KOHL's return policy changing for the worst

beyond827 said:   I went to Kohl's today to return something I bought with Kohl's Cash. The cashier informed me that a new policy is in place and I'd no longer get the KC portion back in merchandise credit. "Once it's spent, it's gone" were her words. This got me thinking,

Say I spend $50 on item A and earn $10 in KC. I then use the $10 KC to buy item B.
According to their new policy, if I return item B, I get nothing back (since it was purchased with KC). Now if I also return item A, I only get $40 back (since the KC was already spent). So I end up with a net loss of $10???

I had the exact same problem today. I earned $10 in KC last week or so which was redeemable this week. I went shopping again yesterday to use the KC. My total was about $45. Well this morning I decided that I no longer wanted two of the items I purchased so I returned them. When they were showin me what my return was they subtracted the $10 KC I used. They were supposed to give me back about $25 but since I used the Kohl's cash they were going to take another $10 off and give me $15 instead. I asked them if I could get the $10 in credit and the lady said no. I asked if i can get my $10 KC back and she said since it's not their promotion period they can't. It was either I return and lose the $10 KC or not return. She kept saying that I had earned the KC in that transaction which my receipt clearly says "10.00-" which means the KC was used not earned. And she told me I made this purchase last week and I told her to look at the date of the receipt, again clearly showing 3/11/13. I even pointed it out to her that the receipt says "for returns of merchandise purchased with Kohl's cash the value will be returned as credit etc." I don't know why she was so convinced I earned KC on the purchase I made yesterday especially after she said it wasn't the promotional period anymore. She tried to read the back print of the Kohl's cash laying on the countertop but failed. After fighting with me about it because she said there was no way to get that $10 back (even in credit which I was thinking I'd get) she ended up returning it as a no receipt transaction so I ended up with $25 in credit. And even after that point she still insisted on me giving back the KC, which was impossible because it was USED IN the transaction and NOT EARNED.

beyond827 said:   This was an online purchase, and the KC email only says "Return value of merchandise purchased with a Kohl's Cash® Coupon may also be subject to adjustment" (same as the policy listed online). I think they're keeping it ambiguous until all the stores have rolled out the new policy

For online purchases, the same language has been there for a while - at least since March 23, 2012. I checked the email from that date. So NO new language - but they always had the license to fix the issue.

My purchases from Kohl's are substantially reduced but if you have to buy, my suggested algorithm for Kohl's shopping:

- Order online - get FatWallet CashBack and save yourself the gas/hassle of going to the store and you can always get 30%.
- If you can, arm yourself with some gift cards bought at a discount [Sorry not planning to say anymore on this]. You can use them as long as your charge some token amount to your Kohl's charge.
- Order more than you really want to keep. As an example, if you wanted to keep $100 worth of stuff, you could order other things that you don't mind keeping to pad your order to $130 or $170 or whatever (numbers are after the 30% discount but before taxes). Give yourself wiggle room for returns by buying small items for the extras.
- Once the order comes in mercilessly figure out what you want to return. What you are shooting for is a good number after returning things. So for the order in the previous step, after returning things, your net total should be $50+change or $100+change or $150+change. If you really like a item and your total is going to be $120, no problem - return it to get your order to a nice number which is multiple of $50 and order your favorite item in the next ordering cycle. Be careful about clearance items - you may not be able to order them again. If you really liked your base set of items, all you will be returning are the additional items that your purchase. The additional items give you a cushion in case you want to return something from your base set of items and not get shafted on Kohl's cash.
- Return the items before you redeem the Kohl's cash. This may invalidate part of the Kohl's cash but that is fair and you are not stuck with too much stuff bought with Kohl's cash.
- With Kohl's cash, only buy items that you don't mind keeping if Kohl's has changed their policy on returns with Kohl's cash. Make sure that you don't try to spend any more than Kohl's cash.
- If policy not changed, return the item with Kohl's cash for merchandise credit.

I do realize that I am keeping Kohl's staff busy packing and shipping additional items - but this way, I can ensure that I am getting the maximum discount on my purchase. I shifted the burden of bad return policy back to Kohl's by creating more work for their staff .

By the way, did anybody notice that you don't have to necessarily spend $50 for Kohl's cash?

I spent only $48...

If you make a purchase within $2 of the Kohl's Cash earned criteria, you will receive Kohl's Cash. For example, if you place an order of $48, we will round that purchase up to $50 and distribute $10 Kohl's Cash.