Old Navy: Epic Fail

I've always been an Old Navy fan, and now that I have children, I really like their kids' clothes.  Cute and reasonably priced, plus the clearance racks are pretty good.

Well.  That's all a thing of the past.

A few weeks ago, my mom bought two pair of swim trunks at Old Navy, one pair for my dad and one for MacGyver.  She had accidentally gotten the wrong type or size or something, and made an exchange on that original purchase.  When she went back again, she grabbed a size large of the correct type for my dad.  She discovered when she got back to my house that the swim trunks were sized incorrectly, and were actually an extra small.  My dad isn't a big guy, but an extra small sure ain't gonna cut it.

So she left both pair and the pile of receipts at our house, since she doesn't actually live in town.  The plan was for MacGyver and I to exchange them for the correct size.  One weekend, before heading to the lake, we stopped in.  I had the receipts stapled together, beginning with the original purchase.

When we walked in, MacGyver told the Old Navy people that we had an exchange, and started to set the swim trunks on the counter.  One of the clerks said, "We aren't gonna watch your stuff for you.  You'll need to carry those around."

Mmmmmkay then.

We headed over to the swim trunk section, and found the right sizes and styles.  The price was still the same, so we figured it would be a quick and easy exchange.  After all, we just wanted to do an even swap for the exact same item, just a different size.

Ha.

We got up to the register, and they started telling us that the swim trunks weren't scanning in on the receipt we had.  Um, well, I'm no Old Navy associate, but I could read the receipt.  And it was quite clear to me that both pair of trunks were right there on the receipt.  But whatever.  Clearly the two teenagers working know more than I do.

They tried scanning it over and over for about 5 minutes, and then started asking for my mom's credit card.  Um, no.  The receipt clearly stated that she paid with cash.  I called her anyway, just to make sure I wasn't losing my mind.  She went ahead and gave me two card numbers for them to look up, though she remembered paying in cash.

So after about 15 minutes of nonsense, I reminded the associates that all we really wanted to do was an even exchange.  Surely we didn't need a receipt for that.  The trunks still had the store hangers and tags.

But, apparently, you can't do that at Old Navy.  No receipt, no can do.  Ridiculous.  Another phone call to my mom, some general crabbiness on my part, and two very un-helpful managers later, the best they could do was an in-store credit that had to be mailed to us.  Seriously?!?

I left the store soooo pissed off.  I mean, for real.  I had two items clearly purchased at Old Navy, with a receipt.  It was not my fault that they weren't smart enough to read the receipt.  And all I wanted to do was exchange for the correct size.  No money involved.  And let me remind you, Old Navy, the whole reason we got the wrong size is because you tagged the item incorrectly.

So, they had promised the in-store credit would arrive in 10 days.  15 days later, it finally came.  My mom took it in, and apparently is a better complainer than me, because she walked out with cash.

I decided to see if it was a company policy, or just the general stupidity of the associates working.  I called two other Old Navy stores, and explained that I bought the wrong size shirt, and wanted to exchange for the correct size.  I explained that the shirt still had tags, but I didn't have a receipt and I paid in cash.

Guess what?  They said no!!

So, Old Navy, you've officially lost a customer, and for two reasons.  One, your employees were rude to me and my family.  Two, your company policy is utterly ridiculous.  I completely understand not accepting an exchange if an item doesn't have tags, but with tags and for an even exchange?  That needs to happen.

Epic fail, Old Navy.