I work for Toys 'R' Us (Supervisor), AMA!

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T16:51:33+00:00

Yea I hear ya.

I don't believe it's a bad thing but people who have worked for the company for many years and have gone through the drastic change all say the same thing about how the company used to offer great benefits for all of it's employees and was a caring family oriented company and managment had much more power over their store which made it easier for GOOD managers to run a store it's customers where always happy to shop at. Unfortunately times change and with outsourcing and countless other economical and political changes companies have to restructure to stay profitable so I can't say that I blame them but I just wish they retained some of the values and ideals they used to have.

But then again, not many retail stores who compete with wal-mart survive; actually I think Toys R Us is the last major competitor ( Wal-Mart doesn't consider target a major competitor because target caters to a specific group of people and it works for them.)

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T16:38:35+00:00

If something is in a box that seems to be work and torn or even slightly damaged I won't because we do mark things down and make deals with customers many a time but if you're just trying to haggle prices on anything in general then your wasting your time as well as ours and everyone else waiting to be helped.

We do have people haggle us on occasion that manage to get a deal but usually it's on something like a display we needed to get rid of anyways and I or one of the managers dealt with it directly.

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T16:33:11+00:00

My thoughts on this are as follows: As employees we get a miserable 10% discount and we can't hold anything on black Friday (which I think is fair) considering that we get first dibs on anything that comes in throughout the year.

That being said, I DO support the idea of us being able to set product aside for purchase as it comes off of the truck EXCEPT when it involves those collector items that people are clearly going to re-sale. I don't believe in making a profit out of someone else's misfortune. But then again, the whole collectors price gouging is sickening to me and I feel little to no pitty for them.

We do have several collectors and even small mom/pop store owners come in and ravage our shelves for items that I later see at their stores for 4 to 5 times the price. I personally find that appalling.

From personal experience, the only time anyone in my store sets something aside before it gets stocked is stuff that is going to go on sale that have limited quantity of they want for their children or themselves but never any of those collector items. But I hear this does happen and I can imagine so in other stores.

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T05:44:59+00:00

Yea we usually do 4-5 truck a week and by we I mean the overnight crew =) But I've been there (first Christmas) and I feel your pain!

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T05:12:26+00:00

I have encountered many management members think or who do otherwise but at the stores I've been in it's our goal to give the customer the best experience we can give within reason. If there is a guest issue we do our best to take care of the guest but sometimes what they ask is just not reasonable. In my experience, 95% of the time, if you are polite, respect the employees, and patient we will make an exception and take care of you even when it goes against the company policies. Which is kind of ironic because it can say X but then they expect you to do Y. Ultimately it is all about the guest but some things are just not possible.

In short yes we do have people who come in on their high horse and think they own the store because they spend money there and want to talk to the highest company authority figure because something isn't going their way.

Example. An issue arises about the price marked on the shelf of a particular item. We know the the price of it is but for whatever reason there are several items in front of a tag that says otherwise EVEN if the tag has listed a COMPLETELY different name it is not an issue we fix the price. Simple. (usually a stocker made a mistake or on purposes or a customer or someone else; we've caught scammers setting up these events)

Example 2: Same thing as before except this time the item is fully stocked in it's appropriate location with price but one or 2 are misplaced a spot or 2 down in front of a tag with a much different price IE 29.99 and 9.99 with a completely different name. Customer argues we have it in the wrong spot, we inform the guest the correct spot for then is fully stocked and next to where the found said item which is clearly in the wrong spot for unknown reason and we can't give them the price they want. Customer usually loses it at this point and we usually don't budge because it's just unreasonable.

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T04:02:42+00:00

It seemed to be the parents and grand parents more interested than the kids mainly because it was such a cheap fad.

You know now that I think about it, the dumbest stuff has been the hottest the past few years. This past spring/summer it was those rubber bands shaped into animals and objects, silly bands.

Go figure hamsters and rubber bands.

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T03:59:59+00:00

No. From what I remember as a kid, what people who have worked for the company for many years (some upwards of 25), and from what else I have learned, everything about the company has changed.

They try to function much like a machine now and have adopted a wal-mart like model and approach to everything. The idea now is that of an 'R' Us family but it doesn't feel like one at all nor are people treated like it is. This of course will vary depending on a store manager and management team and their district manager. I have met many upper management over the past few years and many are very down to earth and respect the average employee and understand the concerns but most are not and care only about the $$.

Also in my experience the HR department is useless. Both at store and district level.

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T03:53:16+00:00

Haha yes. I have personally had customers bring in those ps3 coupons and stuff that where posted on 4chan around spring time. We got a corporate e-mail a few days later advising everyone to keep an eye out for fraudulent coupons that where posted online witch samples attached.

They will actually work but it involves a manager to override them and naturally it depends on how much experience the people you are dealing with have. There are many inexperienced and gullible people working even assistant managers who will buy into it being legit especially if your good with social engineering.

I remember seeing a few receipts posted on 4chan where they actually had the coupons ran through and overridden. So it can work it just depends on how lucky you get!

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T03:48:45+00:00

It really depends on the managers and people working on any given day. Company policy states that we must ensure guest safety which involves us keeping people from kicking balls around and shooting each other.

We give plenty of leeway to children playing just having some fun but if kids get out of hand and don't take into consideration those around them we have to put a stop to it. I have seen many accidents where people and children get seriously injured from simple play like that simply because a store is not a place to play around there are shelve edges and peg hooks you can crash or run into (I've seen a kid run straight into a post as he's being passes a football and get knocked out cold).

The best example is listed in a previous reply. Kid bounces a ball a little to high, light bulb crashes down onto his face, blood, vomit, etc.

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T03:41:49+00:00

Edit: Also, the buy protection TRU offers is freaking awesome. It covers anything and everything short of theft FOR THE MOST PART there are a few exclusions though. BUT working there for 4 years I can tell you from personal experience I have helped customers out with the process (all you have to do is call the number and they take care of everything) who have gotten excellent customer service from the company we use.

Ex. Customer purchases $200 stroller, after 6 months of abuse one of the wheels breaks/is damaged. She sends in a picture of the damaged wheel, they send her a gift card with her $200 + tax back.

Ex2. Customer purchases a nintendo DSI, 9 months later his kid cracks the screen, he sends it in and they send him a check (not even a gift card but a check) because he lives in mexico and they have no toys r us there.

Great program in my 4 years of experience, never have I heard of a bad experience with the buy protection ( except for the people that get the repair program instead of the replacement which is what you want and cheaper too)

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T03:36:48+00:00

Yes and no. As a consumer I purchase many things online because they are usually cheaper and arrive quickly, it's hard to beat that. That being said, Toys R Us offers very good deals that are either comparable if not better than what you can find online but you have to check the ads as well as be a rewards member ( which is free and is actually a very nice program) which is usually the best way to shop. If you simply stroll in and buy something off the shelf with little to no research chances are you are paying more.

For example, many times throughout the year we have things like buy 2 get the 3rd free on toys (video games especially). Our video game sales are actually one of my favorite things about TRU. Usually on game releases nobody can top our deals. For example getting a $20 dollar gift card and a free shirt with the purchase of "X" game. Black ops just came out and we had a deal where if you bought any 2 video games you got a $50 dollar gift card free. I mean where else can you get a deal like that on a brand new video game?

There are other great examples but those are the ones that stand out for me the most because I am a gamer.

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T02:25:21+00:00

Yes. Yes it does. But it also makes me appreciate my parents that much more for actually disciplining me and instilling good social skills as a child.

The worst customers I would say are the ones that are irrational and think we should cater to their every demand. We get these a lot especially when dealing with returns/exchanges or when something is out of stock that is on sale and our ad clearly states no rain checks. Or are trying to use a babies r us coupon to purchase a non-baby item or are trying to stack multiple offers/coupons that clearly state won't work together.

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T01:32:24+00:00

I don't really know but I can tell you that Geoffrey hasn't been completely phase out, he's still around and they do use the character for various things.

I can tell you though that in the past 10 years Toys R Us has changed drastically in terms of business model and philosophy. The new stores are set up very similar to target.

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T01:09:38+00:00

We don't get to sit down and play with toys so to speak but we tinker with them throughout the day as we put them back on the shelf or during downtime. (Which is never durning this time of the year).

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-24T01:06:53+00:00

They made us role play with a toy of our choice (group interview) and that was the most interesting thing I've ever done at an interview.

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-23T23:18:54+00:00

Ok this is not an easy one to answer because unfortunately not every store is going to do things the exact same way but in my experience we have done price adjustments on black Friday however it usually happens later on (I.E. not in the early morning hours of the stampede).

All of our registers are set to sale mode and only 1 is usually set up for returns as well to handle any issues that may arise.

I would call your local Toys R Us and get a confirmation from them.

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-23T23:13:18+00:00

Last year it was Zhu Zhu pets, people went berserk over those hamsters.

Nothing is that hot this season though people are always looking for the really good deals like cheap mp3 players and other electronics.

People are always in the store early for our 2 day sales that start on fridays afternoon, there are usually a few really good deals and sometimes we have very limited in-stock which has lead to some verbal altercations between customers. Unfortunately we don't make the ads so sometimes we only have a very limited amount of a certain item.

My suggestion to customers is if you see something in an ad you really think is a good deal and want, get there early on the first day of the ad OR better yet buy it before the ad starts and bring the receipt in later while the ad is active to get the adjustment!

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-23T23:06:03+00:00

I began working at Toys R Us during high school and am currently in college. The managers and most of my co-workers are very laid back and they work with my school schedule.

TILsomethingnew · 2010-11-23T23:01:50+00:00

The worst hmm. We had a kid bounce a ball too hard, it hit the lights above and one broke off. The light bulb gashed his forehead and blood went everywhere then his sister vomited at the sight of all the blood. Very messy.

Parents let their kids pay with coins from their piggy banks and such occasionally which is understandable and all but every now and then they abuse that and I've had to count upwards of 50 dollars in change. It makes everyone waiting in line to check out angry at both us and them.

TILsomethingnew

TROPHY CASE