When my son was home, I asked him to purchase a booster seat for the second toddler eating with us and gave him $50. He went to Target and bought it and it came to slightly over that so he put it on his card and kept my cash. Then the parents brought their own seat and I didn’t like the choice anyway so I asked him for the receipt to return it.
Went today and was told that they could only put it back on the original card, or issue a gift card. Seems to me that if I have the original receipt, they could refund me the cash or put the credit on my card. Am I out of line? I promise never to buy anybody a gift at Target ever again since they can’t return it if they don’t like it. Sometimes I want to return something without the giver knowing to spare their feelings.
I also received a gift from Nordstrom that was extravagant so I returned it. I had a gift receipt but not the original receipt so understood that they gave me a gift card.
Macy’s does the same thing. What’s the point of having the receipt if all they give you is a gift card instead of your money back. From now on, I will make every effort to only purchase gifts that will return cash to the recipient with a receipt. The only store I know does this is Costco. Are there others?
I think Nordstrom’s generous return policy is more the exception rather than the rule. Stores have to pay a merchant fee for the processing of credit card transactions, so if they give cash back to the returner, they have lost that amount on the return. As well, they’ve lost the chance to sell that merchandise while it was out of the store. Talbots used to take returns of merchandise with receipt for up to a year, but they stopped doing that a few years ago. I think they limited the return period for a full priced refund to 90 days which is still generous. I had a friend who was irate at this and I was surprised since her undergrad major was business and I thought she should understand the concept of opportunity cost that was lost while she let the items she didn’t want to keep languish at her house because she didn’t want to make a trip to our local store (5 minutes away from our neighborhood).
Target’s return policy is really pretty generous as they take back almost anything for 90 days unless it’s clearanced out of their system and will give you store credit with or without a receipt and there is always something else to buy at Target so it’s not as though you are ever out anything there. This afternoon I’m returning a belt for my son at the GAP with the receipt but unless he paid cash I won’t expect cash back. But. we shall see.
I had the same issue with Old Navy. My daughter returned something there with a gift receipt and they gave her a gift card. There was NOTHING else in Old Navy I needed or wanted. I went and talked to a manager…and I had the regional sales slip and card used. They credited my debit card.
I made the easiest ever return yesterday at Best Buy. Returned headphones that were unopened. They looked at my receipt, and drivers license…lthere gave me back cash…it had been a debit card transaction. I would go back there for the ease of return.
I will NEVER shop in a Barnes and Noble bookstore again…ever. Their return policy is the worst of any. Period. They won’t refund a dime after 30 days…no ifs ands or buts. We got a book for our Peace Corps daughter which we took with us on a three week trip to visit. She didn’t need the book. It had never been opened. Of course we missed the 30 day return window. I think it’s an awful return policy. It was a reference book, and it was evident it had never been opened. And they wonder why folks don’t shop there more!
I think Targets return policy is good. It’s been that way for a long time and they are very consistent with it. I like that you can return things with the credit card that you used makes it easy for me.
Honestly, I wouldn’t have a problem with a gift card. I mean I can buy $50 worth of toilet paper and groceries.
The person you should have a beef with is your S. You gave him cash, he should have used it. Have it credited to his card and have him send you the cash.
Almost every store now has a similar return policy as Target. It makes it easy if you don’t have the receipt as they can look it up with the credit card that is used.
I have no beef with my son. He was doing me a favor. I’m not going to have it credited to his card and make him mail me $52.99. I have a beef with target that won’t let me return an item they still have lots of so no “opportunity cost” lost. I returned it in only a few days not more than 30. I don’t shop at Target. I get my toilet paper and groceries elsewhere. As of today, I will never shop there again.
So when you guys give a gift do you just hope the person doesn’t have to return it? Do you give them the receipt and have them credit it to your account? Or do you only buy things at stores where you know the person shops so they won’t mind a store credit?
I now have a store credit at Nordstrom which I find reasonable since I did not have the receipt. I probably won’t be buying things there as gifts for others due to the policy, but I will continue to shop there. I will never shop at Target again.
I will buy lots of gifts at Best Buy, Kohl’s and Costco. I will also make note of the return policy of stores and if they won’t return cash to the recipient with a receipt then I won’t shop there either.
My expectation is that people would be able to return for store credit only and I do give gift receipts - knowing that they give store credit. That’s pretty much the norm. Along with the lost credit card fees is the issue that refunding onto a different payment method than the item was purchased with could be a way for someone to get some cash with a credit card they stole. Many stores - I’ve worked multiple retail jobs - have a policy that refunds can only be onto the form of payment that the item was purchased with. I’m not sure why that’s unreasonable. Sure, it can be a little annoying, but you could refund the item for cash if you had your son do it, and you can still get store credit, so it’s not like you’re just stuck with the carseat and nothing to do.
And I have no issue with getting gift receipts with gifts I don’t like. My worst experience with that was when I tried to return a sweater without a gift receipt and got store credit, but it was now on major markdown for $6. (My aunt does her shipping early). I don’t think I’m entitled to the cash someone paid if every gift is not perfect. I think the expectation that you can replace a gift you don’t love with something you like better at the same store is pretty decent.
It’s really common that retailers and other vendors will only refund on the card or other method of payment. Our S bought some things and asked me to return them with the receipt and his CC. They recredited his acct.
I do love Costco and that they will invariably put any refund back on my Costco AmEx CC. They even research the price if I don’t have s receipt.
I HATE it when i feel taken advantage of by big box stores.
but, the reason they have so many return policies is because people have taken advantage of them. They have had tons of people over the years trying to slip things by them.
i know its a hassle, but its also a fair policy. Target is fair with their returns; and especially with their price adjustments.
They only can refund the way that it was purchased.
Makes sense to me.
You could return it and it would go back on your sons card, then he could return your cash.
I do like that stores like REI, EVO and even Apple, have everything on the computer so you don’t even need the paper receipt. They just look up your account.
I’ve only ever had a store credit back the original card or give store credit. I also thought they gave you back the money in whatever way you purchased it–by credit card, cash/debit card, or gift card. It seems perfectly reasonable to me. Returning a gift for cash when you paid on a credit card that is not yours sounds like an easy way to get cash off a stolen credit card to me. I don’t understand why crediting it back to your son’s card and having your son send you cash (or a check or transfer money into your account or whatever) is such a hardship. He could even just give you money the next time he sees you. I wouldn’t mind doing it for my parents.
I give gift receipts with gifts in case someone wants to return it. I assume they will use it to exchange the gift or get store credit if they don’t like it (or for whatever reason). I’m not so horrible in my gift giving that I can’t at least ballpark the category of gift they might like or a store they shop at (they could get another book at the bookstore if they had already read the one I gave, for instance, or they can just get something fun that they wouldn’t have gotten for themselves otherwise).
Scratching my head here…this is fairly standard policy industry wide, to credit back to original method. Target is very fair with their policies in my mind.
Let’s say you broke into a car, stole the Target bag with gift and the receipt, and then wanted the money returned to YOUR credit card. THIS is why by returning to original credit card…it cuts down on theft/fraud.
3bm103, I understand that you are upset with Target. But when you return a gift to a store and the item was not bought on your credit card, the store policy is to credit the card it was purchased on or to issue store credit.
The way to get around that is to pay with cash or checks. Then if the item is returned, they will issue cash, since that is the tender paid with, if you have the receipt.
If you check the return policies of other stores, you will find that Target’s policy is pretty normal.
I want to comment on the Best Buy return. If you use your debit card, as a debit, that is with the PIN. That is considered a cash purchase, and therefore the return would be cash. If the son had purchased the seat on his debit card and used it as a debit with his PIN, you could have received cash. I know that because I have returned things to Target that I bought with my debit card. I remember because I can use my debit card as debit or credit and Target had to look it up as both. And they gave me cash back.
Well…at Old Navy…all retirns with a gift receipt get a gift card, regardless of how they were originally paid. To get cash, you have to have the original,regular receipt. And cash must be the tender…not even debit.
I bought S an expensive birthday gift recently, and when he heard the cost, he immediately looked around and found it on sale elsewhere (that’s my boy!). I handed him the credit card I used for the purchase and he made the return. I wouldn’t have even considered doing it any other way. I think OP is being unreasonable. Return policies are usually posted pretty clearly in stores, and will certainly be disclosed if you inquire. It’s the consumer’s job to understand the process. Stores like Target are able offer good prices because they run a tight ship.
It is actually part of the Merchant Agreement with the credit card service company that all refunds go back on the card used for the purchase. In some respects, it’s not TARGET’s policy that you are unhappy with, it’s their credit card processor.
Yes. Have not heard of a vendor who can just credit back to any CCard. All I have dealt with only re-credit the card the item was purchased on if receipt is presented or gift card to the store.