Eeeek, I'm getting married in october.... Anyone know how walmarts registry is?

I haven't had any bad experiences at Target. Then again I've never had to deal with the Customer Service desk. All I buy is consumable things or ones that hardly need to be returned (such as toys). I haven't shopped there in a long while, possibly because I've found better alternatives to shopping at department stores.

At one time, Dillard’s was the same way regarding gift receipts from credit card purchases. I had accompanied a friend who was attempting to return a shirt to one with a gift receipt, and the cashier would not provide any sort of credit except to the original card. This sounds like either a surreptitious way to discourage people from using credit cards or from returning gifts.

Target is awesome - Sounds like there are just a few idiots who work there (like everywhere). Williams-Sonoma tried to do the same thing to me - they insisted my friends only paid $4 for my wedding gift (the clearance price of a baking pan) - I finally proved otherwise, and received my full store credit.

I'm still heading to Target today for my errands - can't stop this loyal shopper!

Hmmm, registering at Target....

Somehow that doesn't seem very romantic. Next we'll hear people registering at Wal-mart.

Personally, I find the whole idea of registry a little tacky... Telling people what gifts to get you, and where they should shop to get them. But that's me.

"We've established guidelines when offering this service to provide you with a consistent experience."

A consistent on is FAR different from a good one.

While Target has obviously screwed things up here, it's interesting the person in this story is ripping on some guy she talked to from "New Delhi".

I only mention this because an accent does NOT MEAN the person is located in India! I worked at a North American call center and we had many employees with accents.

On another note, I thought at all most all the big box stores you could return items at any store, but perhaps the rules are different for registry items?

I would be very upset if this happened to me. From my own experience with Target they've always been exceptional with returns, even when I haven't had a receipt they were very good about looking up the purchase and issuing a $100 gift card. Guess it's hit or miss depending on the employee you are dealing with.

And no one has mentioned chargeback?

Well its a good thing my family never got me gifts from my Target registry for my wedding or the upcoming baby or from any other registry, for that matter.

Oh wait... :(

A Target Manager called me a Son of a Bitch one time. They were having some sort of power issue, which is fine, except they had no one at the entrance, so people were coming in, myself included. Then they had Target employees running all over the store shooing people out. I said, why don't you just put someone at the entrance telling people not to come in. Some lackey told me that they couldn't lock the store down til everyone was out. I said, "How do you expect to get the store empty when you aren't stopping anyone from coming in?" No answer, asked someone else on the way out, again no answer. On my way out, I heard her call me a son of a bitch, I went back in to ask for the manager. She was it! I should have followed up on it with a letter to target corporate and the consumerist, but eh laziness got the better of me that day.

The son of a friend of mine is getting married soon and I feel like I have no place to buy their gift. They registered at Target and Macy's and I hate buying things at both of these stores. Maybe I'll just get them a gift card.

Hmmmmm...not sure all the details are presented here accurately. I've returned many things to Target of all sizes, shapes, and costs. Not once has the returns person had to call someone on the phone if I had the true receipt. Before I can pass sentencing here on Target, I need the poster to tell us why Target felt the need to call someone on the phone. Thank you. Judge John.

@SkokieGuy: Pretty tough to file a chargeback when the product is in the person's hand.

I sympathize with the consumer, I do. But I had to laugh at the "taking a high chair from an expectant mom."

I mean, they should have given you the money. But...you RETURNED the high chair, dude. Stick with the stuff you're right about. It's a minor point, only gently chuckled over -- it's certainly ridiculous when store managers can't fix an error like this.

This is disappointing. Target is one of the very few stores I've never had issues with. I get nervous reading this. Best Buy is on the top of my naughty list though.

Most stores have a policy about cards - if you charge it to one, the refund goes to it. It's very easy to fake cash advances without that and has a high chance of fraud. If she was asking for cash back that might have been the big issue.

Now, the heartless side of me has to say, the store took nothing from you except maybe some time. The store, however, did take money from a family member for a product.

@SkokieGuy: The item was a gift originally purchased by someone other than OP, a chargeback will not work here.

Not trying to blame the customer here, but "they yelled at me!" sounds more than a little petulant and whiny and makes me wonder about this woman's maturity level. Maybe her conversation with the "person from India"* got a little heated, but I don't believe for a second that anyone shouted at her.

* Her constant references to India are also a little annoying and make me less sympathetic.

I think it's stupid that even when the nice, competent employees try to fix something the system won't allow them to do so.

@Dooley: Gift registries are perfectly acceptable. It's a list of suggestions from the people you are shopping for; you are free to get them something 'off-list'. They've been around for a long time, they just haven't been as readily available in the past, or in every freaking store as they are now.

...but I don't believe for a second that anyone shouted at her.
@Superawesomerad: Why not?

My fiance and I are registered at Target, and we've had a good amount of trouble with items disappearing from the registry mysteriously, or getting replaced with items that we didn't put on there.

It's not a huge deal, but it is a bit of a pain that the service doesn't work the way it should the first time.

Oh my God, I'm having horrible flashbacks to my time at "Guest Services". This woman sounds especially like the people who used to scream at me when things weren't going their way. The Target managers (note: "Team Leaders") were basically paid $10 an hour to keep the store running while periodically coming up front to get screamed at by the most obnoxious people I have ever met. And the punchline was there was nothing we could do, because Target's answer to barely training people was to make sure we had absolutely no ability to do anything but a few basic tasks. It was a nightmare from both ends.

@Dooley: I guess it beats getting 3 toasters, 2 sets of steak knives, and 14 shower curtains, though.

@Rectilinear Propagation: Because those calls are recorded, not to mention that someone shouting in a customer service phonebank is pretty easily picked out by their supervisor.

@Rectilinear Propagation: Because of the overall whiny and dramatic tone she takes throughout. "I hope the store feels good taking a high chair back from an expectant mom [emphasis mine]?" YOU WERE RETURNING IT, WOMAN. If anyone actually raised his or her voice at this chick, my guess it it's because she wasn't handling things too famously herself.

Or maybe I'm just a terrible, mean person for not sympathizing with a (most likely) hormone-addled pregnant woman. Take your pick.

@Superawesomerad: I agree...a well-worded letter would have gone a lot further to gain my sympathies (and perhaps a more coherent response from Target). This seems like a tantrum on paper (or on a blog I guess).

It was a gift. It's not like the $74 was out of her pocket. If it takes a little longer to get it, then what's the deal? And moreover, it was her fault to take the first refund. If you know something is $100 you don't take the $26 and then try again for the other $74...

She must not read consumerist as much as she writes to it to behave like this...

"... Target told her that according to their records the current clearance price is what the person actually paid for the gift..."

Barring a simple computer glitch, this story is missing something. Say, for example, Buyer uses CC to buy the gift at full price, sees it's on sale and wants a credit to the sale price which is done under a new receipt. Two receipts now exist. The story can go in several directions from there.

@Dooley: I agree, they are horribly tacky. The worst is when the registry is printed on the invitation. That is not a suggestion, that is them telling you what to buy them for a gift.

Blech. I never buy off registries, ever.

if you go to the link "target is the devil" you will find halfway down the page on the right side an ad for target's baby gift registry site...hmmm

FWIW for the OP, whenever I've had issues with Target and got a reply email that didn't seem to answer my question or solve my problem, I've gotten success by simply hitting the Reply to Email button and typing off a 2nd email pointing out their mistake/misunderstanding. The first time I did it just to vent rather than bang my head on the wall, and was surprised I got a reply and a resolution. It might be worth it to the OP to reply to their email, as it doesn't appear to be one of those "donotreply" emails and might actually get some traction.

A lot of the commenters defending Target seem to be missing the point of this and other similar posts about Target. I have yet to see any posts about problems with target IN GENERAL. All of the posts I remember seeing on Consumerist deal with their horrible wedding registry.

I have successfully steered 4 weddings (including my own) away from registering with Target and will continue to do so until there is conclusive evidence of their system getting fixed.

Of course, I will continue to shop there for normal stuff because I have never had a problem on a day-to-day basis and I bet most people feel the same way.

A chargeback will work. It must be instituted by the cardholder, not the gift recipient. Since the cardholder provided the original receipt, presumably they are cooperative.

You do not need the product to institute a chargeback. Proof of the return (the credit slip that shows the amount credited to the card) + the original receipt proofs to the CC company that the refund was not correct.

Gift receipts are supposed to reflect actual sales price, so this should have been fixed immediately. The "lowest price" is supposed to apply to things where no receipt is available but the store is willing to accept the return. So something doesn't make sense.

As for the OP, she is right, but easy there, hoss - you returned a gift, the idea that Target is stealing from YOU is a bit silly. They are stealing from your stepmom, though.

To the people objecting about her India reference:

The post indicates that the store manager told the customer she had to call New Delhi in order to figure out the way to process the additional credit amount. In other words, the manager called technical support and may have known where the calls are handled. The OP is merely providing us informatiion provided to her by a Target employee.

Are people now reading Consumerist simply for (wrong) opportunities to scream 'racist'. It is not called for in this case.

Now let's get back to bashing Target.

I've always understood that part of the agreement between the merchant and the card issuer is that they are not allowed to refund cash for a CC purchase, and must refund the charge to the CC. This is because to refund the item for cash counts as a cash advance in the eyes of the issuing bank. Something that they charge a higher interest rate for than a normal purchase, and they don't want you to do a run-around on that charge by purchasing something and returning it for cash.

Any woman that will let me set our gift registry to Gamestop, well, that's the woman I'm marrying.

Of course, I'll have to settle for less, but the thought's out there.

ya know... maybe if they stopped acting like it was a "team" the employees would be better trained and have better attitudes. it's better that someone realizes they are getting PAID to behave a certain way and will have that pay taken away because it's a job and not a game.

i try not to buy something i'm not sure of so i can avoid return fiascos but i understand about registries.

i hope you kept the receipt. charge back time.

@Jevia: Cash/check is the best gift. :)

@sleze69: I wish I had known you last year! Before our wedding last May, one of the places we registered at was Target. A month after the wedding, I gathered up a few things that we had gotten duplicates of or that were broken in shipping from Target.com (a WHOLE other story). When I brought everything back to my target with what gift receipts were given and a copy of my registry, it took three hours before everything was said and done and I walked out with a Target gift card. What a miserable experience.

A friend of mine is getting married next month and when she was figuring out where to register, I made darn sure she stayed away from Target.

I have my wedding registry set up at Target mainly because you can always find one, no matter what part of the country you may be in. My fiance and I have friends and family all over the place, and they all have a Target in their neighborhood. Also, my family overseas can select items from the registry and have them delivered directly to my home.

@Dooley: I used to be a little weirded out by the idea of a bridal registry too...until I worked in the wedding industry. In the States it's standard operating procedure. Printing where you're registered on the invite or info card is deffo tacky tacky tacky (as is "Cash gifts are preferred" - yikes); but if an invitee approaches the family of the couple, there's not a thing wrong with letting them know. The purpose of a registry is to make life easier for the gifter.

@Scuba Steve: My wife let me register at the official Star Wars store... There are worse things in life...

Oh, and we registered for (and got) an XBox on our Target registry. Which, other than me scanning milk and gum with the fun scanner-gun, had absolutely no problems.

Wait Wait. What?
Consumer received a gift, from a Target registry. A registry is setup for bridal/expecting moms to list gifts they need purchased. Right?
This consumer received a gift she didn't want? Returns it to get refund -NOT exchange (with gift receipt) for more than gift was bought? Contradicts Target that gift WAS more than current price (has receipt. LET US SEE A COPY OF BOTH).
Sounds like someone is trying to pull one over (either Target or Consumer). Something doesn't make sense here. Wouldn't they just credit the card if there is a receipt?

I think target should easily give her a gift card. I side with the OP, exect on the verbage that they stole from her. No one stole anything. Target did wrong by not giving a gift card for the whole amount. But they didn't steal anything. The OP got it as a gift, she didn't buy it with her own money then try to get a refund.
So come on Target, it should be easy to just give a gift card.

That letter from "Dannie" is either computer generated or Bangalore Babble.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I love Target, but they're only as good as their minimum wage drones. It truly is a product of the local educational system-apathetic, incompetent, all around worthless employees, or people who can actually think for themselves and actually care.

@Dooley: Personally, I find the whole idea of registry a little tacky... Telling people what gifts to get you, and where they should shop to get them. But that's me.

A lot of people actually want this, as I discovered when I was getting married. People want to know that they're getting you something you can use, something you need, instead of your 6th blender. The registry helps people avoid duplicate gifts.

And registering at Target, or a similar store, is a great way to deal with the fact that people want to do their wedding shopping before they fly out to your wedding. Being able to get your registry seven states away is pretty convenient.

I hear what you're saying - ideally, a gift-giving occasion should be one where you just know the person so well that choosing a gift is easy. But a situation like a marriage or a new child is often one that distant relatives, work colleagues, or friends-of-friends get involved in, and they may not know you well enough to pick something, but may well feel obligated to bring a gift, anyway.

For my own part I always give a kitchen fire extinguisher as a gift. It's an item that relatively few people remember to buy, but everyone should have.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

The two classes of women you DON'T want to mess with are brides and expectant mothers. They are both going through enormous amounts of stress, usually dealing with it with admirable courage and restraint, and worthy of your utmost respect and accomodation.