How do you deal with Target's Return Policy?

[ReneeQ]

I apologize if this has been asked before.

I guess I've just been lucky, but I rarely have to return anything. My MIL bought my husband a movie for his BD. She got the regular version, and he wanted widescreen. She said she got it at Target. She could not find the receipt.

I went to Target and asked if I could exchange it. He scanned it and said, well, it's currently $19.99, but at one time we had it on sale for $14.99, so all I can give you is $14.99. I said I don't want any money, I just want to do an even exchange. He says, without a receipt, we can't. Without a receipt you are allowed two returns per year with no receipt, and this would be one of your two. But, because you don't have the receipt, all we can give you is $14.99. I said forget it, and I kept the movie and will try to exchange it somewhere else.

Is this always their policy? How do you deal with this? How do you ask for a gift receipt when you receive a gift??? (Though I did ask my MIL, and she couldn't find it.) I can see if I wanted the money, but I couldn't do an even exchange?

 

[mantaz]

If she can go with you, and she put it on a credit card, they can look it up. Then you can exchange it for the one you wanted.

 

[tzolkin]

a few years ago we had registered for some kitchen things there for our wedding. well, someone didnt do it correctly and we wound up with two of something. so we tried to bring it back and since we didnt have the receipt they would only let us get something from within that section-- not in the housewares/kitchen department, but from that actual quarter of the aisle of the store. (they claimed that it had to end in a certain number or something- can't quite remember the details.) well, obviously there's only so much stuff you need from one very limited section of merchandise. i was very angry and regretted the fact that i had ever even registered there. they could even pull up my registry and see all the stuff that had been bought for me, but they were unwilling to give me one stupid return.

i still shop at target, but i always keep my receipts until i know i dont need to return something. and anything that can be bought at walmart instead i buy there simply because i know they have a much better return policy.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

We did this with a baby swing a few years ago. The first one broke and we didn't have a receipt so we bought another one that was exactly the samething and boxed up the old one in the new ones box and returned it with the new receipt.

 

[madge]

I apologize if this has been asked before.

I guess I've just been lucky, but I rarely have to return anything. My MIL bought my husband a movie for his BD. She got the regular version, and he wanted widescreen. She said she got it at Target. She could not find the receipt.

I went to Target and asked if I could exchange it. He scanned it and said, well, it's currently $19.99, but at one time we had it on sale for $14.99, so all I can give you is $14.99. I said I don't want any money, I just want to do an even exchange. He says, without a receipt, we can't. Without a receipt you are allowed two returns per year with no receipt, and this would be one of your two. But, because you don't have the receipt, all we can give you is $14.99. I said forget it, and I kept the movie and will try to exchange it somewhere else.

Is this always their policy? How do you deal with this? How do you ask for a gift receipt when you receive a gift??? (Though I did ask my MIL, and she couldn't find it.) I can see if I wanted the money, but I couldn't do an even exchange?

I always pay by debit/credit card and have them do a receipt look up. It's a wonderful thing

And yes, I think it's been their return policy for a while.

 

[mamalle]

always keep my receipts. dh bought me a new crockpot for xmas. It stopped working while we were away in feb on vacation. I came home found my receipt and returned it within the time frame. dh brought me home a new one without a problem. I think though its only 90 days or so for their return policy with a receipt. we did return some gifts after xmas of the kids without receipts. we both now cannot return a gift without a receipt for a whole year. oh well.

 

[JoiseyMom]

I have had this happen lots, my mil will constantly buy full screen, and we only buy wide screen, but they have always let me do even exhanges even without a receipt.

Try Walmart, they shouldn't give you a hard time.

 

[LilyWDW]

I keep all receipts and follow the policy set forth by the store...

I guess I don't see where the issue lies. Could you not have gotten the $14.99 at a credit towards the one he wanted at least? I understand their reasoning... they don't want someone to buy something on sale and then attempt to return it later with no receipt for a higher price. Thus, they give you the lowest price within a specified time period. I see that listed on a lot of store's return policy. Just be happy they will do anything with no receipt, they could have a flat policy of no receipt, no return.

 

[LSchrow]

We did this with a baby swing a few years ago. The first one broke and we didn't have a receipt so we bought another one that was exactly the samething and boxed up the old one in the new ones box and returned it with the new receipt.

ohhhhh, please don't
i bought DH a record player/cd recorder/MP3 player last october (got the last one at BB&B ~ and i knew he would love it!!! even my kids said they were impressed about the "perfect" gift ). i was sooooo excited until he opened the box christmas morning...........
somebody put a used, broken one in the "new" box (it was very heavy, so while i opened the box partially, it looked fine. the damage wasn't noticable until totally removed).
worse part is that it's apparently a seasonal item, & there aren't any more, anywhere in the country. i still haven't gotten him a "replacement" gift, b/c there isn't anything else that would be as good

 

[rparmfamily]

Target has had this return policy for what...4 yrs? 5 yrs? I never have a problem with it.

Anywhere you return something without a reciept is going to give you the lowest price they offered it at. (like sale prices,etc)

You could try Walmart I guess.

 

[npmommie]

I keep all receipts and follow the policy set forth by the store...

I guess I don't see where the issue lies. Could you not have gotten the $14.99 at a credit towards the one he wanted at least? I understand their reasoning... they don't want someone to buy something on sale and then attempt to return it later with no receipt for a higher price. Thus, they give you the lowest price within a specified time period. I see that listed on a lot of store's return policy. Just be happy they will do anything with no receipt, they could have a flat policy of no receipt, no return.

She could have taken the 14.99 to rebuy the movie at 19.99 which means the movie now cost 25.00.
this policy makes absolutely zero sense when someone wants to get the same exact item. this should be a non issue when its an exchange for the same thing.
If she asked for money back to buy something else in the store that is one thing, but to ask to exhange for another movie, the same movie in different format, is crazy for them not to do it.
i rarely shop at target anymore, and when i do, i guard those receipts like they are gold. its crazy.

 

[rparmfamily]

She doesn't want the exact same item. She wants a different item. Same title but different item, different item number,etc.

Target is very strict about DVD's, CD's,etc because it's not hard to re-shrinkwrap an item and return it.

 

[ceecee]

She could have taken the 14.99 to rebuy the movie at 19.99 which means the movie now cost 25.00.
this policy makes absolutely zero sense when someone wants to get the same exact item. this should be a non issue when its an exchange for the same thing.
If she asked for money back to buy something else in the store that is one thing, but to ask to exhange for another movie, the same movie in different format, is crazy for them not to do it.
i rarely shop at target anymore, and when i do, i guard those receipts like they are gold. its crazy.

The movie would have cost $5.00 not $25.00! They were going to give the sale price of $14.99 and if she rebought it at $19.99, it would cost an additional $5.00. I actually did that very same exchange at Christmas and ended up paying nothing extra. I guess the one I bought was not on sale. If your MIL charged it, the easiest thing would be for her to exchange it.

 

[CarolA]

Let me see if I understand the OP's compaint???

You hae no proof that you purchased the item there, but you would like them to give you the 'non sale' value?

Why?

The truth is that they don't do this to protect us. Therer are lots of folks who buy and return just to "pocket" the difference. Thereby ripping Target or whoever off. So they would buy at $14.99 wait until it goes OFF sale and then return without a receipt. They then get the $5 in their pocket. That just increases prices all across the board.....

 

[wtpntigger2]

It's not like she is asking for a store credit to go buy something else or cash back. She wants the exact same movie but in a different format - basically an even exchange. I think it's rediculous they won't just do an even exchange.

This happened to us at Christmas. My dad bought my dh a movie in fullscreen and we use widescreen. There was no gift receipt, so as much as I despise WalMart, we exchanged it there. Actually, WalMart gave us a store credit, but we turned around and used it to buy the same movie.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

ohhhhh, please don't
i bought DH a record player/cd recorder/MP3 player last october (got the last one at BB&B ~ and i knew he would love it!!! even my kids said they were impressed about the "perfect" gift ). i was sooooo excited until he opened the box christmas morning...........
somebody put a used, broken one in the "new" box (it was very heavy, so while i opened the box partially, it looked fine. the damage wasn't noticable until totally removed).
worse part is that it's apparently a seasonal item, & there aren't any more, anywhere in the country. i still haven't gotten him a "replacement" gift, b/c there isn't anything else that would be as good

Sorry that happend to you

But when we returned ours we told them that it was broken, so I doubt it was put back on the shelf.

 

[gardengirlco]

It's not like she is asking for a store credit to go buy something else or cash back. She wants the exact same movie but in a different format - basically an even exchange. I think it's rediculous they won't just do an even exchange.

ITA about wanting basically an even exchange. I bought one of those cube organizer units for DS's room. Got it in white but changed my mind and wanted it in the oak veneer to match his dresser. Well the closest Target is over an hour away in a town that I really despise and only go there to hit Target and a couple of other stores that we don't have here, so I only go a couple of times a year.

Well I took the unit down there with my receipt, but the receipt had since expired and they wouldn't let me exchange it for a different color. So frustrating.

 

[MrsPete]

The movie would have cost $5.00 not $25.00! They were going to give the sale price of $14.99 and if she rebought it at $19.99, it would cost an additional $5.00. I actually did that very same exchange at Christmas and ended up paying nothing extra. I guess the one I bought was not on sale. If your MIL charged it, the easiest thing would be for her to exchange it.

Note the bolding -- it would cost an additional $5, which means a total of $25.

How do I personally deal with their return policy? I pretty much don't buy anything from them except the occasional bag of groceries. Most of the stuff they sell is impulse-buy type stuff, and though it's flashy, it doesn't last long. Their prices on many things are considerably higher than other stores (for example, recently I tried to buy an air filter there -- the only choice was a fancy one for about $6, whereas Walmart and our local hardware store sell a three-pack of basic ones for half that price!).

 

[JackJack08]

She wants an exchange people. She is not asking for any money. And Target has not had their current return policy for 4 or 5 years just so you know. Walmart will do it no problem.

 

[taitai]

Target's return policy has been in place for quite some time...many years. I think it is rather generous especially the fact that you have 90 days to return something. Many places, particularly clothing stores and other more seasonal shops, give you 10 days or 2 weeks. I never keep my Target receipts so I always just give them the cc I used to purchase the item and they look it up that way. It has never, ever been a problem. Perhaps you can do that with the DVD. I don't know a store in America that will let you return an item that has been on sale WITHOUT A RECEIPT and give you the highest price. They always give you the lowest price in that situation.

Also, it isn't the same item. It is the same movie but a different item. If it was the same item, she wouldn't need to return it.

Happy Shopping

Taitai