Babies R’ Us hates us (and I presume you, too)
So my wife and I tried to return a few things to Babies R’ Us that were given to us off of our baby registry: nothing was opened, everything brand new, and still being sold in the store and online for the same retail price. We had all the gift receipts. The stuff was bought in June, and now it’s December, and we had no idea that there was this new hard-line ‘nothing-can-be-returned-after-90-days’ policy because on the gift receipt it says “Easy Returns.” Well, not so much… Beyond a few basic stipulations, nothing on the receipt mentions 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, or any kind of time or date limitation. It basically makes it seem like you can return the merchandise to a local store or via return labels, as long as you have a reason and a receipt (which is the case at many large retailers).
So we brought the stuff back to the store and were informed about this militant policy and how we couldn’t get store credit or anything 90 days after the initial purchase. I pointed out that everything was new with receipts, etc. I even offered to take 10% off retail value to get around the policy, since all we wanted was store credit. They said no, on the store level they couldn’t override the policy (2 managers told me this).
They said call the 800 customer service line and they might override it. So I got on the phone, in the store, and after 1 rep and 2 supervisors in their ‘call center,’ I was told they could not override the policy, that only the corporate office could. So I said connect me to the corporate office and they said they had no contact with the corporate office. So I kinda lost it on them and they miraculously found the number to the corporate office.
With the corporate office I explained to the poor receptionist my situation and she connected me to one person (voicemail; so I called back), then another (voicemail; called back), then another (voicemail; gave up). I wanted to speak to an actual human in corporate to resolve the situation and get this override, but apparently the irony of a human working in corporate was lost on me at that time.
Anyway, I’m still in the store, making a scene, and by now another manager is there to appease me and my wife (an hour and a half has transpired by this point). He tries to help us by calling the online warehouse and asking them to take the return, but before calling he explains to us that the person who bought the gift would get the credit, not us. We’re so dumbfounded, flabbergasted, disgusted, infuriated (insert additional adjective here) that we can’t even begin to argue the stupidity of this, even as he calls someone at the warehouse who basically says, Nope, after 30 days the sale is null/void/final — no credit or refund for anyone.
But at least we returned to our apartment armed with the Babies R’ Us corporate number (973-617-3500), and a few names who may be in the customer service area who could override this policy (Peggy Morales, Barbara Edwards, and someone named Ruben).
The moral of the story is this: the Babies R’ Us return policy is ridiculous. They don’t print any of this on their receipts like every other major store does (at least not for online orders), and they expect you to go online and find their return policy (and if you are shopping at Babies R’ Us, presumably you have a child, and if you have a child, do you have the time to go online, without prompting, to randomly investigate a store’s return policy, when the gift receipt you have in hand says “Easy Returns”?).
Thus, we’ll no longer be shopping at Babies R’ Us. I mean really, you think we can’t find what we want at Target, Buy Buy Baby, or Diapers.com? We told the last manager we spoke with that they were going to lose our business, and he said that this was something that was brought up on their conference call when the new policy was announced; and that the new owners/corporate anticipated this and this was what they thought was “in the best interests of the company.”
If you Google “Babies R’ Us return policy” you’ll find a lot of complaints, and everyone says they won’t shop there anymore (and I even found some jackass defending the policy because customers are stupid, but that is a different posting about corporate lackeys and sycophants).
Well, the customer is still always right in my eyes. They’ll be getting a few calls from us, and if you have been burned by Babies/Toys R’ Us, feel free to call their corporate headquarters in Wayne, NJ (again, that’s 973-617-3500; Peggy Morales, Barbara Edwards, and someone named Ruben) and let them know your displeasure. Don’t just send an email that can be easily deleted: call and harass, because honestly, that’s probably the only way to get anyone’s attention. I’m sure if they receive enough calls, they will start to reconsider what is “in the best interests of the company.”
And if Babies R’ Us can afford to piss people off and lose business, congratulations. Shows you not everyone’s hurting during the recession.
Happy Holidays.
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I went into Babies R Us when my first child was on the way…I went once. As I recall, I went into sticker shock and never returned. I cannot think of anything I ever needed that I couldn’t find at Target. Target also has a 90-day policy, but it is printed ALL OVER the receipts.
I spent years in retail management, and I worked for a company that had a shorter return period but gave store managers much more flexibility to accept or refuse returns as they saw fit. If you were asking for store credit, they absolutely should have accommodated you – if you have a new baby, chances are good you would have ended up spending beyond your store credit anyway.
I will defend the store-level people a little bit and say that if they could have done your return, they probably would have. It sounds as though the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the suit-wearing monkeys that have not been face-to-face with a customer in decades, if ever.
You would think a store catering to consumers with young children (and a ton of first-time parents) would understand that getting back to a store to return gifts can be difficult.
Buy Buy Baby – by far – has the best return policy I have ever seen – but they aren’t national and their website is lacking. For those people that have one in their area…. the store doesn’t even give out gift receipts – but If you bring something back to them, and it’s something they still sell – they generally take it back. I don’t know if this is a corporate policy – but they’ve never turned away anything I’ve brought back!
well here is christmas and as you know lots of people give your children gifts without a reciept attached. well if you didn’t already know toys r us will neither return or exchange a gift even if it was broken when opened christmas morning. so i think well ok i’ll call the maufacture of the imaginarium easle my 3 year old got, but guess who makes it TOYS R US !!!!!!!! how convienent for them .. i hate toys r us and will never shop there again……….. u suck toys r us and no a kid can’t be a kid at your store……..
I will have to say that some are wrong on this!!! In store here in CA they have the policy at every register and when i asked there policy they tell me 90 days with proff of purchase so i think its pretty blank and if you dont ask how r you going to know? ive never had an issuse with them and no matter if you go there or target its the same damn thing everywhere you go.
Just as a point of note.. the return policy is printed on the back of every reciept. It states 90 days. I used to work for Babies and can tell you in most cases..I said MOST cases guest do not have reciepts or they are well OVER the 90 day policy. No one wants to take the responsibility and blame for waiting too long or FORGETTING to return something on time. WHY? Because we expect the big corporation to take care of our being lazy and procrastinating about a return. The good news for you and all consumers out there is that Babies R Us has been absorbed into the Toys R Us company totally they used be two separate divisions with two separate upper managment. Not anymore everything is now just Toys R Us and believe me that’s why I don’t work for them anymore.. It will only get worse.
Babies R Us/Toys R Us wanting proof of purchase within a 3 month period(quarterly) is not ridiculous, it’s business. Proof of purchase includes more than a receipt: they can look up the purchase with a credit/debit card, checking account, existing baby registry(if purchased off registry), phone number(especially if you used free loyalty rewards card). I find that the associates make every effort to find proof of purchase before determining the item cannot be returned.
I’ve had no problems with my baby registry at JC Penney’s. There always very helpful.