On September 1st, I walked into a new Hallmark store to buy my kids a Webkinz as a going back to school present. The cashier was very friendly and talkative. I thought great store! Well, Mom's don't always do a good job picking out what their children want. My two young boys wanted to get different ones. We walked in the store all excited to get the ones they wanted. I had my receipt and the Webkinz still in the bag. The cashier had to go ask the Owner because they have a no return policy at that store. The cashier walked out of the back and said we have a no return policy and we couldn't exchange the Webkinz. They are $14 each and I had two boys excited to get the ones they wanted and were busy looking at the choices. I asked to speak directly to the owner. The owner, Ms. Sumner, came out and said we couldn't exchange them. She then directed me to a sign posted on a column about 15 feet from the Webkinz display and in small print it said no returns or exchanges. She told me it was her policy and recommended by Webkinz. I inquired why the Webkinz display didn't have the policy on it and she said they had just opened and her sign on the display had not been posted yet. I also asked why her return policy was not posted at the cash register or on a receipt. She replied that nobody would read it there and it would get torn up. Well, nobody is going to read small signs posted in small print in the back of the store. I thought this was a dishonest practice and they purposely are trying to hide their policy. For a store open less than a week, you would think the owner would be more responsive to customer service or train her cashiers to explain the return policy at the time of the sale. The store obviously was not busy and she had the time to explain it especially when buying children's toys. The owner also explained that with plush animals we could spread meningitis or other diseases if she allowed her customers to return them. She did let us exchange them finally, but it was a horrible experience. I will not shop there again. It totally ruined my day. My kids were tired from the first at school and wanted other items in the store, so it was difficult to explain to them why the owner would not let them exchange their Webkinz. Buyer Beware - hiding the return policies from your customers is an unfair business practice.
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