I'm not surprised and that's a fairly standard return policy here in So. Cal. when one has paid with cash for their purchase. Shoot, Burlington Coat Factory just gives store credit for ALL returns (cash or credit purchases) that are not just for exchange because of size, color, etc.

That stinks! I can understand a waiting period if you pay by check. But cash is cash. Why wouldn't they break up the transaction? I mean what if you only wanted to return one of the drapes? That doesn't make sense to me.
Now that so many stores can look up your receipt if you pay by credit card, I usually do that. It does make returns much easier.
Sorry you had to deal with that and thanks for the warning.

I've worked in retail since I was 18 and I've never heard of that policy before. I called and spoke to the manager. I was really nice about it since they have no control over company policy, but it's nonsense. I'm calling their Home office now. If that's the policy, it should be on the receipts, at the register, and the associate should tell you during the initial purchase.

Hey angc, that is a bummer. I hate crap like that...I got so tired of weird (and unfair) refund practices that I just use my debit card now. At some places they can even look up your purchase w/ no receipt.

And suzieca, I've done that before too. :)

Susan

Teedup:
The Burlington stores near me refund by method of purchase (I returned a skirt there in February and got my money back).

Maybe each store region decides for itself? Or have you been in a store recently--maybe they've changed the policy and you haven't noticed?

(My February purchase was the first in more than about 12 years being back at the store because I despised the chain's store-credit-only rule.)

Another thing about PB. I ordered lamp shades thru the catalog a few months ago. They didn't work for me, so I returned them to the store, and they almost didn't take them back. They said they are in the process of changing their policy so that catalog orders can't be returned to the store! Ack!

I work at a different catalog/retail store with the same (or similar) policy. From what I was told at training, it's because they don't keep cash on the premises. 90% of our customers pay with credit cards. They probably didn't have the cash to give you.

Thanks for the warning. I agree, for a cash transaction, that policy is ridiculous!

If that's the policy, it should be on the receipts, at the register, and the associate should tell you during the initial purchase.

I completely agree. What a crap "policy" that is. I hope you get some satisfaction when you call the home office.

I can understand if they didn't have enough cash available to return cash, but that is the ONLY reason.

Otherwise this policy is HORRIBLE & it should be on their receipts.

When Bombay filed for bankruptcy they overnighted new receipt tape w/ the new return policy on it to our stores. When they decided to close the stores they overnighted new tape to us again.

I definitely would have returned part of the order right there; at least you only have to wait for part of your refund. Then I would wait til the evening and return the rest of it. You can never win trying to argue with a salesclerk.

Argh! Too bad you didn't think to return each one separately! I wouldn't have thought of it either, but if my husband were with me, I'm sure he would have figured out that trick in a flash. I'll be prepared...

Than again, I never have cash on me...

Lesson learned, no more PB for me! Unfortunately, that means no WS home or Williams Sonoma, Inc either

You would think with sales down at stores, that they would start improving their policies to make customers happy. Unfortunately thats not the case. After getting crappy service or dealing with ridiculous policies, the list of stores that I will no longer patronize is growing. Will they notice or care that they lost sales, probibly not. Thanks for the heads-up on PB's return policy.

Another thing to note about PBarn and PBKids (at least the ones by me) is that they recently shortened the length of their return period. It was a generous 90 days, but now if you want to return anything you have to do so within 30 days of your purchase date.

I ordered a computer bag online and it came today. Ordered a size larger than my computer screen and it was still too small. I called the company about a return and was told there would be a restocking fee. Why- because I had opened the Fedex box! I asked the girl how I was supposed to see the product if I didn't open the box! No answer other than once you open it there is a fee. If the bag had been damaged there would be no fee. But if the shipping box has been opened there is a fee to return the product. Fee is 5% of the cost of the item. Not much $, but I've never run into this before and I shop a lot online.

Patty, that's just nuts! How could one be expected to even assess the condition of the bag (i.e., is it damaged?) without opening the shipping box? I hate to say this, but I think I'd be tempted to damage the freakin' bag myself. Just out of spite. >;-D

On a positive note: Last fall I placed an order for something for my brother, it was going to be his Christmas gift. (OK, so it was a pair of "collector's action figurines" from the movie, The Big Lebowski. Not that my brother plays with dolls, but he's a huge fan of that movie.) Anyway, I received an email a few days after I placed my order, advising that the products were on backorder. I waited and waited, and finally received another email, telling me that the products would not ship until February 2008. Uh, no good. I needed them before December 25th. I emailed the company, and they kindly agreed to just cancel my order.

In January of this year, I received an unexpected parcel, and lo and behold - it's the Lebowski figurines. $50 worth of Lebowski figurines, to be exact - and I know I had canceled. I immediately contacted the company's customer support department, informed them that there had been a mistake and asked them how they wanted me to handle returning the items (they'd already refunded my credit card for the $50 plus shipping on my original order), and they told me: "So sorry for the confusion. Please just accept the figurines with our compliments and we hope you'll shop with us again." I was completely blown away! Now, I'm not sure when I'll have a need for more "toys" like this, but if I ever do, I'll definitely shop with those guys again. I couldn't believe that they didn't want to inconvenience me so much that they'd just give me $50 in merchandise, but that's exactly what they did. Pretty cool, eh?

Auntjen, I believe the real issue is that the cost of the items you ordered was less than the price the company put on what it costs them to return and restock an item. We had this happen with a cell phone company. We ordered two phones for our kids. One came in and was the wrong color. The company told us to keep it and sent us one in the correct color My husband was a cellular dealer when they first came out and told me about the cost to return vs/. the cost of the item. Pretty interesting huh?