Finance

Toys R Us owes pregnant women a ton of money — and it’s refusing to pay up

Toys R Us is refusing to pay “endless earnings” rewards dollars.
AP

  • 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:

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