Bridal Registry Returns

I agree with you 100%. Target and Toys R US's return policies are
crazy. Bed Bath and Beyond lets you return the item without a receipt
as long as the item is listed on your registry. It doesn't have to
have been scanned as bought on your registry, just listed. They even
gift wrap the presents for the purchasers. I just wish they were as
good for baby showers as they are for wedding showers. You are right
to send letters to the major magazines to warn others of this and
thank you too for this post. You are not bullying Target, they are a
multimillion dollar company taking advantage of the consumer. Who has
the money for class action law suit anyway, as one of the posts
suggests, oh ya Target who can use their lawyers to make sure the case
never sees the light of day. Obviously Target has terrible customer
service, the thing that used to put them above Walmart and Kmart. I'm
sorry that you had such a terrible experience, especially since Target
seems to have refused to make things right.

Target's return policy is clearly stated on the back of every receipt
and by Guest Services. Target does offer the option of using your
registry as the gift receipt. It is also at the fault of your guests
because if they had handed the cashier your registry the item would've
come off your list, making sure you don't get duplicates, and would
have printed a gift receipt. I think you are overreacting, especially
over $50.

Thank you for posting this. My cousin is going through this same
problem in livonia, MI. Her issue is with four Bissel vacuums. This
is a mistake on Target's part. The bride will close out her registry
if possible before people purchase off it for the wedding. I can't
imagine what will happen if she recieves 5 of the same comforters or
100 place settings of dishes. We thought it was a problem at the
stores in this area. After reading this blog we now realize that this
is a company wide problems and there is no way of getting around it.


This whole experience makes me want to stand near the registry
locations at Target stores and warn newlyweds about the return policy.

They have the WORST policy - I had a baby shower and I couldn't return
much - 2 itmes in a year - give me a break - I had to go with my
husband and my mom so they could return stuff for me - now they are
over their limit - If it was on your registry - they shiuld have
accepted the return! I will not buy anything from them that I may want
to return, but it is very hard when you get gifts. Toys R Us is the
same way - no receipt, no return.

Believe it or not you are not the only one with this problem. My
husband and I registered with Target and the same thing happened to
us. Only they told us that even though we had a gift receipt, it said
gift receipt was expired and they would not let us exchange the gift
for a gift card or anything. The gift receipt was dated 1/8/08 and
our wedding was 1/19/08, so 11 days before we even recieved the gift
it was not returnable according to Targets rules. I spoke with 7
people that day and they all said the same thing. Even thought they
could clearly tell that this gift was from my bridal registery at
Target and even though I had a gift receipt, it was oh well, too bad!
I say that anyone wanting to rigister with Target should seriously
Think twice and really long and hard about it.

Nicole Daigle
Lafayette, LA 70503

I don't think you deserve the money for the gifts, if anything
politely return the gifts back to the giver. I registered at Target
for my wedding and I didn't have any issues, I enjoyed their
selections and my guest actually read the instructions and gave us the
gift receipts. I don't see how it is not rude for you to take back the
gift, but you find it rude to not ask for the receipt. If you feel
entitled to the gifts or the value of them, than you should not have a
problem asking for receipt. Target is not stealing money from anyone
because the buyer CAN return the gifts (w/receipt or credit card).

As for the gift being packaged in a Target box means absolutely
nothing. Bar scans read only numbers not places of purchase. Some
retailers use the same product scans. Plus having a Target box could
have meant your guest STOLE it from Target and not purchased it (maybe
that is why you can't ask them for a receipt--lol)

Truly you were not wronged since you did not spend ANY money.

One more thing... There aren't any dates in this letter, but I'm
thinking it happened kind of recently. BEFORE registering for a
registry, why wouldn't you read the return policy?

First of all, congratulations on your wedding! I hope your big day
was just perfect.

When I got married, we got a couple of duplicate gifts, probably
because some people looked at the registry and then bought the gift
elsewhere, or didn't tell the cashier that the thing they were buying
was on a registry. For example, we got a mountain of those little
things you put in ears of corn to make them easy to pick up (having
registered for one set), two bamboo cutting boards, and two wrought
iron paper towel holders.

At the time, we had a laugh about it, but after having been married
for a little over a year we're actually losing those corn holders one
by one (who knows where those suckers are getting off to), and we've
come to really appreciate having that extra cutting board. And when
it's time to replace that paper towel holder, we'll be ready!

My point is that a marriage lasts a long time, and your presents may
not. So be glad you have extra, and that you found someone to share
your life with! Mazel tov! :)

Well you can always make it a "class action" complaint with
the news station.
I mean why should you get to bully Target with the news media just to
get what you want and others who did not have reciepts just like you
did not, and were not be able to return their items...let's say just
for example an "I Love Lucy" season one DVD set.

Sorry but the policy is in place for a reason and its very strange
that people are not aware that they get two reciepts with these
registery gifts, one for their records and a gift reciept.

When you purchase something off of someones registry properly, isn't
the item removed so the next person doesn't get the same thing?

The policy is policy.
They have a rule and it applies to you, too!
Just because you got gifts without a gift receipt doesn't mean they
have to make an exception for you.

When my husband and I got married we registered at the Bay (a Canadian
Department Store) and Tiffany. We got lots of duplicate items, but I
was greatful for everyone. The items that come with a receipt were
given away as gifts to others that wanted the items or donated to a
local charity. It's not about the possessions but the sentiment with
which the gifts are given.

I find it hard to believe, in this day and age, that there is no way
to tell, from scanning a barcode, whether or not the item was
legitimately purchased.

Why can items be barcoded so that they need to be 'deactivated' by
some electronic device when purchased? This way, if the item is
returned, the barcode can be scanned and something could pop up
showing that the item WAS purchased and where.

Or, maybe, when an item is purchased, if the purchaser states it is a
gift, a barcode label could be printed up and attached to the tag as
"proof of purchase".

Just thinking aloud - I see Target's position in this, but I see the
letter writer's frustration too.

I include gift receipts with every gift purchase to avoid problems
later. This is why I firmly believe now, that instead of taking time
to personally pick a gift from a registry with thought that everyone
should give everyone else impersonal thoughtless gift cards.
And the reason that the policy is in place is just because it was on
your registry at Target doesn't mean that the same item wasn't on sale
for $20 cheaper at Walmart and the gift-giver purchased it there
instead. Plus the item may never have been purchased at all.
At my old job (I was manager of a Naturalizer shoe store) I had a
woman screaming at me because I wouldn't take back a pair of
Naturalizer shoes that we never even carried. She swore up and down
she bought them at my store. She had taped her receipt to the front of
the box for a pair of shoes she was returning that she did buy at my
store, and underneath the receipt was a sticker that said Bob's stores
on it. So like I said, just because you registered at Target doesn't
mean the item came from Target.

But Target is uncompromising about their return policy and I don't
blame them. The billions of dollars that retailers lose to theft,
fraud, illegal returns, etc. is staggering. One of the big box
retailers had to put their foot down and they did. Good for them.

I'm sure everyone is chastizing your bridal shower guests about not
giving you the gift receipt, but they automatically print out, so take
your aggressions out on them, not Target. It's really not their
problem.

Sell the stuff on Ebay, or re-gift them at future weddings. There's
always a solution to be found in life. You just have to look at it
that way.

Peace!

I don't understood why people don't give a gift receipt. If I give a
gift from a registry, though I know that the person clearly wants the
item and will use it, I still provide a gift receipt in case there is
a defect found with the item, it was accidentally bought twice, and so
on. I've also heard about duplicate gifts being given through
Target's Registry--perhaps it's not updated as often as it should be?
I have a feeling they will be adjusting this new return policy very
soon as it seems like so many honest people are being affected
negatively by it. It's sad how the dishonest people in the world have
to ruin it for everyone else. I hope they look into this for
you--otherwise, maybe try selling the items on eBay?

And if I remember correctly, with the registry kits that are given to
the registrants, they have inserts that go with invitations that say
they are registered at Target. And what does it also say on that
insert? Something along the lines of "Please include a gift
receipt." Whether or not the registrants are using them is
another thing.

I don't know if they still say that as I haven't looked at them in a
while. I can look at them next time I work.

I've turned people away from registering at Target while I was
working, but that wasn't my intention.

I just give the registering person(s) all of the information they
should get. It goes fine until I get to the gift receipt part. But I
would rather have people not register there with all of the
information rather than registering with partial information.

I think registries work against themselves when it comes to gift
receipts. People think that because they register for something, that
they want it so they don't have to give a gift receipt.

It's not hard to ask for a gift receipt. Tell the gift giver it was
defective or something. Even if the gift giver doesn't have a gift
receipt, they can bring in their original receipt and they can print
one out.

It's so easy.

You said: When I did, the machine suggested that I go back to the
person and ask them for the reciept. I find that completely and
utterly rude. Why would you ever go back to the person who spent a
reasonable amount of money on you and tell them that you are taking
their gift back and want their receipt.

If in fact you received duplicate items why would it be so difficult
to go back to the people you got them from and ask if they have the
gift receipt so they can be exchanged if what you say is true.

I agree with everyone that you do get a gift reciept with every
purchase. I also agree that it is not hard to put said gift reciept in
with the gift. I think though, that it would probably be in targets
best interest to revise their policy a bit. I feellike they do make it
hard for an honest person to make a return without a receipt

Why, oh why, do people not include the gift receipt?! Do the cashiers
need to tell everyone: Here's the gift receipt, make sure you pass it
on so we don't get a complaint letter?

Target gives them with everything. I bought a lamp shade, 2 Vitimin
Waters and a bottle of hair cream the other day and got one!

This is why I am not registering anywhere for my upcoming wedding. If
people want to give us a gift, we will willingly and graciously accept
it. If it's something I can use, great. If not, it goes into the
regift closet, gets donated to charity, or sold on EBay. We already
have everything we need anyway.

What kind of people are you inviting to your showers and wedding, that
they seem unable to (1) give the bridal registry paperwork to the
cashier so the item can be indicated as having been purchased and (2)
give you the gift receipt that we all know they got.

You're not entitled to $50 in compensation for the burden of relieving
yourself of these gifts. It's part of being a bride. Now suck it up,
regift the gifts for the next few gift-giving events in your life, and
stop complaining about a policy that is very clearly posted on large,
easy-to-read signs.

Yet another person who writes English but inexplicably has selective
trouble understanding it.

Publishing this is a bridal magazine may be a good thing. Perhaps the
editors of said magazine would be kind enough to add one of those
notes in italics at the bottom, explaining that all a person needs to
do is obtain the gift receipts for her gifts. That should take all of
about one sentence.

This is the second letter in the Top 25 about this issue. I just don't
get it. Target prints a gift receipt with EVERY purchase. Why is it so
difficult for the gift-giver to put it in with the gift? Is there some
kind of law against it? Some sort of etiquette ban against including
gift receipts?

Rant over.

Not again! Target's return policies are printed on every receipt. No
receipt=no return. Resorting to blackmail to get your way does not
help your issue. I received duplicates at my shower and had no
problem asking people for a gift receipt.

Here's the thing: these are the terms to which you agreed.

Nobody forced you to register at Target, nobody hid the Target return
policy from you, and plenty of brides before you have had the same
complaint and posted about it online. The time to make sure you know
what you're getting into is before you get into it, and you can't
unilaterally rewrite your contract with Target now that you have
decided you don't like the terms.

You're not going to get a letter of apology, and you're not going to
get a Target gift card for $50 (incidentally, if 3 items cost $50, at
least one of them costs less than $20), because this is their policy
and they stick to it. If you want to register your complaint: great.
I don't think they're going to change, because they introduced this
policy (a long time ago) in order to deal with customer misbehavior
and it appears to be working for them, but of course you should let
them know why you will be shopping elsewhere in the future. If you
can get the local news and bridal magazines to let other people know
about this: great. I am all for letting brides know they should do
their homework before registering, and apparently a lot of them don't
do that. (I do note that if it's rude to go to someone privately and
tell them you got more gravy boats than you really need so you want to
take one back -- and while I'm not a big fan of returning gifts
*ever*, this seems like a case in which virtually anyone would
understand -- it's probably rude to tell the entire metropolitan area
about it on TV.) If you or a close friend of yours is ever in a
position to register for gifts in the future, I am all for you
choosing a retailer with a return policy that is more to your liking.

But when it comes right down to it, they are doing what you told them
they could do, and you can't really revoke your permission.

Blackmail, eh?

Anyway... In the end, you say it's $50. When you kept pointing out
how expensive these items were, I thought we were talking hundreds or
thousands of dollars.

Doing the math: 3 items, totaling $50... That's an average of $16.67
each. Meaning, you could have returned one of the items, at least.

Bottom line is that Target's been so badly burned that they have
adopted a restrictive return policy.

I'm not sure why you find it acceptable to return a gift, but you
wouldn't think of asking for the gift receipt. As a gift giver, I'd
want to know that you were happy with your gifts and had no
duplicates. Which is why, when I give a gift, I enclose the gift
receipt. I think that makes me a thoughtful person.

I wonder, also, why you got duplicates. The whole point of a registry
is that you don't get duplicates. Either the buyer didn't bother to
have the item checked off... or Target failed to remove it.

In the end, you want your gifts. As a new bride, you deserve them.
And clearly stated policy needn't stand in your way.

Take my advice: call these people and explain that through a Target
error, you ended up with duplicates. Say that you loved the item
(heck, you ASKED FOR IT), but don't need two. Therefore, if it
wouldn't too much trouble, could you stop by and pick up the gift
receipt.