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My goal today is to give you the skinny on return policies and store hours with Christmas right around the corner. I must say though, every time I read retailers’ return policies, particularly Target, I find myself cringing! They will bend over backwards to take all of our money but can’t help you a bit when you have something to return.
On December 26, Target will be open from 7a-11p and after that, they will resume their regular store hours of 8a-10p M-Sa and 8a-9p on Sun. On their return policy, if I didn’t love Target so much, I would hate it! A portion of Target’s return policy is horrible and it would make Emily Post turn in her grave! When the twins were born, I learned the hard way of how Target had permanently altered the beauty of gift-giving. You can only imagine how many gifts we received and we had so many things to exchange. Target requires a receipt for all returns AND exchanges. They will issue a store credit without a receipt three times in a year and if you try any more than three, you will feel like a true convict! Here is a direct quote from Target’s return policy “Gift Givers are strongly encouraged to include a Gift Receipt whenever a gift is purchased.” Basically, you have to include a gift receipt with every gift you give. This really bugs me to no end. Maybe I don’t feel like letting my gift recipient know that I bought her gift at Target. Maybe I wanted her to think I found it at a chic boutique. The only remotely cool thing that Target does with returns is they do keep track of your spending on your credit card (actually, this is very Big-Brother-ish and kinda scary!). So you can actually throw out your receipts as long as you know it’s on your credit card. You’re toast if you paid cash and you don’t have your receipt. You better go ahead and mark off one of your three freebie returns. And you may want to save it for a super big one, like a hi-def TV or something. Personally, I think we should all ban shopping at Target for one month. It would be kind of funny to see how long we all last!
Wal-Mart has an impressive holiday hour schedule and actually, a normal schedule. Did you know the Pineville/Matthews location is open 24/7 with the exception of Christmas and other major holidays? They will open at 6a on December 26 and will resume their 24/7 schedule. I don’t think this is the case for all Wal-Mart locations but I do know that they are all opening at 6a on December 26. Wal-Mart is top of my list for their return policy. They will issue you a store credit as long as the item is unopened and in its original packaging, with a few exceptions. I’m pretty sure there is no limit to the number of returns you can do without a receipt. Sam Walton is true to his vow of exceptional customer service. This is super important to us busy moms because who has time to keep track of all their receipts anyway. If only Wal-Mart had the same store design as Target. I can’t fit my double-wide stroller through the aisles in Wal-Mart, so again, I’m forced to live by Target’s rules.
Toys R Us will be open at 7a on December 26 and Babies R Us will open at 9:30a. Toys R Us and Babies R Us also allows you to return items with or without a receipt. You must present a valid ID and they will give you store credit. This is very nice, especially for new moms who get many duplicate gifts. I still think it’s so lame to include gift receipts all the time.
Most boutiques will resume their normal store hours posted on their doors after Christmas. Pretty much all boutiques will only issue store credit even with a receipt. Most of them are pretty good about knowing what was purchased at their store. If you know you’re going to return a gift from a boutique, it might be a good idea to save the wrapping if it has a store sticker on it. These small businesses just can’t hang with the big retailers on issuing cash or credit card returns. And we boutique shoppers have been trained and fully understand this policy.
What do you think?
2 comments
I could not agree more about Target! When my twins were born is when we came to blows over the return policies and store credit issues! I think it was more than 6months before we even stepped foot in a Target. On the other hand, walmart always came through and were awesome! You have nailed both stores! Great job Jen P.
Ditto. Target is the worst about returns!!!