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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Why I Boycott Toys R Us

Ok folks, I've been meaning to write about this for some time, but after talking with a friend of mine today I decided enough is enough with this stupid store.

My loathing of Toys R Us began when Princess P was small. We received an outfit as a gift from Toys R Us, and you could tell it was from Toys R Us, because it was their brand, TRU, in the tag... it was too small. We got it as a gift, I wasn't about to have a grandparent go sifting through hundreds of Christmas recipes to exchange one outfit for a size larger, so off to TRU I go. I get there and they tell me you can't exchange or return without a receipt. What? I can't even get the next size larger in the SAME thing? Nope, not with out a stickin receipt. I'm pissed. But whatever, I give the outfit to a friend and decide, well, I'll shop other places and if I HAVE to shop at TRU I will remember their stupid non-return policy.

Fast forward a couple years to this past November. TRU is having great sales for Christmas, I love the Fisher Price stuff that is made for girls in just pinks, and because TRU is the only place that sells this line I get the sorting bucket with blocks in pink for my niece, Lucy, for Christmas, because frankly it's just too darn cute. Well, Christmas comes and goes and because of Lucy's health we don't see her at Christmas, but I still intend on giving her the gift. When she unexpectedly passed, I couldn't bear to have it anymore. My boys weren't going to play with it, and really we already had it, just not in pink. I knew NO ONE with baby girls that I could give it to. I expressed this to my mom and she said just return it. This broke my heart to do, but I did. Or at least I TRIED!

Off I got to TRU with the Toy and the RECEIPT, yes I STILL had the receipt. I get there hand the toy and the receipt to the customer service lady and she very rudely tells me that it's past 90 days and EVEN with a receipt they can't take it back after 90 days. OK folks, 2 things here... they still carry this item AND it was only 93 days past the date of purchase, yes you read that right I had missed the 90 days by 3 whole days. (because I was distraught at the whole idea of returning this gift). I try to explain the fact that it is only 3 days past the 90 days and they say sorry. I explain the situation, just out of principal now, not because I'm desperate for my refund, but seriously! So after explaining the situation and why I was even returning it in the 1st place, the rude, customer service lady who is completely being inconvenienced by my presence, who obviously thinks I'm trying to scam the store out of hundreds of dollars, shrugs her shoulders and says "hmmph, sorry, nothing I can do". Needless to say I am irate and vow NEVER to shop at or with Toys R Us again.

I go home and write a polite email to the customer service department explaining the rudeness of the employee, my disagreement with their return policy, my situation and the fact that they will no longer be receiving my business. To which they respond "We're sorry you feel this way, but unfortunately these are our policies" and that's it. Nothing else. Boycott continues.

Today, a friend and I were chatting and she was explaining about a toy that her son had gotten for his birthday in June, a small part broke. No worries, she called Toys R Us and they couldn't help, she called Step 2, the manufacturer and they happily sent her a replacement part... which promptly broke in a few more days. The toy came from Toys R Us so she tries in vain to see if they will take it back because it keeps breaking, but, you guessed it, because she doesn't have a receipt they will do NOTHING. Now she is stuck with a broken $60 toy, is frustrated and has joined my boycott of Toys R Us vow as well.

What I don't get is that a company like this would have such POOR return policies. That a company that thrives on mommy business would risk loss of business because of poor customer service (even at the cooperate level). Anyone who knows the power of a mommy knows that us moms have a lot of opinions, talk a lot, spend a lot and are quick to spread the word. So, I hope you will join me in my boycott of Toys R Us, at least until they get the message that their return policy sucks.

Toys R Us... you were warned!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Once you know the return policy, you only have yourself to blame for getting angry the next time. Those policies are there to keep the illicit returns down and in return prices lower. To make an exception for you is to have to make an exception for all. I can only imagine what you would blog if an exception was made for one of your Mommy friends and not for you. Every guest is asked if they need a gift reciept, and almost none take it. There is a policy, whether you like it or not, keep reciepts and follow it. That is the responsible thing to do. Berating a company for having cost saving measures is infantile.