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Post Info TOPIC: Woman claims store humiliated her over returns after baby died.
Lawyerlady


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Woman claims store humiliated her over returns after baby died.
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As the mother of three girls, Jessica Hucko couldn’t wait to welcome a baby boy this October. But an unexpected miscarriage devastated the Connecticut family six months into her pregnancy.

“I delivered my son at 24 weeks. Held him and hugged him until I had to let him go,”Huchko wrote afterwards. “I was absolutely heartbroken.” She had bought a new stroller and car seat in anticipation of his arrival, but her attempt to return the items only added to the horrific nightmare.

Hucko brought the unopened boxes back to Babies ‘R’ Us in Waterbury, Connecticut, where one employee began to help her. “She asked me if there was anything wrong with my purchases. I said no,” Hucko later posted on Facebook. “I guess I didn’t give her a good enough answer, so she asked, 'why are you returning this?’ And it triggered something inside of me. A tear just rolled down my face and I had to just say, 'my son passed away and I can’t use them,’” Huchko told WFSB.

The cashier was “obviously mortified for asking,” but the items weren’t appearing in the system, and while the store’s return policy requires proof of purchase in the form of a receipt, Hucko didn’t have one. She obviously didn’t think she would be returning her items. “All I wanted to do was leave. I was totally red faced, still crying, and she had to call over a manager,” the mom wrote. “So then I had to explain to her why I was returning the items.”

The manager finally discovered that her products were discontinued, offering Hucko half the value of the car seat and only two cents for the double stroller, which initially cost $179. “I was so upset and frustrated with this place I started hysterically crying while everyone was watching me. I have never been more embarrassed in my life,” Hucko said. “I was still in complete mourning of losing my son and now this? I grabbed my store credit and ran out of the store.”

Hucko’s stance isn’t so much about the refund amount as it is about the insensitive employees. “Someone in my place, returning a product because of a loss of a child. There is no policy, no employee training,” she said.

After the mom reached out to social media and local news, the company apologized, offering the remaining balance. “We are deeply sorry for her experience in our store, and more importantly for her loss,” Babies R Us said in a statement. “The store leadership has provided coaching to the team members to help ensure similar situations are handled with more care in the future.”



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Lawyerlady


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I'm very sorry for her loss - but the store was acting normally, she should obviously not have been the one to be making those returns at that time.

Someone asking why you are returning something is not unusual or mean. Nor is asking for a receipt. It had obviously been a very long time since they were purchased if they were no longer in the system. She was understandably over-sensitive, but the store employees were just doing their job.



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lilyofcourse


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Agreed.

I feel for her.

But the fact is, they did follow store policy and training.

I don't know that I'd be embarrassed.

Hurt, maybe.

But there is nothing to be embarrassed by.



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There was no insensitivity by the employees, she is taking her grief out on the store.

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Mellow Momma


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I agree. It doesn't seem like they said or did anything out of the ordinary. My only question is why was the OP the one making the returns? I have dealt with this situation before and typically it is a MIL or BFF who is making the return for the grieving family.

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Momala


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The OP doesn't say how long ago the purchases were made - she may have
been six months into her grieving process before she had the resolve to go
to the store, therefore the items weren't showing up in the system.

I'm glad the store stepped up to the plate, and offered her the balance.
No, they didn't do anything "wrong", but they could have handled it better.


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Cheerios4606


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Sometimes, life is pain. There is no way around it. But blaming a store for standard questions about returning a product is not insensitive or callous. I really dont understand people today. Why is it that if you are offended or have hurt feelings, it now becomes a thing that 'someone' must apologize over?

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Ohfour


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Reason for return is a very valid question. The stores and manufacturer need to know if it was defective, if it was hard to use/assemble, sized incorrectly, uncomfortable, etc...

They use this data to improve quality. I've never returned anything that I wasn't asked for the reason for return.

She could have said that it was not needed. That could mean a multitude of things, from already having one, to not needed in the area that she is in...she could have said that she didn't care for the color.

I'm sorry for her, but her grief does not stop the world from continuing business as usual...

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I'm with you guys. I don't get what the fuss is about. It doesn't sound like the store did anything insensitive except low ball her on the return amount, which she was not prepared to deal with because she was flustered and upset.



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Dona Worry Be Happy


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When my cousin died at five months, my mother returned the car seat and other objects.
My aunt was in no condition to do it.

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Mary Zombie


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Yeah I didn't think they did anything wrong either. I think it was too soon for her to try and do that. That's my the stores problem sad to say. I think it's awful but the store had no way of knowing.

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Dona Worry Be Happy wrote:

When my cousin died at five months, my mother returned the car seat and other objects.
My aunt was in no condition to do it.

 That seems like the best way to handle these things. It was nice of your mom to take that on for her.



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I agree with everyone.

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One time, when i was twentysomething, i was pulling in to park at Walmart. Anyway, i bumped a car with my fender and put a small dent/scratch on it. Anyway, i wasn't sure what to do. So, i was sitting in the car writing a note to put on the car with my insurance information. As i was doing that, the woman who owned the car came out of the store to her car. I got out of the car and explained that i hit her car , and i apologized and I told her that my insurance would take care of it. She then literally flipped out and started screaming at me that she just over cancer and a whole bunch of other things. I was just dumbfouned and then i just burst into tears apologizing. Anyway, then she calmed down. But, i mean, yeah, i knew you were going thru a hard time so I purposely looked to hit your car in the parking lot.
I mean, you can't expect other people to know or understand your pain.

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Cheerios4606


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hahaha holy cow!

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just Czech


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I understand her grief, but she over reacted over a simple question.

IMHO, the store employee's did no wrong.

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Divine Geek


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Whew. I read this thinking the store did nothing wrong. Then doubted myself that I was being too callous and not getting it because I'm not a mom.

When I worked at Petsmart, I had someone returning an opened bag of dog food. I said oh, did your dog not like it? The woman started to cry and said her dog died. I had no way of knowing, but I felt like a total a$$ for asking.

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WYSIWYG


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Count me in with the rest of you. The store manager even went above and beyond by refunding what they did refund.

Life can suck sometimes, but a business that is in sales runs on strict refund rules, and by the very act of making a purchase you agree to those rules. Once you are outside of those rules, for whatever reason, it's not the store's problem or issue - it's yours.

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ed11563


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Divine Geek wrote:

Whew. I read this thinking the store did nothing wrong. Then doubted myself that I was being too callous and not getting it because I'm not a mom.

When I worked at Petsmart, I had someone returning an opened bag of dog food. I said oh, did your dog not like it? The woman started to cry and said her dog died. I had no way of knowing, but I felt like a total a$$ for asking.

 I can't imagine trying to return an open bag of dog food.



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Yeah you can't return opened dog food. That's silly.

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Lawyerlady


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Sure you can. They usually "guarantee" your dog will love it. What if the dog doesn't?

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LawyerLady

 

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Ok. I didn't know that!

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Mellow Momma


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ed11563 wrote:
Divine Geek wrote:

Whew. I read this thinking the store did nothing wrong. Then doubted myself that I was being too callous and not getting it because I'm not a mom.

When I worked at Petsmart, I had someone returning an opened bag of dog food. I said oh, did your dog not like it? The woman started to cry and said her dog died. I had no way of knowing, but I felt like a total a$$ for asking.

 I can't imagine trying to return an open bag of dog food.

 You would be dumbstruck by the things people try to return. Just totally awed - and not in the good way. 



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Aw - this poor woman. BUT, how would the store know this in advance?

And, if one of the items was only around $175 (either the stroller or car seat - I'm too lazy to scroll up) it was on sale and discontinued. The store would say so, because they aren't mind readers.

As to the dog food, why not give it to a shelter?

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ed11563


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Mellow Momma wrote:

 You would be dumbstruck by the things people try to return. Just totally awed - and not in the good way. 

 Sears (used to?) have a satisfaction guarantee.

I could picture people buying their kids' clothes there, having the kids wear them until they outgrew them, then returning them months later.



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Mellow Momma


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Imagine that plus add in unwashed, and with bodily fluids and you are getting close...and that was not the worst thing I ever dealt with either.

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Divine Geek


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At the time I worked at petsmart, they had a very lax return policy. Anything could be returned, for any reason, at any time (the only exception was the electronic collars and fences). I had a woman return a ball because her dog had gotten a chunk out of it and she wanted a new one. I had another return a collar for a new one because it broke - she'd had it 3 years. The dog food happened frequently, usually it made a dog sick so they brought it back to exchange.

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