BBB vs. Macy's

bridalmarch · October 2012

We're deciding on our registries. We're definitely doing BBB and Crate and Barrel. We aren't sure if we should include Macy's though - FI would like to, but I think they probably have the same things as BBB.

cwaggoner07 · October 2012

We registered at BBB and C&B, and between the two stores we had it covered. On the one hand, it really can't hurt if you want to do it, but you certainly can get everything you need/want at the other two stores.

Good luck!

Cackle6 · October 2012

I did both BBB and Macy's. I found that BBB had most of the same items that Macy's had, but had them at a lower price, so I did almost all of my items at BBB. H liked the towels and Macy's better so we left those on there, and you can't buy Fiestaware in BBB stores yet, so we left that at Macy's as well. We also had a better exprience with our consultant at BBB than at Macy's.

We got duplicates of items off of both registries. It was really really easy to return them at BBB, even without a recipt. Macy's, on the other hand, was a mess. Some of the items rang up as being $0.01, which clearly was a mistake. It ended up being that the consultants at my local Macy's were horrible at their jobs, as I went to the fancier Macy's downtown and they had no problem returning the items. It really is unfortunate, because had it not been for my awful experience at my local Macy's, I might have kept more items on that registry. But after that exprience, I deleted everything but the towels and Fiestaware.

Long story short, I think BBB has pretty much the same stuff as Macy's. Macy's has different bedding patterns and has some different dinnerware patterns, but other than that, for the most part, the items are the same or very similar.

sparkles776 · October 2012

I think they pretty much have the same stuff for the most part. I actually just registered at both last week. I was really overwhelemed at BBB and although we opted not to have our registry consultant walk around with us, I am pretty sure they designated someone to follow us and pop up when we started looking at expensive stuff (cookware, dyson vac's etc) because there was someone who lurked behind us the entire time. It just made me really uncomfortable. I thought Macys was a way better experience, they pretty much left us alone and only popped in a couple times to make sure we were doing ok.

Also, the registry incentives at Macys are better. They have a program that if you have a Macy's charge, they link your card to your registry. After your wedding, you get a giftcard with 10% back from all your purchases, and 5% of everything that was purchased off your registry.

Again, I personally think they have pretty much the same stuff, there were certain things I liked at BBB better and certain things I liked at Macys better. I agree with a PP, I like the towels way more at Macys and I like their bedding more.

lls31 · October 2012

We chose BBB over Macy's because their prices were cheaper and they had more convenient locations.

stantokm · October 2012

We're doing both (and Williams-Sonoma). While BBB and Macy's do have a lot of the same things, I love all of Martha Stewart's bakeware and utensils and things and those are only at Macy's. Macy's also has a much better rewards system like a PP mentioned. And I ALSO hated the scanning process at BBB. The only scanner left was broken, so this woman walked with us for over an hour and wrote down sku numbers until a scanner was free. Then she continued to walk with us and look at us expectantly like "Aren't you going to get this? I already told you that it's the best." Ugh. She bothered me so much. Macy's was a lot better; the associate popped over to us maybe once every 20-30 minutes, answered any questions that we had, and then left us alone.

bride2beNCG · October 2012

We just registered this weekend at BBB and C&B. I will say, we only added BBB for the linens selection (towels, sheets, placemats, etc), otherwise we would have stuck to C&B alone. I also completely agree with PPs - having someone follow you around might *seem* convenient, but it definitely felt intrusive and weird.

bridalmarch · October 2012

Yeah I've heard about the personal helpers or whatever at BBB. I think we might decline that. Maybe we'll go mid-day on a Saturday and they'll be too busy to just follow us around

jessicabessica · October 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_bbb-vs-macys-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:ff4fed63-26bb-4324-a1c8-48b74e5c809bPost:1dbf02ac-7aaa-4bff-9234-5f522b873237">Re: BBB vs. Macy's</a>:
[QUOTE]Yeah I've heard about the personal helpers or whatever at BBB. I think we might decline that. Maybe we'll go mid-day on a Saturday and they'll be too busy to just follow us around :)
Posted by bridalmarch[/QUOTE]

<div>We created our registry online, and then we just went to the store and asked for a scanner. That might be a way to avoid getting followed by someone "helpful." </div><div>
</div><div>We registered at BBB, Macy's, and Amazon. Macy's has higher regular prices, but some amazing sales. The everyday china we ended up getting was only at Macy's. Also, we got some gift cards to the stores where we registered, and I found there's only so much I can buy at BBB after getting so many gifts from there. I can always spend Macy's credit on clothes in addition to housewares. </div>

hoffse · October 2012

My "helper" at BBB wouldn't let us even hold the scan gun, even though we had started our registry online. He also added a bunch of very expensive stuff I told him we didn't want (like the copper-core all-clad pans ~$1500), which we found when we got home. Sure it was easy to delete, but the whole thing pissed us off so much we deleted BBB entirely.

I loved Macys - our registry consultants didn't follow us around at all. We've been building up some really solid rewards that PP mentioned between buying stuff for the wedding, my pre-wedding parties, and holiday/birthday gifts. I also just started a new job, and I had to do some pretty serious shopping for a professional wardrobe - did it all at Macy's to get that 10% back.

Macy's carries some china and things that BBB doesn't carry - I also love their towels, bedding, and Martha Stewart stuff. My office also shares a parking deck with a mall that has a Macy's in it, so it made sense for a large contingency of my guests. My other gripe about BBB is that you really have to research there - they tend to have a deeper selection of stuff in each category than Macy's carries, but a lot of it is junk. It sort of exhausted me reading bad review after bad review on BBB's website.

NO2012 · October 2012

I did both and they do have a lot of the same items. I even registered for the same things at both places and deleted it from one when it was purchased at the other store. I was very surprised to learn that Macy's has a lot of crazy good sales which often times would then be in line with BBBs regular everyday prices and how many of my guests preferred to shop at Macy's. I wrongly assumed it would be the other way around. I'm glad I did both in addition to Williams Sonoma. The great majority of my gifts were purchased from Macy's though.

cwaggoner07 · October 2012

I know it's store by store, but I have to defend with my BBB experience. We set up our registry in-store, and they let us alone with the scanner, and no one bothered us once. It was a really great experience.

lls31 · October 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_bbb-vs-macys-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:ff4fed63-26bb-4324-a1c8-48b74e5c809bPost:42d198a3-9bb0-411a-801d-905dd84f34d1">Re: BBB vs. Macy's</a>:
[QUOTE]I know it's store by store, but I have to defend with my BBB experience. We set up our registry in-store, and they let us alone with the scanner, and no one bothered us once. It was a really great experience.
Posted by cwaggoner07[/QUOTE]

<div>Our situation was the same. No one bothered us at all. I thought it was great. If someone had decided to bother us, I would've just told them politely that we didn't need help.</div>

Benny618 · October 2012

We have both.. BBB doesn't carry some brands that we wanted to register for, such as Michael Aram and our sheets. There is definitely lots of cross over between the stores but I felt like we needed both to cover what we wanted to register for.

cnf2013 · October 2012

We can't not do BBB. My mom works there and is really excited to get our registry started for us. Though she said at her store they don't follow you around, I'm sure she'll tag along with us out of excitement. But it sounds like the personal shopper issue may be store to store. Plus, I'm my mothers designated shopper, i.e. I'm privvy to her 20% employee discount, which I can use on top of the completetion discount. Can't argue that.

Benny618 · October 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_bbb-vs-macys-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:34Discussion:ff4fed63-26bb-4324-a1c8-48b74e5c809bPost:9d108ad0-9c73-440f-9938-23ce9dfa14e2">Re: BBB vs. Macy's</a>:
[QUOTE]We can't not do BBB. My mom works there and is really excited to get our registry started for us. Though she said at her store they don't follow you around, I'm sure she'll tag along with us out of excitement. But it sounds like the personal shopper issue may be store to store. Plus, I'm my mothers designated shopper, i.e. I'm privvy to her 20% employee discount, which I can use on top of the completetion discount. Can't argue that.
Posted by cnf2013[/QUOTE]

I'm surprised to hear that the employee discount is no more than the same discount regular customers get with the coupons.

daisyamers · October 2012

i'm doing myregistry.com which is letting me see items at macys and bbb at the same time and register at my leisure (we did the bulk last weekend) i could not be more happier with this choice

sparkles776 · October 2012

When I got home from registering at BBB and checked my registry online, I noticed that there were some things on there that we didnt register for, both the serving set and hostess set that matched our silverware were added, champagne glasses that matched our ice beverage glasses, I was more annoyed than angry, I wish they had just asked.

cnf2013 · October 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_bbb-vs-macys-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:ff4fed63-26bb-4324-a1c8-48b74e5c809bPost:ebf16aa7-4ba7-41c8-a779-cb3eeeb1c0bc">Re: BBB vs. Macy's</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: BBB vs. Macy's : I'm surprised to hear that the employee discount is no more than the same discount regular customers get with the coupons.
Posted by Benny618[/QUOTE]

<div>Yeah, it'd be nice if it was more, but I can use it on top of other coupons and discounts too, so it's not bad. When we bought our house last year we bought all the curtain rods on the clareance rack that were marked down to $5 and we got the discount on top of it. </div>

ash273uk · October 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_bbb-vs-macys-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:34Discussion:ff4fed63-26bb-4324-a1c8-48b74e5c809bPost:067476ea-3840-4323-afd5-42aef600c95f">Re:BBB vs. Macy's</a>:
[QUOTE]I did both and they do have a lot of the same items. I even registered for the same things at both places and deleted it from one when it was purchased at the other store.<strong> I was very surprised to learn that Macy's has a lot of crazy good sales which often times would then be in line with BBBs regular everyday prices and how many of my guests preferred to shop at Macy's. I wrongly assumed it would be the other way around.</strong> I'm glad I did both in addition to Williams Sonoma. The great majority of my gifts were purchased from Macy's though.
Posted by NO2012[/QUOTE]

This. I registered at both BBB and Macy's (as well as Target). They do have a lot of the same stuff, but both stores have great return policies. I did not have trouble taking back anything that I recieved from either store. The bulk of my items were on my BBB registry, but looking back, I wish I would've had more on the Macy's registry because of the incentives. But I had a great experience at both places. I think you should register at both.

trigs1126 · February 2013

I'm glad I was browsing these reviews today! My fiance and I are registering at Macy's this weekend and BBB in 2 weeks. Macy's seems like a breeze. They told me we didn't need an "appointment" but there would be someone there if we needed any help at all. I called 3 BBB locations after reading these! 1 of them said they did a full escort so now I know that one is out. The other 2 said if you don't want anyone with you that is no problem. We'll see how it goes

BBB vs. Macy's

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