Toys 'R' Us slammed for 'disgusting' gift card policy
Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us customers are fuming over the stores’ “disgusting” gift card policy after the retail giant announced it was going into voluntary administration.
In a statement Toys ‘R’ Us Australia, which owns Babies ‘R’ Us, said gift cards and vouchers would be honoured as long as customers spent the additional equivalent amount in store.
This means for somebody wanting to use a $100 gift card or voucher in full, they will need to spend an extra $100 in store.
Customers have since taken to the Toys ‘R’ Us Australia Facebook page to vent their anger.
“I have a $300 gift card. When purchasing this card for my kids I gave you $300. Now your telling us we need to spend another $300 to be able to use a $300 gift card that we have already paid you for!!! This is disgusting!! [sic]” one woman wrote online.
Another furious customer wrote: “My kids have a bunch [of gift cards] from their birthdays yet the option to redeem has been pulled from the website.
“It’s morally criminal to not honour gift cards that you already have the cash for. And the people you are impact are kids.”
Toys ‘R’ Us said gift vouchers will not be honoured online, but online orders will still be delivered to people if stock is available and they have paid in full.
Lay-by will be honoured if the outstanding balance is paid and the stock is available.
Toys ‘R’ Us said VIP discounts would still apply but the ability to earn and use points had been suspended.
The comes as the stores announced they were holding massive fire sales locally, months after the US and UK retail giant’s collapse.
The website is spruiking huge savings, with scooters down to just $20 and Lego 25 per cent off.
Prices have been slashed on big ticket items like car seats, with $150 reduced from the price, and up to $30 can be saved on some action figures.
Certain items in store are being sold for 20 to 60 per cent off, including products such as clothes, dolls, stuffed toys and sporting equipment.
Babies ‘R’ Us have up to $100 off some prams and up to $50 off some learning toys.
Directors of the company resolved to appoint voluntary administrators McGrathNicol after the withdrawal of the final bidder for the sale of the Australian business, a McGrathNicol spokesman said in a statement on Monday.
All Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us stored will remain open and continue to trade while the administrators explore options for the sale of the stand-alone Australian business or a recapitalisation through the voluntary administration process.
The company operates 44 retail stores across Australia and employs about 700 permanent staff. No employee positions are affected by the appointment, the spokesman said.
It follows the announcement in March that Toys ‘R’ Us in the US was preparing to sell or close all its 885 stores after it was weighed down by billions of dollars in debt accumulated since it was bought by a real estate investor and two private equity firms in 2005.
Administrators closed a quarter of the company’s 100 UK stores by mid-March, with plans to close the remaining stores by the end of April.
Partners Jason Preston, Keith Crawford and Barry Kogan have been appointed as the Australian retail giant’s voluntary administrators.
Yahoo7 has contacted Toys ‘R’ Us Australia for comment.
