I Don't Get It - Returns!?

[Daxx]

I see so many gripes about stores requiring receipts for returns, people having difficulty returning things, people on the Banned list at stores. Now, here's my question for you all:

Why don't people give the gift receipt w/the gift!?

Let's face it ... most stores give you a gift receipt. Used to be you had to ask for them but now many stores automatically give them to you and/or ask if you want them! Even if you're buying multiple items for multiple people, you can ask for individual gift receipts. Sure, the cashier will look at you as if you're the biggest pain in the backside ... but if these stores want you to have a receipt to return things with, then they have to provide that service.

So, why aren't people giving the gift receipts along w/the gift!? We all know that someone's bound to not like our gift and will want to return it. Is it that we don't want them to return our gift that we're withholding gift receipts? Why don't people give these out w/the gift? Will you really be that crushed or hurt if the recipient wants to return your gift?! I just do not get it!!!!

I am *usually* good about giving the gift receipt w/the gift b/c I know that someone will want to return what I gave them for, perhaps, a multitude of reasons (fit, color, already have, don't like, wouldn't use/wear in a million years, etc.).

Why are people so reticent about giving gift reciepts w/the gift!?!? Do we, as the gift giver, feel it a slap in the face if someone doesn't like the gift we give them and returns it for something they want!? Or, do we want to hassle someone for not liking what we gave them?! Like som game where you're laughing knowing that your nephew can't return that sweater b/c he doesn't have a gift receipt.

Someone explain this, please!!!!

Color me confused!

 

[cepmom]

I wish I knew....I work customer service at BRU and we give gift receipts with every purchase...evn if you buy a bottle of Pepsi. I can't tell you how many people come to return items without receipts. They say it was a gift so they don't have the receipt. Well, we gave the preson who purchased it a regular receipt and a gift receipt....I don't understand why people don't give gift receipts either.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Some stores around here only give on if you ask. If you forget then your usually out of luck. My question is why not then just hold onto the actuall one until after Christmas and then pitch it. This way if something has to be returned it can.

 

[ilovejack02]

LOTS of folks dont give gift receipts. DS4 had his bday party in Aug and out of the 15 presents he got he only got 1 receipt. Out of all the presents my whole family got for xmas, we only got 1 receipt and that was for a set of pjs. Out of everything DS got there are 3 things that need to be returned 1 we have done son and 2 we have NO IDEA where they came from so they are going to the gift closet at the local CASA chapter so someone can give a foster kid a gift. I will say that I havent been giving gift receipts either, but this yr will make that my new yrs resolution LOL!!

 

[DisneyFan06]

I beg to differ. Many stores in my area do not give such receipts. Also, many people may not wish to give a receipt to the person receiving the gift because of price, etc... There are many reasons...

 

[Spinning]

I usually try to give a gift receipt with gifts but at times I don't have them because 1. I bought it many months before the actual holiday so it wouldn't work. 2. I forget (this is a big one) 3. I loose it (ok so I am starting to sound like a scatter brain)
3. Never gave it a thought when I wrapped the present!
4. And (Take this as a joke!) why would they ever want to return a gift from me!!?!?!??
Plus it seems like certain gifts it I always remember, toys for kids birthday parties or clothes. I try really hard to never buy clothes for anyone but if I do I put a slip in there!

 

[clh2]

While I much prefer to give GC's for a number of reasons, if I am giving a gift that is not a GC, I ALWAYS include the gift receipt.

As much as it pains me to admit this, a 40-something year old's taste doesn't always match up with a teenager's taste. I don't take offense to that at all. Never have, never will. I always would prefer that if they don't like the gift for WHATEVER reason, I would prefer that they have something they can use. PERIOD. Otherwise, I have wasted a fistful of my hard-earned cash.


I do have to smile though, one of the gifts I bought my 9-year old nephew, in addition to a Barnes and Noble GC was a Lego-Star Wars thing. The nephew complimented me on the choice, and how did I always know the perfect thing to buy for him. I cheat, and ask his mom! He even remembered the books we bought him last year for Christmas. (Again recommended by his mom). While I prefer to just do GC's, I also understand that kids do like to unwrap something too!

 

[Missy1961]

I beg to differ. Many stores in my area do not give such receipts. Also, many people may not wish to give a receipt to the person receiving the gift because of price, etc... There are many reasons...

Some stores don't do it automatically, but if it's a gift, I ask. Then if they don't do it, I keep all the receipts for gifts in a separate envelope. Besides, if I charge it, I want to keep the receipt so I can match them up when I get the bill. Doesn't anyone do that anymore?

 

[1Prince2Princesses]

I never give gift receipts. I guess I should start doing that! I'm not a returner, and it never really occurred to me that other people would want to return my gifts. I do make a lot of baskets, which are obviously not a returnable item, as the fillings come from all over the place. I just never really though about it.

Thanks for the valuable insight!

 

[Daxx]

I beg to differ. Many stores in my area do not give such receipts. Also, many people may not wish to give a receipt to the person receiving the gift because of price, etc... There are many reasons...

I beg to differ w/you ... many stores will give a gift receipt if you ask for one. I've purchased items as gifts at small kiosks and boutiques and have asked for and received gift receipts with the item # or description of item and date of purchase. Sometimes they're hand written, but it's better than nothing. If a store has a return policy of needing a receipt, you have every right to request a gift receipt from them. Gift receipts NEVER include the price of the merchandise.

Also, I have forgotten to get gift receipts and have taken my original receipt to Customer Service. They scanned in the original receipt and printed out gift receipts from that.

Maybe, if more people would be proactive about using gift receipts, we wouldn't have so many complaints about returning gifts and getting hassled by the stores.

 

[maxiesmom]

I think part of it is that the person giving the gift does not want the person getting the gift to know how little they paid for it. At the store I work at , without a receipt you get today's sale price. Many times people have tried to return gifts without a receipt to find that grandma was a bargin shopper and spent $5. Or that the item was purchased last year and only worth 50cents. We have had customers say "But I know Grandma loves me more than that!" I'm sure gandma loves you, but grandma is a smart shopper.

Even with gift receipts people get mad. Gift receipts are normally good for in-store credit only. So you get back what they spent, but you have to spend it in the same store.

The days of cash back are long gone. Just an example of how too many people cheated the system, so the system changed.

 

[Hedy]

The store I used to work at didn't give gift reciepts. Also, I think some people are just weird about them, either for price or they-think-it's tacky reasons.

 

[buzzz1]

I certainly learned my lesson this year on that ..... ds got 3 Disney Scene it games... of course had no receipts from anyone....
TRU said absolutely NO returns without receipt
Target wouldn't let me, 'cause I had already returned something this year without a receipt (guess I was on their naughty list ?)
Finally Walmart let me, and gave me cash back at that.
I know the game came from TRU.... so I am thankful they did that.

It can be a hassle.... but next Christmas, I will remember !! Gift Receipts !! Hopefully everyone else will too

 

[susan514]

As a person who works retail, please give the receipts, gift or otherwise. Things do go on sale and without a receipt, you only get the lowest price. I have had more people get nasty at me when I am giving them much less then they think they deserve. They say that full price was paid and start screaming when we don't give it to them. Not fun.

An idea is, get a gift receipt for every gift you buy and tape it on the gift at the store. That way, it is ready to go and you won't lose it.

 

[inaminute]

I did the majority of my shopping online and didn't get one gift receipt.

Besides, if I'm going to put the gift receipt with the gift, so the person can get what they want if they don't like my gift, I may as well save myself a bunch of time, trouble, and worry about what to give and just buy gift cards. That way they can get whatever they want the first time, saving us both a lot of hassle.

 

[katerkat]

Besides, if I'm going to put the gift receipt with the gift, so the person can get what they want if they don't like my gift, I may as well save myself a bunch of time, trouble, and worry about what to give and just buy gift cards. That way they can get whatever they want the first time, saving us both a lot of hassle.

What if you did get them the perfect gift - and so did someone else? Why should they keep both? I got a duplicate gift this year and no gift reciept on either of them. And we're pretty darn lucky so far - Russ got five Little People playsets and not one was a repeat. But if we had gotten a duplicate, we would return one.

Also, with a young kid, we tend to return a lot of the clothes, just because it's hard to figure out his size. Russ's great-grandma gave him an outfit with the gift reciept, and I was able to exchange it a size down, the same outfit. So it was still what she chose for him, just in the appropriate size.

I always give gift reciepts with any present. (Except when I'm regifting. )

 

[CourtasanSatine]

I only keep them if risk of a goof is possible

 

[MushyMushy]

I beg to differ w/you ... many stores will give a gift receipt if you ask for one. I've purchased items as gifts at small kiosks and boutiques and have asked for and received gift receipts with the item # or description of item and date of purchase. Sometimes they're hand written, but it's better than nothing. If a store has a return policy of needing a receipt, you have every right to request a gift receipt from them. Gift receipts NEVER include the price of the merchandise.

Also, I have forgotten to get gift receipts and have taken my original receipt to Customer Service. They scanned in the original receipt and printed out gift receipts from that.

Maybe, if more people would be proactive about using gift receipts, we wouldn't have so many complaints about returning gifts and getting hassled by the stores.

How can you beg to differ with someone when you don't know the stores in her area?

We have very few retail stores in my area, and they don't give gift receipts AT ALL whether you ask or not. Why is that so hard to believe?

That said, when I buy gifts and don't get a gift receipt, I keep the receipt in a drawer and just tell the person that I have it if they need it. I've never had anyone ask me for it.

For the people I know, I think the main reason they don't like to give receipts with the gift is because they bought the item deeply discounted or it was a buy-one-get-one free deal. We get that a lot from my MIL. My mother gets offended when we need to return things and she usually loses the receipt in the first place.

 

[Daxx]

How can you beg to differ with someone when you don't know the stores in her area?

I've lived in several states throughout my life and even abroad and have worked retail for more years than I'd like to recall. Let's face it -- in general, people have been complaining about returning gifts to large retailers (Target, Toys R Us, WalMart). That's basically what this thread is geared towards.

If a store has a "receipt required "return policy, then they need to give you a gift receipt if you request it. Otherwise, you could take them up w/the BBB or go to small claims court. You have every right to ask for a gift receipt and every right to get one. If they say "We don't do that", then, you tell them it's a gift and you need some kind of receipt w/o a price on it just in case the recipient doesn't want said gift. If their policy is return w/receipt, they need to provide something in the way of "proof of purchase". It wouldn't be fair to the consumer to do otherwise.

We have very few retail stores in my area, and they don't give gift receipts AT ALL whether you ask or not. Why is that so hard to believe?

I never said it was hard to believe. If a store doesn't give gift receipts at all, then you need to get them to clarify their return policy. If they say w/receipt, then tell them they need to give you a gift receipt. If they refuse, you can take it up w/your BBB.

That said, when I buy gifts and don't get a gift receipt, I keep the receipt in a drawer and just tell the person that I have it if they need it. I've never had anyone ask me for it.

That's b/c most people don't want to let you know that your gift sucks and they don't want it. They don't want to offend you. I know that I wouldn't ask anyone for a receipt!!!! Are you telling me that, of all the gifts you've given, not one has ever been returned by someone?! I find that hard to believe.

For the people I know, I think the main reason they don't like to give receipts with the gift is because they bought the item deeply discounted or it was a buy-one-get-one free deal. We get that a lot from my MIL. My mother gets offended when we need to return things and she usually loses the receipt in the first place.

Isn't it the thought that counts and not how much was spent on the gift?! What if someone bought that item for $15 but by the time you took it back, the item was marked down to 50 cents and that was all the store would give you. You could've gotten $15 back in store credit w/the gift receipt but now you have the item you don't want or 50 cents in store credit.

With all that said, I'm getting the impression that people don't give gift receipts b/c they're "thrifty" w/their gifts and are embarrassed for the recipient to know how little they paid for it.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I choose not to give the receipt--if the person needs to return it, they can let me know. We retain the receipt for issues of size and if something might break--but in reality...if they don't like what they got...too bad. Hence why my family does Christmas lists and for birthdays we ask the parent what their child might like.


As far as not knowing how much I paid--I don't think it is an issue...a gift receipt is a proof of purchase---but usually doesn't actually have the price on it.