Horrible Zellers! I'm glad they'll soon be gone!

[MapleLeaves]

So a week ago I bought some linens for $20 with a gift card(Receipt A). I didn't bring the HBC rewards card as I barely shop there. Yesterday I saw the HBC newsletter in my email with a 25,000 points coupon if spending $40+ at Zellers, so I printed it out and headed for Zellers to pick up some other items I was going to get anyway. The new items I was getting were over $20, so I went to the Customer Service counter for the check out. I took out Receipt A, asking if they could combine that purchase along with the new purchase so that I could use the bonus points coupon. I was told NO, all the purchase would have to be done on the same day in the same transaction. I asked if I could simply do a return on Receipt A, and repurchase it along with the new items. I was told yes, as long as the item I was returning was physically presented and unused.

So instead of going home to grab the linens, I bought a new pack from the store and checked out at the cashier counter (Receipt B). I went back to the Customer Service counter to return the linen pack with Receipt A (I had to do the return on Receipt A first because it was paid with a gift card, and I wanted to reuse that for the new purchase). The return was done (- let's consider Receipt A voided). Then I repurchased the linens with other stuff and got the bonus points (Receipt C). After the new purchase was done, I took out the linen pack from the bag, present my Receipt B, and asked to return it (otherwise I would end up with two packs as the initial one I bought is at home.)

The CS woman was confused, saying I couldn't do that. I said it wasn't complicated as she thought, but she made it a scene and called her supervisor, almost screaming on the phone. While I was listening to her talk on the phone, I found that she really made things more complicated than it should be. She screamed to her supervisor that the product I returned earlier was not brought from home, but from the shelve (- but hey, I paid for it and have receipt B, it's my property now, it doesn't matter whether I brought it from home or not, it's legitimate for me either to keep it or to return it). I told her I just wanted to save a trip going back home to grab the product, that's all.

So the supervisors came. They said it's fraud, and I could have got arrested for it. I was stunned, I haven't done anything illegal here. They said I could only return the original product bought with the Receipt A, I could not buy another product to do the return even though the products were identical, it's considered fraud.

All my purchases are legitimate, the receipts are legitimate, so any return I make should be also legitimate, but I guess they're too dumb to see it that way. In the end I said fine, I would keep everything. They marked on both of my receipt B and C to make sure I won't be using either of them to return the new pack of linens, and took down some information off the receipts, saying it's for further investigation. WTF!

Now I have valid Receipt B and C, each has a pack of lines on, and I have two packs of linens (one at home, one in the store with me) but I'm not able to return one of them. All I wanted to do was just to combine two purchases in order to use the points coupon, if I knew they were on such a distorted mind set and gonna make such a big fuzz about it, I wouldn't have shopped there in the first place, the points ($2?) were not worth the time I lost and the harassment I received.

I won't be surprised if later I see they take off the points I received from the purchases, considering they already threatened to have an innocent customer arrested!

[momo28]

What did they mark on your 2 receipts that you cannot possibly do a return? Could you try to do the return at another store?

[MapleLeaves]

What did they mark on your 2 receipts that you cannot possibly do a return? Could you try to do the return at another store?

They marked 'final sale'.

[jessep13]

you could try contacting head office about it, although I dont know if they will do anything considering they are closing soon

[GoJays]

would have been a lot less confusing for you to just go home and get the linens............ imo

[Shwa Girl]

I feel sorry for the employees who have lost their job or will lose their job in the next little while.

[thriftygranny]

would have been a lot less confusing for you to just go home and get the linens............ imo

Amen to that statement.

[MapleLeaves]

would have been a lot less confusing for you to just go home and get the linens............ imo

Of course! I wanted to save a trip and didn't expect it would be so difficult for them to figure things out...I wouldn't have gone there in the first place if I knew what was gonna happen.

But threatening to get the customer arrested? Don't you think they went too far? Everything I did was legitimate!

[GracieAnne]

That is fraud you realize. Even if it is the same item, it isn't the initial product.

It may seem to you like something simple and not complicated, but it is fraud.

[MapleLeaves]

That is fraud you realize. Even if it is the same item, it isn't the initial product.

It may seem to you like something simple and not complicated, but it is fraud.

If they didn't say OK for the return and repurchase I wouldn't have gone ahead, and they simply said they needed the product present and unused, that's all. It's not like there's unique bar code for each product or something so I thought it's no big deal. The store did not have any risk or loss during the whole thing, and if it was fraud, wouldn't people have been more discreet & brought the purchase home and then came back another time for the return?

I have read somewhere that some stores simply using the product codes on the receipt without product present when doing return&repurchase, and how's that justified?

Besides, it really depends on the store's point of view - to do the customer a favour without suffering any loss, or no one benefits anything. I had an experience at Staples once that I purchased something with credit card before Christmas, and then received a Staples gift card for Christmas. I went into the store with the receipt and asked the manager if it was OK for me to do a return on the credit card and repurchase on the gift card, as I didn't have anything else to buy at that time and I had quite some credit bills to pay. The manager gladly helped me - they even grabbed the store stock for scanning as I didn't have the stuff with me. It really all depends on how you look at things.

And the Zellers' store associates' attitude is also an issue. I don't feel bad for them losing their jobs if that's how they treat customers. I remember the woman screamed on the phone''...and used coupons!..." At that moment I said to myself I ought to do well in my life so that I would no longer be in a state where I needed to clip coupons and got looked down on.

Well I linger and rant here because I'm still in this state, and I hope these days will soon be over and everything gets better and better.

[kokobear666]

"All I wanted to do was just to combine two purchases in order to use the points coupon,"

The fact of the matter was, you did an illegal thing to get the extra points. It's not unheard of (I'm a Zellers employee), I've seen people do things similar, but at the same time, you can't return something with a seperate (even if its identical) receipt. The fact of the matter is, you should have went home and returned the ones you bought with receipt a.

I'm not trying to be rude here, but it annoys me when I hear customers complain about things that only they could have prevented.

You know for next time, that's all that matters.

[MapleLeaves]

"All I wanted to do was just to combine two purchases in order to use the points coupon,"

The fact of the matter was, you did an illegal thing to get the extra points. It's not unheard of (I'm a Zellers employee), I've seen people do things similar, but at the same time, you can't return something with a seperate (even if its identical) receipt. The fact of the matter is, you should have went home and returned the ones you bought with receipt a.

I'm not trying to be rude here, but it annoys me when I hear customers complain about things that only they could have prevented.

You know for next time, that's all that matters.

If it's illegal to get the points by combining the two transactions, the Zellers CS rep shouldn't have said OK to do a return and repurchase in the first place. She gave me the green light to go ahead. So how did that become the customer's fault?

As per the actual return item, of course everything wouldn't have happened if I simply went home and grabbed the stuff for the return, that's obvious. I was just too naive to think there's no loss for the store and I saved a trip. If I knew they would make a fuzz like that, I wouldn't have cared for those $2 worth of points and shopped there to begin with.

[kokobear666]

You're right. she shouldn't have given you the green light right off the bat. they could've handled it a bit better, I agree.

However, the illegal part of the whole thing was that you returned an item that was originally on one receipt, and returned it on another. The part that puts us as employees between the customer is that we can't just trust people. I know from your story you didn't intend to do anything illegal because I see it all the time. I only wish I could just trust people, it would probably save us a lot of time and the customers a lot of hassle but unfortunately, we can't. Any retailer would have told you the same.

Stuff like this happens, and nothing should come of this regarding the "investigation" they spoke of. We live and learn.

[salady]

would have been a lot less confusing for you to just go home and get the linens............ imo

Totally!

[kerrylj]

I have to say that the use of the words "illegal" and "fraud" in the comments to the poster are really uncalled for and not accurate at all IMHO.

Fraud : http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Fraud

She was in no way trying to deceive anyone and was up front about the whole thing and asked if it was possible to do before she started. If anything she was treated extremely badly by the staff and is the one who has been harmed in the whole incident.

I have not been into a zellers in quite a few months and am happy they are closing because the behaviour from their staff at times is very bad and I believe it is aserious management problem at many of the stores and a serious lack of custmer service training.