and what's nice about BORDERS is that you can use the gift card (they put your refund on) at Amazon.com. You just type in the code number. and you can buy ANYTHING!!! works like a charm!! plus, Borders is more expensive than CC or Best Buy, so you get more $$$ back in credit...

I went to Best Buy to return a couple of DVDs with the price stickers still on them clearly marked "Best Buy - 19.99" with the store name, but since I didn't have the reciept, they looked up what the lowest price in the last 30 days. Hence, they only gave me 11.99 for each.

One of the DVDs I was exchanging for the widescreen version instead of the full screen and I had to argue with the cashier to make it an even swap. Get this. They wanted to give me 11.99 credit and charge me 19.99 for a new one.

I told the cashier this was a stupid policy, because of the 30 day lookup. Of course they don't want to give you the 30 day proce when you actually want to buy something. I could understand if I was exchanging for diff product but i was exchanging for items with same sticker price and value.

So you have no problem buying a DVD at full price knowing it's been sold before (at some other store), sat in my musty basement for three years and then was returned to the store (or a totally different store) to go back on sale?

I agree with BlockbusterDude...

Full Price? Well, whatever price that I agree on buying.. sure. Why would knowing that it was originally sold "at some other store" matter? Is the NEMO @ Wal-Mart different than the one @ Best Buy? And why would it matter if it's been sitting in your basement? If it's sealed and in a resellable condition deemed by the store that's taking the return.... nothing wrong with that. It's not a like the dvd have been rotting in your basement.

If the store accepts the return... that usually means that they currently carry the item and/or know that it's in a condition where they can throw it back on the shelves and resell them. If the dvd that happens to be bad for some reason (not because it's been in the basement or 3 year old)... the buyer could always exchange the opened dvd for the same one by describing what the problem seems to be (pixillation, skips, etc.)

I'd of course smell it first...

if it wasn't dirty or reak of cat piss... sure i'd buy it...

FINALLY!!! I went to Best Buy and they accepted my DVD without a receipt. The woman did seem a little hesitent but she took it and gave me a store credit/gift card... She aldo took down my drivers licence info. Yeah Best Buy, pooo on Circuit Cuty!!!

Thanks DVDude! for the Borders suggestion. I just recently ordered two DVDs online. Approximately 2.7 seconds after they arrived, I learned one was being rereleased in March as a special edition, and the other was - ahem - currently available on Walmart.com for under $10. I returned them today, and was given a card good for six months.

Also wish I had known that Best Buy was being lenient today since they are closer and have a larger selection. Normally when I try to return something there WITH a receipt, however, I'm subjected to watching the service rep take the item into a back room with a big glass window so I can read his lips as he says something to his supervisor. Then the supervisor inspects the package and asks the rep a question, and I begin to feel like HAL 9000 watching them discuss how they're going to dismantle me. Then the rep nods his head, and the supervisor nods in agreement. Finally, I exhale with relief when the rep returns and issues credit.

Went to two stores today with no-receipt gift returns.

Borders went very smoothly, no questions asked and the clerk even mentioned that they were having a sale on DVDs and gave me a gift card. They did take down my driver's license number.

At Target, I was told that because the 3 items I was returning were over $10 I could get a store credit that was only good at that store and only valid for one day. I was able to find some DVDs I wanted (even though the shelves looked like they hadn't been re-stocked since Christmas Eve and many of the newer titles were either sold out or in short supply), so I took them up on it, but in retrospect it seems rather harsh compared to Borders.

Of course, that assumes that the item is something that someone will actually want to buy....

BlockbusterDude--thanks for the info. on using Borders credit @ Amazon. Hadn't thought of that. I ran into a snag applying it, though. I was able to verify my credit balance on line, but when I used the code to check out, it kept telling me there was a problem with the number. So I called customer service and after about half an hour on the phone, they told me my problem was usingf an existing Amazon account, and that I had to start a new one (yeesh). But when I try to open a new one, it would force me to use a second email address, and I just don't see why I should have to go through that hassle (not to mention losing my Share the Love). Anyone else have trouble applying their balance on an existing account?

Nope. I have used gift cards from Borders on Amazon several times.

I'm beginning to think it's specific to Share the Love...did you use that on any of the orders which went through? Maybe Share the Love--as a strictly Amazon program--defaults away from Amazon w/Borders and therefore doesn't recognize the gift card. Or maybe I'm reaching and should just try customer service again tomorrow, better armed.

After a few more tries, I got a less generic error message:

We're sorry. We're unable to apply this claim code. Please note that Borders gift cards can only be used to purchase Borders items.

The items were a few DVDs I'm sure Borders carries, but all with Share the Love applied...so, be aware this may not work for you.

Did you got to the Borders.com site or Amazon.com? Also , what items were you able to purchase? DVDs, books, Video Games?

Thanks

Hmmm.... Good question. Amazon.com, and I've ordered books and DVDs.

Thanks,

I suspect that the Borders credit will only work on books, DVDs, and music, but not video games, since Borders doesn't carry them.

I returned a few gift DVDs to Wal-Mart last night and they told me you get 3 returns w/out receipt in an 18 month period. So they've jumped from 12 to 18 months on the receiptless returns. Just FYI for everyone.

I have many unopened DVDs I got as Christmas gifts which I'd like to return. The return lines were terrible at Walmart and Target today, so I decided I'd go back early tomorrow. I bypassed the line to quickly ask if I could get store credit for unopened DVD returns without a receipt and I was told "if the item is in our inventory" by both stores.

My Walmart has a pretty small selection of DVDs, and I'm worried they won't take most of mine back because they don't currently carry them in my store -- even though they are all listed online. Of course the shelves are abnormally bare right after Christmas.

Does anyone know if Walmart will only take back what their store carries or will they take anything listed online?

I then stopped by Blockbuster and Wherehouse who told me no returns without receipt. Last year they let me do it. Next I called 2 different Best Buy stores and nobody ever answered the phone (as usual). I then called Circuit City and I was told no returns without receipt.

The Target person said they limit you by the number of times you return rather than the number of items returned. So I guess I'll start with Target with a large sack full of DVDs, then I'll go to Walmart, then try Best Buy and Borders. Suncoast will be my last choice if I'm still stuck with DVDs after the other 4 stores.

From this thread it seems these stores are my only possibilities. Does anyone know when the so-called "leniency period" ends? Nobody at the stores could give me an exact date. I'd prefer to wait a while for the return lines to die down, but I'm afraid I'll miss the "leniency period".

Also, is there a way to look up what DVDs any of these stores will take back and what their lowest prices in the last 30-90 days were?

Last year, the Best Buy policy for holiday returns was through January 24 (30 days after Christmas). I believe this is the holiday return policy set by corporate (as evidenced by official signage at various locations); however, some store managers change this period to suit themselves, shortening it to two weeks or whatever they decide.

As far as the inventory question, I wish I knew myself. Last year, I attempted to return some DVDs that Best Buy used to carry (common titles still in print with non-unique UPCs), but they were no longer in their computer system. No one there could tell me when they stopped carrying the DVDs, but I had seen them on the shelves within the previous year.

Along with Suncoast, the other Musicland Group stores (such as Sam Goody and Media Play) are lenient about returns, as are FYE and the other Trans World Entertainment stores (such as Coconuts and Strawberries). You might also wish to try Tower Records and Virgin Megastore. All of these stores have large inventories, but usually charge full retail price.

The Borders stores in the Los Angeles area carry video games -- not a huge selection, but they do carry them.

Went to Borders today to return 2 DVDs w/o receipt. No problems at all, just needed your driver's license.

If it is able to be scanned and recognized by the register as a valid item the store will take it back.

Thanks for the info!

I already checked Walmart online and all DVDs I'm returning can be found online, but just because my DVDs have valid UPCs matching what they sell online I'd be shocked (and happily surprised) if the local store took back everything.

I'm wondering if I'm going to have problems because unlike most of the stories people are relating here about returning a couple DVDs without a receipt, I have quite a lot of Christmas DVDs to return. In fact, DVDs are all I got this Christmas.

So, if I walk into any of these stores with a large bag full of DVDs, will I likely get rejected on them all because it will overwhelm them or should I just try it and see what happens? I would do it in smaller amounts on different days, but I was told by the Target guy they flag it by occurrence and not the number of items. The same guy told me "bring them all in and we'll see", but just because he said to do that doesn't mean the next clerk will see it the same way.

I don't expect any store to take them all back because their inventory constantly changes. I'm posting because I'm hoping for a little more advice on my dilemma of the best way to go about returning so many titles. Do I try to do them all at once or try to break it up or spread it around?

I doubt anyone else is in this same situation, and I brought it on myself by only asking for DVDs for Christmas and then having relatives mail them to me only to find out they got wrong titles or duplicates from my list. For instance, I asked for the X-Men widescreen set and I got "full screen" instead. My aunt alone gave me a dozen DVDs, and I only want to keep 2 of them. One DVD I ended up getting 3 times. Suffice it to say I've learned my lesson not to ask for DVDs for Christmas because I don't want to go through this again next year. If this doesn't work I'm going to have to mail most of them back and hope they kept their receipts and return them within 30 days, and I probably won't get any replacement gifts. Too bad there's no "DVD registry" shared by all stores across the country to avoid this.

Another fear I have about returning items without receipts is that other than 1 little sticker at Walmart or Best Buy (and absolutely none at Target), you can't prove you didn't pull the DVDs off the shelves and then get in the returns line.

Your aunt sent you a dozen dvds.... so, how many are you trying to return??

Of course, we should all be so lucky.....

jaymz, it's true my aunt was generous, but if you consider that I got over 3 dozen DVDs for Christmas and nothing else, whereas most other people probably got a few DVDs and lots of other things it probably balances to a normal Christmas for most people depending on how many relatives you have. Unfortunately this worked out badly because people ignored my LBX marks, sent me the same stuff multiple times, and sent me DVDs not on my list. I hate to tell them they blew it or give each one a lecture on the difference between LBX/widescreen and pan & scan/full screen.

To answer the question, I have about 30 DVDs I'd like to return.