Life

Scott Olson/Getty Images News/Getty Images

If You Need To Return An Item To Babies "R" Us, You Might Want To Act Fast

Whether you're a new parent or a seasoned one, Babies "R" Us is inevitably one of the places you're likely to shop at for your kiddos — they have frequent sales and a huge variety of brands and products in many price ranges. Of course, when shopping for kids, it's always best to shop where returning is an easy and reasonable process. But with the closing of these stores, can you still make returns to Babies "R" Us? The short answer is yes, but there are some specifications to be aware of.

Babies "R" Us' standard policy means the store accepts returns to their physical stores or Online Return Center within 90 days of purchase on most items. Whether you buy a product in store or online, you can return it to your local store. If you buy a product online, you can send it back to their Online Return Center by using one of their prepaid shipping labels or a label of your own. All items being returned have to be in new or like-new condition with all original packaging and paperwork (manuals, assembly instructions, etc.) and your original packing slip or sales or gift receipt.

If you are using the return by mail option, your return shipping costs will only be reimbursed if you are returning the item because it came to you damaged or defective. Otherwise, shipping costs will be deducted from your refund, so it might be worth hauling your return to the local store if at all possible.

All that being said, with the impending bankruptcy of the Toys "R" Us group (including Babies "R" Us), guidelines for returns are sure to change soon. About 600 stores between the two brands are scheduled to close, and with those closings comes inventory liquidations. Typically, once liquidation discounts begin, all sales are final — that means no returns for any reason. But, since not all stores will be liquidated right away, as noted by The Washington Post, some stores may still have their same return and exchange policies for the time being.

In a previously written Romper article, a Toys "R" Us representative told Romper that returns would be accepted until April 15. Based off other reports, this seems right. USA Today reported that gift cards will be honored for the next 30 days as the company hopes someone will purchase their online presence.

But if the standard return policy is still in place, there are a few exceptions to the Babies "R" Us 90-day limit, so it's best to do your research before purchasing and returning. (Since Babies "R" Us and Toys "R" Us share a return policy, some of these items might not apply to Babies "R" Us inventory.) Items like cameras, baby monitors, camcorders, digital audio players, video game hardware, DVD players, and no-contract cell phones must be returned within 30 days of the date of purchase. All of these items must be in their original packaging and be accompanied by a sales receipt.

If you are returning any items being recalled, Babies "R" Us will accept recalled items at any point during the recall period with or without a sales receipt. However, if you don't have a sales receipt for your recalled item, your refund will be merchandise credit for the lowest sale price of the product within the last 30 days.

But, if you do have some Babies "R: Us gift cards or rewards points (or Toys "R" Us gift cards, for that matter), you should probably use them right away. They may only be honored for the next 30 days or so, and after that, will hold no value.

Check out Romper's new video series, Bearing The Motherload, where disagreeing parents from different sides of an issue sit down with a mediator and talk about how to support (and not judge) each other’s parenting perspectives. New episodes air Mondays on Facebook.