Fun Times at Target Customer Service...

[AKL_Megs]

So someone tell me who is wrong here...

While out shopping with my mom yesterday at Target, I found a really great set of sheets. They felt wonderful, we needed new sheets, and I had planned on washing sheets when I got home anyways, so I bought the sheets.

When I got home, I made the bed and went on with my day.


At bedtime, my DH turned down the bed. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and he yelled to me, "These sheets are ripped!" They weren't really "ripped", but rather, about 8" of the hemming on the top of the flat sheet was missing all together. So at 12am, we stripped and remade the bed in old sheets.

So today I head back to Target to exchange. Of course now, I couldn't get the sheets to fit BACK into the 8x6x6 box that the people at Target had managed to squeeze the set of queen sheets into.

When I walked up to the counter, the woman immediately said, "Have these been used?" I said, "Not really, only used long enough to put them on the bed and realize they were ripped."

She proceeded to tell me that, "We return new and unused only. We can't take these back."



They were Target Home brand sheets. I said, "How was I supposed to know they were ripped until I got them out of the package and onto my bed? So you are telling me Target doesn't stand by its own product? These are clearly defective sheets!"

She told me, "No. How do I know YOU didn't rip them? They are wrinkled. I think you used them."

Needless to say, the conversation got a little heated at that point, but you would have thought that the $50 was coming from HER paycheck. She was very unprofessional.

In the end, a manager came over and let me exchange them no problem at all.

I just don't get why she argued with me for 10 minutes before calling over someone with the power to make the exchange! I toatally understand she was just doing her job, but she had and attitude that screamed "I Am Out To Get You".

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

I don't shop much at Target, but when I do I'm pretty alert to their very difficult return policies. (Or so they seem to me).

At least you were not forced to keep the defective sheets!

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Target is usually better in the service then some of its competitors (ie. Walmart), maybe the continued pressure (economic and competition) is causing them to develop more up front restrictive policies, which is unfortunate.

 

[Tinkh]

I HATE returning things to Target. I returned a lamp from my wedding registry to them. No receipt, but it was posted as bought on my flippin registry. The thing overheated. Defective. No, I do not want another one. I want the money from it to buy from another store with a product that is not a fire hazard. They would only give me store credit. This was 10 years ago. I bet they are even worse now.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

My guess (and I'm not excusing her behavior) is that someone probably has just tried to return something ridiculous.

She was wrong... and shouldn't have let it get out of hand. I can't imagine ANY store not replacing a defective item that had been purchased less than 24 hours ago.

(I'm assuming you had the receipt.)

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I HATE returning things to Target. I returned a lamp from my wedding registry to them. No receipt, but it was posted as bought on my flippin registry. The thing overheated. Defective. No, I do not want another one. I want the money from it to buy from another store with a product that is not a fire hazard. They would only give me store credit. This was 10 years ago. I bet they are even worse now.

I don't have an issue with the store credit bit considering there was no receipt, and if there was, policy would probably dictate returning the funds to the original payment method, which depending on how it was purchased it could have been the original purchasers credit card.

 

[Belle Ella]

I'm really sorry that happened I know Target has been tightening it's return policies over the past few years since I worked at Guest Services but it should have been returnable if it was defective, which it was. She wasn't very Fast, Fun, and Friendly.

 

[AKL_Megs]

(I'm assuming you had the receipt.)

Absolutely!

 

[happygirl]

So someone tell me who is wrong here...

While out shopping with my mom yesterday at Target, I found a really great set of sheets. They felt wonderful, we needed new sheets, and I had planned on washing sheets when I got home anyways, so I bought the sheets.

When I got home, I made the bed and went on with my day.


At bedtime, my DH turned down the bed. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and he yelled to me, "These sheets are ripped!" They weren't really "ripped", but rather, about 8" of the hemming on the top of the flat sheet was missing all together. So at 12am, we stripped and remade the bed in old sheets.

So today I head back to Target to exchange. Of course now, I couldn't get the sheets to fit BACK into the 8x6x6 box that the people at Target had managed to squeeze the set of queen sheets into.

When I walked up to the counter, the woman immediately said, "Have these been used?" I said, "Not really, only used long enough to put them on the bed and realize they were ripped."

She proceeded to tell me that, "We return new and unused only. We can't take these back."



They were Target Home brand sheets. I said, "How was I supposed to know they were ripped until I got them out of the package and onto my bed? So you are telling me Target doesn't stand by its own product? These are clearly defective sheets!"

She told me, "No. How do I know YOU didn't rip them? They are wrinkled. I think you used them."

Needless to say, the conversation got a little heated at that point, but you would have thought that the $50 was coming from HER paycheck. She was very unprofessional.

In the end, a manager came over and let me exchange them no problem at all.

I just don't get why she argued with me for 10 minutes before calling over someone with the power to make the exchange! I toatally understand she was just doing her job, but she had and attitude that screamed "I Am Out To Get You".

Did you have the recepit if you did she surely would have seen you just bought them. No offense to you but I see why places are getting worse and worse about taking things back. It seems like there are a lot of people that are out to take advantage of stores. Not OP just people in general

 

[pigletgirl]

Yeah, target is a big red beast! They got all jumpy at me, when I bought a dvd from there and it was shattered in the package. It took like 4 associates to figure that out. So, all I got was a store credit, and actually I still haven't used it to this day. I will not step foot in that specific target.

 

[AKL_Megs]

Yeah, target is a big red beast! They got all jumpy at me, when I bought a dvd from there and it was shattered in the package. It took like 4 associates to figure that out. So, all I got was a store credit, and actually I still haven't used it to this day. I will not step foot in that specific target.

I almost feel like that too, at this point. And darn it, I have a TOTALLY UNUSED and WITH RECIEPT deoderant that I need to return!

 

[pigletgirl]

Just go ahead and put it away in the bathroom shelf or something! It ain't worth the headache.

Apparently they are also a pain to deal with too for registries. Anyone have personal expierence with that?

 

[clh2]

I almost feel like that too, at this point. And darn it, I have a TOTALLY UNUSED and WITH RECIEPT deoderant that I need to return!

Several of the food banks in my neck of the woods accept toiletries...maybe that is an option for you?

 

[dazeddaisy]

As far as I was aware if an item is faulty you should be able to exchange it or get store credit. If you have the receipt I do not see why this would be a problem.

I would understand the clerk saying no if you were returning them months later but not the following day (or a few days later).

Though that said if they are faulty I do not think the months later would matter. The store would just send it back to the manufactors to get a refund under soild and damaged.

 

[acejka]

She was definitely in the wrong. How were you supposed to know if they were defective unless you took them out of the package. Its the same thing when people bring produce back to the produce store I work at, we always replace fruit/veggies for them, how was anyone supposed to know if a watermelon was rotten until they opened it?

I'm suprised that people have so many problems with returning things at Target, I've never had any problems at my local stores...

 

[NikitaZee]

I think you ran into the wrong person at Customer Service. I bought a pair of Queen sized sheets at Linens and Things, and when I got home and put them on the bed, they were actually king sized. The tag on the sheets was labeled king size. Next day I went to exchange them, and couldn't find my receipt. No problem I thought - I just want to exchange this mis-packaged item for the correct size. Salesgirl rang it up for $15 more - the price had gone up since the day before and since I didn't have my receipt, she told me I had to pay the difference. No amount of arguing helped - and no way was I going to pay extra for their mis-labeled item. Went home and finally found receipt, exchanged my sheets, and never shopped in that store again. Sometimes, common sense just does not prevail!

 

[LuvOrlando]

This sort of thing is why I rarely to shop at Target. They are such pain over there compared to all the other choices. Did you know that you are only allowed to return/exchange 3 things in a calender year without a receipt before you get flagged Even if it's Christmas presents with the tags still on them? last year my DH was not happy when I had to drag him in there to exchange the crummy airbed we got as a gift. Also, they will not refund something worn and defective even if it was only worn once and shreds or shrinks ridiculously in the wash.

Now when I go there, which is rare, I have to waste my time and the cashiers time by making her/him ring up each individual thing separately because of the receipt policy. These days I need one per item so I can staple one receipt to each item as soon as I get home "just in case", oh and 'gift' receipts don't get you money back just a gift card. 99% of the time the place just isn't worth the effort.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Part of me wants to call this woman an idiot--all sheets will have wrinkles. They started out FOLDED.

In any case--she was a nitwit and in the wrong and a store has NO PLACE to accuse a customer of deliberately damaging merchandise.

Sure--they can think it--but without proof, it shoots them in the foot to actually say it.

I returned a USED dress to Gap. Used as my daughter wore it that week. Returned b/c it was a knit dress and it began unraveling before we even washed it. Label says it is machine washable. I felt like she didn't believe me. Had she said a word--I would have gone ballistic. Instead, she handled the return exactly as she should have.

I worked in retail, I can understand skepticism when customers bring back things in unusual condition.


But you just don't outright accuse a customer of a deliberate act like that.

I did deny a return for a vacuum once at Sears. I was a manager trainee and even brought another manager in on it and we both agreed. They tried to return the vacuum and claim it was damaged. Okay--not a problem. But no receipt, and the vacuum looked like it had been thrown off of a cliff. It wasn't even a current model or a recent model. So there was no lookup number.

We didn't accuse the customer of anything--but we apologized profusely for not being able to take the return due to the totality of what we had observed. He wasn't happy one bit.

We later reviewed the incident with the store manager. He agreed that it was odd and he agreed to not exchange it. His only tip for better customer service was to have offered a 10% discount on a new vacuum on top of any other offers.

I think the guy would have still left peeved. But he might have been less peeved, but still vacuum-less. But noone could ever accuse us of calling him a liar.

 

[Minnie_me]

It really does depend on each particular store and even each particular person!

My DD bought a Hannah Montana Karaoke CD with her bday money a while back. The cover of the CD had a HUGE picture of Hannah Montana's face, and it said "Hannah Montana: The Soundtrack Karaoke CD"

DD got it home, ran upstairs to try it out, and quickly came back down upset. She said, "It's not Hannah Montana, it's some old lady singing her songs!"

She was right. In teeny tiny print on the back of the CD it had some sort of disclaimer, but I don't know if we even would have understood it if we'd read it before purchasing.

So I returned it. At first, the manager told me that they couldn't take CDs back because I could have copied it. I explained the situation to him, and he said, "Well, then......I guess I'd have to say that it's defective. And I CAN take back a defective CD."