Kmart Wouldn't Exchange Shoddy Briefcase Because I Lost Receipt

Margaret found her Kmart wouldn’t budge on its no-exchanges-without-receipts policy, even though she bought a Kmart-exclusive briefcase that fell apart within two days and submitted all the evidence she could think of to prove she’d made the purchase.

She writes:

Finally, after reading the conundrums of so many customers it’s my turn to ask for help with a Kmart problem. Here are the details:

Wednesday last week I went to the local Kmart in order to buy a new laptop rolling briefcase. The one I had til that moment was good for just the laptop and a couple of folders. I had my eye on one at Kmart, that had all the space I needed and its mother. Well, by Friday morning one of the handles was busted. Then on Sunday, the day before yesterday, since I was in the neighborhood and I had the briefcase in my car, I went to the store approached their customer service counter and that was not a nice experience. The woman managing it made me wait while she had a nice chitchat with another employee. When finally “her highness” decided to hear me I showed her and explained what happened with the briefcase. She asked for the receipt of course, and I explained to her that at that moment I didn’t have it on me. “We cannot refund your money without the ticket” she said. “I don’t want a refund, I just want to exchange it”. From there onwards everything went south. I kept detailing the whole transaction: where in the store was the bag, what other bags were around it, the price of the other bags, all the way down to who was the cashier that rang it. All this to no avail. The woman kept saying that “no receipt no refund” even when I was already going hoarse telling her that I didn’t want a refund, but an exchange.

Since in person was not working, I sent an email to their customer service. Well, that didn’t work either. Yes, I confess I lost the receipt, but this is a brand and model that just Kmart sells!!!! And for what is worth, I still have all the tags that came with the bag if that helps. Please Consumerist H E L P ! ! ! Is there anything else I can do?

If the briefcase is indeed only sold at Kmart and looked new, it seems that maybe the store could have cut her a break. What do you think, Consumerists?

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