Sorry for the lengthy review, but I haven't shopped Black Friday for the very reason to be explained. My husband needed a television for a section of his man cave and was told to go to the local Target (we were near Tinley Park) where there were TVs under $100! He left early evening on Thanksgiving and returned with a 32" TV by Elements ($91). I was unfamiliar with the brand, but hey. Later that night a family member came by and told us she had purchased 2 larger Sony TVs from BestBuy. Of course I looked online and saw Sony and LG TVs for under $200. We headed right over to BestBuy and purchased a 40" TV by LG for $140! Friday morning, we went to Target on 95th St (closer to home) to return the 32" tv. The customer svc rep took the receipt and the tv and opened the box with a utility knife. As she scanned the tv, she said there is a problem with the serial numbers. My husband told her that he didn't know about that but that when he purchased the tv (at the Tinley Park store), something was going on because the manager had to come and put in some code and that maybe she should get the manager who may know how to process the return. The customer svc rep standing next to her looked over, asked which tv it was we were returning and stated "oh yeah, we were having a problem with those you need the manager override". The manager came over and looked at everything and began typing in the register, meanwhile another lady came over (maybe another manager) and stated "he can only get back what he paid for the tv". The 1st manager immediately showed her our receipt and stated "he is, that's not the problem". The 2nd lady said "oh, ok. sorry" and walked away. Now I'm irritated as to what had just been implied, but I waited patiently as the manager continued to process the return. Then suddenly she states "oh, you can't return this tv for 24 hours after Black Friday. You bought this last night, you have to bring it back tomorrow". My husband asked her to show him where it says that on the receipt; she could not. He went over to were the return policy was on the wall; told her he found nothing to verify her statement." She then said "you can probably return it at the Tinley Park store". My husband said he's not driving back out there and he's never heard of having to do that. The customer svc rep called someone on the phone, explained the situation and then put my husband on the phone. The guy told my husband that Target "could not except any large item returns before next Tuesday"!!! So now I asked the Asian customer svc rep (who stood with a stupid smirk on her face) "what happens when we return this tv and YOU have now opened the box after it was brought to you new and there IS a policy about opened returns??" Her response was "they are still going to have to open the box and check it no matter where you take it". Puzzled and offended by her response, I told her "I don't have a problem with anyone opening and seeing the contents, I asked if there would be a PROBLEM w/returning a NOW OPENED item, which YOU opened here!" The manager stepped in and said "we will reseal the box and there should be no problem." As the customer svc rep (looking embarrassed) resealed the box, I asked the manager for a verifiable written statement about the opened item. She a statement including her name on the receipt and we headed out of the store. On the way out, we spoke to a customer in line waiting to return a huge 60" television which he said he had purchased Thanksgiving night. I waited to wait to see how THAT return went, but after 15 minutes of waiting for him to reach the mid-way point in line, we had to leave to attend to our day. We easily returned the tv to the Tinley Park store with NO problem, or card was credited, and we didn't leave feeling like we "stole something" because that is exactly how the caked-face Asian customer service rep in Oaklawn treated and spoke to my husband and me. My husband and I are both educated, hard-working, professionals in our careers, but some people need to be trained on diversity and ethics before being hired in the field of customer service (especially during the holidays). I've shared this experience w/multiple target shoppers, who (like myself) have never heard of such policies nor experienced such treatment and was encouraged to write this review.
I also have a relative who works at the location downtown who, after hearing of our experience, said that there WAS an issue with that particular brand tv (Elements) because when that store received their shipment the week prior to Thanksgiving, the TVs were suddenly gone. I guess the some Oaklawn employees didn't get the memo. read more