Kohl's Cash Gotcha
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Apologies in advance if this has already been posted and discussed but I could not find anything with a search.
If you buy an item and earn Kohl’s Cash and then use the Kohl’s Cash on another purchase and end up returning both purchases, Kohl’s will not give you a full refund - it will turn the Kohl’s Cash into a store credit with a short expiration date. Here’s an example:
You buy a $100 pair of sneakers and get $10 KC coupon. Then you buy a $50 item and use the KC and only pay $40.
So your credit card has been charged $100 plus $40 for a total of $140. Now, if you return both purchases Kohl’s will only credit you back $130 and give you a $10 KC coupon that expires in like 30 days. So in effect you purchased a $10 store gift card with an expiration date!! This is no problem for regular customers but for occasional shoppers it’s a bit of a scam.
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@waldo1945 How is that a scam? Do you expect your credit card to be refunded for the value of the Kohl’s cash? That’s funny.
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you USED the Kohls Cash, as in, YOU SPENT IT. now you want a full refund? and YOU RETURNED BOTH ITEMS in your example which I find kind of absurd to begin with.
I see no problem here, it’s long established policy that if you spend the KC you get a store credit for it, not a ‘cash refund’. Don’t spend it next time, they’ll void it and give you a full cash refund.
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The $10 KC was a reward for buying the original item. When you return the original item, they should reduce the refund price by $10 to account for the reward that you’re no longer entitled to. I’m not sure how this could be viewed as a scam…
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@mistercheap
There is nothing absurd about returning items that do not fit as the fitting rooms are closed due to COVID.
But still, there is nothing absurd about returning two purchases. What is the scam, I bought a $150 of items for $140 and returned both items. Instead of getting $140 back, Kohl’s gave me $130 back plus a $10 store credit that expired in 30 days.
They converted part of my purchase price refund into a store credit with an expiration date. If you cannot see the scam, sorry I can not help you.
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@jtownsucks46
I returned both purchases, I should get $140 back.
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@gatorj
See above response to mistercheap. It is the expiration date that is the major part of the problem.
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@waldo1945 Buy a $10 item with the store credit. Get a gift receipt. Return it.
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@my4mainecoons
If that works, that’s cool. Thx
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@waldo1945 said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@mistercheap
There is nothing absurd about returning items that do not fit as the fitting rooms are closed due to COVID.
But still, there is nothing absurd about returning two purchases. What is the scam, I bought a $150 of items for $140 and returned both items. Instead of getting $140 back, Kohl’s gave me $130 back plus a $10 store credit that expired in 30 days.
They converted part of my purchase price refund into a store credit with an expiration date. If you cannot see the scam, sorry I can not help you.The rules surrounding the use of Kohls cash are well known, you obviously thought you weren’t subject to learning the rules of earning/using them and now you want to shove this ‘scam’ concept down everyone’s throat who is telling you it’s your own fault and not Kohls. Now you know, so there’s no reason why this should happen to you again. Just chalk it up to experience, not to being the victim of a scam.
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@waldo1945 said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@gatorj
See above response to mistercheap. It is the expiration date that is the major part of the problem.and your original KC had a week’s expiration on it, right? you think you’re going to get an infinite dated Kohls Cash? it’s not a gift card, think of it as an extra bucks thing at CVS. those have an expiration date on them and if you buy something w/it and return it, you get another ecb back with the same expiration date. Kohls is nice enough to give you 30 days on your return Kcash, when they could give you the same 7-10 length days the original Kohls cash had on it.
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@mistercheap
I returned both purchases, I should get $140 back and no KC.
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Obviously they are not that well known:
https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/customer-gets-another-chance-at-kohls-rewards-program-class-action-lawsuit/
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Can I return or make a price adjustment on an item that earned Kohl’s Cash?
Yes, of course! We’ll just have to decrease the value of your Kohl’s Cash Coupon.Did you already spend your Kohl’s Cash?
No problem! If you’ve already used your Kohl’s Cash, you’ll get a refund in the form of your original payment, minus the amount of the Kohl’s Cash Coupon you spent.Are you returning merchandise that was purchased with Kohl’s Cash?
Again, no problem. We’ll return the value of the Kohl’s Cash Coupon to you as Return Kohl’s Cash, valid for 30 days from the date of your return.
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@mistercheap said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@waldo1945 said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@mistercheap
There is nothing absurd about returning items that do not fit as the fitting rooms are closed due to COVID.
But still, there is nothing absurd about returning two purchases. What is the scam, I bought a $150 of items for $140 and returned both items. Instead of getting $140 back, Kohl’s gave me $130 back plus a $10 store credit that expired in 30 days.
They converted part of my purchase price refund into a store credit with an expiration date. If you cannot see the scam, sorry I can not help you.The rules surrounding the use of Kohls cash are well known, you obviously thought you weren’t subject to learning the rules of earning/using them and now you want to shove this ‘scam’ concept down everyone’s throat who is telling you it’s your own fault and not Kohls. Now you know, so there’s no reason why this should happen to you again. Just chalk it up to experience, not to being the victim of a scam.
They may be well known to regular shoppers, but this surprises me. If you spend $140 on a CC, you should get $140 back, not $130 and a $10 coupon. Personally, I would handle this with a CC chargeback. The customer never agreed to use the $10 in cash to purchase a $10 coupon that has a short expiration date.
1If you purchase something through a post on our site, PhatWallet may get a small share of the sale.
2 Replies
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@dangeruss
Thank you @dangeruss , you get what I’m driving at.
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@jtownsucks46
Just because it’s written somewhere on their website doesn’t mean that it is the end of the story.
Plenty of store policies are found to be illegal etc. when challenged in court. If you bought $150 worth of stuff for $140 and then returned it all and got back $130 and a store credit for $10 that’s good for 30 days and you are happy, well then you are an ideal/happy Kohl’s customer. What can I say, I wasn’t.
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@dangeruss said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@mistercheap said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@waldo1945 said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@mistercheap
There is nothing absurd about returning items that do not fit as the fitting rooms are closed due to COVID.
But still, there is nothing absurd about returning two purchases. What is the scam, I bought a $150 of items for $140 and returned both items. Instead of getting $140 back, Kohl’s gave me $130 back plus a $10 store credit that expired in 30 days.
They converted part of my purchase price refund into a store credit with an expiration date. If you cannot see the scam, sorry I can not help you.The rules surrounding the use of Kohls cash are well known, you obviously thought you weren’t subject to learning the rules of earning/using them and now you want to shove this ‘scam’ concept down everyone’s throat who is telling you it’s your own fault and not Kohls. Now you know, so there’s no reason why this should happen to you again. Just chalk it up to experience, not to being the victim of a scam.
They may be well known to regular shoppers, but this surprises me. If you spend $140 on a CC, you should get $140 back, not $130 and a $10 coupon. Personally, I would handle this with a CC chargeback. The customer never agreed to use the $10 in cash to purchase a $10 coupon that has a short expiration date.
@dangeRuss you would get the $140 back had the Kohls Cash NOT been redeemed. If you redeemed it, then the rules change. As with any ‘rewards’ type program at any merchant, you have to acquaint yourself with the rules before playing the game. The rules aren’t always fair or to one’s liking, but I seriously doubt you’d be successful on a chargeback because you REDEEMED the Kohls Cash and forfeited the opportunity for the full refund by doing so.
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@waldo1945 said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
Obviously they are not that well known:
https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/customer-gets-another-chance-at-kohls-rewards-program-class-action-lawsuit/I see it all the time on deal boards where people bitch about various rewards programs, even some us regulars have in certain situations where rules gets changed to programs or feel short changed by this or that situation, myself included.
Now granted, I’ve been doing Kohls deals for years now and ‘get it’ and realize newbies come along that look at it from a different perspective. However, all consumers when venturing into uncharted waters should remember being forewarned is forearmed. If you ASSUME that by spending a rewards you were given with a purchase and then returning the item against that rewards makes you ‘clean’ to get a full refund to your credit card on the item you charged to your CC, you would have been far better off first ASKING, just like you inquire about a return policy at a store on a purchase.
Think of all the Target deals that pay out a $10 Gift Card with a $40 purchase of toilet paper. Well, if you go and spend the $10 gift card, and then return the toilet paper, you’re dinged for GC against the toilet paper return. I’m not sure how Target works that $10 gift card if you spend it and return against it but I’d assume, like the Kohls Cash, it reflects being ‘spent’ in their system as that gift card # is a unique number that now has $0 left on it.
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There was a post on SD about Kohl’s returns recently. The person made a return and didn’t get the entire amount back because Kohl’s took the earned rewards point amount from the purchase out of the refund.
The original post said…
“I made a return today and they took $8.07 off my refund. Curious as to why I looked up my online receipt and saw $8.07 was what they had given to me as rewards. So instead of taking it off your rewards account, they take it off your refund? That’s pretty terrible.”
When asked if they had used the rewards or spent KC they said this…
“I didn’t use any kohls cash or redeem any rewards. My current Kohl’s rewards has a balance of $15.49 and says: “$15 will be issued in Kohl’s Cash® on the first of next month.” $8.07 of that is apparently from my return. So instead of deducting it from my rewards, they make me pay for it. So my $8 is replaced with store credit that expires. This is really shady business.”
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@mistercheap said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
I see it all the time on deal boards where people bitch about various rewards programs, even some us regulars have in certain situations where rules gets changed to programs or feel short changed by this or that situation, myself included.
Now granted, I’ve been doing Kohls deals for years now and ‘get it’ and realize newbies come along that look at it from a different perspective. However, all consumers when venturing into uncharted waters should remember being forewarned is forearmed.
I agree. When one ventures into unfamiliar territory one faces unknowns.
I only shop at Kohl’s once a year and because it’s so infrequent I have to learn it all over again each time. That’s why I post scenarios and ask if they will work.@Waldo1945 I understand you’re frustrated but my approach would have been to ask what to do with $10 credit that expires in 30 days, not to rail against a program that I don’t know a lot about. You may not like it but the terms are posted and you not being familiar with them is not Kohl’s fault.
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@my4mainecoons
I unwound both transaction(s) with Kohl’s - both items were returned. I feel the end result should be as if I never bought anything at all. They keep their merchandise and I keep my money. Regardless of their bla bla bla posted store policy it strikes me as a “gotcha”. Once one uses KC it becomes a gift card/store credit, which isn’t the end of the world but since you paid $10 cash for it, it should not have an expiration date. Who would buy a gift card with an expiration date? Just because some policy is posted doesn’t meant it might not violate a consumer protection law etc. or simply be unjust. If you parked a car in a lot and the print on the back of the ticket said if you stay over by even a minute you will be charged $500, I doubt many would say, Oh well, they told me so I’m stuck. We disagree that’s all.
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@rowan said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
There was a post on SD about Kohl’s returns recently. The person made a return and didn’t get the entire amount back because Kohl’s took the earned rewards point amount from the purchase out of the refund.
The original post said…
“I made a return today and they took $8.07 off my refund. Curious as to why I looked up my online receipt and saw $8.07 was what they had given to me as rewards. So instead of taking it off your rewards account, they take it off your refund? That’s pretty terrible.”
When asked if they had used the rewards or spent KC they said this…
“I didn’t use any kohls cash or redeem any rewards. My current Kohl’s rewards has a balance of $15.49 and says: “$15 will be issued in Kohl’s Cash® on the first of next month.” $8.07 of that is apparently from my return. So instead of deducting it from my rewards, they make me pay for it. So my $8 is replaced with store credit that expires. This is really shady business.”
Not enough information, did he pay in part with mdse credit on that order? No form of original payment is mentioned and $8.07 may represent the amount of Kohls Cash he actually redeemed that he earned on this order and didn’t factor in for some reason. $8.07 is kind of a strange amount to randomly ding you for.
Also, Kohls Rewards is NOT the same as Kohls Cash, it’s a distinct program from Kohls Cash. It’s paid out in $5 increments on the 1st of the month after you hit the levels. There’s no way a return is credited back to your rewards account at Kohls.
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@waldo1945
Out of curiosity, which purchase did you return first? I’ve also been burned by this in the past. In this situation I return the purchase that used the Kohl’s Cash first, and do it in a completely separate transaction than the second return. I think that would give you the full amount you paid back and restore the KC. Then the return of the original purchase would void the KC and give you back the full amount you paid for that purchase. Then again, they may have changed the system, and I am definitely not an expert.
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@waldo1945 said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@my4mainecoons
I unwound both transaction(s) with Kohl’s - both items were returned. I feel the end result should be as if I never bought anything at all. They keep their merchandise and I keep my money. Regardless of their bla bla bla posted store policy it strikes me as a “gotcha”. Once one uses KC it becomes a gift card/store credit, which isn’t the end of the world but since you paid $10 cash for it, it should not have an expiration date. Who would buy a gift card with an expiration date? Just because some policy is posted doesn’t meant it might not violate a consumer protection law etc. or simply be unjust. If you parked a car in a lot and the print on the back of the ticket said if you stay over by even a minute you will be charged $500, I doubt many would say, Oh well, they told me so I’m stuck. We disagree that’s all.@Waldo1945 in a perfect world, I agree with you. However, thinking Kohls Cash is a gift card of some kind is a mistake, at best it’s more of a coupon, $10 off a $10 purchase coupon, however, if you don’t spend $10 of KCash the balance remains until the expiration date. As a coupon an expiration date isn’t surprising.
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In previous versions of the Kohl’s reward program, a return would take back from the rewards balance. In the past I had months with a negative balance due to this. I guess they decided not to do that in the current version.
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@mistercheap said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@dangeruss said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@mistercheap said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@waldo1945 said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@mistercheap
There is nothing absurd about returning items that do not fit as the fitting rooms are closed due to COVID.
But still, there is nothing absurd about returning two purchases. What is the scam, I bought a $150 of items for $140 and returned both items. Instead of getting $140 back, Kohl’s gave me $130 back plus a $10 store credit that expired in 30 days.
They converted part of my purchase price refund into a store credit with an expiration date. If you cannot see the scam, sorry I can not help you.The rules surrounding the use of Kohls cash are well known, you obviously thought you weren’t subject to learning the rules of earning/using them and now you want to shove this ‘scam’ concept down everyone’s throat who is telling you it’s your own fault and not Kohls. Now you know, so there’s no reason why this should happen to you again. Just chalk it up to experience, not to being the victim of a scam.
They may be well known to regular shoppers, but this surprises me. If you spend $140 on a CC, you should get $140 back, not $130 and a $10 coupon. Personally, I would handle this with a CC chargeback. The customer never agreed to use the $10 in cash to purchase a $10 coupon that has a short expiration date.
@dangeRuss you would get the $140 back had the Kohls Cash NOT been redeemed. If you redeemed it, then the rules change. As with any ‘rewards’ type program at any merchant, you have to acquaint yourself with the rules before playing the game. The rules aren’t always fair or to one’s liking, but I seriously doubt you’d be successful on a chargeback because you REDEEMED the Kohls Cash and forfeited the opportunity for the full refund by doing so.
I understand they have certain rules, and sure the KC was redeemed, but the order it was redeemed on was also returned. So in the end the customer should end up with $140 CC credit, not $130 credit and $10 coupon. This is easily solved by doing a chargeback. Credit card companies are pretty good about protecting their customers, and I’m sure there are some laws as well, this is why most places are happy to give you a refund within 60 days (after which good luck getting the money back from your cc company).
Case in point, I recently bought a car part from my local dealer. The part does not fit my car. They insisted that it will. After trying fruitlessly to put it into the car (there’s no way it can fit), I may have dropped it and a piece chipped off. The parts manager said he would be happy to take the part back at first, but then he wasn’t around and the regular employees said that these special order parts are non-refundable. When I came back at a time the manager was there, he saw the chip and said he can’t take it back. I did chargeback with my card, telling them that they sold me a part that doesn’t fit my car, and I won the chargeback. Given that this wasn’t an Amex card, I wasn’t sure I was going to.
I wonder if that is why Kohls has their card, partially because they can control the chargebacks a little better. If the original order here was charged on a Kohls card, it might be a little harder to get a chargeback. The other method mentioned here might work - buying an item with a gift receipt, does that only work during Christmas season?
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@mistercheap said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
Think of all the Target deals that pay out a $10 Gift Card with a $40 purchase of toilet paper. Well, if you go and spend the $10 gift card, and then return the toilet paper, you’re dinged for GC against the toilet paper return. I’m not sure how Target works that $10 gift card if you spend it and return against it but I’d assume, like the Kohls Cash, it reflects being ‘spent’ in their system as that gift card # is a unique number that now has $0 left on it.
Now think about how staples and Rite Aid do it. With Rite Aid, if you buy something and get BC for it, then spend the BC and return the original item, I believe you just get the full amount you spent back and you get to keep your BC.
With staples, I believe if you, lets say buy ink that has 40% back in rewards, and after the rewards are issued you return the ink, I believe you get to keep the rewards and get the full amount back for the ink.
I’m not 100% sure on these, as I don’t believe I was ever in this situation, but I believe that’s how it works.
With credit cards for example, if you get lets say 5% back for purchases and you buy something and get rewards, then redeem the rewards, and return the item, your points will go into the negative. I’ve had that happen on at least one card.
0If you purchase something through a post on our site, PhatWallet may get a small share of the sale.
1 Reply
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@my4mainecoons said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@mistercheap said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
I see it all the time on deal boards where people bitch about various rewards programs, even some us regulars have in certain situations where rules gets changed to programs or feel short changed by this or that situation, myself included.
Now granted, I’ve been doing Kohls deals for years now and ‘get it’ and realize newbies come along that look at it from a different perspective. However, all consumers when venturing into uncharted waters should remember being forewarned is forearmed.
I agree. When one ventures into unfamiliar territory one faces unknowns.
I only shop at Kohl’s once a year and because it’s so infrequent I have to learn it all over again each time. That’s why I post scenarios and ask if they will work.@Waldo1945 I understand you’re frustrated but my approach would have been to ask what to do with $10 credit that expires in 30 days, not to rail against a program that I don’t know a lot about. You may not like it but the terms are posted and you not being familiar with them is not Kohl’s fault.
I had another weird gotcha with Rite Aid recently. I bought some items to use up my BC, and ran over the amount of the BC and had to pay out of pocket. I then noticed that one of the items did not ring up for the price I expected, so I returned it. I was very surprised that the return went on the BC and not on my CC. From what I expected to happen is if you pay for items with let’s say a GC and a CC, and then a return happens, the CC gets refunded first, and then once the money is exhausted the rest goes on a GC.
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@dangeruss said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
@mistercheap said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
Think of all the Target deals that pay out a $10 Gift Card with a $40 purchase of toilet paper. Well, if you go and spend the $10 gift card, and then return the toilet paper, you’re dinged for GC against the toilet paper return. I’m not sure how Target works that $10 gift card if you spend it and return against it but I’d assume, like the Kohls Cash, it reflects being ‘spent’ in their system as that gift card # is a unique number that now has $0 left on it.
Now think about how staples and Rite Aid do it. With Rite Aid, if you buy something and get BC for it, then spend the BC and return the original item, I believe you just get the full amount you spent back and you get to keep your BC.
With staples, I believe if you, lets say buy ink that has 40% back in rewards, and after the rewards are issued you return the ink, I believe you get to keep the rewards and get the full amount back for the ink.
I’m not 100% sure on these, as I don’t believe I was ever in this situation, but I believe that’s how it works.
With credit cards for example, if you get lets say 5% back for purchases and you buy something and get rewards, then redeem the rewards, and return the item, your points will go into the negative. I’ve had that happen on at least one card.
At Rite Aid, if you pay for something with BC you get BC back with the same expiration date. If you pay with cc then you get refund on your cc. If you earn BC in either situation you get to keep it and its a big LP issue for RA. People buy things for the BC and return them and keep the BC.
At Staples they pro-rate the Rewards over the purchase and if you return the item you get Rewards back with the same expiration date. If the purchase earned bonus Rewards i.e. 40% back on ink IDK if you lose that as I’ve never returned ink but if the purchase just earned “usual” Rewards and you return the item in the same month the (-) value of the return is reflected on your account and the 5% back (?) is affected.
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@mistercheap said in Kohl's Cash Gotcha:
Also, Kohls Rewards is NOT the same as Kohls Cash, it’s a distinct program from Kohls Cash. It’s paid out in $5 increments on the 1st of the month after you hit the levels. There’s no way a return is credited back to your rewards account at Kohls.
I didn’t say the two were the same. I know they are not. Returns can be deducted from a Kohl’s Rewards account as someone a few posts above this one also mentioned. It’s still going on. Someone mentioned it happening recently to them in the Kohl’s thread on SD.
I got out of the Kohl’s KC and Rewards game for the most part early last year. It’s curbed a lot of my purchases from there while also making my relationship with Kohl’s more mentally healthy . Now I only order something if I really want it and the price is actually good after discounts without factoring in KC. I’ve been sent small KC amounts out of the blue every so often to get me to purchase something since getting out which I’ll usually add to a purchase I don’t think I’ll want to return.
It’s easy to get wrapped up in it all trying to center purchases around getting KC, planning how to spend it before expiration after it’s issued, doing whatever to extend the expiration if no good sales or going on and then the returns stuff that get posted about in many places online.
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@hbg1
I returned them both at same time. I am not sure which one they processed first.
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@mistercheap
Live and learn. I don’t shop at Kohl’s much but as a result of this, I am even less likely to shop there. They won’t miss me. The regulars know the system and are happy with it. I’ll live
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Op, I see your point. I try not to shop at Kohls often. I hate that they require you to spend the KC asap and that KC gets applied before any % off coupons. Since Kohl’s prices are pretty inflated, applying KC before % off coupons basically means you are buying the item at an inflated price.
But I think store credit works more like a GC than KC so I wouldn’t feel too cheated.
