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Published on Thursday, Jan 24, 2008
A woman who is getting married in a month should have better things to worry about.
And a store that supposedly is set up to help people who are getting married should be a lot more worried about what she's worried about.
We'll take it from the top.
Akron's Amanda Garske, 27, is engaged. Like most women who get engaged, she was given a bridal shower.
Before the shower, she went to her local Target store and registered.
People register so they don't get stuff they don't want and don't get duplicate items. This is not a new fad, nor is this new to Target. Target customers do it so often that the company has a division called Club Wedd.
Clever name. Implies that the impending marriage will be as much fun as a vacation at a tropical resort. (Which, of course, it always is.)
Well, in Garske's eyes, Club Wedd should be dead. Or at least pummeled to within an inch of its cold, corporate life.
She ended up getting a number of duplicate gifts. Either the cashiers didn't remember to scan the items into her registry record or the customers forgot to mention that they were buying items in her registry. We'll give the store the benefit of a doubt on that one.
The real problem is this: When Garske and her mom loaded up a shopping cart to return the duplicate items — two coffee makers, a Target-only brand of dinner dishes and some other stuff — they hit a brick bureaucracy.
They were told the items couldn't be returned unless Garske could produce either a gift receipt or — get this — the credit card number of the person who purchased it.
Now, I don't know about you, but I don't make a habit of calling up friends and asking for credit card numbers so I can return stuff they bought me.
And what gift-giver would include a gift receipt with, say, dishes that the recipient had specifically requested?
When Garske complained, she was told this was a new policy, instituted in August because the store was worried about shoplifters ''returning'' stolen items.
Mind you, Garske wasn't asking for cash. She was merely hoping to convert the duplicate items into a gift card so she could fill in holes on her list.
All the store had to do was check her registry and compare it to the items in the cart.
In fairness to Target, the vast majority of brides-to-be routinely shoplift merchandise on their own registry and try to convert it to cash (insert symbol for sarcasm here).
''Believe me,'' says Garske, ''I understand that stores have issues with stolen goods and must try to protect their interest. But what good is the bridal registry if you see the items were actually purchased but now cannot be returned?''
An employee of the store told her that only ''corporate'' could override the policy and gave her an 800 number. There she hit another wall.
The corporate spokeswoman for Club Wedd did not return my calls from Tuesday and Wednesday. But a recent article in the Wall Street Journal said Target has tightened its return policy twice in the last year and now will only give receiptless customers a maximum of two $20 gift cards in one year.
Meanwhile, Garske is advising a relative who plans to wed in June to take her business elsewhere — maybe to Bed Bath and Beyond, where Garske also registered. Although she didn't need to return any of those items, she has learned that BB&B allows you to return an item on your registry for a full store credit — without a receipt.
In other words, at that store, they don't just assume you're a criminal.
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
A woman who is getting married in a month should have better things to worry about.
Get the full article here.
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