Toys R Us owes pregnant women a ton of money - and it's refusing to pay up
- Toys R Us is refusing to pay customers with Babies R Us baby registries their "endless earnings" rewards dollars.
- The toy chain owes expectant mother Sarah Maiellano $340, and she won't see a penny of it.
- "I'm incredibly disappointed that Babies R Us has chosen to not honor its promise to registry customers," Maiellano told Business Insider.
Toys R Us owes expectant mother Sarah Maiellano more than $340 in Babies R Us store credit as part of its gift-registry loyalty program called "endless earnings."
But Maiellano - like thousands of other women with Babies R Us registries - won't ever see that money.
Toys R Us pays out endless earnings in the form of a gift card 12 weeks after parents' expected due dates. Maiellano's due date is in May, and Toys R Us said it will stop accepting gift cards in a month as a result of a liquidation.
"I'm incredibly disappointed that Babies R Us has chosen to not honor its promise to registry customers," Maiellano told Business Insider. "I chose Babies R Us - not Amazon or other online retailers which are being blamed for the closure - exclusively for this cashback program."
Toys R Us, which is preparing to close or sell all its US stores, said Tuesday in a court filing that it would stop accepting gift cards on April 19. The company declined to comment further.
That means that any expectant mothers who don't receive - and then spend - their endless earnings gift cards within the next 30 days will lose the value on those cards.
Endless earnings are rewarded based on baby registry spending. Customers earn 5% cash back on the first $300 spent and 10% back on everything over that amount.
Toys R Us refuses to pay out endless earnings immediately
Maiellano said she called Toys R Us' customer service - and waited on hold for two hours - to urge the company to pay out her endless earnings immediately. A customer service representative declined her request.
She said she was shocked by the company's response.
"I expect a major company to communicate with its customers, yet registrants haven't been notified of this disgraceful decision in any way," she said.
Natalia Kane, who is expecting a baby on May 6, says she is also owed money through the endless earnings program. Kane said she called Toys R Us customer service three times - and waited more than 90 minutes on hold each time - to find out whether she will be paid the $215 that Toys R Us owes her.
Like Maiellano, she was told she would not be reimbursed.
"The company made a very generic statement out of the bankruptcy filing that is completely non transparent and leaves many customers in hopes to be reimbursed," Kane said.
Toys R Us is planning to close more than 700 stores as part of a liquidation after disappointing holiday sales thwarted efforts to restructure its business. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.
More on Toys R Us' demise:
- We visited a Babies R Us store that's about to shut down - and it was a mess
- Toys R Us reveals closing dates for liquidating stores - and clearance sales will start this week
- Here's why Toys R Us couldn't be saved
- Toys R Us will close or sell all of its US stores
- Toys R Us is closing all its US stores - and blowout clearance sales could begin within weeks
- Toys R Us gift cards will expire in 30 days
- These companies will be the biggest winners when Toys R Us closes its stores
- We visited one of the last Toys R Us stores to open - here's what it looked like
- Toys R Us says a 'perfect storm' killed the toy chain - and it blames Amazon, Walmart, and Target