BRU Vent! - Registry & return policy!

I'm so annoyed at BRU today! Long post, sorry!
This may have already been posted, but here's a quick PSA to you ladies who will have their showers soon: Ask your friends/families for the gift receipt - soon you won't be able to return any items unless you have a gift receipt. And even then, a gift receipt only gets you the store credit for the value the person paid for it....
Today DH and I showed up at BRU spot on at 11am to return 10-12 duplicate items (my shower was last week). We were (no joke, get this) SEVENTH in line to return items at 11:01am...I was hoping the store might be slow because it had just opened - but the parking lot was jammed! Do people get there even earlier and wait in their cars until the doors are unlocked?
Anyway, some of the items were big ticket items (more than $150), and I had the gift receipts for most of them. So the girl starts going through the stuff and when she got to the big items, she had to have her manager come over to "inspect" them to be sure I hadn't used them. I had just received them last week, and never even opened the boxes. I was annoyed actually, that we even had to return the items because isn't that the point of the registry??? To avoid duplicates? The manager inspects them and says, "Even if they opened the boxes, I'm impressed they could put all the stuff back in the box. You can accept this." ???? "You can accept this?" What if I had opened it and didn't like the way it looks in my house? What if I changed my mind - would they have not taken it back? So the girl starts to process the returns and she takes care of some of the items I have gift receipts for, and she tells me that i'll get store credit for all of it. She said if I had the original receipts AND the purchaser had paid with a debit card/cash, then we'd get the cash back...then she processes the items I don't have the gift receipts for and adds the total to the other group. We have a total of nearly $400 and tells me that their policy will soon change and I should be happy that they're taking these items back without a receipt. I'm sorry - if one of the people invited to my shower forgets to get a gift receipt and give it to me at the shower, what am I going to do with duplicates? Triplicates, even!?! Am I the only one who thinks that BRU is a racket?
OHhhh, and one other thing, one of the items I didn't have a receipt for (but could have sworn I had registered for at BRU -- some Gerber waterproof pads) apparently is not a BRU item and she couldn't accept it as a return. No problem. DH and I were shopping for curtains afterward and I was holding the quilt to our bedding set, so I figured, no problem, we'll hold onto the Gerber pads and continue shopping. Poor girl behind the counter must have felt my glare when she said that she needed to keep it behind the counter at customer service because "the girls at the register are going to think you're stealing it." WHAT? If it doesn't show up in your SKU system when you scan it at customer service, then how will it show up at the real register? And if that's the case, why would you let me walk around your store with my quilt from home - do you think I'm stealing that, too? DH ended up walking the pack of Gerber pads out to our car because we didn't want to stand on the long customer service line again...
BRU is the only real place to register (except Buy Buy Baby) and I feel like they have you in a vice - whether you're the mom-to-be or the friends/family of the mom-to-be. I've feel like it's a big money-making scheme - concocted to make moms think they need so many material things and commercial items. Regardless, we now have $400 in store credit plus another $200 in gift cards that we'll need to spend there, so I'm stuck shopping there until our credit runs out - just thought some other ladies might like to hear this before they set up their registries at BRU...
Sorry for the long vent...

Re: BRU Vent! - Registry & return policy!

I agree that they are frustrating....but I only know of one store (Bed Bath and Beyond) that gives you cash back on returns (and I think that they stopped that). Most stores give you store credit, don't they?

I got two of my travel system, returned one and used the $150 credit to buy other stuff. Also, just buy diapers with it or formula. It'll work out

Plus, BRU won't take back something unless they carry that pattern in that store. Drove me bananas because I registered for a pnp online and had to try three stores before someone took pity on me and returned it for me.

Re: BRU Vent! - Registry & return policy!

sigh..... sorry for your experience...

When my friends and family were expecting, and I was going to their showers, I always dreaded entering that store. I see the convenience... they have every baby contraption you could ever need....

you took the words right out of my mouth... I felt like it was a racket! Everything is so commericalized (like the baby won't survive without the DELUXE baby bottle sterilization machine), and from my perspective at the time, many basic items were fairly overpriced....

I am not going to register there. All the little thingies we need to buy from there, we'll get on our own. The furniture, clothes, bedding, carseat, stroller, and other stuff will come from target and ikea

Re: BRU Vent! - Registry & return policy!

i HATE BRU...it all depends on where u go, they have no set policys, some take BBB coupons, some dont...some return formula, some dont....its total BS

u can use the GC in toys r us at xmas time next year if you have any left...we also have about 6oo in giftcards and credit....

Re: BRU Vent! - Registry & return policy!

I totally think it's ok to get back a credit - I would never expect cash back on a gift - with or without a receipt.

I recently received a bunch of things that I already had - honestly I have no idea where they were purchased since no gift receipt was provided. I brought them back to BRU and they took back everything no questions asked (I'm talking $500+ in stuff.) Now I have huge credit to buy the stuff I actually need.

I recently registered and asked them about their policy change and they said it will probably happen, but they don't know when. Kate they told me they'll take back a pattern that store doesn't carry as long as it's in the BRU system.

I don't know maybe because I shop at one in CT and not NY. The only BRU I had a problem wiht was one that shared space with TRU and they had to adopt the TRU "no receipt, no return/exchange" policy.

Anyway I don't think it was very nice of them to say someone would think you are stealing a product they don't even carry. Apparently, they need to work on their customer service skills. Sorry you had to go through that

Re: BRU Vent! - Registry & return policy!

...and it gets worse.
I just looked on my registry and the duplicate items I returned today have been removed from the "fulfilled" column and are now showing up in the "need/want" column.
So all the items that we returned today which we had two (or three) of could possibly be purchased by someone else if they look at my registry. The only reason I'm concerned is because DH and I are both having work showers at the end of the month and now we could have to return even more! I'm not sure how to fix that, either...I wonder if I call - maybe they can do it?

Re: BRU Vent! - Registry & return policy!

Posted by wannabemom


I am not going to register there. All the little thingies we need to buy from there, we'll get on our own. The furniture, clothes, bedding, carseat, stroller, and other stuff will come from target and ikea

Re: BRU Vent! - Registry & return policy!

Posted by bdmom

...and it gets worse.
I just looked on my registry and the duplicate items I returned today have been removed from the "fulfilled" column and are now showing up in the "need/want" column.
So all the items that we returned today which we had two (or three) of could possibly be purchased by someone else if they look at my registry. The only reason I'm concerned is because DH and I are both having work showers at the end of the month and now we could have to return even more! I'm not sure how to fix that, either...I wonder if I call - maybe they can do it?

Re: BRU Vent! - Registry & return policy!

Just go on your registry on line & delete the item!!!

Re: BRU Vent! - Registry & return policy!

wow really sorry your having so many problems with them... so far everything has gone great with my registry and they were sooo helpful when I went there. Plus they told me ahead of time about the store credit - but in all honesty most places only give store credit especially for big items - and i"m completely fine with that. I'll get either diapers, or books, or clothes, or whatever else I may need along the way. I think they have a really great selection and I've only had to wait online once and it went very quickly.

Re: BRU Vent! - Registry & return policy!

the BRU's in my area will not take back any items without a receipt, unless it is on your registry. i know, it's a pain!

but i don't think it's a big deal that they wont give you cash for items w/o a receipt. i dont know of any store that does that except BBB. also, why should they give you the full price of the item, and not the amount the person paid for it?