1 /5 Sage Recaps: I had a very disappointing experience at Kohl’s when trying to exchange a pair of shoes I purchased through the Kohl’s app.
Before going to the store, I selected “Return in Store” in the app, which clearly instructed me to show the barcode provided for the return. When I got to the register, I showed the cashier the barcode from the app and my email receipts. She immediately told me it was “not the right barcode” and refused to scan it.
I then showed every receipt email associated with the order, including the order confirmation, shipping email, order number, product image, and the barcode that explicitly says “Scan for in-store return.” Every single time, she responded with “No, that’s not it,” without explaining what was needed or making any effort to help. She kept insisting there was another email but could not tell me what it was or how to find it.
Eventually, she said I could exchange the shoes without a receipt, which would mean no receipt for the exchange, no ability to return later, and only receiving whatever the current price is at the time if I needed to return. That was not acceptable, especially since I clearly had proof of purchase directly from the Kohl’s app.
The interaction felt dismissive, accusatory, and extremely unprofessional. I was made to feel like I was doing something wrong despite having all valid documentation. The way she spoke to me and looked at me made the situation feel uncomfortable and, honestly, discriminatory.
I ended up leaving with the shoes because of how poorly the situation was handled.
This was my first experience like this at Kohl’s, and it was disturbing. Either employees need better training on app based returns, or this particular employee needs retraining on customer service and professionalism. No customer should be treated this way when following the company’s own return instructions.
