Target's customer disservice.

I love Target. I mean, I really love Target. Even when I don't intend on purchasing anything, I will sometimes just go & walk around. It's a relaxing place to be. Much less stressful than Wal-Mart, that's for sure!

That's why it pains me to complain about them. If I didn't care about Target, it wouldn't bother me so much that their customer service STINKS.

I have a baby registry at Target. Why? Because I love them, duh. Well, as those of you with babies know, you get a lot of duplicate gifts, or gifts that were the wrong item. So, you return a lot of stuff. Well, at Target, if you make any return without a receipt, you provide your driver's license, and they keep up with how many returns you've made. There is a limit to how many returns without a receipt you can make. I reached my limit with all of the baby stuff I returned. As I made my last return allowed against my license, the customer service rep informed me that I could have had them scan my gift purchase log from my registry, to avoid having those returns go against my license. Yeah...thanks for telling me that NOW. Too late. So now I can't return anything else to Target. Which doesn't sound so bad; I really don't return stuff there very often.

I recently bought some curtains from Target at the AWESOME price of just $24.99 for 2 panels. I love the curtains, so naturally I hung them as soon as I got home. Perfect! They are hanging on the two windows in our bedroom, next to the bed and...behind the nightstands. Behind the nightstands...which means I did not initially notice that one of the curtain panels is about 2-3 inches too short. Great. So, I called the manufacturer to see what they could do, since I had thrown out the receipt and packaging for the curtains. They told me to contact Target. Yay.

That brings me to the problem. I can't return the curtains, because I don't have a receipt, and I have reached my limit for returns without a receipt. Which doesn't sound too bad; I'll just get Baron to return them for me. Problem solved? Here's the root of the issue: I went to the Target store & talked to customer service. I asked her if she could apply those returns to my registry instead of my license, so that I could again return items against my license. She couldn't help me, but she seemed optimistic that if I called Guest Relations, they would be able to help. She gave me the number. So...today I called Guest Relations & explained the issue. They transferred me to the Gift Registry department, to see if they could apply the returns to my registry. They couldn't. So they transferred me to the Refund Authorization department, where I spoke with Cassandra. This is when I first got upset. Not that Cassandra couldn't do what I was asking, although that was disappointing, but because I told Cassandra that I was unhappy with Target because of this situation, and she didn't care. I asked if there was anything she could do to help me to be satisfied with Target again, and she said no. Really? Really, Cassandra? Cause if there's nothing you can do, then you're supposed to see if a supervisor can help. I hung up with Cassandra, and called Guest Relations again, to complain about Cassandra. I had to completely explain my entire situation again, of course, and they transferred me back to the Refund Authorization department to speak to a supervisor. Enter Stephanie. Stephanie was very nice. Completely unhelpful, but nice. She transferred me back to Guest Relations. Yikes. All the transferring got me dizzy. Anyway, I finally spoke with Derek, a supervisor in Guest Relations. Again, not helpful. He made sure I knew that this whole situation was my own fault, because I didn't know the return policy, and I didn't know that I should have been scanning my gift purchase log with those returns. It was my fault. I gave him several pieces of my mind, not angrily but very straightforward, and he didn't care. He didn't care about my unhappiness one bit. Even when he "apologized", it went something like this: "I'm sorry that you didn't know about the refund policy & that now you can't make any more returns." Thanks Derek! You should NOT be working in "Guest Relations". No sir. I also asked if there was anything he could do to make me happy with Target again, and he said no. I asked him if he really didn't care that I was unhappy with Target. He asked me what I wanted him to do. I told him that he is a supervisor, and he should know how to remedy these situations with customers. He informed me that Target is not in the business of reconciliation for unhappy customers. What?!

You're probably bored with this post, but that's ok. It's not for entertainment purposes. It's to get the word out about the bad experience I had at Target, and to let everyone realize that when it comes to customer service at Target, they do not care about the customer. They do not make exceptions for their rules, no matter the circumstances. I bought a DEFECTIVE product, and I can't take it back. That's messed up stuff, Target. I understand the refund policy; I really do. But there should be a way to remedy my particular situation. I'm not trying to return a skirt that doesn't fit, or a TV that I realized is the wrong brand. It's a product that was made incorrectly. Everyone I spoke with told me that it was IMPOSSIBLE to help me out. Impossible? Nothing is impossible. Maybe that's why they call it "guest relations" instead of "customer service". Don't want to fool anyone into thinking they might actually be able to help us out!

So there ya go. My love for Target has been varnished. I'm sure I'll go back eventually, but I will not be shopping there for awhile. {Which I'm sure Baron isn't upset about. :) }

Note: If you have a baby registry there, which I no longer recommend just because of the horrible service I got, just know that you need to print your Gift Purchase Log and have them scan it whenever you return baby items. Otherwise you'll be in the same boat as me!