Comments (101)

By Elisa, November 13, 2009 4:38 pm

Warning:  Before your next visit to Babies R Us – beware of their return policy.  Or shall I say, their “Refusal to Accept Returns” policy. 

Babies R Us does NOT accept returns without a gift receipt. ( This is why they give you a gift receipt even if you are purchasing an item as small as a pack of gum). This is a fine policy – for a store that is not based solely around registries as Babies R Us is.  For those of us who received baby shower gifts, this policy makes it impossible to return items we received as gifts but were never given a gift receipt.

But note:  they also don’t accept returns even if you do have a receipt.

I recently attempted to return 2 baby outfits I received after my son was born.  I was never given a gift receipt for either.  The clothes still had the Babies R Us tags on them.  When I tried to return the clothes for store credit, the cashier refused to accept them.  I pointed out the Babies R Us tags still attached to the clothes, but the cashier insisted that a gift receipt was necessary.

I then tried to return a bottle warmer I was given.  The gift receipt was still attached to the box.  The cashier also refused to accept this item as well.  She stated that the item was purchased over 90 days ago and they do not accept returns on items over 90 days old.  Trying to explain why I did not have the chance to visit their store sooner with a newborn was fruitless. 

A friend of mine also tried to return a package of onesies she had recently purchased at Babies R Us.  Once she returned home she realized she had bought the wrong size.  When she went back to the store (with receipt in hand) several days later, she was told they would not accept the onesies since they had “just discontinued selling that style”.  The store would not issue my friend store credit.

I went to the Babies R Us website to file a complaint on their return policy but (shockingly) could not find where to contact the store with complaints.  I finally called their 1-800 number and spoke to a Customer Representative.  She offered little sympathy for my plight and pretty much reiterated their policy of 1) needing a gift receipt 2) all returns must be made within 45-90 days.  She did say she was sending my complaint to corporate – which is probably code for “paper shredder”.

So whenever you purchase items, or receive a gift, from Babies R Us – beware of their insanely strict return policy.  Because they were  unable to accommodate my situation twice (after I have spent hundreds of dollars at their store) I am now refusing to shop there.

Comments (209)

By admin, September 4, 2009 11:36 am

I’m a smart shopper – I know how to do research online, purchase a home, purchase a car, plan a wedding, but somehow when faced with stroller choices, I become frozen.

My husband and I are starting from scratch for our little one.   I thought that picking out baby products would be easy and fun.  And registering – how much fun is it to shoot that scanner bar at all the cool baby items and add them to your list!  Well, if you know what you want, what you need, it would be a lot more fun.  Some items are easy, yet the more important items, like strollers, become perplexing at the very least.

I suppose it is a good thing that there are so many stroller choices out there.  And it also helps that the stroller is one of those items that my husband is most interested in helping to select.  But if you are new to this, and you walk into a baby store with no help and no advice, you run the risk of selecting an item that you may soon learn that you hate.   

The long and Winding Road to a Stroller Decision.
First, the woman at the registry suggested I get a stroller/travel system, and that seemed to make sense.  A car seat, a matching stroller, the knowledge that the car seat works with the stroller, and an affordable price tag.  Great – Done! 

But then I started doing my own research online and polling friends and discovered that many moms don’t use the travel system stroller.  I heard many complaints abound that it is too big, too heavy and bulky and all around unappealing.  Drat! 

Now I realize I should probably buy everything separately.  Should be fun.  But wait.  Not all car seats work with all strollers.  OK, more research.  I thought I was confident in my decision to purchase the Chicco Infant car seat, as it has such high ratings.   And then I’d get a snap and go style stroller base and worry about the fancy stroller after our baby outgrows the car seat.  Hold the phone.  You mean there is no official match for this type of stroller with Chicco?   I spent hours (literally) searching this on line, and plenty of moms say it works with this one or that, but none of the stroller bases say out loud “we work with the Chicco car seat.”  I just didn’t want to risk that.   I also learned that the Chicco infant seat is a bit heavy and with a bad back, I’m thinking that may not be ideal. 

So I guess I move to the Graco car seat and its own car seat frame stroller.  Phew.  But now guess what – my husband doesn’t like that idea.  He says it is just a temporary solution.  So he asks me to consider another option since even though 50-70 bucks isn’t a lot compared to other strollers, it is something that will not be using for more than the first months until the baby outgrows the infant seat and then we have to start over.

Back to the baby store!  This time we drive an hour to visit Buy Buy Baby.  Lo and behold, they have a huge stroller section and at least four staff members trolling about to help stroller-challenged parents like us. We ask about light weight strollers.  He walks us buy all the ones I have read about and stops in front of the Baby Jogger City Mini.  It is soooo light and when he demonstrates how it folds up, we are sold.   And it works with a Graco infant seat.  Ding!  But is it full-time, forever, stroller quality? 

As we ponder this, my husband’s eyes drift across the aisle to the Bugaboo Chameleon.  Trancelike, he walks over and the store clerk and I follow.  We get a demo; we learn that the Frog is just as cool, just less money.  We fall in love.  We realize we have just jumped many levels in price, but it starts to make more sense.  Frame that fits a Graco (with additional custom part), Bassinette, Stroller, Style and Quality.  But it is the “it” stroller – and we’re not sure we’re that kind of people.

We also look at the Uppa Baby Vista, which after more online research seems to be easier to deal with as you don’t have to remove the seat to fold it up.   The easier, the better for me.  It also may not have the same yuppie-parent association as the Bugaboo.  Just a few dollars more, same features – another nice choice.  Perfectly groovy for strolling our small downtown.  We took a deep breath and purchased it online and eagerly waited for its arrival.

Well, it is here.  It is the stroller of all strollers.  My husband is happy, as am I – but still in disbelief that strollers are so complex and so expensive.  Now we just need a baby to put in it!