Complaint Review: Target

I was able to exchange baby items not on my registry for a Target gift card. As long as I proved that I had a registry, they were very easy to work with and very nice. Another thing is that Target offers gift receipts for any regular purchase, and they most certainly offer it when I purchase baby items. Any of your many non- register following family members should've paid attention and taken the gift receipts, or asked for them. That is what they are for!

I often hear of Target's terrible return policy - but when the gift receipts are offered and are a pretty well know Target feature, I often wonder why people don't take/use them. I am not sure if this is your first kid, but take the others' advice and get some clothes in bigger sizes. You WILL need them! Things could be worse, you could've not had a baby shower at all. In essence Target didn't rip you off at all.

I mean it does state the rules but it's still odd. Besides all that, they are incredibly slow at doing returns and never seem to know what they are doing. I hate returning stuff at Target, which isn't often luckily.

Targets gift registry is a joke! I completely agree, I would NEVER use it again. I always let my friends and family know whenever they are registering for something to not bother with target. I registered for my wedding about 3 weeks before the wedding date (we planned in only about 2 1/2 months) and by the time friends and family went there..nothing was in stock anymore! They were lucky if they could find it in the clearance section.

We only registered for about 80 items and there were like 5 available when people went in THREE WEEKS LATER! 2 friends of mine have also had this problem, luckly they registered at about 12 different places lol. So I didn't get anything off of my registry and many repeats...like two toasters, rice makers, etc. and things I already have.

And Peter, while it is true that she should be thankful for gifts received (we all should) she isn't being ungrateful by wanting to return the items that she does not need and WILL NOT use!
When you give a gift do you not want the giftee to enjoy it? Wouldn't you rather they return something they cannot use for something they can? After all it is the thought that counts... You wanted to give a gift to someone that they will enjoy. Not that will sit in the closet, or be given to someone else! For all you know she sincerely thanked those people for the gifts and really did appreciate the though, however she cannot use them.

Anyhow I can understand how she was upset (almost a year ago) because many people do not give gift receipts or buy off of the registry. (And that is fine, if someone wants to buy a gift for you they are obviously not obligated to buy you something off of a list, but it's reasonable to expect in that case that your gift may not be needed or used.)

So now all her friends and family have bought her gifts and she is unable to use them all, or return them for something she can use! I think those people would feel worse knowing that she gave them away or donated them than if she was able to return them and get something that was needed.

Again.. even though it is stated on the return policy it kinda sucks for people who have no control over the reciept to begin with.

I know I had tons of little baby clothes but not many as my kids got bigger.

I think you should either donate the clothes or get bigger sizes for later on when your baby starts to outgrow everything.

After reading I can understand why they have this policy but I am sure it was a bummer. Hoping you enjoy your baby and make the best of this situation.

It is not Target's fault or responsibility that your guests did not stick to your registry list. Target is not obligated to take the clothing back or exchange it. They are being generous in doing so.

There are a couple of things that you could do with the extra clothing. The first is to take Target up on their offer. Exchange the clothing for larger size items that can be worn in the future. Keep those items boxed up or in storage until you need them. It is amazing how fast little ones can grow! A second solution would be to donate the clothing. There are many worthwhile organizations out there that would be able to distribute the clothing to those less fortunate.

You have a couple of options for trying to avoid this situation in the future. The first is to ask that your relatives/friends/etc. don't buy you gifts or that if they are going to give you something that they only give you money. That way you have more control over what the money is spent on. You could also request that they include a gift receipt with each gift. Or you could do what a lot of people do which is smile, thank them for the time and effort they put out on your behalf, and then quietly find someone (or a charitable organization) that could use any items that you can't use yourself.

I don't work for Target so I don't know their official stance on why you can only return to the same department. But I do have a few educated guesses. The first was well covered by another person posting. It is one way to discourage theft. Another factor to think about is that each department is usually considered to be separate for inventory purposes.

It is not Target's fault or responsibility that your guests did not stick to your registry list. Target is not obligated to take the clothing back or exchange it. They are being generous in doing so.

There are a couple of things that you could do with the extra clothing. The first is to take Target up on their offer. Exchange the clothing for larger size items that can be worn in the future. Keep those items boxed up or in storage until you need them. It is amazing how fast little ones can grow! A second solution would be to donate the clothing. There are many worthwhile organizations out there that would be able to distribute the clothing to those less fortunate.

You have a couple of options for trying to avoid this situation in the future. The first is to ask that your relatives/friends/etc. don't buy you gifts or that if they are going to give you something that they only give you money. That way you have more control over what the money is spent on. You could also request that they include a gift receipt with each gift. Or you could do what a lot of people do which is smile, thank them for the time and effort they put out on your behalf, and then quietly find someone (or a charitable organization) that could use any items that you can't use yourself.

I don't work for Target so I don't know their official stance on why you can only return to the same department. But I do have a few educated guesses. The first was well covered by another person posting. It is one way to discourage theft. Another factor to think about is that each department is usually considered to be separate for inventory purposes.

To address your response, personally I would rather have my relatives keep their money then waste it on Target baby clothing that will never be used. In addition, you obviously can not read if you think I am trying to make a quick buck. If you would re read the complaint, you would see that I wanted to spend the money on other baby items at Target already on my registry. You obviously work or have stock in Target or something because your comments lacked credability or empathy. Target's return policy is a ripoff.

without a receipt, they have no way of knowing if the item was actually purchased there or if it was stolen. When I was in college I worked for an outlet shoe store and you would be shocked at how many people would just pick something up and walk to the counter to try and return it claiming it was a gift or they lost the receipt. When I first started there (the store had just opened), the return policy was very liberal. It only took a couple of months for people abusing that for it to change. I think they limit you to the same department to keep it a less attractive way to steal (if they didn't, someone could take $20 worth of clothes and maybe exchange it for $20 worth of electronics or something harder to steal). Just a thought....

So, allowing any return whatsoever without a receipt is pretty generous, in my opinion. If you are not comfortable asking the giver for the receipt, maybe you could donate the items to charity and make the best of it.

First of all, you say that you registered for your gifts at Target. Did you not see the big red signs all over the customer service counter that displayed the return policy? How could you not know about this policy when you registered, and why did you choose to go through with the registration process? Trying to slander Target and accuse them of being a "ripoff" is terribly inappropriate given that the situation is completely and entirely your fault.

Second, these items were GIFTS. You should be grateful to have received them, regardless of how much you value their usefulness, and thankful to those who were thinking of you when they carefully selected their gifts. If you do not like them or do not want to keep them for whatever reason, why don't you do something nice such as "the girl from church" and give them to someone who will appreciate them? Looking to turn them into a quick buck at the return desk is not only tacky but shows your true lack of appreciation.