Toys r us - let down!

fireitup wrote: »

Here's my experience at a Peterborough store on Sunday. Having gone to the store to purchase an XBOX 360 console and a game, I was informed by their website that the game and the console was indeed in stock. I travelled to the store, I found the game and was told by an employee to take a ticket from the shelf (for the XBOX 360) to the checkout, pay for the items and then proceed to the collection point. I did all this and when the gentleman went to collect the goods, he brought the game back but said that the console that I had paid for with a debit card was out of stock (when even his computer system told him that they were in stock). Clearly there was a problem, and being concerned that I would not be able to procure my sons Christmas gift in time I suggested that I be refunded the money I had already paid and I could go elsewhere to make my purchase. The gentleman very politely explained that all they could do was refund my card but that the funds would not be available to me for up to 5 days! This was really not an option for me and I think restricted my rights as a consumer to purchase goods at a time and place of my choice. Because the money I had paid was no longer available to me at that time. I could not then go elsewhere to a store who did have the XBOX 360 and purchase it there. I then thought about a compromise whereby the store did have an upgraded package but at a cost of over £100 more than I wanted to or could afford to spend. I suggested that if we could reduce the cost of this package by removing the extras in the package I could spend a bit more and walk out of the store with an XBOX 360, albeit having spent more than I wanted to. The gentleman explained that only the store manager could make any decision on this. I asked to speak to the store manager. I was then confronted (literally confronted) by the store manager and I have never in my life experienced someone in a position of responsibilty with such a disregard for a customer. Having explained my situation to her, she was very indignant I was told that she would not be able to provide the goods I tried to purchase and she could not give me my funds to purchase elsewhere but that the refund would go back on the card and I would have to wait however long it took. She would not even attempt to listen to any compromise that I tried to suggest. I then suggested to her that if you can't provide the goods I had paid for and you can't give me my money back, in effect you have stolen my money (figuratively speaking, of course). I was then asked to leave the store without either an XBOX or my funds. This all happened in front of the many customers in the store on a Sunday afternoon providing a spectacle that caused myself considerable embarassment and left me with a feeling that I had in fact done something wrong? This "manager" soon disappeared and I was left with another employee. We then found a compromise whereby I did end up spending a lot more than I had intended, I received the goods and left the store. This manager was inconceivably abrupt and not at all sympathetic to the situation I found myself in. A situation I hasten to add was caused by one or more aspects of TOYS R US administration. This manager was in preference and very keen to simply have me ejected from the store. I was not angry, I was not shouting, I did not deserve the treatment I received in that store. I returned home very perturbed by my efforts to shop at TOYS R US, an experience I will never forget and one I hope I will never experience again. An absolute nightmare. Effectively forced into buying a more expensive item or risk not getting my sons christmas present at all.