return policies

i've blogged about this before, but here we go on another round.

last year target changed their returns policy.  you are now allowed only $20 worth of receiptless returns a year.  after that, you are simply stuck with the merchandise.  target suggests that you donate the unwanted items to charity.  store credit and exchanges in excess of $20 per year are not available under any circumstances without a receipt.

as background for those of you who haven't heard this story before, i found this out when Princess received some clothes for her birthday in the wrong size, and target would not allow me to exchange the pieces for the exact same items in one size smaller because i didn't have a receipt from the gift-giver.  no receipt = no refunds, no exchanges, no store credit.  too bad for you.  (now, to be fair, the gift-giver was my sister and i had told her the wrong size.  but that's not the point.)

this extraordinarily customer-hostile policy specifically caused me to NOT create a baby registry at target (even though their stuff was a lot cuter), because i knew if i received duplicates i would be stuck with them.  i know some shower guests provide gift receipts, but the vast majority do not, and i refuse to tastelessly request receipts from otherwise considerate and thoughtful gift-givers. it's tacky and i will not do it.  (several people suggested putting "please include gift receipts" on my baby shower invitations.  WHAT!?!?!?!?  no way!  i wouldn't even include where i was registered on my invitations because that in itself is a breach of etiquette.)

well, today i went into babies r us to exchange some things, and lo and behold, on august 10 they revised their return policy to mimic target's.  no receipt?  we don't want it.  you can't have store credit, you can't exchange it, take it out of here.  if it's an item off your registry, they can try to look up the original transaction by your registry number, but HAHAHA NONE OF THESE THINGS ARE ON MY REGISTRY BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT THEM!  i guess the joke's on me.

the oh-so-helpful woman at the returns desk said, "well, we handed out fliers about this."  SO TELL ME HOW THAT HELPS ME OUT.  then she told me i needed to contact the people who gave me the items and get receipts from them.  no!  flat. out. no!  stop encouraging this culture of tackiness!  this is particularly unacceptable from a store such as babies r us where a gigantic portion of their sales is generated due to gift-giving and registries.

from a sheerly economic standpoint, tell me how this makes any sense.  two weeks ago before the policy change i returned a bunch of duplicates (unopened, perfect condition), received store credit, and picked out a bunch of stuff i could actually use.  i spent the entire store credit and THEN some.  not only was babies r us not out any money (the cash stayed in their pocket the entire time and i was merely swapping items of equal value), but they MADE money off me coming into the store when i spent extra (which i'm sure to do every time).  what's more, i received rock-bottom store credit prices for everything that had gone on sale or clearance, when it's very likely that the gift-giver paid full price.  babies r us wins!

but now, post-august-10, i'm stuck with a pile of stuff i don't want, and i can't exchange it for stuff i'll use.  this waste of resources is abhorrent to me.  so i'm going to end up donating all of it to the margaret hudson center.  which is ultimately a good result, but i suspect the vast majority of the new policy's victims will end up shoving the stuff in the backs of closets and the bottoms of drawers only to be forgotten or discarded.  what a waste.

the real irony here is that now wal-mart (WAL-MART!) is the only store with an infant department of meaningful size that will offer store credit for receiptless returns and exchanges.  i would have never thought i'd be in wal-mart's corner on ANYTHING, but for today--and today only--i am happy with them.

i may seem hugely ungrateful.  truth is, i am awed by the generosity of my friends, family, and co-workers during this pregnancy.  the gifts have been amazing.  but i am also frugal.  there has to be a balance.  this child does not need sixty size 0-3 month onesies.

mega-chains are increasingly adopting these types of no-receipt-no-luck return policies, and the resulting waste is incredible. don't stand for it! vote with your feet. i am taking down my babies r us registry effective immediately.  i should have never registered at a chain to begin with.  local stores, here i come.

edited to add:  further research reveals that babies-r-us's sister chain, toys-r-us, also now refuses all returns/exchanges without a receipt.  the next time you go to buy a christmas or birthday gift for your favorite little one, please consider shopping locally instead.  lord knows autumn's got too much stuff in her room, the last thing she needs is duplicate or unwanted toys that we can't return.  it's hard enough teaching her to understand why she has to give to goodwill each year before her birthday and christmas.  

and i'll save the "educational toys and activity-based gifts vs. piles of ornately packaged plastic" rant for another day.