Yes, I believe merchants are required to credit returns to the original card. Your expectation isn’t reasonable.
Yep. That percent or two of the purchase price that goes to the credit card company is actually many millions of dollars that gets divided among processors and sub-processors according to very detailed contracts. To you (and Target), it’s the same money whether it goes back to your card or your son’s card, but to the credit card processors, it’s not the same at all.
Years ago, Lands End would let you put a return on another credit card. But only for mail orders, not for purchases made at a Sears store. And if you had a sales clerk who knew what they were doing. But Lands End is known for its very generous return policies.
I have to say that I usually avoid Best Buy like the plague because I hate their return policy. Maybe they have changed for the better.
H returned an item from Bed B &B today with no reciept but did have the credit card. They told him they can look up an item if it is under 6 months.
I hdd to NOT buy Christmas gifts at two stores that only give credit. Since D and DIL might not have time to get back there I could not do it. I would rather they had charged me the 3% for using a major cc and let me return items even if only within 7 days. There is a nice shoe store that also only gives credit. I picked out boots for D (did not know of their policy) and then chose not to wrap up $150 in the event she did not like them and did not find anything else. I understand why they do it but all they are doing in my case is losing sales.
One of the reasons I buy many gifts from Costco is because they have an excellent return policy and neither I nor anyone else I know has ever had problems returning items there and getting a store credit or the credit back to their charge card. I understand that it’s very tough for stores to have to deal with purchases and returns, but it is a huge amount of things that do end up being returned after many holidays, especially Christmas. Macy’s tends to be OK if you will let them put the credit on your charge card or give you a gift card. I just did that tonight, even though I was originally charged by my sister, they gave me the refund on my Macy’s credit card. It can depend on the clerk–some will only issue store credit if you don’t have the receipt or you don’t have the credit card it was originally charged on. I much prefer they put the credit back on my Macy’s card, so I can ask for a check if we don’t purchase anything there.
There are many reasons stores will only give credit on the original credit card or a store gift card.
One is fraud. If they allowed people to get money back, cash money, then people would buy stuff on credit, return it for cash, and never pay card (which probably wasn’t their card to being with). There is a huge problem with fraud. At least if you are only getting merchandize it cuts down on the cash fraud.
A second is that people would do this to avoid a cash withdrawal fee. If you charge a item, you do not pay a fee (the merchant pays). If you take cash out from your Visa or Master Card you do, usually 3%. Say you want $300 cash but don’t want to pay the 3% cash withdrawal fee. Buy something, return it for cash, and the credit card company has just floated you a loan because you don’t have to pay the bill for the item for 30 days or more. In this case, OP’s son would have had a $50 loan for free. He technically did anyway because he kept the cash, but that’s between him and his mother.
Target used to take ANYTHING back for 90 days, then changed it to 30. Now if you have no receipt you can only get something from the same department and I think that sort of sucks. But people were returning all kinds of junk, used broken, and they took it back. I’m surprised to hear Best Buy is so high on people’s list as most of their sales have a
‘restocking fee’ even if it’s never been out of the box.
I’m also not a fan of Target’s return policy and that’s why I do not buy gifts for others there. If they have to return it, they can run into difficulty.
Bed, Bath and Beyond has an amazing return policy so I am always happy to get gifts there because I know that if the item doesn’t suit the person, for any reason, they can return it. No questions asked. No hassle. Both of my daughters registered there when they married and I saw first hand just how good this store was with returns (even used items that just did not hold up well - they very graciously handled this situation). I’m really a fan of this store.
Costco also has a generous return policy. It has incentivized me to first see if they carry what I’m looking for.
Thanks Bookreader. I’ll add Bed, Bath and Beyond to my list of places I will purchase gifts from.
We, as consumers, all pay for generous return policies. It adds to the cost of goods, which in turn is passed on to consumers. When seasonal goods are returned 90 days later and are unsaleable, merchants pass on the cost to us.
^^ I agree. But there has to be a happy middle between accepting damaged seasonal goods months later and an unopened item carried year round and returned within a few days.
I’ve seen many people abuse Costco’s generous return policy. I would never return opened food items that I just didn’t like or use a product for a few months and then return it. But apparently, Costco’s generous return policy is helping their bottom line and keeping prices really reasonable for the rest of us. How many times has their generous return policy been mentioned on this site? I will buy gifts at Costco or other stores that make it easy for my recipient to return their unwanted gift and no longer shop at a store that makes it difficult.
I think the question is just what you consider a difficult return policy. You make it sound like Target doesn’t allow the return, and they do. They might even be able to do it over the phone with your son. If not, you can get store credit today, or you can get a full refund by having your son bring the item back or using your son’s card. I believe that stores with these policies do make an exception in a case where the original card was lost or stolen so it’s not like they don’t try to work with you. I don’t consider that a difficult return policy at all, I consider it a normal return policy. I consider a difficult return policy one where you can’t actually return the item, but only getting the original payment method back is my expectation. Is there anyone here who expects to be able to get cash back for gifts you received and didn’t like?
Keep in mind that those stores that you say you’ll buy gifts from are also stores where it’s much easier for people who have stolen your credit card to get some quick cash for themselves.
I stood behind a woman at Costco a couple of days after Christmas who was returning a huge platter of sandwich wraps. She told the cashier that she bought too many for her party and these weren’t eaten. She got her money back but when she walked away, the cashier rolled their eyes and made a comment to her partner. Some people really have nerve. 
patsmom - and you are paying for that woman’s audacity.
A friend of mine bought a pair of Prada pants. She had it shortened, wore it once, then returned it to NM because she decided she didn’t like the fit. Her salesperson took it back because she wanted to continue to earn her commission from my friend, but it was $1000 down the drain for NM.
Just FYI…the item I returned to Best Buy did not have their seal broken…it was completely unopened. They tagged it as such when I walked in the door. There was NO restocking charge (actually returned by January 15, there was none at all for anyone).
I went on NYs day. No one was there, and it was easy peasy.
annoying return policy at H&M. daughter got something there as gift from her aunt that does not fit. No gift receipt, but tags attached.
they do not give out gift receipts, nor do even exchanges. ONLY way to exchange for different size or style is to have original receipt. this makes it very awkward to deal with gifts, when the original receipt is not nearby. she’ll just put the vest in the goodwill pile i guess.
Well, that’s not true about H & M but they do have a 30 day return limit so maybe it was over 30 days because before that they take returns just like everyone else. Expecting cash back when you didn’t pay cash and have no receipt is a bit much, though. That is how shoplifters make money and not many places allow it, anymore. It’s also why some stores give you 2 or 3 of those before you go on the “serial returner” list and are cut off usually for a year. If someone gives you a gift from a particular store, credit at that store seems like a fine option to me. The gift wasn’t cash. And, I still don’t get not being able to find something you can use at Target since they have everything from cleaning products, to cosmetics, to cat food. So yeah.
I agree with those who believe the OP is being unreasonable in her expectations. She stated that she has the original receipt, therefore the return should painlessly and automatically be credited back to her son’s cc. She doesn’t even need his cc in hand to do this, as the barcode on the Target receipt retrieves all the necessary transaction info. She can ask her son to return the $50 cash, or gift it to him as spending/grocery money.
I think it was very generous for OP to buy a booster seat so a young guest would be comfortable, but since they kept it for a while,( going by original assessment of not more than 30 days) technically it could have been used, in which case it would be generous to expect even a gift card.
Not saying they did that of course, but many people abuse store policy, & for a clerk to issue money to an account other than the purchaser, sounds like a blueprint for fraud.
, but it was $1000 down the drain for NM.
Unless the pants were several thousand dollars to be made, I doubt one transaction put them $1000 in the red, there is a * great deal* of markup in retail.
In fact, I have heard that is what NM stands for. Needless Markup.
You could have bespoke clothing at a better price.
That is a very good point. You are paying more for the generous return policy at NM which is the stuff of many comedy routines for a reason. It’s widely abused and everyone knows it. Target is not the same deal, nor is H & M. I don’t even know what to say about returning uneaten sandwiches to Costco. They should have refused. That’s ridiculous.
They factor all those perks into their margins. This was just one customer, but I am sure there are many more like her, and we are the ones who pay for those perks. This is no different than insurance abuse (fraud), insurance companies do not pay for it, we do by paying additional premium…
Unlike most consumers, I do not think a store is better because it has a generous return policy, I look at it as a waste. Return policy should be reasonable, but not so generous that allows people to abuse it.
I question Costco’s management if it allows customers to return prepared food. Does it mean they would return it to be sold to other customers?