Customer Service For The Birds

EXACTLY....RIGHT ON THE MONEY. I HAVE BEEN A CUSTOMER SERVICE MNG FOR
28 YEARS AND HAVE NEVER EVER, HEARD OF A COMPANY EXCEPT FOR T.R.U.
THAT DO NOT EMPOWER THEIR MANANGERS. IT IS JUST AWEFUL. THEY WOULD
RATHER LOOSE SALES. THEIR WEB SITE SAYS "We value your business!"
HA....NO THEY DON'T

While I understand your frustration its still their policy whether we
like it or not. Its nothing personal against you but its in place for
all to adhere to.

I have found myself purchasing gift cards for children now especially
from Toys R Us because its so hard to return anything else.
Its not the same as opening a gift...but there are a lot of children
out there who are "gift card smart" now days and like being able to
choose their own gifts.

Unless you want to inform all when inviting them to the birthday event
that you would like to have the gift receipt attached to the present I
see no other solution other than asking for gift cards.
My niece does this and to tell you the truth she has only had to
return a few things because these were duplicates. But, she was happy
she asked for the receipts...it saved her so much frustration when
returning the items.

But has anyone ever noticed that toys-r-us has a certin smell when you
enter the store? I can't explain it, I just know it as the toys-r-us
smell. And it's not just one store, they all have the same smell, not
that it's bad. But every time I enter one I have flash backs to my
child hood, when I would get to go there as a treat. :)

Unfortunately, your experience is becoming more and more typical due
to a few who have abused the return/exchange policies at various
stores, forcing the stores to crack down. You only need to browse
through some of the letters at PF to realize that Toys R US is NOT the
only store that is stringent about returns without receipts (see:
Target).

I agree with the other posters that telling you no doesn't equal
rudeness. If you really were treated rudely, you should provide
specific examples (and who knows? Maybe they'd finally make an
exception for you if they agreed you were treated badly).

Otherwise the only option I see for you is to contact the person who
bought the gift and have them give you the receipt.

Ask who gave it to you what they used to buy it. If it was cash, they
can look up the phone number. If it was a card (debit or credit) they
can look it up there. I have done this there.

They wont take defective stuff back with out the information either.
Which I think is REALLY stupid. They wont even do an "even exchange"
for something with out this information. THAT I think should be
changed.

"There are exceptions to every rule and all stores except Toys R Us
allow their managers discretion."

Sigh. Wrong.

NEXT!

"all stores except Toys R Us allow their managers discretion"

Not true. Target is also very stringent with enforcing their policies,
as evident from the number of letters we get complaining about it.

I also don't see where you were treated horribly. No, they didn't
budge on their policy, but "no, we won't make an exception for you"
does not always equal horrible treatment.

As someone who worked retail for many years, the idea of allowing
exceptions to policies sounds great in theory, but in practice it just
leads to more problems than solutions. By enforcing a policy across
the board, it's much more fair (except of course to those who want
exceptions to it).

And once again, I wish more people understood the concept of gift
receipts. If they did, we would see a lot less letters about this
issue.

I have seem products at Goodwill with Target stickers on them.

Why should you be an exception to the policy? Just because it has a
sticker on it? That sticker could have come off something else.

More and more retailers are becoming stricter with their return policy
and not allowing managers to make exceptions. It's the same way at
Target.

No does not equal rude.

"I understand your policy of not accepting merchandise without a gift
receipt because [insert my own restrictive reason here]" What gives
you the right to determine when the policy applies, and when there
should be an exception?

You may WANT an exception to a rule, you may think the rule is FLAWED,
but hey, it is the rule and they adhered to it.

If you find yourself in upper management at TRU someday, you can
influence changing rules. Until then you are just a customer and have
no right to judge customer service lacking because an undeserved
exception was not made for you.

Other retailers enforce their policies as well under normal
circumstances. Don't expect anything different.

My guess is TRU managers can make exceptions, but clearly the manager
felt you didn't deserve one.

I'm shocked to say this, but that's a pretty good suggestion,Rowdy.