Hmm, a Target "insider" who enjoys working for them, except for that pesky returns policy. Why would this person care whether or not we need receipts to return things? There are things about the way my company deals with the public on various issues, but I don't go posting on a consumer help site about how upset that makes me.

Even helpfully provides a means for us "outsiders" to complain and maybe get the policy changed.

Sounds to me that this in the end could actually be a pretty consumer-friendly policy change. Target is trying to put a stop to people ripping them off with bogus returns, and thereby raising everyone else's costs in the process.

Ugh, please stop calling customers "guests" unless you're going to serve us booze and dinner, and let us rifle through your medicine cabinet.

Out of curiosity when you return Items without a receipt what was the method of refund used, cash or store credit?

They'll still be able to process returns if you present the original credit/debit card used...right...?

To be honest, the ease with which Target returns things is one of the many reasons I like the place. Maybe if I ever form a gift registry some day, I might consider looking elsewhere (or requesting gift cards), but otherwise, I love Target's return system.

Because I always pay with a credit card, they can always return something, either with or without a receipt, as long as it is within 90 days. I can't stand returning things to stores that insist I fill out forms, present ID and do other pointless stuff, even with a receipt.

Just use your credit card and they'll look it up. done and done.

It goes both ways - I've seen people take advantage of the system. It's unfortunate that affects those of us that use the system legitimately because up until now, I've had generally good experiences just using the purchase card to look up a return at the stores. Maybe it's part greed by a big retailer, but either way, the system works until people find a loophole and ruin it for the rest of us. I saw someone the other day returning four of the same baby car seat without a receipt. What are the odds they legitimately bought all four and happened to not want any of them?

@disavow: No, no receipt no return period.

Right now its only under $20 with no receipt, it use to be $40 and now its going to be nothing. People complained on those comment cards when it was $40 and they have been since and all Target has done is make it worse so I highly doubt anything anyone says will matter unless its a HUGE backlash.

Target wont give any reasons for this change not even to people who work there.

im a bit confused and leary of the "tipster". target has never asked for a drivers license to complete a return, ever. they ask for your credit card, review the purchases made with the card, locate the item, and refund it to said card. ive done this many many more than two times a year. maybe even more than two times a month. perhaps its just the people paying with cash theyre changing the rules for? if thats the case then i dont blame them. if youre unable to determine whether the item was stolen, how much was paid for it, and if it was purchased within the return time frame why should you get your money back? if you paid cash for something like a car repair or rent and werent able to reproduce a receipt and it the service or charges were disputed you would be sol.

ok so reading the other commenters it does seem as if this is a cash return issue. if thats the case im even more leary of the tipster because of the way this person worded the change.

"Starting next year, guests will no longer be able to return items without a receipt."

it doesnt mention cash anywere in this post. no cash returns without a receipt is reasonable but it appears as if the op is just some disgruntled employee trying to start a huge backlash by not fully disclosing the actual changes. i couldnt be bothered to hang onto a piece of paper so i wouldve been one of the people angered by the change and probably wouldve written in.

"Target is just "going green" and saving on electron costs bynot looking up and seeing if a person's identification matches the credit card used to purchase an item"

even ben was mislead. tsk tsk indeed

I agree with this policy except for the headache it could potentially cause with legitimate gift-givers. For every person that rightfully wants to return a gift without a receipt, I'm sure there are 1,000 that would do so fraudulently though. It would be nice if they could look up receipt info via the credit card it was purchased on but it appears to be no dice. Keep a box/envelope of this stuff folks and remember they will fade if you keep them in your wallet.

@warf0x0r: Store credit is what I have been given in the past.

Ah the good old days...in starving college days my roommate used to switch price tags at a Target and buy a $40 appliance for $10. Then he'd return the $40 appliance "without" receipt and get $40 in cash. Beer money for the weekend.

Next step.... restocking fees for any return!

I really do HATE being punished for others who abuse the system.

@stanfrombrooklyn:
"Starving" means you need to steal for "beer money" ? Pathetic.

Um, this is already the policy at my local Target. Maybe they're just ahead of the curve, but I'm not sure how "new" this change is.

Does this include Credit Card returns? That is, will they no longer call up your purchase and accept the return if you paid by credit card?

@hapless: Yeah. If you have to steal to buy beer, DON'T BUY BEER. Water is free.

I recently bought something at Office Depot that I needed to return. I lost the receipt. However, the store manager was able to find the purchase using my credit card. After spending 20 minutes to find the duplicate receipt in their system, he then chose to inform me that they require an *original* receipt to process a return. Boo!!! DO they think their computer system is lying to them???

No one has explained why retaining your receipt is such a terrific hardship.

My local Target refused to return something with a receipt because I had cut the tags off. I didn't realize that Target sweaters were in the same category as designer ballgowns when I purchased it, or the tags wouldn't have ever been pulled. (It still had the fold creases in it.)

I had to call two stores and speak to two managers before I was able to return it.

The person who refused? Basically didn't want to have to look up the item code. Of course, the guest services manager was standing behind her at the time, so silly me for thinking it was a new (horrible) policy.

I'm not buying any clothing gifts at target this year, the window for returns with receipt is too short and I'm too afraid someone else will have the same experience I did (even with gift receipts). I draw the line at giving gifts with tags still on them.

Tarbutt has always had their head up their rear end:
================================

From: www.targetfiling.blogspot.com
go there for the full AP Directives

C. Five Steps for Apprehension
Certified AP team members must observe all five steps prior to making a shoplifter apprehension.

NOTE: If local law enforcement takes independent action and makes an apprehension before all five steps are met, the details must be documented in the CIRS report.

1. Initiation of Observation - The subject must enter the store/area without possession of Target merchandise.
2. Selection - The subject must be observed selecting Target merchandise from the display location.
3. Concealment - The subject must be observed concealing the merchandise, or the AP team member must have NO reasonable doubt based on observations that the merchandise has been concealed by the subject.
NOTE: If the merchandise is not actually concealed, it must be exposed as the subject exits or attempts to exit the store.

4. Maintain Observation - The AP team member must maintain sufficient surveillance of the subject in order to know the location of the merchandise and ensure the subject does not discard the merchandise.
NOTE: A Productive Merchandise Recovery (PMR) shall be attempted if surveillance is broken for any reason, or the AP team member can not maintain sufficient surveillance. (See PMR Directive).
5. Failure to Pay for Merchandise/Exiting the Store -AP team member(s) must observe the subject attempt to exit the store without paying for the merchandise.

NOTE: Some jurisdictions allow variances from the exiting requirement to allow apprehensions of concealed merchandise before an individual reaches the building's exit. In these cases, the requirements must be documented and approved by the Director or Vice President of Assets Protection using the "Variance from Exiting Form" (found on the AP Zone).

-----------------
D. Restroom / Fitting Room Apprehensions
AP team members are not allowed to conduct surveillance or make apprehensions in restroom and/or fitting rooms.
1. AP team members are not allowed to follow subject's into a restroom or fitting room to conduct surveillance.
2. AP team members shall not ask another team member to enter a fitting room or restroom to conduct surveillance.

---------------
B. Searches of Private Residence or Motor Vehicles
1. AP team members will NOT participate in a search of a private residence or motor vehicle.
--------------

The receipt thing has never bothered me THAT much (although the one time we managed to lose a receipt was the one time we needed to return something), but the nonsense with the gift registry was enough to get me to not use them and that was in 2004.

"You mean if someone buys something FROM THE REGISTRY, but doesn't give me a gift receipt, I can't even return it for store credit? Uhhh...Cya later?"

@GreatCaesarsGhost: Uh, because they already have proof that it was you who bought the item?

@GreatCaesarsGhost: And because having a receipt doesn't mean you'll get what you paid for at Target anyway. Please see the story about the Target customer who found rocks inside of their iPod boxes and were refused a refund:

[consumerist.com]

I don't get it. I've always just assumed that returns with receipt are the default. If a store wants to go above and beyond, good for them. But if the return back to the default position, I'm not really going to attack them for it. I mean, its a reasonable policy. That's why they give you receipts, after all. I know its frustrating if you lose it, but the store is acting reasonably. They did something extra before, now they aren't. Doesn't mean the current policy is unfair. Just means its not as generous as it used to be.

As much as I love shopping at Target, returning something there can be a major pain. I once bought a dvd that turned out to be a pan & scan "full screen" version instead of a normal widescreen version. To tell the truth, I didn't even know they still made pan & scan versions. I tried to exchange it and they didn't have any left. I then asked for a refund. They refused. I only wanted a gift card, they still refused. It was against their policy. The move hadn't even been opened. It was still sealed and it looked just like it did when I bought it. I ended up leaving in a huff with the stupid movie.

My wife took it to Wal-Mart and swapped it out there for a widescreen copy.

@SaveMeJeebus: For every person that rightfully wants to return a gift without a receipt, I'm sure there are 1,000 that would do so fraudulently though.

So you feel that the ratio of crooks to honest people in the world is 1000 to 1? Yikes. Luckily, your assessment is way off base.

In reality, less than 10% of retail returns industry-wide are fraudulent. And this number includes all return fraud, not just returning stolen goods without a receipt.

So Target is perfectly fine with inconveniencing a huge number of legitimate customers to stop a small number of dishonest ones. Of course, given how many retailers are buying in to the "receipt check" mentality, this doesn't surprise me one bit.

Instead of having to start a receipt collection for every single thing you buy, here's a suggestion for everyone - shop at better stores. Stores that treat all their customers like crap to deter that small percentage of customers who are out to rip them off have decided that customer service is clearly not the priority it should be.

Well my fiance and I were going to use Target for a registry for our April wedding. She registered for a few things without me, and after making a few changes to it, she wanted to show me what she had done. When we pulled it up, there was nothing...no items, and strangely my name had been removed from the system (hers still remained on the registry).

Fast forward to last week, and she returned to Target to restart the registry, and got all of our info correct, but when she went to scan items, the scanners were out of power. Not one, or two--EVERY scanner.

Between the problems just creating a registry, and the fact that we'll need receipts for returns (come on, who gives receipts with wedding gifts?...and if you do get receipts, that's a lot to keep track of after a crazy wedding), I don't think we'll be using Target.

Anyone got any better places to register?

@CelesteD: They only asked for a license on returns where a cc wasnt used. The new policy however includes cc returns meaning no receipt no return whether you have the card or not.

I work at Target, I read the memo, i heard about it from management, NO RECEIPT NO RETURN PERIOD.

I hope Target is smart enough to continue receipt lookup. This means if you pay by ANY media (credit/debit card, check, gift card (always be sure to ask to have it back from the cashier EVEN if it is empty, so it can be used for receipt lookup later)) EXCEPT cash, and retain that piece of media, a guest service team member will be able to look up your receipt.

I don't really think of this as a downgrade, because I bet 95% of the time when people return things without a receipt, they purchased it elsewhere or they are trying to rip off the company. At least they have the 'credit card lookup' function, which makes it almost unnecessary to keep your receipts as long as you use the same card @ Target.

@Scoosdad:

If the tipster works at the Customer Service/Returns counter, I'd bet that they would care a lot. It's not the most awesome job to begin with, and making return policies stricter means dealing with more customer complaints.

@SOhp101: I don't really think of this as a downgrade, because I bet 95% of the time when people return things without a receipt, they purchased it elsewhere or they are trying to rip off the company.

When mid and high level executives start thinking like this is when stores start treating all their customers like potential thieves. Simply put, your cynicism is misplaced - the actual ratio is almost exactly the opposite of your numbers.

I can't help but wonder how the retail landscape would be different if Elmer Nordtstrom or Eddie Bauer had thought this way.

To everyone who wonders why a Target employee would leak this, it's easy.
He or she is one who is going to have to stand behind a counter and listen to people freak out about this.
It won't matter if Target posts it in letters three feet tall all over the store, prints it in neon on every receipt, and hires a door checker to remind each individual customer about the policy.
This "Insider" will be yelled at, insulted, and threatened for enforcing policies he or she had no hand in making. Giving the refunds would get him/her fired, and not giving returns will have angry customers calling corporate on him/her TRYING to get him/her fired.
I'd leak it too.

i recently got married, and my wife and I registered at Target, and Bed bath and beyond. needless to say we registered before the cutoff date requiring this, so we were allowed to return items with out a receipt, but if not, there would be hundreds of dollars of merchandise we dont need in our house right now.

if you're looking to register for a wedding or anything else like that, go to bed bath and beyond, no receipt required, if its theirs, they'll take it back and give you your money.

@Buran: Uh, no they don't if you paid by cash. In that case, how do they have a record that it was purchased?

@medic78:
Dillards gave exemplary service with our registry. They made a mistake & accidently sent 8 of one thing & 1 of something else (they got the numbers of the items wrong & it should have been the other way around). I offered to come in & exchange & they were really nice and sent someone to exchange our stuff. Just "don't worry about it - we'll take care of it" & they did.
I have shopped in Dillards since then to get gifts for friends' registries (and for "regular shopping"), and they have always had a really high level of service.
Bed Bath & Beyond was good, too - I was really impressed with how efficient their system was & what a nice selection of items they had.

my wife and i registered at target when we got married in may. their service and return policy was absolutely terrible. everything we heard from employees then said it was only going to get worse. now it has. we've told everyone we know NOT to register there for wedding or baby.

I was just at Target this weekend, trying to return a gift that we didn't need. However there was no receipt at all given to us and it would be extremely embarassing, to say the least, to ask the giver of the gift for the receipt.

However Target didn't care. They wouldn't accept any returns without a receipt whatsoever. Too bad for us.

I can understand Target not wanted to accept merchandise that's been damaged or opened without a receipt, but in this case it was still sealed in the original packaging! There would've been nothing preventing them from putting it right back on the shelves.

I pointed all this out and was hit with the ultimately brush off.

They couldn't take it back because that was story policy.

Bye bye!

@medic78: Crate and Barrel was pretty good to us. When our registry was accidentally deleted from the system (OK, that part sucked) I was able to work with the same customer service rep. over the course of a couple phone calls to get it sorted out, and she ended up sending a $50 gift card for our trouble. So, getting the registry deleted sucked, but the service was good.

I won't shop there for significant purchases any longer if they implement a ridiculous policy like this. I'm engaged and had been planning on registering there, but if it's going to be this much trouble, I won't bother.

@NODREN & MEDIC78
I too just got married and had registered with Target, but had issues when we went to return something that we received in duplicate. Since it was $29, and over the $20 limit, we were told that since we did not have the receipt, we would have to call an 800 number. No store credit, nada. We mentioned that we had received it in duplicate because not only it had not been taken off of the registry when the first one was purchased, it still showed "0" after the 2nd one! We got the standard "nothing we can do...policy...blah, blah, blah". At this time my lovely Bride started to go APESHIT and my sister happened to be there and knew our other sister had purchased it for us. She called her and got the numbers off of the receipt that they needed to confirm that the item had been purchased at a Target. I kinda felt sorry for clerks in the Return Dept because obviously it's not their fault AND I know what it's like to be on the receiving end of a tirade by my wife! We got our credit added to our gift cards and the last thing I asked the girl behind the counter was "What would have happened when we called the 800 number? What would they have done? Would we have sent the product to them and then they gave us a credit?" She had no answer. Maybe we would have been S.O.L.. You would think they would have a better plan for their employees in the "line of fire" that work that department. Hopefully everyone who gets a gift from there will also get a gift receipt and maybe that is the key to avoiding his kind of issue in the future.

@CelesteD: I was asked for a driver's license for a return last week. They asked me for this before I even presented the item.