Aims and Target: A Love/Hate Relationship

I love Target. Where else can you shop with the convienence of Wal-Mart yet keep a quality standard closer to that of a JC Penny?

I hate Target. They have some of the most ridiculous policies when it comes to returing items and have made my post-baby shower life an absolute nightmare.

I can only liken my feelings for Target to those one might have for a family member who you love dearly inspite of their bone-head decisions. You will always be loyal to them, yet they frustrate you so much you want to scream. Thus are my feelings for Target.

The problem is in Target's return/exchange policy. If you wish to return an item and have a reciept (gift or regular) no problem. They happily issue you a credit or cash with a wink and a smile. But heaven forbid you recieved an item as a gift and didn't get a recipet with it.

Target's return policy for "no-reciept" returns is as follows:

*You can use your driver's license as a way to exchange your items.
*You may only use the driver's license route twice in a year. After your two turns, you are out of luck and must wait until next year.
*When you choose to use one of your "turns" with the license, the total exchange can not exceed $40.

Now, after numerous baby showers, I had lots of duplicate gifts that needed exchanging. I took this loot up to Target only to find out that I had apparently already used up my two turns with the license for this year. (when did that happen???) Fortunately, my mom was with me and graciously used her license to make the exchange. The problem? I had enough stuff that I well exceeded their $40 limit. So we split the loot into two piles and my mom used up her only two turns for the year. Problem solved right?

Wrong.

I still had items left to exchange after the second pile reached the $40 mark. I asked the lady what we are supposed to do with those items. She politely told me that I had to keep them and there was nothing she could do. Even though all I wanted to do is to get the EXACT same item in a larger size. Didn't matter. I was to keep said items and let them collect dust at my house. What a waste of money!

Now I find myself tempted to roam the aisles of Target asking complete strangers if I can use their IDs so that I can make a simple exchange.

Many people asked me why I didn't register for baby gifts at Target. This is why people. This is why. Sigh.