Man, i was really excited to register… who wouldn’t? you get to SHOP and mix and match and go crazy with that little scanner gun…but there are so many improvements these departments stores could learn.
First on the list.
- Sears. I registered for a few items blindly at a wedding show (no prices of course), and then was invited to their Sip, Search and Scan event. Well, i wouldn’t really call it an ‘event’. The first issue was the $5 price which wasn’t listed on their flyer – not a big deal, only $5, but still — if you’re going to charge, list it on all of your promo materials. Second issue was the ‘event’ itself. You could hear the music and the cheesy dj announcer from the other side of the mall!  It’s a bridal event, specific for brides, not to draw other shoppers to the area… the music was so loud that people (including myself) asked the dj to turn it down but he said Sears wanted it like that…sheesh! There weren’t any signs on where to go, where to pay the $5. There were employees manning registry stands, but they had no clue. Lined up at the registry desk, they took me to a separate cash desk to pay the fee, then BACK to the registry desk to fill out forms and get a huge booklet to carry around, then start scanning. I ended up deleting my registry from Sears … the experience was brutal and just proved to me that i didn’t need anything from them.
- The Bay. Another experience that got off on the wrong foot. I had signed up at the Wedding show and they gave me a $25 giftcard. They said someone would call me in the next couple of weeks to book an appointment but no one did. The next thing i knew, it was 2 weeks later and my gift card was expiring that day!  Not one to lose out on $25, i headed over to my local Bay store. Now granted i didn’t have an appointment, but i figured i already had a number, so if they had a scanner, i could just add more and get my $25. The consultant didn’t see it that way and said i needed to meet with her but she couldn’t fit me in for an hour and a half.  She said if i don’t scan today, i don’t get the $25…boy, she didn’t seem too pleased with me. Now this is where Bridezilla Amanda comes out to play. I suggested just giving me the scanner since i was already registered, and that if we had time after, we would have our consultation… she said that wouldn’t be possible so i asked to speak to the manager. He agreed with me, and she played dumb, and off scanning i went! Trouble is she actually made us sit through a boring consult after — seriously, we’re older, we’re not 20 years old just starting off…we know what we want! I went a bit scanner-happy and had some fun, but really, the Bay just seems so old-school and expensive. I think people just use them because they’re the biggest of only a handful of options. *sigh* I am seriously thinking of deleting the whole thing or at least a bunch of items.
- Home Outfitters. Now this was a good experience. Maybe it helped that our appointment was on a weeknight so the store wasn’t very busy, or that the store is bright, well-organized and easy to get around, or that the customer service was great. Whenever we had trouble finding something, we just asked Frank and we was there to help (thanks Frank!). I would recommend Home Outfitters for sure on the basis of the store experience. The biggest issue with The Bay and Home Outfitters is that you can’t see pictures or your items online or link to full descriptions. So i can’t really remember what i picked or what the colours look like or anything.
- Bed Bath & Beyond. This was by FAR the best experience because i didn’t have to step foot in a store (yet). I could register online for everything! They have a bridal catalogue and wedding section to see the recommended items, they have pictures of everything and full descriptions — it was glorious! Now granted, i’ll probably check out a store to see some of the items in person, but man, it was fun! And the best part is that they have BBBs in the US for my family across the border (unlike HBC stores).
I think i might try one more store (Crate and Barrel) mostly because a lot of my friends recommend it but also to fit that US bill as well.
My biggest pet peeve for these stores – aside from not being able to see pics of my choices online – is that i’d like to be able to sync my registries in one place so i can compare and see everything in one place. There’s a website called www.myregistry.com that has potential, but it’s very US based and right now only sync’s stores like Target, Williams Sonoma and Crate & Barrel. Their neat feature is that they have a button you can download and whenever you’re on an e-commerce site (any site, with or without registries), you just click ‘add to my registry’ and there you go. You have a registry of items that you really want from as many stores as you want. The only reason i’m not doing it, is because your guests would have to go back to your myregistry site and manually remove any items you purchase (vs having it done in-store). I’ve read reviews were people got a lot of duplicates.
When will a ‘one-stop’ registry hub exist so i can see all my choices in one handy location? Maybe i should work on that.