Registry Ratings/Policies

lennonkdc · September 2013

Is there a thread here or a website that compares the various "typical' places to have a registry? Like places that have completion discounts, return policy, ease of use, that sort of thing.

Conversely, if anyone wants to share their experience with different stores I'd love to hear it! Right now we're planning on registering at 2, maybe 3 places, and are picking from Macy's, BBB, William Sonoma, Crate and Barrel, and Sur La Table. Any advice?

(PS I know I have time before I need about actually registering, but people have already started asking and I want to start collecting information on where to register...)

itzMS · September 2013

No, I don't think there's a website. Most registries are "the same".

We didn't use any of the completion discounts (could find things cheaper elsewhere [i.e. on Amazon or HomeGoods], despite the 10-20% off offered by the store).

Returns to Macy's and BBB were easy as pie. We also used Crate & Barrel, but didn't have to return there, as everything was fine.

MayDay513 · September 2013

I picked based on places I actually shop at. That are easy for me to return or exchange things, if they come damaged or broken, which our hamper was.

We did BBB and Target. A friend did amazon and I didn't love it as much. Things were more expensive and there were shipping charges. Not for me.

audubonbride2013 · September 2013

First, I would actually recommend you register for a few things prior to holidays this year if you would like to receive any of the gifts for the holidays. I know as soon as we got engaged my family made all of our holiday and birthday gifts became home related. We didn't register for a while and I wish we had done it sooner so the home gifts we received for other occasions would have matched our decor.

When we did register we chose BBB and Macy's. I would recommend both. We had easy returns to both and both were easy to manage in-store and online. Here's a break down of our registry rewards/incentives from each place:

Macy's: This was our favorite registry because the sales were great (don't pay attention to their regular prices) and the rewards were better. The completion is 10% off as many times as you shop off the registry for 6 months after your wedding. This doubles to 20% off for some weekends and sometimes you can get 25% off during VIP sales. Macy's had good completion incentives (free serving bowl with 10 place settings dinnerware, free matching stemware piece with 10 same size, free pan & knife with $500 Calphalon). Macy's also had registry star rewards. This combines 10% of your macy's card purchases plus 5% of your guests purchases off your registry and mails you a gift card after the wedding.

BBB: The completion is 10% off once. Some BBB locations have completion events where the discount is 20% and they have prize drawings. We just went to one and finished our registry and won a free crystal rose bowl. BBB had decent completion incentives. BBB also had gifts with registry, so you would get a gift from certain manufacturers just for registering for a certain amount of items from that manufacturer.

lennonkdc · September 2013

Wow, Macy's sounds AWESOME, definitely going to check them out!

Thanks everyone for the great feedback!

RunnerBride2013 · September 2013

We registered at Crate & Barrel and Sur La Table and had a positive experience with both. Returns for duplicate items we received were easy, and both have good quality, neutral stuff. Both also have completion discounts. If you want a lot of bed / bath items though, would suggest registering at another place in addition to these. We primarily wanted kitchen type items so these spots were great, but are more limited on the more traditional bedding and towels.

hoffse · September 2013

Yeah I'll also give a plug for Macy's. We opened a Macy's credit card for the registry rewards and got about $300 on a Macy's gift card sent to us from their rewards program. I did use Macy's heavily for my holiday shopping and for other weddings we went to before ours, so a lot of that was money we spent - but still, the rewards were significant. It takes about 3 months for the gift card to come, but it did arrive. Nearly every item on our Macy's registry was purchased - it was very popular with our guests. We had many fragile items and had only 1 salad plate break among the dozens of fragile things they mailed. The Macy's packaging is crazy-good. We were able to return the broken plate with no problem. And finally, things always showed up within 2 or 3 days of being bought. Whereas with Pottery Barn it would often take a week or more. Yes I registry-stalked so I knew when things were supposed to show up.

Crate & Barrel gets really good reviews and has fab customer service, though their items have a faster turnover rate than the other stores you mentioned. So if you go with CB wait a bit before registering there. H and I both like browsing through CB a lot, but it's more modern/contemporary - when we looked there for registry stuff, we just couldn't find much that we really wanted for the long haul. Most of their kitchen stuff can be found in other stores. So we passed.

I personally did love Pottery Barn even though they were slower to ship than Macy's. Their stuff is just so nice, and everything arrived intact. Their linens in particular are excellent. My husband is 100% obsessed with PB's "cheap" sheets (300 TC), which we registered for just to get an extra set in a king size... he loves those sheets so much he refuses to sleep on anything else. We ended up returning the 700 TC sheets we received because he thought the PB ones were better. PB's towels are also great - we've had guests actually compliment us on those (of all things), and we love their quilts, etc. Great for all seasons.

Anyway, of the stores you mentioned I would do Macy's and PB. And if you want a third store, maybe a small, selective list at WS for some unique kitchen gadgets that are hard to find elsewhere. FYI, PB and WS are owned by the same company so you can use PB gift cards at WS and vice versa. It's nice to register at both places to get the completion discount if you like to cook, anticipate redecorating, or have a lot of weddings coming up after yours. I've used my PB completion discount a dozen times already, mostly on gifts for other people. Both PB and CB allow you to use the discount on furniture.

courtneythesquid · September 2013

We did BBB and Sur La Table, I would recommend both:

Sur La Table: 10% completion discount good for up to 6 months after your wedding date. The Good: (1) If you love to cook, this store is your paradise, they truly have all of the best stuff, (2) This registry got tons of play from my guests, you could tell people were eager to go into the store/ on the web site to browse, (3) When things got discontinued, the staff was SUPER helpful about calling around to track items down for me, (4) Free shipping for registry orders over $50 (not sure if this was just for me or was also for guests.) The Bad: (1) This is a "seasonal" store so the selection does change 4x a year. Expect some items to be discontinued, (2) They really only have kitchen stuff, if you need bath/ household stuff, they don't have any.

BBB: 10% completion discount for up to 3 months after your wedding date, and they do have 20% of completion events (they just had one at my local store). The Good: (1) Everyone is familiar with BBB, (2) Wide variety of products, (3) I haven't had to return anything, but I hear they are very easy going, (4) People do have coupons, and love to get a deal. The Bad: (1) Nothing really, I would just say that BBB sometimes lacks the excitement of a Sur La Table, I would say this registry attracted a little bit less enthusiasm from my guests.

hoffse · September 2013

OP, I think you'll find that most of the stores you mentioned are pretty well-received around here. The ones to avoid, in general, are Target and Kohls. There have been a lot of reports that their registries are glitchy (though both companies JUST updated their websites so some of these bugs may be worked out by now).

Generally I would choose stores based on a few things:

First and most importantly, proximity to your guests. For us, Macy's was the only large department store that had a location in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, California, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York, and Missouri near large pockets of guests. I think that's one reason why it was so popular for us. We also registered for china, every day dishes, appliances, and some crystal serving pieces there - turns out, people in my circle just love buying plates and serving bowls. It was kind of funny actually.

Second, I would pick based on style. CB and PB have very different styles. Both are great - it's just a personal preference. WS and Sur la Table both carry some very similar items. You don't need both - pick the one that's more known to your guests, or if both are popular, pick WS if you are going to register at PB also in order to double up on gift card usage.

Third, I would consider customer service and returns. Most of these stores have good customer service overall, and returns aren't a problem at any of them. People who have complaints about Macy's or BBB (like me) tend to have those complaints based on experiences at a single store. A single bad experience with a customer service person doesn't mean the chain-wide policies are bad.

Finally, I would consider rewards as the very last thing. Macy's is really the best in the industry, but only if you pay off your Macy's credit card in full. You won't get the full value of the gift card if you carry a balance on your Macy's credit card. PB and CB are also good because your 10% discount is good on furniture if you need to buy that, and that's a pretty rare thing. BBB's aren't as great except for their quarterly 20% completion parties - but the 20% off coupons are good for guests if you don't register for many normal bridal brands which are excluded, like waterford, all-clad, henckles, etc. (do check this if you decide to register at BBB). What you'll find is that if you pick stores well, you'll get so many items from those stores and so many gift cards to those stores that you'll run out of stuff to buy. So while rewards should be a consideration, I do think it's the least important.

You won't make a bad decision here. And a tip if you aren't sure which stores are popular in your circle: registry stalk a few friends who have similar guest lists but are getting married before you. That will give you a sense of which stores get the most traffic.

hoffse · September 2013

One other small perk about Macy's I forgot to mention: as far as I know it's the only store that lets you manually change the quantity received and mark items completed online without having to call to have a customer service rep do it.

I found this helpful when one of my aunts presented us with a coffee maker because we "forgot" to register for one... in reality, H and I owned a Keurig, a Tassimo, and two drip coffee makers between the two of us, so we certainly didn't forget. We just didn't need one. Anyway, we thanked my aunt, and then I "registered" for a coffee maker and a few other items we had "forgotten" (like a crock pot and some pots and pans) at Macy's. I marked them all as completed, so we didn't get duplicates. I was also able to change the quantity received on a few pieces of china that guests purchased elsewhere. I thought that was better than changing the quantity requested from 12 to something random like 11 or 9.

emmyg65 · September 2013

We registered at Crate and Barrel because we love their dishes and kitchen stuff. I found it to be a really pleasant experience all around. It has a reputation for being expensive, but it's really not. The vast majority of the stuff on our registry was under $50, most even under $25. If it matches your style, I highly recommend it.

muenginerd · September 2013

I'm another big fan of Macy's. We've moved most of our registry to them because of the Macy's Rewards program others have mentioned. We started a registry early so that I could get the rewards from my Macy's card for work clothes, gifts, etc. The prices look more but they are almost always on sale. We've already bought our luggage using christmas gift cards and store promotions and got 60+% off. Great service so far.

We've had big problems with BBB. Their staff came across very pushy and added things to the registry we didn't want. Other friends who just did the registry online loved them. They also have an amazing return policy.

We have seen large turn over with Crate and Barrel and they are slightly more expensive, but still a great store. Alot of timeless styles. I also like the "Thank You" manager where they can track your gifts back to your guest (if your guest agrees to it). It came in very handy for BFF's thank you notes.

chibiyui · September 2013

We registered at Crate and Barrel, Target, a regional department store and I have one or two items on an Etsy registry.
Crate and Barrel we did cause FI and I like their stuff.
Target is the most accesible to our guests, I work at the regional department store and can double my employee discount with the completion discount, and stuff on etsy cause its bitchin.

http://www.brides.com/home-wedding-registry/registry-ideas-answers/2011/02/wedding-gift-registries-the-best-places-to-register

This may be useful for you as well

Xstatic3333 · September 2013

We loved our WS registry. Easy customer service, and the completion discount applies to EVERYTHING, not just registry items. One con is that many of our fragile items arrived broken. However, exchanging was super easy and since we primarily wanted kitchen gadgets, I have no regrets.

sovawanea · September 2013

Also starting to love my William Sonoma registry. We received a mystery serving bowl last week without a gift note of who sent it (the bowl was not mysterious, we did register for it we just did not know who sent it and since our wedding is still a few weeks away, not being able to send the thank you note right away makes me afraid of forgetting to thank someone). We did not realize until I called customer service today, but they have a thank you note manager on the website where the purchaser's information is included. Mystery solved.

csuave · September 2013

I had a great experience with BBB. We did most of our registering online with them and with the coupons I think the people buying off the registry got great deals. The Kitchen Aid Mixer for example was $349 but my aunt used a 20% coupon and then there was a $30 rebate. Returns and exchanges were very easy and the registry updated without any glitches.

I got a 10% completion coupon in the mail and when I logged in online I had a 10% coupon stored in my online account. I bought 4 fiesta plates online and clicked to use all three of my online coupons which were detailed right there on the checkout page (the 10% completion and two different 20%). Two plates were rung up at 20% off and the other two at 10% off. I had to pay shipping but the coupons offset that charge.

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