A relative gave me a handbag for Christmas that he had purchased from Macy's. I really didn't like the purse and didn't want to hurt the person's feelings by, so instead of asking for the receipt, I decided to return the purse to Macy's.
When I entered the store I did a price check on the scanner so I could find something equivalent to the price of the purse. The purse scanned $31.84. I went upstairs to find a purse I liked in that price range and do an even exchange.
When I found the purse I liked I went to the counter and explained to the associate the purse was a Christmas gift and I wanted to exchange it for the purse I had in my hand. Keep in mind Christmas was on a Monday and I attempted to do an exchange on December 30.
The associate proceeded to ring up my exchange and turned around and told me the purse was only worth $15.00 since I didn't have a receipt. I told her the price check scanner was showing $31.84. She explained without a receipt the store policy is the customer will receive the lowest selling price of the item in the last 180 days. There was no way this purse could have sold for $15.00 in the past 180 days when the original price of the purse was $65.00.
She called for a manager to explain the policy to me. The manager came over and explained the policy just as the associate had told me already. I asked the manager, "Let me make sure I got this straight. I enter the store and tell you the item was a Christmas gift and I don't want any money back, just an exchange, you give me $15.00 because I don't have a receipt and that was the lowest sale price in the past 180 days.
I decide to take the $15.00 and then you put it back on the floor and sell it for $31.84." She replied, "That's correct. If you have the receipt you will get whatever price is on the receipt."
I told her I didn't want to hurt the person's feelings by asking for the receipt and I said thank you and went home to call Macys corporate office. The Customer Service Representative said each Macys have their own in-store policy. She suggested I call another Macys to find out their policy on returns.
Instead I called back to the Macys in Landmark and asked for the store manager. I had to tell my dilemma to the receptionist before being transferred and then I was blind transferred to the shoe department. I explained my story again to the shoe department manager. She said that is indeed the store policy but if I came back up there right then she would see what she could do.
Luckily, I stay right by the mall and it took me less than two minutes to get there. When I got there I found the purse I wanted and proceeded to look for the manager I had spoken to on the phone. I found her and showed her the purse I had received as a gift with the tags still attached. She did the even exchange with no problem. I don't understand why this couldn't be done in the first place.
I think Macy's need to take a look at their exchange policy. Considering this was the Christmas season, it seems they could have been more lenient with their exchange policy. I didn't want cash back, I just wanted to exchange the purse for something I liked. If the purse was a Coach or if the tags were not attached, I could see being strict on the return policy. Also, if they had not done the exchange I would have requested documentation showing that purse was sold as little as $15.00 in the past 180 days.
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