Toys R Us Does Not Follow Through on Rain Checks

i'm an employee at TRU and we're not allowed to give rain checks. they
were probably lying to you so they can look like they know something
but to tell you the truth we don't do rain checks

13 ebay listings for that game.. save time and money and buy it on
ebay..

save yourself a headache also dealing with a nationwide chain on
something this small is like a minnow nibbling on a humpback whale..
they dont even notice you.

Go to Amazon.com, I bet they'll have it. I agree with everyone else
though, it's not the store's fault it's discontinued.

The only downside to rainchecks is that even though a company will use
them to try to accommodate demands for certain items and keep sales in
their stores, retailers don't have any control over what their
suppliers do.

Hot electronics and video games are one of the worst problems. Many
of the video game manufacturers will manipulate consumers by holding
back stock in an attempt to drive up demand for hot games and systems.
Microsoft did it with the XBox 360 system 2 years ago and it
backfired on them last Christmas when they had to compete with the PS3
and the Wii. Our local Best Buy literally had HUNDREDS of the
consoles on hand, but the more popular Wii and PS3's were scarce.

The moral of the story is that while unfulfilled rainchecks are a
pain, sometimes it's beyond the retailers control. They are at the
mercy of the people who supply their stock.

a raincheck entitles you to that price when the item is restocked. if
it isn't restocked, I don't see why you are entitled to anything.
Certainly not that price on another item.

I know it's really frustrating, but rainchecks aren't a gurantee that
they'll have it, just that if they DO get them in, you'll get it at
that price up to a certain point in time. Sometimes they have no
control over supplier's inventory. I think most just run off an
automated inventory and get shipped one level of merchandise with a
few exceptions where they only send a certain amount to each store.

What confused me sometimes was not realizing that many places consider
their web presence as a different "entity" than their storea and the
rules may differ from store to store.

Someone had an excellent suggestion to shop from the web. I think the
chances of finding it are much better than relying on the store.

Rainchecks ensure you will receive the price it was advertised for,
they do not ensure you will receive the product. If it comes in, you
get it for that price.

Considering how hard Wiis and Wii games are hard to find, it's
probably a good thing TRU does not follow rain checks on those things.
the Wii is often the holy grail of video game systems.

I used to work at TRU and I don't know how badly handled rain checks
were in other parts of the store,but I worked in the R
Zone(electronics) and rain checks were a joke,mainaly because we had
no idea what they would send us every day. We couldn't order a
specific game,nor could we request one.
I used to keep a note book with customer requests and I would
personally follow through with things,but as far as I knew,I was the
only person in the department to do this.
My recommendation is that if you are really set on buying a certain
game is to buy it online...it's easier to find and you won't have to
hassle with a store.

This is a difficult situation and I believe the legal solution varies
from one state to another. Although I am no expert, someone with
experience in this type of law may explain further.

In some states, I know consumer protection laws require the advertiser
to A) disclose distinctly, by the item in the ad, that products were
limited. If they did not they then had to B) offer a raincheck to be
honored within a reasonable amount of time. This was usually
considered 30 days. Or C) offer a substitution equivalent to the
merchandise within the ad. Ironically, this would have to be
something the customer agreed was equivalent as well.

I only know this because I use to work for a retailer that made sure
we, as associates, knew what we were required to do legally. I then
used the same law, by looking it up, to require another retailer to
honor their ad. I don't think many entry level associates may know
the law, but if you're professional in directing your complaint to
their management, they will honor the ad.

I usually recommend that a letter be written when the OP has
distanced
themselves from the situation enough to be objective.

"Nowhere does it state that they are not responsible if they decide to
discontinue it."

What are they supposed to do? They made a decision for a
business-related reason to which neither you nor I are privvy. Your
asking for another brand/type of game is ridiculous.

...even though they didn't have any in stock "for a while", said they
would follow through by calling him (unless he just assumed they said
that), and then didn't.

They're not -supposed- to do anything, but good customer service
usually doesn't end in "sorry, we led you on, now you're SOL"; also,
common sense dictates that if an item is promotional, the store ought
to be more careful about how they deal with the stock running
out--say, by never giving rainchecks.

If the writer was really mouthy, I can see why a manager wouldn't want
to do anything for him. Catch more flies with honey, right?

Heh... I bet even if they were ordering more of that game, they
wouldn't have told you - if you acted how you *sound* like you acted
in this letter. (The CSR giving you an explanation was "spouting off"
eh?)

If they did decide that they weren't going to stock it anymore, then
that's just the breaks. They aren't obligated to give you squat. The
raincheck entitled you to that item if they got more in. They
didn't.

And asking the CSR why they gave you a raincheck if they knew they
weren't getting the item in... heh... trust me, the CSR likely has
no idea why / when / where they are going to order more product. You
said they couldn't come up with a "good answer" for your question.
What would a good answer have been? :-)