You got to hear what a Disney Store employee told me to do..

[ValenciaJoe]

Okay, I had pre-ordered the Incredibles DVD at the Disney Store weeks ago with assurances from their staff that I would be able to purchase a widescreen version. Well, we all know the story that they are only carrying the fullscreen (yuck) version. I called my local store last night and they told me that a refund would be no problem. Well, I decided to reconfirm this today and they told me that a refund is only done with an itemized receipt... not the receipt they told me to keep. I told the cast member that I was mislead at the time of purchase and that I should not have to provide proof, and that the receipt they gave me should be sufficient. She wouldn't be able to give me a refund without it. However, what she told me to do really blew me away. She told me that I should go ahead and pick up the fullscreen version, then go to the local WalMart and return and exchange it for a widescreen version. I told her that what she told me was totally illegal and that what she did was basically stealing from WalMart and hurting their (WM) profits. Man, was I incensed. I immediately called the corporate offices of the Disney Store and told them what their employee told me to do... which was illegal. Boy, was he infuriated. He got my name and number and authorized a refund when I go back there tomorrow. I feel sorry for the employee who suggested this.

[RJKD23]

wow that bites!
and to think, she was just helping you obtain widescreen while trying to help DISNEY get profit too...
i dunno.

[ValenciaJoe]

for one... what they suggested for me is to basically steal from WalMart. I'd be adding inventory, while taking away something for nothing.

second... she probably just cost her job over this, and that I feel sorry. But, wanna know something.. if she was smart, she would have never suggested that in the first place.

[toonstuff]

I think the big issue here is that the Disney Store and Disneydirect made a dumb decision. It's too bad that people have to expend so much extra energy to get what they ordered in the first place. I feel bad for the cashier because I'm sure her hands were tied. Nobody's winning on this deal.

[RJKD23]

ehjehbeh

if DISNEY allowed WIDESCREEN, then they're be no fussing.

you're right toonstuff

Nobody's wining on this deal.

ValenciaJoe, you should just buy TI in Widescreen elsewhere and find lithographs somewhere like EBay, if you decide not to continue your order with DisneyDirect...

[singerguy04]

i'm sure she was jsut trying to help, but then again i agree that if she were smart she wouldn't have told you to do that. i'm not even sure that would work in the first place... oh well. i guess she deserves what's coming. She'll prolly get a different job though, just not with disney or wal-mart

[ValenciaJoe]

ValenciaJoe, you should just buy TI in Widescreen elsewhere and find lithographs somewhere like EBay, if you decide not to continue your order with DisneyDirect...

I didn't buy it through DisneyDirect but at the Store. I already have the lithographs in hand. A matter of fact, and I find this funny, I could get my money back but would have to surrender the special discount coupon that I got for pre-ordering it there.

[RJKD23]

I didn't buy it through DisneyDirect but at the Store. I already have the lithographs in hand. A matter of fact, and I find this funny, I could get my money back but would have to surrender the special discount coupon that I got for pre-ordering it there.

OOH okkay! *slaps forehead*
hmm...keep the special discount coupon.
im a DVD bargain hunter so i find coupons extremely important!

[Disney Guru]

I am just going to buy Incredibles Widescreen dVD from my Wholesale Distributor. So I don't have to go through with the rigamrole of searching through stores lol. Your poor "simpletons" J/K.

[Ciaobelli]

Dude, she was probably just trying to help you, she was just suggesting how to get what you wanted. And you got her fired for a dumb comment?? Great person..

[RJKD23]

Dude, she was probably just trying to help you, she was just suggesting how to get what you wanted. And you got her fired for a dumb comment?? Great person..

that's what i was thinking...but i guess its the "morale" of it all.
but oh well, what's done is done.

[orestes.]

I've been told this same thing. I wouldn't have gotten her fired or anything. I would have done what she said! Sure it wasn't exactly right but this is Wal-Mart and I know someone who deals with some of their higher ups and some of them aren't really the best people. Besides they are a wealthy company that seems to do real stupid things. It may be wrong but I have no hurt feelings over Wal-Mart. I feel sorry for that employee actually.

[Jayden]

Dude, she was probably just trying to help you, she was just suggesting how to get what you wanted. And you got her fired for a dumb comment?? Great person..

that's what i was thinking...but i guess its the "morale" of it all.
but oh well, what's done is done.

I agree with you two. Yes, what she did was wrong, BUT she was just trying to help you get what you really wanted. She wanted to HELP you, and this is the kind of thanks you return. The most you should have done is told her off about it and leave the store. However, a simple statement that what she suggested was wrong and she shouldn't suggest it again would have sufficed.

Getting this poor woman, who was just trying to satisfy a customer (after all, that's what customer service is about, isn't it?), fired was not the right thing to do, in my opinion. Of course, this is just my opinion

[Jake Lipson]

It's no secret that Walmart will accept "returns" without reciepts; they've done it for years. So I don't see what the big deal is. Someone on this forum would probably have suggested the same thing.

Plus, it's not like you're stealing from Wal-Mart; you are returning a full screen and taking a widescreen of the same title, so it balances out, roughly. If you returned the FS and said you wanted the other format, they would probably just put FS on the shelf, as long as you stressed there was nothing deective about the disc, and they'd sell it like any other normal merchendising item (or at least that's what I'd do), so they'd get money from it anyway. So, in my eyes it'd be a fair trade.

And I think getting her fired for it was a bit extreme. If you're that against it, just say "Thanks, but that's not something I feel comfortable with, you might not want to suggest it again" and leave it at that. She was trying the best she could to satisfy you, the customer, by getting oou both the lithos and widescreen in any manner she could come up with; it's just a suggestion. You're free to accept it or reject it as you see fit, but getting her fired for TRYING TO HELP YOU was overstepping it a lot, I think.

*sigh*

[pinkrenata]

I quite agree with what many of the people are saying. She may have made a poor suggestion, but she didn't drive you over to Walmart and force you to switch discs. She was merely giving you a suggestion. This case is a bit different, but when I worked at the Disney Store, I recommended on more than one occasion that a customer go to the Toys R Us down the road because it had better quality and cheaper Disney toys. It's strictly forbidden for a Disney Store employee to recommend merchandise at rival stores, and if one of the customers had told on me, I probably would have gotten in trouble. Why did I do it? Because the customers seemed disappointed in their options they had and I simply told them what I would do if I was in their situation. I understand that this is different in many ways, but it all has to do with customer service. The way I see it, this employee was only trying to help, and while her morals may not be as high as yours seem to be, I'm sure this isn't the first case in which Walmart's non-receipt policy has been taken advantage of.

[Luke]

It's like the 1994 <i>Miracle on 34th Street</i>, where the real Santa Claus was recommending customers go elsewhere. Customers approved. But then he wasn't encouraging having a fullscreen DVD register as "sold" twice, and a widescreen DVD potentially not registered as sold at all. Skewing sales numbers in favor of fullscreen? That's as bad as....well, something that's very bad.

[ZOOMBOOM0688]

I've been told this same thing. I wouldn't have gotten her fired or anything. I would have done what she said! Sure it wasn't exactly right but this is Wal-Mart and I know someone who deals with some of their higher ups and some of them aren't really the best people. Besides they are a wealthy company that seems to do real stupid things. It may be wrong but I have no hurt feelings over Wal-Mart. I feel sorry for that employee actually.

I agree, I don't feel bad ripping off big companies and I wouldn't waste my time to call for that. Also how do you guys know she'll get fired I’m kind of confused because ValenciaJoe said that he/she? called the corporate offices but was s/he at the store when the cashier told him/her to return it to Wal-Mart or did s/he call the store NEways I doubt they will fire her they'll probably just be like "oh this crazy person called (not that you're crazy )" or they'll give her a warning.

[Sailor Eric]

Perhaps she didn't know it was illegal; it's not something I reflect upon... It seems weird, but if you go to Wal-Mart and exchange something, you are leaving something, but taking something, so nothing has happened (1 - 1 = 0)

[DaveWadding]

ValenciaJoe, you should just buy TI in Widescreen elsewhere and find lithographs somewhere like EBay, if you decide not to continue your order with DisneyDirect...

I didn't buy it through DisneyDirect but at the Store. I already have the lithographs in hand. A matter of fact, and I find this funny, I could get my money back but would have to surrender the special discount coupon that I got for pre-ordering it there.

Well, duh, because the coupon is for 15% off when you pick up the DVD...but if you're not ever gonna pick up the DVD, then why should you get to keep the coupon?

and to go even further: The Redemption Receipt explicitly states that if you cancel or return your preorder, you must surrender any and all gifts or bonuses you got by preordering.

[Just Myself]

Wait, Valencia Joe, are you saying, if you get the lithos and plush and stuff in store when you pre order it, you get them before the DVD?! Sweet! But if you return the DVD, do you have to surrender the lithographs?