give you the full credit back for the item if it was clearanced because-then we would be possibly loosing money on the item as we could not sell it for a profit. If we gave an exception in this case we would have to give an exception in others and that would mean that we would eventually have a lot of merchandise that we could not sell. We would loose money.
    Now, I'm not saying that one is right any more than the other. If there were an easy solution this wouldn't be a problem. And I honestly don't have the answer. To tell you the truth, that's why I usually end up shopping a few months before Christmas as opposed to shopping year round. It stinks, because I would like to be able to spread it out a little bit, not only for my pocketbook, but because I detest crowds. I'd be interested to here if Target has come up with a solution to the problem or not.

  25. slorak Says:
    1161632682

    I have also decided to boycott Target - Why? Their customer service really is terrible. They all are programmed with a response all the way up to the top of their 800 customer support number. Nobody can make a decision beyond their policy.


    Here is my story. My wife just received some baby shower gifts which we decided we wanted to return. Normally we always keep receipts and abide by customer service policies. However in this instance we had a small handfull of low dollar baby items (clothes, blankets, towels, etc.) that did not have gift receipts. After all you can't make someone give you a gift receipt, nor make them keep them in the first place...



    Of course the Target rep jumped right in and said that they could not return them but we could exchange 2 of them a year on our ID. Turns out my wife's ID was blocked and they could not explain why. We weren't asking for money, nor store credit, but rather immediate exchange for "similar" baby items. I asked to speak with a store supervisor and was fed the same robotic response. She gave me the 800 number and said maybe if we complain to corporate the policy will change (I didn't even ask her for it - so they are well aware of how poor their policy is).



    Needless to say I called the 800 number and was immediately fed the same robotic stance. I asked for a supervisor and again same thing. He told me there was nobody higher to speak with and the only thing I could do was write a letter to the corporate offices. You bet I am going to do just that!



    At any rate... my family was a good target family shopping there weekly it seems. We easily spend over $1000 a year and this incident has caused me to not want to shop there. I don't really care for Wal-Mart or K-Mart but will shop there over Target now. All of this over less than $60 worth of stuff I was trying to exchange with other product in their store... It would have been a win/win/win situation for all parties if their supervisor had only been in the position to alter the rules a little bit.



    Now I am going to round up enough relatives to return the items needed and never step foot in their store again! Way to go Target Customer Service!!!


    Cheers,

    Mike

  26. boomeyers Says:
    1161636032

    Wow Mike!
    What a pain in the butt. I guess sometimes companies think they are too big to be touched, and maybe they are. But my money is staying out of their stores.
    I have heard many people say that they are protecting themselves, but they have to understand that the profit and losses are BUILT into the prices already!! Don't feel sorry for the huge corperation that can't even list their return policies, but seem to make them up as they go along!

  27. Over My Head Says:
    1162253133

    At our Target if you do not have the reciept they will ask you how you paid for the item/s. If you paid cash you are out of luck but if you wrote a check, paid debit, or used a credit card they can search for the purchase in the computer by scanning or entering in the number from your check or card. They will then credit your accounts.

  28. slorak Says:
    1162852699

    Yeah it was quite a pain in the butt. Here is some interesting info... Apparently if you have a passport you can use it to return a few additional items beyond just your drivers license.

    We were able to return most of our stuff using both relatives and the above mentioned passport. Another interesting note is that I have found there supposed 2 item limit is apparently not solid in stone as we were able to return 3 items on a couple ID's. So all is not the same. Maybe it goes by dollar amount? Again their employees couldn't tell us why that was?

    Still very frustrating. When our gift cards are gone I will be taking my business elsewhere.

    As to the comment about returning without a reciept and them being able to locate your purchase via check or credit card number... that is all fine and dandy given you were the one that bought the items and you didn't pay cash. Doesn't help a bit if you didn't purchase the items and the purchaser does NOT have the receipt/gift receipt or if you paid cash. Really lame policy. If enough people do boycott them - there will be change. Sure it may be more of a hassle and less convenient but if you continue to shop there and you are unhappy with their policies then that is your fault. If you don't fight this now it will only continue to get worse.

    Cheers,

    -Mike

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