This past Christmas I received several articles of clothing purchased from JCPenney; however, while I liked some of it, I decided that several items needed to be returned. I grabbed the clothes I didn’t want and headed to the local Penney’s store in Raleigh, NC. I still had all of the receipts, so I thought I’d just return the clothes at the customer service counter, receive cash in exchange, and then be on my merry way to some other local store where I could purchase something that I liked better. Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as planned.
Apparently, JCPenney is so afraid of losing customers, that unless you paid for the original item in cash, they won’t give you cash back. Period. They’ll either credit your JCP credit account or they’ll give you a gift card, usable only at JCPenney stores (or online at jcp.com). Unfortunately, the items I was returning were bought as gifts via credit card. After being told the only thing I could receive in return was a gift card, I politely asked to speak to a manager. She told me the exact same thing and wouldn’t budge on “corporate policy.”
Okay, so if you’re just a low-level manager, I can understand why you might not be able to give me a cash refund that violates a higher-up’s rule, but at least refer me to someone higher in the food chain who can actually help instead of reciting a line out of the company handbook. Their customer service is pretty rude and very unprofessional as well. Thumbs down, guys!
All that to say this: JCPenney…you need to seriously (and very carefully) reconsider your returns and exchanges policies. If I don’t want to shop at your store, don’t make me on account of someone else’s mistake! Basically you’ve turned me into a disgruntled customer who won’t be shopping at your store at all instead of rarely ever, and on top of that, I’ll be telling other potential customers to stay away. I hate being locked in.
Now, being the Type-A personality that I am, I’m certainly not content to just give up and accept my circumstances…so I went out and found this great site that will allow you to trade and/or auction one type of gift card for another! Kind of like eBay for gift cards. Pretty sweet, I think. Cardavenue.com has pretty much saved my life and made me a much happier person. Have a gift card you don’t want? Give them a try!
So that’s the saga and lessons learned! Whatever happened to “the customer is always right?”
#1 by your mother - December 25th, 2010 at 18:09
You can only receive refunds the way you paid at most stores, there are several fees incorporated with using a card that many people do not see and may not know about. This is a reasonable way of thwarting crooks. Steal a card buy something and return it for cash.
#2 by Twin - November 22nd, 2011 at 00:00
Your complaint is ridiculous, so you want to buy something in whatever form of payment you want, and just get cash back for it? They might as well just open the register and let you take as much money out as you want. You know how many people steal merchandise and try to return it for cash? The store isnt that dumb. Be a bit reasonable, seriously.
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#4 by seems reasonable - December 24th, 2011 at 03:50
I’ve got the same dilemma. Received a gift that I have little use for, and am in need of money for other required bills. Would love to return with gift receipt for cash, but apparently would be stuck with a gift card to a store I need nothing from.
#5 by oibdow - January 5th, 2012 at 11:38
Isn’t that a pretty typical and standard return policy?
#6 by Retail worker - January 27th, 2012 at 20:13
Some stores like best buy will even refuse to put your debit card return back on your card, due to the fees that they are charged by the card companies.