Yeah that is total bull**** about not accepting the battery back. Our store does it all the time. Even I have done it many times, and no one has said a single thing.

so i don't see the problem. She told you she was sorry and would give you a refund...and now he doesn't want to drive back? Who's stubborn now? Maybe if the old lady had asked for a manager when she was there this would be a lot easier.

--
Naji Braich

Not to blame the consumer, but "but for the elderly, on social security, every penny matters." Like it doesn't matter for everyone? And clearly, only lack of planning would account for the meager social security check being the only source of income, right?

Oops, that motherboard we ordered for your PC was the wrong one. Sorry, no, we can't refund your service fee, or take it back. Out technician opened the box you see.

Another person that thinks they are special and that they shouldn't have to adhere to the same policies as everyone else.

Seriously, if the store employee picked up the wrong battery then Target should eat it, and make the old lady's watch work.

@balthisar: No, pension funds do go bankrupt. Bad luck of many different kinds in life happens and eats into reserves - after a certain age it can be hard/impossible to restore that. People get bilked, etc. Not everything is black and white.

@balthisar: You Sir or Madam, are an ass.

@balthisar: That is idiotic. You assume quite a bit there. All kinds of factors can contribute to a financial situation. My grandfather died of cancer and all the bills left my grandmother with very little. She was a very honorable woman and believed that she should make every effort to pay her debts.

At the end of her life a few dollars sure made a difference. "Pennies" certainly can mean more to some than others. At least you are young enough to go out and get a job, at 80 years old lets see who hires you.

The ASM should offer an over-the-phone refund, either as a credit to the card, or as a mail check.

This reminds me yet again -- get names, get numbers, and always try to talk to someone else.

I saw something (somewhat) similar happen at IKEA. A woman bought an As-Is item (read: absolutely no refunds). As the *IKEA employees* were loading it into her car in the IKEA parking lot loading zone, they dropped and broke it.

She was inside trying to get a refund since the employees broke it before it even left the loading zone and they weren't issuing the refund. The conversation was pretty much as follows:
"No refunds on As-Is items."
"But your employees broke it while loading it in the car."
"Yes... but no refund on As-Is items."
...and so on.

The issue here goes beyond the old lady part. The store sold her something claiming it would work with install. They failed to be able to do it. The solution is to return the part and be done with it. You have to wonder about the store that can't do this. The battery doesn't fit. Hell they could have figured that out before opening it. You open the watch first and see what it has in it. If you don't then it is on you. In this case the store didn't do this. They screwed up end of story.

The solution to this would have been a refund. At this point they should refund the money and give a gift card or something to the person to try to keep her as a customer. Cheap ploy I know but it can work.

@balthisar: No, sorry, that is blaming the customer, but better luck next time.

I used to have to do this at Target. This is very much the employee's fault. There's really several simple solutions to this.

1. Read the battery right. Odds are, the clerk grabbed the wrong battery.

2. Install before ringining up the battery. Saved me a lot of headache, since I could only get the back off some of the time. Those things get crusted on.

3. Check if Target carries the watch first. Employees aren't supposed to mess with watches they don't carry.

4. Call Electronics to get the battery. Odds are it's over there.

Honestly, I referred people to real jewlers a lot. Installing watch batteries cost more in my pay than they made in the sale.

I miss Venture. They used to hire actual jewelers to work in their jewelry department. Paid them squat, but they still did a good job.

I seriously don't understand why people shop at Target. Their return policies are awful, their prices are high, and their selection is low. It seems to me in virtually all aspects Wal-Mart is far superior.

Target is shiny and has better fashion.. but that's about it.

Never had to take anything back to Target but then I don't shop there much. As someone mentioned they prices aren't that great so I don't go there much.

Last thing I went to Target for was a Wii. I think for some reason many people don't think about going there for games. Everyone else sells out of it in like 10 minutes. I have bought 3 total, 2 as presents and 1 for me. I always found them on the self 2 or 3 days after then get in stock. So I'll give them that.

@balthisar: What a dick. Really.

They messed up and they should have made it right. But this fool will waste more money and time in getting this resolved considering the battery is most likely less than $5 anyway.

He is probably one of those people that slow everyone down at the register because they absolutely have to have that 20 cent coupon accepted.

@balthisar
You're about 22 or so, right? Still living with Mom? But an authority on life?

@balthisar: Wow! You really don't have a clue, do you?

@Me.:

If it's any consolation, I was going to buy two as-is closeout items from Ikea a few months ago. I dropped one and broke it, so I only bought one. : )

i'm not trying to blame anyone here but the store in question, but is it always necessary to include in these stories "80 year old", "grandmother", "military member"? I'm active duty USAF myself, so i'm not trying to insult 80 year olds or the military, but to me, a person is a person is a person. It would be no more acceptable if this had happened to a 40 year old businessman than it would be to the 80 year old on a fixed income. Just some food for thought.

This is why I take my business to a local clock/watch shop. They've been open for ages and all the guys in there are part owners. You know you are in good hands when you see a bunch of retirees in there. Fuck target and fuck corporate america for running the mom and pop shops into the ground. It's a damn shame this elderly woman had to go thru this bullshit. The "associate" in question needs a good punch in the jaw.

@balthisar: Come back in about 60 years and see if everything turns out exactly the way you plan, then make that comment.

I love playing "pile on the stupid comment". This is fun!

I agree, support your local businesses.

Target is Walmart in sheep's clothing.

I have to say the idiocy of balthisar is par for the course, though.

stupidity isn't limited to Target, as we can see.

It seems as though things on Consumerist follow a pattern.

1) Someone says that the business being referred to has behaved in an inexcusable fashion.

2) Someone blames the customer .(usually, I suspect, a troll who just wants people to respond to him/her cuz mommy didn't hug him/her enough.)

3) Someone gets all indignant at the customer blamer. (Sometimes it IS the customer's fault, ya know.)

4) Someone says "That's why I don't shop at ACME corp. ACME Corp has the worst customer service. I prefer ACME corp's competitor."

5) Someone tells that the same thing happened to them or a friend of theirs.

6) Someone says "Why were you going to ACME Corp anyway? You should have gone to Competitor's store, they're cheaper/better."

My 2 cents: Common sense says that the lady should not have been charged due to the error of the store employee. The customer's son in law called and was successful in getting the matter cleared up. But that wasn't enough for him...It's too expensive to go get the refund I just fought for. What do you want them to do, deliver you refund to you? Feed you grapes? Fall to their knees and beg forgiveness?

You got the refund, pat yourself on the back and move on with your life.

@wtrwlkr: True, but the average 40 year old businessman is probably in a better position to fight this sort of thing than the average 80 year old on a fixed income. Besides, the store associate in question might be too cowardly to pull a fast one on the businessman, but would have no trouble doing this to one of the elderly.

I agree that this is insane, and should not have occurred, however I do understand from Target's point. Honestly would you buy an open item battery? I know I wouldn't so chances are they would sit on said battery till it became at risk and lose money on it. Now if they did that through-out all Targets they would lose a lot of money.

What should their age have to do with it? Someone getting fux0red over is someone getting fux0red over, no matter how old they are.

What asshats...both the associate AND the manager. Now it will take more time and money to go back to the store for the poor lady. Target make it right! The store should have never treated the customer like that in the first place.

@ConsequencesIX: Have an in-depth conversation about watch batteries for exactly 5 minutes with a 40 year old. Then try to have that exact same conversation with an 80 year old. Then come back here and read the story and see where the phrase "opportunistic bloodsucker" might seem appropriate.

As an aside, my kudos to Consumerist for having more willpower than myself in not calling Target Stores an "opportunistic bloodsucker."

@Daniel Alderman: "What do you want them to do, deliver you refund to you? Feed you grapes? Fall to their knees and beg forgiveness?"

You are completely missing the point. Why should the customer (or her son-in-law) pay for the store employee's mistake?

But if you still feel that my point of view is wrong, I'll *admit* that I was wrong, as long as you take a $5 bill out of your wallet and rip it to shreds. Because essentially that is what has happened to the OP.

@JollyJumjuck:
No, I agree that a refund was in order. I just don't think the customer should, having procured said refund, then complain that they now have to go and get their refund.

...and while I, for the sake of customer satisfaction, would have thrown in an extra something for the customer's trouble, a gift certificate or something, I can't say that I'm surprised that this manager chose not to do so. It really was their prerogative.

Target is much cleaner than Wal-Mart... Target is more expensive, sure, but I can't stand walking into Little Mexico, anymore.

SpeedyGonzalas:

Second.

What was so hard with matching the new battery with the old battery? This is a difficult situation, because neither the store employee or the customer could perform such an easy task. Next time use a credit card and do a chargeback from home.

The ONLY - and that's a big only - way this could be the consumer's fault is if she picked the battery off the display unit herself, handed the battery and watch to the associate and asked, "Would you mind installing this battery into my watch?"

But even if that happened, the associate should have been aware enough to realize that people make mistakes (particularly the elderly considering potential eyesight and other issues) and double-checked to ensure that the customer had the right battery. You know, we try to take care of the elderly in our society. Well, except for balthisar, of course; he's just too cold-hearted.

@Daniel Alderman: "My 2 cents: Common sense says that the lady should not have been charged due to the error of the store employee. The customer's son in law called and was successful in getting the matter cleared up. But that wasn't enough for him...It's too expensive to go get the refund I just fought for. What do you want them to do, deliver you refund to you? Feed you grapes? Fall to their knees and beg forgiveness?"

I'm with you and scratching my head thinking, "And the problem here is...?"

In my language, when you have a problem with something someone has done; and that someone tries to fix the problem in a reasonable manner; it is called a RESOLUTION.

Too many more of these type stories and companies are going to start saying, "We're damned if we do, damned if we don't. If they are going to complain about us anyway, f*ck 'em then!" Honestly, I wouldn't blame them. Only a saint or a fool would continue to smile while getting kicked.

There is enough real corporate evil to complain about that we don't need to go looking under a rock in the Antarctic trying find it.

You know, stories like this get old on this site. You can't fix stupid, and unfortunately, stupid works at about every store in the country. This is not a "Target" problem, its a problem with people. Now if Target put out a memo that outlined a plan to screw people over on watch batteries, that would be news here... but this? Come on.

@Lambasted: I think the point is that the old lady would have been screwed if she hadn't complained to her son. It should have been taken care of immediately and not required a relative calling the manager.

target never seems to have what i want....they do give us relics a break on coffee in the food thingee.....i had a watch battery crap out, and the girl at the wally's world (wal-mart)jewelry counter replaced the battery ,did a good job , and only charged for the battery....

Yes, Target could have handled this better, but I'm curious about her having to buy the battery first. Did the customer pick out the battery from a display, or did the employee grab one claiming it was the correct battery? In either case, why didn't the customer double-check it was the right battery before paying it? Both my Timex watches clearly have what battery they require printed on the back of the case.
Then again, I only know to double-check what battery they put in since I had a jeweler put the wrong battery in my watch. I didn't it realize until it stopped running several times in one day. I got it replaced at Target over my lunch break. The employee replaced the battery and tested the one that had been in my watch (it was good, just the wrong one). I didn't have to pay until after the replacement was done.

Well did the old lady is questions try to escalate in store? Did she try to talk to a manager (that looked eager to correct a wrong). Rules are there for a reason and sometimes employees must follow them though the employee in question should have called a manager to facilitate a return.

I know I have always had a great experience in both shopping and returns at Target.

Obviously these $5 (or whatever the battery cost) were not as important as she claimed because $5 is not as important to me and I still would have gone and talked to the manager in store.

@Me.:
At the IKEAs in my orbit (Conshohocken PA and White Marsh MD) they have signs up in the loading area saying that IKEA employees cannot assist you in loading items into your car. I'm sure it's for precisely this reason, so the store isn't liable for employees damaging the items, the cars, or themselves. It's a shame, since most other stores will help you with a big item and damn the consequences, but it's posted policy.

Then again, I once dropped a Billy Bookcase while loading it into the car at the White Marsh store and crushed the corner. I took it right back inside, told the clerk at returns exactly what happened, and he sent me to get a new one, no problem.

Apparently, some days you eat the meatball, some days the meatball eats you.

@z4ce:
In my town, the difference between Target and Wal-Mart is like the difference between Greenwich CT and Flint MI. Less selection? That's OK, as long as the two choices Target has are functional and aesthetic, unlike the ten turds on a shelf that Wal-Mart has. The Target stores and employees manage to be clean and presentable, which I don't think the Wal-Mart was the day it opened.

At the same time, the Target employee in this post not only dropped the ball, they weren't entirely sure what a ball was and didn't know they were supposed to catch it. I sincerely hope this person was young enough to have a chance of growing a clue in the next few years as their brain matures, but experience tells me that isn't necessarily the case. On the other hand, blind obedience to "policy" without understanding the basis of the policy is a quality that opens up wonderful opportunities in the fields of civil service or health insurance.

I agree with the poster who said this was a stupidity problem, not a Target problem per se. I recently went to Target to replace a watch battery and because I did not buy my watch there, they would not replace it for me. (they'd sell the battery, but would not open the watch in case they damaged it). It was mildly inconvenient, but I understand their logic. And I am glad I had to take it to a real jeweler instead of someone putting in the wrong one and charging ME for it.

And I worked in an auto parts store and we frequently gave the wrong parts and customers would come back in and say, for example, "This lightbulb is an 8000 and it's supposed to be 8001" and we'd exchange it, no problem, especially if we made the error.

@LJKelley:
Thank you for including this. I couldn't agree more. Being able to avoid an apparently expensive trip to the store to retrieve the refund could have been avoided all together if the nice lady had escalated at the time. She didn't, for whatever reason, the son-in-law seems to think that she was feeble and dim-witted because she was 80 years old.

I've met my share of 80 year olds, and though some have been feeble, few have been dim witted. She just figured that it wasn't worth it to complain over a $5 item. I would argue that it was the principle, but in her wisdom she chose to let it go.

I suspect that son-in-law heard about it and was OUTRAGED! He decided to call the store and accuse them of taking advantage of a feeble and dim-witted old lady. The manager agreed, and then the customer was then upset because he had to go get it.

It wasn't worth it to drive to the store and pick it up. Gas prices and all.

Well, deal with it. If the $5 wasn't worth it, then perhaps the original customer was right not to complain in the first place...

I, were I the manager, again, would have dealt with it differently. Apology. Refund. gift certificate. A promise to educate the employee involved. But the Target manager in question was under no obligation to do so.

@balthisar: Based on the woman's age she lived in the era where women didn't work. They were supposed to stay home and depend on their hubby to provide. Even if she was left with a pension it very well could have run out.