Wow, too bad the guy didnt get any of this crap on tape. I'd never shop at target from the start. Buncha Frenchmen.

I just looked at the 10% certificate I just got in the mail. It specifically say that you have to use your Target card.

"The sign talking about the Target card said that you just had to apply for the card and that it did not need to be used for the purchase."

You are saying that the sign specifically said you didn't have to use the card? I'd like to see that sign as I've never seen any language like that in their ads for the card. Also, isn't there usually fine print that say see store for additional details? Finally since you have to put it on the Target card, that would specifically exclude using other forms of payments, like gift cards.

"They then told us that it didn't matter because the card couldn't be paid off until a full month had passed on the purchase meaning that 24% interest would accrue, completely canceling out the 10% discount and a whole lot more." (Quoted from the source story)

That is 24% per year, not 24% per month. Plus, you don't pay any interest if you pay off the card before the due date. Did you read the card holder agreement that you signed?

"We said that we had $100 in Target gift cards with us and that we'd take it. They rang it up and we handed them the gift cards. They scanned them through the computer. It popped up on the screen and said that the Gift Cards could not be used as the item was on Sale."

For the reason state above, you can't use gift cards on the 10% off. Also, you said they would not let you use gift cards to pay the credit card balance. I've got a Target gift card in front of me and it specifically says "This GiftCard is redeemable for merchandise or services at any Target store or at Target.com." Which would mean you could not use it to pay off a credit balance.

Sure they should not have lied to you, but it seems like you should have been paying attention as well as most of your issues were answered in writing and you could have avoided ignorant employees.

yep, Target is a big load of crap.

I was in one day (probably the one time I shopped there last year) and the cashier rang the same item up 3 times (I only had one of the particular item). Needless to say, I'm not about to pay 3x for 1 item. I immediately called her out and she said "oh. i can't void anything, so pay then go to customer service." so, as soon as I paid and headed over to customer service to get refunded for the extra 2 items I had been charged for, and was accused of stealing and had security called. Wtf? In the end, the cashier had to explain everything to the manager who just refunded the charges and offered up no apology.

What's with Target's customer service anyway? It keeps getting worse and worse...

@defectiveburger: Not that your customer service should be acceptable, but why would you even pay? Why not just walk back to get another item, and go to another register? Or leave?

As you caught it before you paid, I don't really see why you'd roll over and pay for it, knowing there would be hassle to follow...

i work at target and thats a bunch of BS. the 10% discount can be used with the redcard, giftcards, checks and cash.

ACCUSING YOU OF THEFT IS ACTIONABLE.

Slander per se, in its common law form, exists in almost every state.

@FREDDIE FRESH:

Those forms of payment are only for the 10% discount that employees receive. The 10% off discount that you get for opening a credit card with Target is ONLY good when you use your Target credit card for the whole purchase price.

As for paying your bill before interest accrues on your account...you should be able to go right up to the guest service counter to make a payment on your card. I don't know about using giftcards on that, however.

I worked with Target up until May of this year.

@nerodiavolo: Target isn't owned by the French, nor was it ever owned by the French.

Target still sucks (worked at that hellhole for 4 years). Better than Wal-Mart though.

@defectiveburger:

They're playing catch-up with Walmart.

@technodestructo: i totally agree

@Crazytree: Your damages from having a red shirted flunky (defined as such not because they work at Target but because they were too stupid to figure out the error) call you a thief wouldn't even come close to the filing fee.

@Crazytree: If they also called him a leper, slam-dunk.

@yg17:

Perhaps nerodiavolo is referring to Tar-zhay.

""They then told us that it didn't matter because the card couldn't be paid off until a full month had passed on the purchase meaning that 24% interest would accrue, completely canceling out the 10% discount and a whole lot more." (Quoted from the source story)"

This story is BS...I work at Target and it states to get the 10% you have to put the purchase on the card, also you can pay the bill the day after you use the card, then cancel the account and re-open it again for another 10% off.

This whole blog post just stinks of made up crap..maybe he didnt read the papers and didnt know you had to use the card. Fine I can believe that but the rest of it sounds like utter nonsense.

His story sounds way too fictional. Everything he says seems a little too "out there" Amazing how every person he or his wife talks to is lying or disrespectful. Sure customer service can be bad, but not that conveniently.

@acambras: I know what he was referring to, but I'm just saying, it's not owned by the French. It's a nickname. Just like Wally World. Just like Worst Buy. A nickname, nothing more

"...that if he used couldn't pay the TV off... What?"

What indeed. Is there a missing sentence?

"We said that we had $100 in Target gift cards with us and that we'd take it. They rang it up and we handed them the gift cards. They scanned them through the computer. It popped up on the screen and said that the Gift Cards could not be used as the item was on Sale. Well that's a load of crap...gift cards are supposed to be as good as cash."

This is a load of crap. It doesn't matter if the item is on sale or not. Gift Cards can still be used on any item in the store. I've worked there for 2 years and I've never heard of that ever happening. And I've rand up items on sale and taken gift cards.

BUT you can only take 10% off the total that is being paid by the target credit card. On the pamphlet they give you about the target card when YOu sign up it says the discount has to be used with the card.

It's called the BAIT. Everybody does it. All businesses use different tactics to make money. This is why they are a business.

If you don't want to use a target credit card then you don't get the 10%. The cashiers are required to try to get you to sign up.

And the interest rate depends on your credit score. It goes through 3 national banks before it approves you. The lower the rate the better your credit score.

Of course it's a tricky thing. Have you ever been to a credit card company that WASN'T out to get your money?

If CHRISGOH could easily catch this nonsense, why is the Consumerist not? This seems to be happening quite often lately, where someone is just whining because they screwed up and want to blame it on the store and The Consumerist is posting before doing any checking of the story. This keeps up and this site will start to die.

@FishingCrue: damages are presumed and not determined by who uttered the slander... as long as it was done in front of at least one other person.

the seminal case involved a woman being slandered by a bank teller and IIRC the damages amounted to about $50,000.

howabout you let me do the lawyering, k? ;)

@defectiveburger said: "the cashier rang the item up 3 times... I'm not about to pay 3x for 1 item... so, as soon as I paid"

Why oh why would you do such a thing?

Jehesus Consumerist, come on! This guy is leaving a lot out, and practically lying by omission.

Ok, the sign didnt say you HAD to use your target card. But he's making it sound like the sign said specifically you DIDN'T. He makes it sound like the sign said "Get 10% off, whether you use the card or not!" Bullshit. That's just not how it works. The details weren't there, and maybe an employee was mistaken - but they found out when trying to charge it. That's a problem, yes, but not a huge one, and the whole deal could have ended there..

However.. (and this is the point where Target's ineptness becomes the customer's ignorance)..

He found out upon applying that he was wrong, and instead of cancelling the purchase there, he went ahead and did it anyways?? Saywha?

When will people start getting it through their thick heads that companies don't do anything just out of kindness? (Hint, the 10% discount given is there to encourage you to PUT SOMETHING ON THE CARD, not as an 'atta boy' for being a right good chap.) When will the Consumerist start taking random blog posts and e-mails with a responsible grain of salt?

I also don't see how this is a "horror story". It was some miscommunication that got resolved. Again, another one to file under shit happens.

Oh, that and the stuff about the credit card payoff is utter nonsense. You can pay off any credit card account the next day if you want, there'll be a credit sitting there waiting for the charge to come and zero it out. What the rube is saying is something like he won't get a bill for a month. Big whoop. Irrelevant.

This single statement: "They then told us that it didn't matter because the card couldn't be paid off until a full month had passed on the purchase meaning that 24% interest would accrue, completely canceling out the 10% discount and a whole lot more. " tells you that the guy is a space cadet.

Then, on the other hand, I'd like to loan him some money. I'll give him a great deal, at the low, low rate of 10% per month.

@yg17:

I'm not calling them French because they're French per say, I'm calling them French because of their general attitude toward customers, with its similarities to the ways French people generally dislike Americans, and treat American tourists poorly.

I don't like Target, buncha Frenchmen.

Love Nero

@nerodiavolo:
And you've been to France? And you've experienced this behavioural pattern? And of course you've been to a number of other countries to be able to make a comparison?
And they all generally disliked Americans? And they treated American tourists poorly?
Have you considered that it might be you...?

Wow. If this were Wal-Mart you guys would be eating this up. Since it's the beloved Target you attack the consumer. Nice. Keep on shilling Consumerist commenters!

@JayThree: That's "Tar-zhay" to you buddy.

If this was about Mao-Mart, there would be a lot more me too posts...but I would think that posting on the internet, let alone reading or recognizing letters on a key-board thing would be far beyond the capabilities of your average Mao-Mart customer.

"Does this compooter come with that inter-net thing?"

@Crazytree: I didn't see in the story where anyone was accused of theft. Where is it?

That post is all BS. Of course you'd have to use the card to purchase the item and I'm sure the sign says so. Even if it didn't it would be common sense. That TV is also not worth the money he spent for it. A month's interest on a $900 balance at 24% is $18, so even if it were true that you can't pay it off (which it isn't) then that wouldn't negate a $100 discount.

@iMike: Never mind. I saw it when I reread.

Meg-- "When they told him that if he used couldn't pay the TV off before a month's interest had accrued at 24%." Huh? Is that supposed to read, "When they told him that if he used the Target card he couldn't pay the TV off...." ?

Hell. I was totally going to do this when we decide to finally buy an HDTV. Now I guess I'll have to go somewhere else.

@NERODIAVOLO
I have to say that I was recently in France and was probably treated better there as a tourist than in most of the other countries we visited.

@mconfoy: Yeah, I think they were hoping that the crappy Gawker redesign would keep us distracted from the increasing lack of editorial oversight.

I bought the same tv at Target, applying for the Target card to get the $100 off. The ads I saw, plus the info on the shelf instore all clearly said you had to use the card to get the 10% off (it's the same offer they've had for years...get the card and get 10% off your purchase that day).

I got my Target card, got the TV (which has worked very well once i realized I had to get Comcast to send a truly digital signal to my box...but that's another story), walked over to customer service, and paid the card off. No interest fees, no month wait, no problems.

The next week however, Target put the TV on sale for $200 less. My wife went over and they gave us a $200 credit with no hassle. She didn't even get to yell at anyone (this made her somewhat sad as she was all pumped up to make a clerk cry). Again, no problems, except for the fact that the credit was on my Target card. No biggie for us, I just used that credit the next few times we went to Target.

In my experience, Target has always been pretty easy to deal with on sale items, returns, exchanges, etc (maybe Targets in Richmond are well-managed compared to other cities, I dunno). My only complaints have ever really been some of the mulleted customers I see in there. I mean, really...a mullet? Still?

I quit shopping at Tar-gay when they installed the credit card machines that eat your card like an atm. WTF is up with that? Wanna see me grab a CC machine and smash it on the floor? Eat MY debit card and don't give it back..... Is that designed to "protect" some lowly cashier that gets a red flag from the CC company to confiscate some poor sap's card?
I'm more than happy to show my card and ID to the cashier. I have nothing to hide. But, my card is MINE, and I dare any human or machine to try to keep it....
While I'm at it, wanna have some fun? Get one of those counterfiet bill pens and test all the change you get back from a store. They act like you are accusing them of fraud. Funny thing is, I have heard of people actually finding fake bills in their change.

My target sucks at times. Overall I'd give em 8 out of 10, though. No store is perfect.

IANAUL --
@Crazytree: Actually if you'd read the article they accused him of being a lair, not a thief. Under Utah law if an action for Slander is not plead with special damages it must amount to Slander per se. To meet the test for SPS the statement must fall into one of the following four categories "(1) charge of criminal conduct, (2) charge of a loathsome disease, (3) charge of conduct that is incompatible with the exercise of a lawful business, trade, profession, or office; and (4) charge of the unchastity of a woman." (Citation omitted). Because he was never called anything more than a liar (at least which he wrote about in the OP) an action for slander per se would not lie.

Yeah, this story seems quite fishy. My boyfriend and I went on a small shopping spree when we first moved into our house. Our bill was $200, and the cashier explained that if we opened a target charge account and charged our purchase to the target card, we'd receive 10% off. It was clearly stated that we HAD to use the card to receive the 10% off, though. We used the "card" (really just the number as the card would arrive in the mail), paid it off a week later, and closed the account. No muss, no fuss.

Who the hell shops for a TV at Target anyway? No offense, but $999 (or $899 after 10%) is a LOT for a 37" LCD. You can get a good 37" LCD for as low as $760.

Sounds like someone has to do some product research before going to Target next time.

That said; I'd never consider getting big electronics like that at Target. It's just asking for trouble.

as a consumer, what sense does it make to YOU that you could simply "apply" for a card, and get 10% off your purchase, without PAYING with the card you just APPLIED FOR?

Seriously. Friggin common goddamn sense people. They are in business to make money. They don't charitably give out discounts.

This guy is an idiot thinking he could pay with another card. Just plain idiocy and lack of common sense. The rest of the story is probably made up because he was pissed that he couldn't screw the system.

There must be some really horrible Target stores out there. Maybe we are lucky and the one nearby has unusually decent staff.

We recently bought a TV at Target because it was less of a hassle than dealing with Best Buy. We asked the guys working in electronics at Target a couple of questions about the TV in question and its HD compatibility. They were able to clearly answer said questions and point to where it was clarified in the literature. They checked to see if one was in stock and we bought it. We paid $50 more total but it was worth it to us. Returns at least at our local Target are no hassle and nobody gave us any run around when we purchased it. We also were not trying to use any discount or cards. We just paid cash.

@defectiveburger: Thats BS, cashiers can in fact void items and entire transactions. She was either lazy or didn't know what she was doing

I gotta side with the group decision: Jason = clown

Sentence for his stupidity: Learn to comprehend rules of store credit cards, learn to read fine print, with an emphasis on learning what APR means: [creditcards.lovetoknow.com]

In his post, he states: "In good news, I found the same TV online for $920 with Free Shipping and No Tax."

Uhmm... unless I am mistaken, just because a company doesn't CHARGE tax doesn't mean you aren't responsible for paying tax.

Doesn't the IRS still require you to claim unpaid sales tax and pay it on your tax return?

@Kaz: Close... it's not the IRS that assesses the tax, but your state of residence. Technically you are supposed to pay use tax.

Why do I get the feeling that Nero has never been to France, and when/if he goes, he'll be one of those guys that, upon encountering a person not speaking English, will respond by REPEATING REALLY LOUDLY?

PS: their health care? Costs less than ours and it rocks. Their meat processors? Manage to service an entire nation without somehow managing to keeping shit out of their meat. We could learn a few things from them...

As the person who wrote this blog entry, it is 100% accurate. Everything that I stated on my blog actually happened. I will be the first to admit that maybe I shouldn't have tried to purchase a TV at Target or that maybe I don't know everything about Credit Cards but the Target employee did lie to me about the policy's on their card and a manager in that department verified that lie. Like I said, we questioned the credit card policies as we had never seen anything like that but when a manager states the terms of the card you expect them to be accurate. We told them before we were offered the credit card that we wanted to use our gift cards and they promised us that by signing up for the Target card we would still be able to. You can call BS and maybe this isn't a problem of Target worldwide but our local store seems to have many issues and after sharing this story with other's around here i've heard even more similar stories. On a side note, since Target wouldn't exchange our DVD, we took it to Wal-Mart who then exchanged it no questions asked. Say what you want about Wal-Mart but i've never had a problem with their Customer Service.

The Consumerist summary seems to be OK, but the actual article it's based on seems to be dubious. I'm not a Target fanboy, but I've worked in retail, and I question that so many people could be so incompetent and never just offer a manager override to fix the problem.

What they needed to do was ring up the sale, apply the 10% off coupon for applying for the card, tender $100 as gift cards, and do the rest as a credit card. Having a manager stand by and approve it should have been a quick and easy thing to do. I've never worked for Target, but I've never worked for a retailer who wasn't capable of allowing a manager to do this, even when it involved using those old dinosaur POS systems that didn't even have a computer screen, just a price display.

Guys, I read the site every day, but sometimes, in your zeal to zing the big retailers, you don't ask many critical questions.

I'm not on Target's side, I'm on the side of common sense. If you apply for a card and get 10% off your purchase, it just seems obvious you would need to use said card for the purchase. Otherwise, how is it benefiting Target?

I would like to say, I had an experience with Pier 1 that was similar to what Jason attempted. I applied for the card, got 10% off my total, and then they allowed me to use my $50 gift card and pay for the rest with the new credit card.