Buyers be careful: Exchanging goods at Toys R Us

K

keninhk

Registered User
Has anyone exchanged tried exchanging goods at Toys R Us (TRU)?

My recent case is involving an exchange of a unwanted present without reciept, however the item is a definite purchase from TRU. Amazingly the store manager has not got authorisation to do this transaction and needs to refer case to their head office.

- The feeling is that they will not exchange the goods. Anyone have had experience on this? I'm waiting for the head office rep to call...
 
hong kong is a nightmare for this. i tried to exchange some baby clothes from H&M that still had the tag on them, but no receipt (i just wanted to change the size as i bought the wrong one) and it was a massive hassle. they did it in the end, but only because i had a big girly tantrum! (i had only recently had a baby, and was by no means in a stable or reasonable frame of mind!).
The lesson learned from this - always keep reciepts!
 
Wish I did, as I explained to the TRU store manager that it was a present and only want an exchange. Wonder why even in that position they couldn't process this simple void-exchange transaction?

Also checked with friend, and he doesn't mind I return it... So that part's alright :)

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Toysrus do not exchange without a receipt, even if it is one of their exclusive brands. The reason they gave me once for this was: 1. prices of toys in the store keeps on changing (which is true) and 2. They have a few toys on clearance , which are at very reduced prices, so without receipt it is very difficult for them to know the actual amount paid for that toy and so they do not exchange.
With the receipt it is never an issue, even if you have opened the toy.
 
I feel it is a false excuse, without receipt TRU could allow the exchange at the lowest price in the market. Thus if the item went on sale they could apply the discounted price
 
keninhk said:
Has anyone exchanged tried exchanging goods at Toys R Us (TRU)?

My recent case is involving an exchange of a unwanted present without reciept, however the item is a definite purchase from TRU. Amazingly the store manager has not got authorisation to do this transaction and needs to refer case to their head office.

- The feeling is that they will not exchange the goods. Anyone have had experience on this? I'm waiting for the head office rep to call...
Click to expand...

While irritating and unfortunate, this is a very common practice amongst retailers in HK, and I wouldn't single out Toys R Us as the worst offender as many shops make it very difficult even with a receipt. Very likely that the shop manager doesn't have the authorization to do the exchange. Just today i noticed a big sign at the till at B2B stating no refunds, returns or exchanges. It is one of the things that really bothered me about HK when I first moved here, given the very generous refund and exchange policies of most retailers where I am from. You'll eventually get used to it.
 
If it was a smaller, standalone brand, I'd totally understand. Other big name brands will often exchange without reciept (H&M, M&S off the top of my head), even if it has been discounted since brought, they would simply exchange with the lower price. Which is why I'm surprised at the TRU store staff needing head office 'approval' and having the consumer wait.

Anyway hoping for good news next week!

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Had a weird request from the customer service people from TRU HK head office.

They wanted to know the:-
1) day of purchase
2) store purchase was made
for the recieved present. I have told them a made up date as who in their right mind would remember date purchased. I actually said to the CS rep, do you remember what you had for lunch today?

How hard is it to return item to inventory/shelf and credit the amount to a different toy? The present has not even been opened from the original packaging.

Feel like they are going through the motions to 'justify' non exchange just like in 'shwetakhanna' case. They will check the date against transactions records and get back to me... hopefully this week.
 
Sorry this is long winded as it is turning into a sad joke now... Amazingly, just got off the phone with a supervisor. The original CS rep passed it over because she cannot seems to process the case anymore.

Reply recieved was, they see transaction records matching the gift barcode, store location and date to my present showing on their records, BUT they cannot be sure that any one of those were my friend buying the present...

I am absolutely disgusted by this response. Now that I entertained the backwards TRU returns policy over the pass two weeks it is about TRU head office changing the rules to fit whatever suits them to steamroller over any reasonable exchange request from a consumer.
I have asked the supervisor to refer case to her manager, to which she replied it will take upto two weeks to recieved the callback.

Does anyone have any solutions, besides gifting someone else with the unwanted present? Email addresses of senior Fung Group or Corporate US TRU executives that can resolve this simple return and exchange case.

What is my (limited) consumer rights, legally, in this case?

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keninhk said:
Sorry this is long winded as it is turning into a sad joke now... Amazingly, just got off the phone with a supervisor. The original CS rep passed it over because she cannot seems to process the case anymore.

Reply recieved was, they see transaction records matching the gift barcode, store location and date to my present showing on their records, BUT they cannot be sure that any one of those were my friend buying the present...

I am absolutely disgusted by this response. Now that I entertained the backwards TRU returns policy over the pass two weeks it is about TRU head office changing the rules to fit whatever suits them to steamroller over any reasonable exchange request from a consumer.
I have asked the supervisor to refer case to her manager, to which she replied it will take upto two weeks to recieved the callback.

Does anyone have any solutions, besides gifting someone else with the unwanted present? Email addresses of senior Fung Group or Corporate US TRU executives that can resolve this simple return and exchange case.

What is my (limited) consumer rights, legally, in this case?

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Click to expand...

Honsetly still don't believe you have any rights in this case. HK is (rightly or wrongly, not getting into that) not consumer friendly when it comes to things like exchanges and returns/ refunds. I am quite sure that the receipt given to your friend, had s/he kept it, clearly states TRU's exchange policy on the back. It is also clearly stated on their web site :"2. With original purchase receipt" - http://www.toysrus.com.hk/inside/Service.htm#ExchangeRefund

As they are within their legal rights to have this exchange policy in HK, I don't know why you think they should make a special exception to their clear store policy for you just because you don't like their rules.

Again, I am not saying their policy is good or right, but it is legal and clear and in fact a very common policy in Hong Kong generally.

Why don't you just donate or sell the item and forget about it?
 
Having lived here for a while, I would fully expect not to be able to return goods without a receipt... and even with a receipt unless there was a defect beyond "I don't like it."

Even though this is occasionally annoying, I prefer this to the States where stores allow consumers to get away with laughably irresponsible return policies in order to encourage people to buy more tat.
 
Even WITH a receipt, retailers here are really horrible with returns and exchanges. Sometimes, the only way to get your way is to throw a fit and not give up - most CS reps are not used this kind of behavior from locals.
keninhk, if it were me, I'd give up over a toy, but unlike me, my husband would claw his way thru the CS rep until the was happy with the response.
 
Agree that HK is not consumer friendly and I do agree with most of what elle mentioned...

From day one - The store manager referring case to head office - Lead me to believe that it would be a matter of their processing policies. The first head office call was to obtain details on transaction history, which lead me to believe that it had to be checked against their transaction records to see whether there was a purchase made.

The points that lead me to be disgusted, besides being strung along for close to 2 weeks thinking there is a chance of exchange.
1) Needing to recount minute details on whether it is a store purchase with the TRU head office saying I could have brought it elsewhere... Thereby accusing me of lying.
2) Being ‘provided’ the solution to gift someone else of my unwanted gift instead of trying to get an exchange... Thereby shifting basic retailer responsibility (Understanding this is my cultural upbringing, and not 'written' on the TRU backwards policy of NO RETURNS, but let's take the consumer for a ride.
3) After finding their transaction records matches my date and location of purchase, suggesting that I prove that transaction are actually made by my friend... Thereby, completely alienating any potential previous goodwill of this one individual with access to several internet forums and dissuading other parents to think twice about buying purchases from that retailer. Maybe it really doesn't matter to TRU if I take my future 10-15yrs custom elsewhere, since they mentioned that this gift is sold in other places in HK.

It seems like TRU are happy with a WIN-LOSE scenario with their consumer base. I did ask the original TRU CS whether they deal with similar exchange dispute cases daily and that they do. However, I think most do give up, before even reaching the 3rd callback by the CS and that they know this.

@evgreen,
To me it is not so much about the toy now, which I could just donate or sell online, the point is that they are just saying different 'excuses' to make you forget the simple - It is a present, I wish to exchange for something I think my kid would enjoy... Maybe in an ideal consumer friendly world this would exist instead of this thread…
 
keninhk,

it was stupid of them to ask for additional details if they were not going to do anything about it. if they had just pointed you to the policy and said we don't make any exceptions it would have been better on their part, rather than wasting your and employees' time.

i used to really really hate these exchange/ return policies in HK, but am used to it now. the effect is that if i am even a little undecided about a purchase, i just don't buy it, although i guess that doesn't help when exchanging an unwanted gift. i think the reason retailers get away with this behaviour is that almost all of them have these policies, so it doesn't help to just shop elsewhere.
 
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