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Registry and Gift Forum
Brides Please Read: BEWARE of TARGET stores REGISTRY!!!
Hello fellow brides;
I just want everyone to know what happened to me at Target with my Target wedding Registry so you don't have to go through the same hell. Beware: Target WILL NOT let you return items after 90 days, no matter what they say in ads about "easy returns." Help yourself and do not use Target for your wedding registry.
I got married a few months back and immediately after came the usual, Honeymoon, buying a house, getting a dog, trying to get pregnant, etc. We thought it was wise to not unpack our new wedding dinnerware until we got into our new house (why unpack and re-pack?!) and months later we unpack our blue dinnerware in our new red kitchen. So, the question became "paint or exchange the dinnerware?" Since we had a Registry at Target and are not made of money we decided to simply exchange the plates for new plates of a more appropriate color. We brought the dinnerware back to Target IN THE BOX (now I'm not talking about in the package, I'm talking about in the cardboard shipping box that says "TARGET.com" PO#, TC-ITEM# etc. as many people had purchased online and shipped.) Not only that, but I have a COPY OF MY REGISTRY that says that those items were purchased.
NEW UNOPENED ITEM + PROOF OF PURCHSE = EXCHANGE?
NOT AT TARGET.
I feel like we would have better been served with a Registry at Wallmart!!! They don't stock the items anymore, and won't take them back for even an exchange because the turnaround rate for their items is 90 days. 90DAYS!!!! Hardly enough time to get the Thank You cards out, get back from your Honeymoon, let alone buy a house and get settled in.
I called Guest Relations, Gift Registry Services, etc. etc. etc. and tried to speak to people higher and higher up with no success. And I am NOT one to give up.
So please spread the word:
TARGET is NOT FRIENDLY to BRIDES.
Sarah Lavoie
I just want everyone to know what happened to me at Target with my Target wedding Registry so you don't have to go through the same hell. Beware: Target WILL NOT let you return items after 90 days, no matter what they say in ads about "easy returns." Help yourself and do not use Target for your wedding registry.
I got married a few months back and immediately after came the usual, Honeymoon, buying a house, getting a dog, trying to get pregnant, etc. We thought it was wise to not unpack our new wedding dinnerware until we got into our new house (why unpack and re-pack?!) and months later we unpack our blue dinnerware in our new red kitchen. So, the question became "paint or exchange the dinnerware?" Since we had a Registry at Target and are not made of money we decided to simply exchange the plates for new plates of a more appropriate color. We brought the dinnerware back to Target IN THE BOX (now I'm not talking about in the package, I'm talking about in the cardboard shipping box that says "TARGET.com" PO#, TC-ITEM# etc. as many people had purchased online and shipped.) Not only that, but I have a COPY OF MY REGISTRY that says that those items were purchased.
NEW UNOPENED ITEM + PROOF OF PURCHSE = EXCHANGE?
NOT AT TARGET.
I feel like we would have better been served with a Registry at Wallmart!!! They don't stock the items anymore, and won't take them back for even an exchange because the turnaround rate for their items is 90 days. 90DAYS!!!! Hardly enough time to get the Thank You cards out, get back from your Honeymoon, let alone buy a house and get settled in.
I called Guest Relations, Gift Registry Services, etc. etc. etc. and tried to speak to people higher and higher up with no success. And I am NOT one to give up.
So please spread the word:
TARGET is NOT FRIENDLY to BRIDES.
Sarah Lavoie
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Brides Please Read: BEWARE of TARGET stores REGISTRY!!!
Target shouldn't have to keep their stock up just incase someone might want to change their mind 3+ months afterwards
Posted by hoffse[/QUOTE]
All I can say to you is this: Clearly you are pre-wedding, not post-wedding. If you are both a working couple trying to start your life aftera wedding, 90 days will feel like 48 hours. Don't speak about things you don't know about.
Their rationale is that their stock rotates every 30-90 days, Imagine simply trying to buy MORE of the same product (Oops, my dog broke a serving plate, I need a new one) but you can't get it because they stopped selling it 30 days after you bought it...
This is corporate America, people, it's disheartening to know that so many of you agree with a large-corporation mentality that has only been around for about 15 years. Maybe it's that I'm an older bride who saw what things were like before huge non-American-made massive product mills like Target were open, but with age comes wisdom. I have been through this, and it's great and exciting to walk into a store and use the little gun to mark all the items you want with abandon, knowing you will not have to pay for them and they can be yours! Then you pick out bedsheets and curtains and plates and everything color-coordinated to match the vision of your dream-home that you've had in your head "ever since you were a little girl".
It takes FAR MORE than 90 days to get through the Mortgage/House buying process, and that's after you've found the perfect house. Buying a house after you get married is not that unrealistic, people, and unless Daddy handed you a house beforehand, you are NOT going to know beforehand what is actually going to work with your house once you get in it. The Registry is simple consumerism for the sake of consumerism and it feeds off the dreams of people like us who are all starry-eyed about the white-picket-fence process.
Shower curtain? I now have a glassed-in-shower. Totally useless. If you take nothing else from this post then remember this: BEWARE of the Registry process; ask people to give you gift cards or money; it will serve you much better.
[QUOTE]All I can say to you is this: Clearly you are pre-wedding, not post-wedding. If you are both a working couple trying to start your life aftera wedding, 90 days will feel like 48 hours. Don't speak about things you don't know about.
Posted by Ladyphoenixnh[/QUOTE]
I don't know about the poster you quoted, but I'm post-wedding, so does that mean you'll take me seriously? By the way, I think your above comment was rude and uncalled for.
I registered at Target for my wedding last summer and had zero issues. This is a YOU problem, not a Target one. Target may have other registry issues, but 90 day returns is standard, if not generous, for most stores. A lot of stores have a 30 day return policy.
H and I both work full-time and did so during and after our wedding. We still managed to write close to 200 TY notes between the two of us by the end of Aug. (wedding was end of July and 10 days was spent on a HM), plus return/exchange items. Working is not an excuse to not be generous to your guests and hold off on TY notes for months.
ETA: Regarding your next post, we just bought a house and the whole process took about 2 months. Sure, it can take longer, but is that Target's problem that you decided to buy a house after registering and now you don't like the stuff you registered for? Again, no. That is YOUR problem. That was a choice you made to register for your wedding then buy a house after it.
AND it is horribly rude to ask for cash outright.
[QUOTE]All I can say to you is this: Clearly you are pre-wedding, not post-wedding. If you are both a working couple trying to start your life aftera wedding, 90 days will feel like 48 hours. Don't speak about things you don't know about.
Posted by Ladyphoenixnh[/QUOTE]
<div>I'm over a year post-wedding, had a Target Registry, and got my gifts opened in one day (the wedding day, in fact, because we had a lunch reception and opened them at my parent's house before leaving on our honeymoon). The few returns I needed were done within 2 months, and my thank-yous went out also in less than 60 days. </div><div>
</div><div>You're just being nasty and hateful. Target has no responsibility to take back items outside their stated return policy, even unopened and with a receipt. You should have prioritized your errands better. And as for whining about a shower curtain you don't need, did you not register for it? You could give it to someone who could use it or take it to Goodwill.</div><div>
</div><div>And asking for cash or gift cards (same thing, really) would be incredibly rude. People are not stupid and know everyone appreciated cash. But some people (most, in my area) prefer to give boxed gifts.</div>
A 90 day return policy is fair. The issue is that you didn't ask what the return policy was when you went to register there That's YOUR fault - not the store's fault.
That time to return is more than generous for you as a bride. Again, YOU chose to buy a home immediately after getting married and evidently between that and the act of trying to conceive a child there was no time to come up for air to make a drive to the nearest Target? Really? Haven't you two needed to get a few bites to eat in between all that aerobic activity?
I've heard plenty of complaints about the Target registry but your complaints just aren't valid ones.
Believe it or not, the majority of the consumers at Target are NOT brides. They're the rest of us who watch for stock turnover, snap up items that are out of season in sales and we don't expect everything to stay available all the time. That's why we love clearance aisles!
Oh and I'm 5 years post-wedding. I've purchased a house and have a child. I know first-hand that you could have made the time and just opted not to do so.
Please tell me you didn't try to make the returns to Target just this month.
[QUOTE]Make of this what you will, Brides-to-be, but any store that will not take back their OWN UNOPENED PRODUCT with PROOF OF PURCHASE is a store that is only out to take your money. Their rationale is that their stock rotates every 30-90 days, Imagine simply trying to buy MORE of the same product (Oops, my dog broke a serving plate, I need a new one) but you can't get it because they stopped selling it 30 days after you bought it... This is corporate America, people, it's disheartening to know that so many of you agree with a large-corporation mentality that has only been around for about 15 years. Maybe it's that I'm an older bride who saw what things were like before huge non-American-made massive product mills like Target were open, but with age comes wisdom. I have been through this, and it's great and exciting to walk into a store and use the little gun to mark all the items you want with abandon, knowing you will not have to pay for them and they can be yours! Then you pick out bedsheets and curtains and plates and everything color-coordinated to match the vision of your dream-home that you've had in your head "ever since you were a little girl". It takes FAR MORE than 90 days to get through the Mortgage/House buying process, and that's after you've found the perfect house. Buying a house after you get married is not that unrealistic, people, and unless Daddy handed you a house beforehand, you are NOT going to know beforehand what is actually going to work with your house once you get in it. The Registry is simple consumerism for the sake of consumerism and it feeds off the dreams of people like us who are all starry-eyed about the white-picket-fence process. Shower curtain? I now have a glassed-in-shower. Totally useless. If you take nothing else from this post then remember this: BEWARE of the Registry process; ask people to give you gift cards or money; it will serve you much better.
Posted by Ladyphoenixnh[/QUOTE]
I have two words for you: personal responsibility.
I'm still stuck on the fact that you can't have blue plates in a red kitchen.
Just because you bought a house right after you got married (your choice, not Target's) doesn't mean you couldn't have opened your gifts right away (your choice, not Target's). It's not Target's fault that you didn't read their fine print when you registered, nor is it Target's fault that you changed your mind about what color plates you wanted.
And I say this almost 6 years post-wedding.
[QUOTE]Make of this what you will, Brides-to-be, but any store that will not take back their OWN UNOPENED PRODUCT with PROOF OF PURCHASE is a store that is only out to take your money. Their rationale is that their stock rotates every 30-90 days, Imagine simply trying to buy MORE of the same product (Oops, my dog broke a serving plate, I need a new one) but you can't get it because they stopped selling it 30 days after you bought it... This is corporate America, people, it's disheartening to know that so many of you agree with a large-corporation mentality that has only been around for about 15 years. Maybe it's that I'm an older bride who saw what things were like before huge non-American-made massive product mills like Target were open, but with age comes wisdom. I have been through this, and it's great and exciting to walk into a store and use the little gun to mark all the items you want with abandon, knowing you will not have to pay for them and they can be yours! Then you pick out bedsheets and curtains and plates and everything color-coordinated to match the vision of your dream-home that you've had in your head "ever since you were a little girl". <strong>It takes FAR MORE than 90 days to get through the Mortgage/House buying process, and that's after you've found the perfect house. </strong>Buying a house after you get married is not that unrealistic, people, and unless Daddy handed you a house beforehand, you are NOT going to know beforehand what is actually going to work with your house once you get in it. The Registry is simple consumerism for the sake of consumerism and it feeds off the dreams of people like us who are all starry-eyed about the white-picket-fence process. Shower curtain? I now have a glassed-in-shower. Totally useless. If you take nothing else from this post then remember this: BEWARE of the Registry process; ask people to give you gift cards or money; it will serve you much better.
Posted by Ladyphoenixnh[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>In some cases surely, but we found, put an offer in on, and closed on our condo all within 45 days, so I think you should probably stay away from gross generalizations you know nothing about. Or the "handed to by daddy" reference-many couples own homes before marriage that they saved for and bought on their own.</div><div>
</div><div>I also think that buying dinnerware to match a kitchen is just kind of silly to begin with--what happens when you remodel or move? I agree that a 90 day return policy is kind of annoying, but it's definitely something I'd expect, or certainly not be surprised by. I think your story is a good reminder of why everyone should check their return policies prior to deciding where to register to figure out what works for them.</div><div>
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[QUOTE]<strong>I'm still stuck on the fact that you can't have blue plates in a red kitchen</strong>. Just because you bought a house right after you got married (your choice, not Target's) doesn't mean you couldn't have opened your gifts right away (your choice, not Target's). It's not Target's fault that you didn't read their fine print when you registered, nor is it Target's fault that you changed your mind about what color plates you wanted. And I say this almost 6 years post-wedding.
Posted by Klikina[/QUOTE]
Me too. :)
Also, didn't you know you registered for blue dishes without having to open them? If you knew you were going to move and you wanted to match, why didn't you just register for something neutral?
You just got married. Your friends and family were generous enough to give you lovely gifts. You just purchased a home and are blessed to have two stable incomes in your household. You just got a dog and will hopefully soon have a baby on the way. You have a lot of important, wonderful things going on in your life right now. Is the color of the plates REALLY worth getting this upset over?
2. You registered for this stuff....and you got it. Why did you register for blue plates and a shower curtain if you had no idea what kind of pad your were going to end up in??
3. 90 days is completely reasonable for a return policy....as is their rationale of a rotating stock.
Mountain out of a molehill OP.....congrats on your wedding/new home/new family.....try to focus on the big picture.
I don't have much sympathy for the op. I am prewedding but I've bought a house and we had a hellish search and closing so I know what that's like. Also I've had plenty of friends who were in apts get married and register. Not very smart of you to register for such color specific choices. You should have stuck with white. You had plenty of time to return things. Sorry this is your fault.
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Brides Please Read: BEWARE of TARGET stores REGISTRY!!! : Me too. :) Also, didn't you know you registered for blue dishes without having to open them? <strong>If you knew you were going to move and you wanted to match, why didn't you just register for something neutral?</strong>
Posted by Ali092011[/QUOTE]
This. We specifically left key items that would usually be on a registry off because we will be looking to buy a house after the wedding and want to wait to see what will work with whatever we end up buying.
[QUOTE]All I can say to you is this: Clearly you are pre-wedding, not post-wedding. If you are both a working couple trying to start your life aftera wedding, 90 days will feel like 48 hours. Don't speak about things you don't know about.
Posted by Ladyphoenixnh[/QUOTE]
<div>Holy rude Batman. It doesn't matter how quickly the 90 days felt to you. You still should have thought to open the box and see what you got so you could write a thank you note. Making people wait for the thanks you should say because they shelled out money for you is rude. It doesn't matter that you were buying a house and starting a life together, you can still say thanks to those who bought you a gift. </div><div>
</div><div>While I may not be married yet, my FI and I already purchased a home together and got a puppy less than a week later, we both work full time and I'm still in grad school. His family that lives 2000 miles away from us were nice enough to send us housewarming cards and a few small gifts. We managed to set down whatever we were doing to open cards and boxes and send them a thank you in return. It's called being polite and well mannered. Target doesn't have to wait around for you to decide when you feel it's your due time to open the gifts and make a decision about them. That's their return policy and you should have been aware of it from the get go. If you weren't then I'm sorry, but that doesn't change the fact that it's their policy and they don't exchange the items. Time to move on. </div><div>
</div><div>Once preapproved, it didn't FI and I long to buy a house. We got approved, found a house in less than a week and closed 30 days later. It doesn't take more than 90 to buy a house if you know what you want and have the money and loans to back you. </div><div>
</div><div>And quite being so rude. </div>
They were not damaged, correct?
Sounds like you are lazy.
Targets return policies are more than fair.
[QUOTE]Make of this what you will, Brides-to-be, but any store that will not take back their OWN UNOPENED PRODUCT with PROOF OF PURCHASE is a store that is only out to take your money. Their rationale is that their stock rotates every 30-90 days, Imagine simply trying to buy MORE of the same product (Oops, my dog broke a serving plate, I need a new one) but you can't get it because they stopped selling it 30 days after you bought it... This is corporate America, people, it's disheartening to know that so many of you agree with a large-corporation mentality that has only been around for about 15 years. Maybe it's that I'm an older bride who saw what things were like before huge non-American-made massive product mills like Target were open, but with age comes wisdom. I have been through this, and it's great and exciting to walk into a store and use the little gun to mark all the items you want with abandon, knowing you will not have to pay for them and they can be yours! Then you pick out bedsheets and curtains and plates and everything color-coordinated to match the vision of your dream-home that you've had in your head "ever since you were a little girl". It takes FAR MORE than 90 days to get through the Mortgage/House buying process, and that's after you've found the perfect house. Buying a house after you get married is not that unrealistic, people, and unless Daddy handed you a house beforehand, you are NOT going to know beforehand what is actually going to work with your house once you get in it. The Registry is simple consumerism for the sake of consumerism and it feeds off the dreams of people like us who are all starry-eyed about the white-picket-fence process. Shower curtain? I now have a glassed-in-shower. Totally useless. If you take nothing else from this post then remember this: BEWARE of the Registry process; ask people to give you gift cards or money; it will serve you much better.
Posted by Ladyphoenixnh[/QUOTE]
Get over yourself. Yes, life gets busy. Crazy busy in fact, but you find time for the things that need to get done and are important to you.
It seems to me that you made a choice to disregard people's gifts-aside from the fact that they went out of their way to spend their hard earned money on you and your husband- and you kept putting it on the back burner.
It would have taken you 15 minutes to open the box, realize you didn't like the place setting and send a thank you. You're rude and inconsiderate to the guests that came to celebrate your big day. Don't blame Target for your lack of time management skills.
PS-You sound like a 'gen x' moaning and goaning about having responsibilities. Get over it.
[QUOTE]
Posted by cfaszews25[/QUOTE]
<div>Love Damon! :) </div><div>
</div><div>Oh, the problems in the first world. "<em>My dinner plates don't match my walls.</em>" Seriously?!</div>
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Just a side note, I've researched and begun the process of becoming a minimalist (slow process, but still) which means becoming the opposite of a consumer and only having the things that are necessary to live. Honestly, I agree with your views on how consumerism is bringing this country down. However, anyone who has these views (or is against the consumeristic world) would certainly not give two sh*ts about return policies. And they DEFINITELY would NOT freak out about the color of their plates. I mean, they are just plates. They still hold food, do they not?
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Really? If you are a working couple trying to PLAN and execute a wedding, I can PROMISE you life is equally hectic. And yet! Somehow I've managed to find time to read the return policy for both of my registries. And I agree with other posters. There is NO excuse for waiting so long to send out thank you notes.
But thanks for illustrating our culture's STUNNING lack of willingness to take personal responsibility for anything.