I just need to vent (shopping related)

[Wildcat]

I'm so annoyed and I just need to vent at the absurdity of this situation.

So, Kohl's gave me a 30% coupon good for today only.  I now live 15 miles from the nearest store and 22 miles from the next nearest store (in the complete opposite direction of the first store), so I went online to shop because hopping in the car and driving three miles to shop there isn't happening anymore.

Before the pandemic, their minimum for free shipping was $50, but during the pandemic they raised it to $75. Not cool. but whatever.

I spent the last hour and a half getting my cart up to $75 after the 30% discount. What I *really* wanted were some exercise capris to replace the ones I have now that look horrid, so the rest was 'filler' to get the free shipping.

Part of the 'filler' items were pillows for my bed. I love their pillows and need some more.

**They won't ship those!!** What the actual heck?

So, then, I thought I would place my order and do the in-store pick up for tomorrow or the ext day and just suck up the drive time. Nope. One store has my capris in one color, and the other store has them in another color. Neither store has both. Did I mention that the 30% is only good on one purchase, so I can't make multiple 'ship to store' or 'pick up' orders?

The other items in my cart were bath mats. Apparently, those are only sold online, so no store pick up for me.

After a disgusted, and somewhat maniacal laugh, I logged out and saved $80.  I expect they'll cancel my card soon, since this isn't the first time this has happened to me so I've not bought anything from them in ages. I've had that card for close to 20 years now, and it pains me to see them going the way of JC Penney's.

OK. I feel better now that I have that out of my system.

[Catwoman]

That is maddening!!!!

I have had that happen, and it’s so aggravating, because it always seems to happen when it has taken me FOREVER to choose what I want — and then I end up with nothing. What a waste of time!  GRRRRRR!!! 🤬

[JustEm]

There have been many times in the past that this has happened to me but they have always allowed me to have two pick up locations in one order. I guess that is a new thing. Usually when I come across the two pick up locations I give up and end up getting nothing because it is too much work for the savings though.

Kohls has always frustrated me, to the point I only use it once a year, around black friday when I need new bed sheets. This year the bed sheets we got didn't even fit our king size bed so I think I'm done with them in general

[Catwoman]

I haven’t shopped at Kohl’s in years. They used to have great sales on Fiestaware, and the sale price plus the coupons plus the Kohl’s Cash was kind of irresistible. 

[alisoncooks]

Super annoying. Walmart online is like that. I tried to order jeans and some were available online but some were store-pickup only. Then the store locations varied depending on color/size/etc. Like...they should have a central inventory from which to ship. Seriously, I'm trying to give them my money. Why is it so hard. 

[WildflowerMom]

I don’t shop at kohl’s for this reason. Their coupons and rules are bonkers.  

[JustEm]

Sorry you had to waste your time though. It is a pain

[kbutton]

Kohl's is it's own circle of hell. It's right up there with tailgaters. 

[Kassia]

I love their products and prices but we don't live near a Kohl's and it's just too much of a hassle with their shipping and returns.  And they shortened their return window, too.  Their customer service is inconsistent - sometimes it's great, sometimes it's awful. 

[Wildcat]

2 hours ago, hjffkj said:

There have been many times in the past that this has happened to me but they have always allowed me to have two pick up locations in one order. I guess that is a new thing. Usually when I come across the two pick up locations I give up and end up getting nothing because it is too much work for the savings though.

Kohls has always frustrated me, to the point I only use it once a year, around black friday when I need new bed sheets. This year the bed sheets we got didn't even fit our king size bed so I think I'm done with them in general

ETA -- somehow i completely forgot to comment after quoting your post.

I honestly didn't even look to see if I could split my pick up, as I was so shocked. However, I still wouldn't have placed the order because I would have had part mailed, part at store 1 and part at store 2. Would I still have received the free shipping if my mail part only came to about $30, do you know?

 

2 hours ago, Catwoman said:

I haven’t shopped at Kohl’s in years. They used to have great sales on Fiestaware, and the sale price plus the coupons plus the Kohl’s Cash was kind of irresistible. 

I noticed this on many of their items; the sales weren't as good as they used to be, the coupons were more restrictive, etc, but when you cold match the item you wanted with a sale, a coupon, and their Kohl's Cash, it was pure magic. 

That seems like a lifetime ago.

1 hour ago, kbutton said:

Kohl's is it's own circle of hell. It's right up there with tailgaters. 

I couldn't figure out what you had against game day tailgaters, and then it hit me.

What can I say? It has been a long day. LOL.

And, I agree. Tailgaters and aggressive drivers are unto their own.

1 hour ago, Kassia said:

I love their products and prices but we don't live near a Kohl's and it's just too much of a hassle with their shipping and returns.  And they shortened their return window, too.  Their customer service is inconsistent - sometimes it's great, sometimes it's awful. 

Wow. I didn't even check the return policy. That was my other issue--- what if these capris didn't fit the way my current ones do? Some of the comments made me wonder if they changed their sizes, so then I'd have to return them. And THAT made me wonder... if I return part of an order that received free shipping and my total was now under that magic number, would my refund be less because they then made me pay for shipping? It's such a mess. It's just not worth it.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Wildcat

[Wildcat]

You know, Dh nailed it.

When I told him about this latest runaround in trying to give a store my money and commented on so many of them going out of business, he said that "Amazon makes it super easy to spend money with them" and I thought that's it. Full stop.

Amazon makes it easy, whereas those struggling keep making us jump through more and more hoops and adding barriers. And they wonder why their sales are down!?

[stephanier.1765]

Kohls has gotten so bad they don't even register in my mind as a shopping option when I'm looking for something any more, even though I only live 5 minutes from one. Yesterday I needed bathing suit so my son's gf and I headed to Target, which is in the same shopping center. Neither of us even considered Kohls. It's like a great big blank in our brains.

Did find a super cute top to go with an old pair of bottoms. Super thrilled because that never happens.

[Kassia]

51 minutes ago, Wildcat said:

if I return part of an order that received free shipping and my total was now under that magic number, would my refund be less because they then made me pay for shipping? It's such a mess. It's just not worth it.

No, they wouldn't make you pay for shipping in that case (or at least they never did before). 

I was so mad when I found out they changed their return policy and made it more restrictive during the pandemic while other stores were being much more accommodating.  And the woman in customer service was so incredibly rude to me about it.  

 

[Kassia]

51 minutes ago, Wildcat said:

Y"Amazon makes it super easy to spend money with them" and I thought that's it. Full stop.

Amazon makes it easy, whereas those struggling keep making us jump through more and more hoops and adding barriers. And they wonder why their sales are down!?

I love Amazon, but can't buy clothes or shoes from them because we don't have anywhere nearby to do returns if needed.  It's frustrating.  They have great customer service, though.

 

44 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

Neither of us even considered Kohls. It's like a great big blank in our brains.

Did find a super cute top to go with an old pair of bottoms. Super thrilled because that never happens.

Yay for finding a cute top!  I wish we had a Kohl's nearby.  I really like the store (other than the way they do their sales and Kohl's cash) but they are far so I only shop online and it's too much of a hassle to do returns. 

[fraidycat]

I think Kohl's must the most complicated place to shop, and I'm not sure how they stay in business. 🤷🏻‍♀️
 

I'm quite unobservant as a general rule, but even I have read enough Kohl's "complicated shopping rules" stories that I assumed this would be a Kohl's story before I opened the thread.

[klmama]

What changed about Kohl's return policy?  

[ktgrok]

3 hours ago, WildflowerMom said:

I don’t shop at kohl’s for this reason. Their coupons and rules are bonkers.  

It's like what I'd expect shopping to be if there was a department store in Alice in Wonderland. 

49 minutes ago, Kassia said:

I love Amazon, but can't buy clothes or shoes from them because we don't have anywhere nearby to do returns if needed.  It's frustrating.  They have great customer service, though.

 

 

No UPS store? That's where I return stuff from Amazon. 

[JustEm]

@Wildcat I'm not sure if you would still get free shipping. kohls is hard to figure out

[easypeasy]

I *literally* throw Kohl's coupons and Kohls cash in the trash on my way out the store. It stresses me OUT!!! Can't deal with it. I rarely shop there, but when I do it's for "Item A" and only "Item A" that I need at that time. Then they hand me tons of Kohls cash that I can only use 23 days from now... within a three-day window... certain things are excluded...

🥴

I just can't. When they try to lure me back in with another coupon via email or something, I trash it there too. Too much stress. lol

[Carrie12345]

7 hours ago, ktgrok said:

 

No UPS store? That's where I return stuff from Amazon. 

Can’t speak for the OP, but Amazon’s switch to using the UPS store was a pain for me. It’s more than a 20 minute drive here and, to get out, I have to either cross a 4-lane busy road or take an unpaved, obnoxious rear exit. I hate it.

It’s still easier than a Kohls return, though. That’s a 30 minute drive into a busier commercial area, where customer service is like the DMV.

I’m pretty good at scoring Kohl’s deals, but it isn’t as great as it used to be.

[Kassia]

8 hours ago, ktgrok said:

 

No UPS store? That's where I return stuff from Amazon. 

None nearby.  My MIL lives near us and my niece got her pajamas from Amazon for Christmas and they didn't fit and she had no way to return them.  It wasn't worth her driving over an hour round trip in January with the pandemic to do so.  

[Wildcat]

12 hours ago, stephanier.1765 said:

Kohls has gotten so bad they don't even register in my mind as a shopping option when I'm looking for something any more, even though I only live 5 minutes from one. Yesterday I needed bathing suit so my son's gf and I headed to Target, which is in the same shopping center. Neither of us even considered Kohls. It's like a great big blank in our brains.

Did find a super cute top to go with an old pair of bottoms. Super thrilled because that never happens.

Yeah, they used to be my go-to sore for lots of things but they slowly started chipping away at their sales, coupons, and Cash all the while tweaking rules so I turned more and more towards Target. However, I'm even farther away from Target now than Kohls!

Major congrats on finding the top!  I love that feeling --- it's like finding a unicorn!!

11 hours ago, Kassia said:

No, they wouldn't make you pay for shipping in that case (or at least they never did before). 

I was so mad when I found out they changed their return policy and made it more restrictive during the pandemic while other stores were being much more accommodating.  And the woman in customer service was so incredibly rude to me about it.  

 

Yeah, that's what I was thinking (before = no shipping charged for a partial return, now = who the heck knows?)

I've also had customer service issues --- three different stores, too.

11 hours ago, Kassia said:

I love Amazon, but can't buy clothes or shoes from them because we don't have anywhere nearby to do returns if needed.  It's frustrating.  They have great customer service, though.

 

Yay for finding a cute top!  I wish we had a Kohl's nearby.  I really like the store (other than the way they do their sales and Kohl's cash) but they are far so I only shop online and it's too much of a hassle to do returns. 

Samesies. I have to try on two or three sizes of each shirt or pair of shorts, sometimes four or five in a pair of jeans, and don't even get me started on shoes.  I will always need to shop for clothes in person.

Will UPS not do a pick up from your home for a return? I'm also not thrilled about Amazon's use of the UPS store, but I at least have one locally. It stays busier than the DMV and constantly has lines out the door, but I can at least get there without much trouble. You know, I might ask Amazon about such an issue and see what they say. Surely there is a way they can help their more rural customers.

11 hours ago, fraidycat said:

I think Kohl's must the most complicated place to shop, and I'm not sure how they stay in business. 🤷🏻‍♀️
 

I'm quite unobservant as a general rule, but even I have read enough Kohl's "complicated shopping rules" stories that I assumed this would be a Kohl's story before I opened the thread.

Yeah, it has gotten worse and worse. Now that the kids are launched, I don't shop there as often and then our move several months ago sort of sealed the deal. I think I'm done with them.

Funny that you expected to see a Kohl's story.  Well, maybe it's not funny. LOL.

10 hours ago, ktgrok said:

It's like what I'd expect shopping to be if there was a department store in Alice in Wonderland.

That's funny.  It is pretty bewildering to stand there with your items and price-checking every one and then trying to figure out what your total is going to be before you check out. Interestingly, in the last, oh, five years or so, when buying several things, I've never been right.  That's how complicated it is now.

3 hours ago, easypeasy said:

I *literally* throw Kohl's coupons and Kohls cash in the trash on my way out the store. It stresses me OUT!!! Can't deal with it. I rarely shop there, but when I do it's for "Item A" and only "Item A" that I need at that time. Then they hand me tons of Kohls cash that I can only use 23 days from now... within a three-day window... certain things are excluded...

🥴

I just can't. When they try to lure me back in with another coupon via email or something, I trash it there too. Too much stress. lol

I've had several women hand me their coupons & cash when they leave the store for this very reason! Talk about a wonderful surprise!! In fact, had I been able to place my order yesterday, I would have earned $10 and was going to hand it to the first person I saw because no way was I going to try to spend it.

If you want to see someone smile, give it away and make someone's day. It's more fun that tossing it out in frustration. 🙂

[mmasc]

I feel your pain. I live about an hour from Kohl’s and just didn’t really care when we moved here bc I had gotten kind of done with them anyway.  *But* I got sucked in because I hate shorts and they have exactly ONE style that I’ve liked and worn for the past couple of years. I only had one pair from two years ago. So I bought one pair in store (we were driving through the town for a different reason) and they fit even though I couldn’t try them on. I thought “ok, it should be safe enough to order these online in a different color”. So, I ordered them in two sizes (just to be extra sure AND to bump up the stuff for free shipping). Of course NEITHER fit. How it that even possible??? They fit in the other two colors I have. Ugh. Now I have to drive two hours round trip to return two pairs of $20 shorts. And I really wanted them too! (My other things to get to $75 free ship were things I wanted to buy anyway—outdoor seat cushions and throw pillows—it’s hard to go wrong with those, so I thought this was a ‘safe’ purchase. But no.)

ETA: Fwiw, Amazon actually has a good supply of workout capris, and are fairly well known for having some good ones, so maybe you could find some there. Most have free return shipping. While returns are still a pain, it’s less painful than shopping at Kohl’s 😊 I’m a big fan of the RBX high rise capris. 

Edited April 26, 2021 by mmasc

[SKL]

Some years ago, I stopped even looking at discounts and coupons, especially anything that says "limited time offer."  The first to be deleted are the "today only!!!" type.  These are basically scams to get you to buy things you would never otherwise buy.  Cute trick to prevent you from thinking it over.

Instead, when I want something, at that time I check for any available discounts.  If there aren't any, I still save money because I'm only buying the one thing I actually want/need.

[Corraleno]

RE: Amazon returns via UPS... It doesn't have to be an actual UPS store, any place that accepts UPS packages works. There are lots of Mailboxes-R-Us type places that do UPS shipping, many Staples have shipping departments that do UPS, some CVSs and other stores accept packages etc. The advantage of an actual UPS store is that you don't need a box or label, you just get a QR code from Amazon and then you drop off the item and show the QR code on your phone. But if I still have the box, I often just use the mom and pop mailbox-&-shipping place that's 5 minutes from my house.

ETA: I see that Amazon is now charging a small fee on some items for drop-off returns. I just pretended to do a return for several items I received recently (without confirming the return), and lighter items were free to return at a drop off location, while heavier items had a small fee).

Edited April 26, 2021 by Corraleno

[Kassia]

1 minute ago, Corraleno said:

RE: Amazon returns via UPS... It doesn't have to be an actual UPS store, any place that accepts UPS packages works. There are lots of Mailboxes-R-Us type places that do UPS shipping, many Staples have shipping departments that do UPS, some CVSs and other stores accept packages etc. The advantage of an actual UPS store is that you don't need a box or label, you just get a QR code from Amazon and then you drop off the item and show the QR code on your phone. But if I still have the box, I often just use the mom and pop mailbox-&-shipping place that's 5 minutes from my house.

We don't have any of those services around here.  We do have a UPS drop-off, but nothing that will process returns.  I've asked about returns twice in the past six months with Amazon and once they just gave me a discount on the item to avoid the hassle and the other they did say they would have UPS drop off a label for us.  We haven't done that yet (item we tried to cancel is showing up this week).  

 

[Tap]

I hate Kohls. I hate the coupon game. They are one and the same to me. I very, very rarely shop there and never with any intention of using Kohls Cash. 

[Selkie]

1 minute ago, Kassia said:

We don't have any of those services around here.  We do have a UPS drop-off, but nothing that will process returns.  I've asked about returns twice in the past six months with Amazon and once they just gave me a discount on the item to avoid the hassle and the other they did say they would have UPS drop off a label for us.  We haven't done that yet (item we tried to cancel is showing up this week).  

 

Same situation where we live. There is a store in town (20 minutes away from us) that is a UPS drop-off, but they can’t accept Amazon returns. We have to drive an hour to the nearest UPS store for that.

[Corraleno]

It looks like Amazon is now charging a small fee for drop off returns of heavier items, although it's still much less than having UPS pick it up. E.g. to return a heavy set of dumbbells, the fee was $5.99 at a drop-off locations or the UPS store, but the UPS pick up fee was $11.99. It was free to drop it at Whole Foods or Kohls. Those changes must be pretty recent, because I've never had a charge before for any return at either a UPS store or a drop-off location.

Screenshots showing free shipping at any drop off location for a lightweight item, vs $5.99 for a set of dumbbells at either a drop-of location or a UPS store:

Edited April 26, 2021 by Corraleno

[AnneGG]

I only Kohls on BlacK Friday. The $13 bras are worth the hassle for me. If I get any kohls cash from BF I use it on Melissa and Doug, which never seems to go on sale anywhere. 
 

Amazon has started charging even on “prime returns” unless I use the Kohls Drop Off. So irritating. We live 30 minutes from kohls but only 15 from the UPS Store. 

[Wildcat]

6 hours ago, mmasc said:

ETA: Fwiw, Amazon actually has a good supply of workout capris, and are fairly well known for having some good ones, so maybe you could find some there. Most have free return shipping. While returns are still a pain, it’s less painful than shopping at Kohl’s 😊 I’m a big fan of the RBX high rise capris. 

Yeah. The thing is, I know how THESE fit, so wanted more and they aren't on Amazon. 

I'm not even sure the ones I wanted would have fit the same way since there were several comments about them looking  like kids' pants....

5 hours ago, SKL said:

Some years ago, I stopped even looking at discounts and coupons, especially anything that says "limited time offer."  The first to be deleted are the "today only!!!" type.  These are basically scams to get you to buy things you would never otherwise buy.  Cute trick to prevent you from thinking it over.

Instead, when I want something, at that time I check for any available discounts.  If there aren't any, I still save money because I'm only buying the one thing I actually want/need.

Yeah, the only reason I even bothered is because it was the 30% off and the capris I wanted were on sale, which is the only way I buy things from them.

2 hours ago, Corraleno said:

ETA: I see that Amazon is now charging a small fee on some items for drop-off returns. I just pretended to do a return for several items I received recently (without confirming the return), and lighter items were free to return at a drop off location, while heavier items had a small fee).

Say what?! 😱

2 hours ago, Tap said:

I hate Kohls. I hate the coupon game. They are one and the same to me. I very, very rarely shop there and never with any intention of using Kohls Cash. 

Yeah, I think I'm done with them, sadly. I used to love shopping there and I love their Sonoma lines, but they've made it too hard for me to shop there.

2 hours ago, Corraleno said:

It looks like Amazon is now charging a small fee for drop off returns of heavier items, although it's still much less than having UPS pick it up. E.g. to return a heavy set of dumbbells, the fee was $5.99 at a drop-off locations or the UPS store, but the UPS pick up fee was $11.99. It was free to drop it at Whole Foods or Kohls. Those changes must be pretty recent, because I've never had a charge before for any return at either a UPS store or a drop-off location.

Screenshots showing free shipping at any drop off location for a lightweight item, vs $5.99 for a set of dumbbells at either a drop-of location or a UPS store:

Thanks for posting this. I never would have realized they were doing this otherwise. This sucks.

2 hours ago, AnneGG said:

Amazon has started charging even on “prime returns” unless I use the Kohls Drop Off. So irritating. We live 30 minutes from kohls but only 15 from the UPS Store. 

So, you can't use the UPS store? It's only Kohl's?? If that happens, I guess I won't be buying any more clothes or whatever as there is no way I'm driving 45 minutes (one way, if there are no accidents) to Kohl's when I have two UPS stores within a 10 minute drive. 

Is there a way to know where a return would have to be made before we place the order?

I never thought I would learn so much from my vent thread!

[BusyMom5]

I placed a huge Kohls order yesterday- lots of which will be returned bc I have 3 tween-teens who needed new shorts and I got several things in 2 sizes.  I had capris in the cart for me, but they all jumped out- in 8 and 10!   Normally I will place several orders over several days bc I buy for so many people,  but doing it all in one, bc the coupon can't be reused was a total pain!