Toys "R" Us. The absolute worst return/exchange system!

[Sunday]

I cannot believe a company like Toys R Us could have such a terrible, slow return/exchange system in place in the year 2010!

I bought Mario Galaxy by accident and intended to buy Mario Galaxy 2 also during the same trip I bought a board game for my niece but found out she had it already so I wanted to return it. I had the receipt for everything.

First place I go is the electronics to grab the Mario Galaxy 2 game. Then I head to customer service and stand in line which seemed like eternity but was probably 7-10 minutes. Of course only 1 person is working the counter.

Finally it's my turn. Yay! The girl hands me a piece of paper to write my name and address down. I'm thinking, ugh it's one of these places, no wonder the line was taking so long. I hand her the paper with my info and tell her I just want to exchange this video game for that one and return a board game.

You would think it was easy and quick right? Especially since I do have a receipt. Nope.

She tells me she can only refund my money for Mario Galaxy and then I would have to go "over there" to pay for the Mario Galaxy 2 game because her till isn't set up to do purchases. UGH!!! Then she tells me I have to fill out another form with my name and address to return the board game! What the....?? So in one transaction she returns the first game to my debit card. Then we redo it ALL over again with the board game with another transaction credited to my debit card. And finally I then have to go stand in line AGAIN at till number whatever it was to pay for the Mario Galaxy 2 game.

Seriously? Toys R Us can't set up a better system? Although I think giving my information for a return with a receipt is a total hassle, fine I can live with that but they seriously can't do exchanges? And they can't handle 2 different transactions at once? Ridiculous.

So during your festive toy shopping, keep in mind the return/exchange system at Toys R Us is a pain in the arse!

[francine1985]

i'm sorry you had that experience. at my local toys r us you have to pay for electronics and games before you can leave the electronics section (which can be a bit of a pain since we often like to shop in the rest of the store too and now have to wait in 2 lines as well). i went to toys r us a little while ago to get the difference back on a toy story tent i bought ds for x-mas and went to customer service while dh fed ds in the food court. anyway i had to fill out one of those cards too but she said just my name phone number and postal code was fine. then she asked if i had my debit card which i did not (dh had it in the food court. so i thought great i will have to wait in line again after i go get it)but the cashier said it was ok i could either have store credit or cash back so i got the cash. the process was a bit slow but the cashier was really nice so it didnt bother me much. sorry to steal your thread with my story

[BrutallyHonest]

A lot of stores will not allow refunds or exchanges on video games and software at all, even with a receipt.
In the month of December, I think it is reasonable to expect lineups at toy stores.

[Sunday]

The stores I have bought video games at: Best Buy, Future Shop, EB, Zellers, Walmart have always done returns/exchanges on video games as long as they are not opened.

My problem wasn't about the line ups, my problem is how can a company like Toys R Us not be able to do exchanges at their Customer Service desk. How is that efficient at all? All they are doing is moving customers from one line up to the next when it would only take 2 seconds to scan the product being exchanged for. Instead they are causing longer line ups with people shuffling from one to the next.

I may have purchased a video game, but it wasn't because it was a video game. Their Customer Service desk can't do any type of exchanges unless it's the exact same product. And they can't return and/or exchange 2 different products on 1 transaction. They have to do them individually. Again, that's not really efficient.

I understand this time of year there are longer line ups and am quite patient. However having to stand in a long line up twice for a simple exchange is frustrating no matter the time of year or what store it's at.

[BrutallyHonest]

You don't sound patient to me at all.
They did exchange both items; you're complaining they didn't do it fast enough for you.

Maybe be more careful with your purchases going forward, if you don't have time to line up twice to bring them back?

[Sally888]

im not sure what you were expecting with no receipt. The only one thats really good with no receipt is walmart. Its not a huge deal you had to go to another line, sometimes things aren't how we want them, but oh well. At least you still could return it, if it was zellers they would of chased you out with a broom.

[gracesmommy]

i think she did have the receipt.

[Sunday]

im not sure what you were expecting with no receipt.

I did have the receipt, I said that in my first post.


Whether it's a big deal or not I just think it's inefficient to not be able to make an exchange at the customer service desk whether it's a video game or a barbie doll. I think going through the process of returning a product with a receipt, and then having to purchase the product you wish to exchange it for elsewhere is abnormal in 2010. Regardless if it was a long line up, or no line at all I would still find it odd that I couldn't do this all at the same time. It's not about "them not doing it fast enough for me" It's about how can a company like Toys R Us not be able to set up their customer service desk to be able to do exchanges. It is odd. And on their side of things it is risky. For someone not so "patient" what would stop them from just going elsewhere they still need to go for errands or groceries and buying it from them? They already gave the full refund back, why would they want to chance it that people won't stand in the 2nd line up because of time restraints. (Anyone with children going to school, hockey, soccer, birthday parties or just having a meltdown know what I mean)

My intent was to share my experience, and vent like so many others do about an experience at a store, and give my take on their lack of ability to do certain transactions at what most stores and people do at the Customer Service desk.

At the time of my original post, of course like others, I was more frustrated then I am now about it. So my comments on 2 line ups just added to my frustrated experience which is not uncommon to what I have read on here before. But that does not mean anyone has the justification to judge whether I'm patient or not. And I find that last sentence completely silly to even write on a message board no one knows me on.

Edited to add one more thing:

Maybe be more careful with your purchases going forward, if you don't have time to line up twice to bring them back?

I had to add one last thing to this. I was buying this game for my son for Christmas. He only had written down he wanted Mario Galaxy for Christmas it wasn't until later that I realized it was Mario Galaxy 2 that he actually wanted. Maybe you could tell my 7 year old to be more careful?

With statements like this, it sure is a discouragement to even bother sharing experiences.

[gracesmommy]

standing in line in a toy store with a kid that wants to go check everything out and can't sit still. not such a great experience

[cabmonk]

I can understand your frustration. However, more stores are asking people returning things even with a receipt to fill out info for one main reason. People have been fishing receipts out of the trash cans by store entrances or finding them in the parking lot. Then they go into the store, find the items on the receipts and bring them to customer service and "return" them and they're trying to cut down on things like that.

[TudorChick]

they definitely by the sounds of it,need to atleast come up with a more efficient way of doing the returns/buying process.especially since it is the holidays.i worked in a big box store for 4 years,many holidays spent there.we always had to improvise to ensure happy customers and a higher turnout,therefore more profit.we never had people waiting in line to return/exchange/buy. it was all done in one line.quickly because we would set up a sign saying so.security was not lost.we still had people fill out the appropriate info to cover our butt.i see your frustration.definitely don't stop posting.some businesses need to see how they are in order to change. you are pointing out efficiency issues,which are valid here.i would too.i am not the kind to make a fuss but after the fact i would have emailed them just stating how this policy is making their store run inefficiently,especially during the holidays. btw,i worked at best buy,and we had rules in place,yes,but our store was unique in that the managers would always try new ways of doing things with permission from head office,just to see if we couldn't improve,which we did almost every time we tried something.we were voted cleanest,efficient,best service store more than a few times.sorry for rambling,but it doesn't sound to me like you were doing anything all that hard.you had the receipt,you were returning and getting something else.walmart's do this very thing in minutes.

[marchBB]

I would be ticked off too. That's such a waste of time, whether I have it to spare or not. A lot of us have better things to do than to wait in a line up.