Can I just snark on Kohls, for a moment?

themuffinman16

I hate Kohls. I seriously want them to jump up my ass. I hate whenever people get me stuff from there... AND don't get me a gift receipt. I was given two towels and a washcloth from there (I am not registered at Kohls). I returned them for $5.86, their original price for all three was about $18.00 (at their current discounted price). You have to find the EXACT price of your item, and they fluctuate their prices so often, that it is impossible to find something that was sold at the same original price. They do this on purpose. So in essence, you have to pay much more for anything you would like. I had to pay $9.00 extra for a CANDLE that I don't even need, just to buy something from there. I HATE stores with crappy return policies. For that reason, I registered at Target and Macy's and Bed Bath and Beyond. Target does not have the best return policy, but you can get ANYTHING from there, and it is still better than Kohls. 

RebeccaFlower

I never have good luck at Kohls. We registered at Target and I took back multiple items and didn't have any problems. 

Northrend

I shop at Kohl's for myself and have a charge account there, but I would never register there.  If you don't get all of their coupons and credit card only deals, you're overpaying.

themuffinman16

Target is good for registries, but if it is a random product any other time of year, you have a return cap you are not allowed to exceed. (It is either 5 or 10 returns a year).  They wave this policy when you are returning gifts and are registered there, because they know they are getting more business from you.

QueerFemme

Kohls does have good sheets though. But I buy them in sale and with coupons.

themuffinman16

The bad thing is, I all ready purchased my bedding, and neither me or FI fit in their clothes.  I can only wear pre-shrunk cotton in tall, and FI doesn't fit in their tall selection... he's a little too tall, for some reason. There is literally not one thing I ever need from their store, and because of their return policy, I don't dare buy any of their larger ticket items.  If I was only able to get $20 for a chair I paid $80 for, if it was faulty, I think I would just set the chair on fire in the parking lot than return it. Lol.

Chipmunk415

Kohls irritates me for the simple fact that I will occasionally update my work wardrobe with a new blouse or skirt. I see something from them online, says it's available in store. Go to store, and can NEVER find the item. They dont update their inventory properly here.

themuffinman16

Their clothing departments are so disorganized... they always look like they have been ransacked by a pack of raccoons on bath salts.

goingon10yrs

My Mom insists on giving Kohls gift cards every year for Christmas.  One year we got $50 worth of pillows.  This past year, I got a perfume that I'd been wanting, and still have $13 on the gift card that I just haven't spent, because I hate the store.  I don't use charge cards, I never have their coupons because I'm never in the area of the store to use them on the dates...

emmaaa

Kohl's is like Marshall's, TJ Maxx and other store like it in my eyes. Yes, you can find great deals and some quality items but I HATE searching through the piles of crap they have. When I go shopping (which is rare) I go for fun. Having to navigate through the mazes in those stores is not fun for me.

flyingfoxes

Hmm...I love Kohl's, but I'm one who HATES returning things, so I rarely ever try.  I don't think I would have every thought about registering there.  I like their clothes, and scored an AMAZING deal on a KitchenAid mixer for FI at Christmastime there. 

themuffinman16

   I love TJ Maxx, but TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Kohls are TERRIBLE gift giving stores.  They are fine when shopping for items you would like for yourself, but these stores are giving the person you are giving a gift a chore and not a present. If they can't use what you gave them, they could be in there for hours and still find nothing.

    I wish I wouldn't sound terribly tacky to warn people about buying gifts from these places. Usually whatever I get from these places, more often than not, goes straight to goodwill. It is sometimes just not worth the two hours to find something that I will probably never use, just to get something. When I am the gift giver, I  like to know where someone does not like to shop so I am not throwing my money away. I just know this person spent $18 for a gift for me, and the store kept $13.00 of their money, and gave me a little less than 6 bucks. I never shop at these stores for gifts, because I would rather spend less on someone's registry and get them something they want, then a larger amount on a gift somewhere else, that the store will most likely profit from.

larrygaga

I do love their clearance section though. I love finding random shirts I don't need for 5 bucks.

littlemushroom

Kohls is one of the few places that let's you return something without a receipt. It has a "No Hassles" return policy, which means they let people return shoes that have obviously been worn for years, watches that were purchased 10 years ago, etc. Managers even let people return merchandise that wasn't even purchased at a Kohls (it is a brand they don't carry) if they complain loudly and long enough. There is literally no other store I know of that does that. One of the biggest problems with retail theft is that people will steal something and then bring it back to the store for a refund. So basically people are getting paid to steal. If they let people without a receipt return the item for the full original price the store would go bankrupt. Anyone could and would say it was purchased at full price even when it was bought on sale so they could get more than they spent. The problem isn't their return policy. Have a receipt and you can get exactly what was paid. Without a receipt, you have to suffer because other people are jerks and game the system. ETA TK ate my paragraphs

themuffinman16

I know, but you can't tell gift givers to give receipts. They make that money back by making sure very few products have the same original price. They make that money back and lure people in by saying anything is returnable. They will make sure you get cents on the dollar, though. If they had more items the same price, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Bit they are pocketing 13 dollars and making you pay 7 more dollars something of close to equal value. That is my beef

E2theB

There is such a thing as a gift receipt...and I did indeed receive one from Kohl's before. And any human being with common sense knows to provide a gift receipt for gift. Especially a wedding gift NOT ON the registry. Hell, I include the receipt even if it is on the registry, just in case of duplicates.

And yes- it is tacky to tell people to shop elsewhere. If you receive gifts that you do not like...as much as it suchs, it was a gift and the giver could have given jack shit.

Just my two cents.

themuffinman16

I know. That is why I would never say anything. But it is still frustrating to have someone spend their money and the store receives the gift, pretty much. Not mad at the guest, I am more irritated with store policy

Simply Fated

Many stores have that return policy, though. JCPenneys, Bath and Body Work.... How do they know how much you (or your guest) originally paid for the item? Your guest could have paid $25 for it on sale, why should the store just hand you over $30? You'd be making money off of them and they'd go bankrupt.
It's the guests' fault for not providing a gift receipt. Not that they have to, but they're the ones unintentionally inconveniencing you. The store is just trying to make money and not go bankrupt with their policy. The fact that they'll take anything back, even without the receipt is better than other stores. Walgreens and Forever 21 have a date limit and you need to receipt.


As far as the store itself goes, I actually really like Kohls. Maybe I'm biased because the ones near me are much nicer than the ones you ladies are describing. Even the dressing rooms are fairly clean, much better than the ones at the Macys near me. And there is no limit, which I really appreciate it. At other store, well meaning sales clerks are always putting my clothes back on the racks by accident.

tammym1001

ETA: Nevermind. I've been super bitchy lately and there's no reason to subject you ladies to that

themuffinman16

Kohls consistently makes nothing in the store the same original price, in order to keep your money. If the same clothing line has kids clothes that start at $14.99, the next week, a new shirt with just a varying print by the same company will cost $15.99.  It really limits you to what you can take back unless you take back the same exact thing.  I don't see how they would ever run a sale where their items are 75% off, unless the item was on clearance, which it wasn't.  To me that is fishy business.  I understand I don't have the receipt.  To me, that is just price gouging, to pay for the customers who can take ANYTHING back, even if they owned it and wore it for a year.. just to break even. But they can do this because their policy is they give you the lowest price in the *last 8 weeks.  This is not the last 8 weeks.  This is 4 weeks ago, and 4 weeks forward (when these color towels might be on clearance).  How can they give you a clearance price when the item has never been on clearance, but will be in four weeks.  That is sneaky.

csuave

Sorry you had a bad experience.  Very sorry that you didn't get gift receipts.  I really don't understand how so many people don't think to include them with gifts.

I've had great experiences with Kohl's return policy.  Any returns with receipts have been hassle free including them giving me a replacement suitcase for one that was a gift and got damaged on an overseas trip.

I also have gotten a couple of gifts I didn't want (no gift receipt) and was happy to be able to take them to Kohl's and at least get something for them. 

It also sounds like the policy may be getting stricter than it used to be.  My mom got a gift of snowman bowls one Christmas.  Took it back after Christmas and it was something they weren't even selling so they gave the closest price available--which was about 4x more than what my mom was expecting. 

theartistformerlyknownas

I hate hate HATE Kohls. Used to love it but have since seen the error of my ways. Or my standards went up, or theirs went down, something.

FI LOVES it, and his whole family shops there all the time. He constantly has gift cards, and asks if I want to go shopping there with him. Eh sure, get me outta the house. He's always flabbergasted when I don't want anything from there, because he's "never seen a woman not want to shop." Oh honey, I do, just not here. Let's go to Target, H&M, fuck I'll take JC Penney over Kohl's in a hearbeat.

APDSS22

I have been to multiple Kohls stores in multiple states and I always have the very same problem.  I find something I like online and run into the store to get it.  And it's NEVER there.  Like, not even one dress 3 sizes too small still hanging out all by its lonesome representing the dress I wanted to get. 

I got a really good deal on a fantastic pillow from them with a gift card from my MIL last year when I combined a couple coupons/deals and stuff.  And I love my pillow.  But the stores are always messy.  "Ransacked by a pack of raccoons on bath salts" is an unfortunately accurate phrase.

Blergbot

I have never set foot in a Kohl's...

themuffinman16

To give the price it has never been charged because they do 4 week behind and 4 week FORWARD pricing is terrible.  If it has been that price (understandable, if it will be that price, that is something totally different).  How can you give me the clearance price for the item when that is four weeks ahead?  THAT is my issue.  The customer OBVIOUSLY did not buy clearance towels, because the towels aren't on clearance, but they will be in four weeks.  That is what is sneaky about them. EVeryone else does four weeks behind pricing.  If it is on clearance, then it is likely it was on clearance when it was bought. And I have no issue with that, other than I didn't get a gift receipt, but that is not Kohl's fault. Their fault lies within their 4 week forward pricing.  That is why I will NEVER shop there, even if they decided to let loose a dozen bulls in every Target, nationwide. I'd rather get gored by a bull than shop at Kohls.

emmaaa

Wow. I missed that part in your OP. That is ridiculous. And you're right, they just want to save/make money. I worked in retail for years and if someone came in without a receipt, they got the current price of the item. It didn't matter if it was on clearance now but wasn't when it was purchased. It didn't matter is it was on a 40% sale when it was purchased but only a 20% sale now (more money for the customer). That is what they got because without a receipt there is no way to prove what was actually paid so thy get the current marked price. 

theartistformerlyknownas

Funny story about returns... I used to work the service desk at a grocery store, and one day a woman came in with a wrinkled, dirty receipt and a $20 bag of shrimp, saying she wanted to return it. The shrimp were still frozen solid with frost on the bag. Suuuuure you bought these, drove home, realized you didn't need them, turned around and came back to return them. You didn't just find a receipt on the ground out in the parking lot, say "oh hey, expensive shrimp," grab a bag out of the freezer and try to "return" it. I totally believe you. But you know what, I gave her the $20. "The customer is always right."

ohannabelle

Kohls exists only to remind me why I love Nordstrom.

Dirty, cluttered, poorly stocked, terrible merchandise organization, and worse customer service. For house things like sheets and things, Target or Ikea, for makeup and clothes, Nordstrom. I believe in good customer service, and think it should be rewarded. 

E2theB

I can't speak for Kohl's markdown/return policy or practices, but I did work in retail for over a decade at a few different stores. 

At the place I worked the longest, the policy was 60 days with receipt. So if you were within that window and had your receipt, boom- you get back what you paid, how you paid (cash for cash or check after 14 days; credit back to credit, refund card for gift card, etc). 

If, somehow, you were beyond that cutoff, unfortunately, the computer would give the lowest sale/markdown price the item had been in the previous 60 days.

If you didn't have a receipt at all, we would generally give the benefit of the doubt- if it was unopened and re-sellable, we took it back and only gave you 80% of the original value (20% markdown). Or if it was opened, or a larger ticket item, we gave back 60% of the original price (since we regularly ran 40% off coupons)

It may seem unfair to the average consumer, but the return policies most stores have are to protect their assets. I could not tell you how many times people tried to return opened, eaten, destroyed, damaged items or things with damaged packaging or missing parts. People gave the biggest sob stories ever. A woman with tears in her eyes told me her daughter died and she needed money for the funeral so I would refund a six month old purchase. (Then she's laughing and making fun of me when I walk by her 20 minutes later). I would often flat out tell people with crap returns (beyond the 60 day window) "I just cannot re-sell this. I would be taking a loss if I took this back." So yeah, consumers often get screwed at the hands of big business, but that's why it's called business. Corporations have taken too many hits from schemers and thiefs and liars, and have therefore made it difficult for honest people to get fair treatment at stores. 

penguin44

NikkiJay3333 said:

Kohls is one of the few places that let's you return something without a receipt. It has a "No Hassles" return policy, which means they let people return shoes that have obviously been worn for years, watches that were purchased 10 years ago, etc. Managers even let people return merchandise that wasn't even purchased at a Kohls (it is a brand they don't carry) if they complain loudly and long enough. There is literally no other store I know of that does that. One of the biggest problems with retail theft is that people will steal something and then bring it back to the store for a refund. So basically people are getting paid to steal. If they let people without a receipt return the item for the full original price the store would go bankrupt. Anyone could and would say it was purchased at full price even when it was bought on sale so they could get more than they spent. The problem isn't their return policy. Have a receipt and you can get exactly what was paid. Without a receipt, you have to suffer because other people are jerks and game the system. ETA TK ate my paragraphs

This. 

I can't even count how many times people would return 20 year old shoes, or dirty clothes. And Kohl's customer service still gives them something for it. I don't know why the gave you the future price of the item, when I worked there it was always the current price. 

Also, when you go to Nordstrom or Macy's or whatever, you are paying for that good customer service. I also prefer going to Nordstrom, or even Nordstrom Rack to shop, but I know that part of that price is employee salary. They are getting paid much more than people at Kohl's, and they have the money to put an employee or two or three in every department. 

DaisyMaeMommy

I worked at Kohls for two weeks and then quit because it's such a disorganized crap-hole.