darkSpyro

That's all true, UncleBob. Nonetheless, people do have a legitimate gripe in this situation. Toys R Us apparently chose to email some eligible Rewards members' vouchers on Friday, while waiting to distribute others' vouchers until (hopefully) today. Toys R Us has made a point of ensuring that everyone involved in this promotion knows the Special Edition Gill Grunt will be a limited supply item and that once they're out-of-stock, the promotion is over, even if some customers still have unused valid vouchers.

It sounds like TRU.com will have more than enough stock to cover all of the eligible Reward members, so hopefully this discussion will simply be water under the proverbial bridge by tomorrow. However, for the moment, some eligible Rewards members have already secured their free item, while others haven't even had the opportunity because the emails haven't been equitably distributed.

Maybe there is some legitimate logistical issue where TRU's computers can only produce/send X-number of emails per day or whatever ... maybe. But aside from that possibility, it's pretty stupid that some emails were sent at Noon Eastern on Friday while others still are not yet in receipt of the voucher email as of 24 hours later.

Perhaps this was done intentionally and shrewdly in order to create the anxiety that it has succeeded in creating among Skylanders fans ... in order to get the extra-anxious to purchase another Special Gill Grunt at full price with $8 shipping, just in case. I don't know if the powers that be at TRU's HQ could be that sinister and greedy ... but I guess it's possible. I, for one, am not going to buy another one at retail price. But I will hold TRU's customer service's feet to the fire if they bork this promotion up for my family, as we invested over $300 in Skylanders during the promotional period and did the rest of our holiday shopping there, too.

If they mess up the promotion, then you have every right to "hold their feet to the fire".
But they've just hit the first date of the promo. And how many times have you called them, harassing their customer service members - all while posting on here how you can't even trust what they say anyway?

Chillax and don't presume that everyone's out to screw you over.

To be clear, I have not harassed any of their customer service agents. I have held civil conversations, one of which bordered on jovial.
I don't presume that everyone is out to screw me over. I'm just not naive enough to believe that promotions for Skylanders don't get royally borked-up some of the time. Look no further that Frito-Lay's recent Quickdraw Rattle Shake promotion mess, or last year's fiasco at the GameStop Skylanders "festival" event, or the way Target stores flubbed-up with releasing Jade Flashwing last year. And that's just the examples that pop into my mind quickly; there may be others I am overlooking at the moment.

Granted, Toys R Us was not complicit in any of the above-cited examples. So, they do deserve the benefit of the doubt, to an extent.

As far as being able to "trust" the customer service agents at TRU and TRU.com ... I think you and everyone else knows that they've earned that mistrust over time. How many complaints have been noted in these forums about the way TRU.com uses lackluster packing materials when shipping, resulting in items being damaged in transit? On top of that, I shared a personal anecdote about TRU.com a couple of months ago where I had ordered Legendary Stealth Elf, and they shipped me a regular Stealth Elf ... with the package opened. With regard specifically to my conversations with TRU Rewards customer service agents yesterday about this promotion ... I spoke with 3 different agents, and here's what each of them told me:

1st agent: "All the email vouchers will be emailed out on 1/18."

2nd agent: "All the email vouchers will be emailed out by 11:59 PM Eastern on Friday."

3rd agent: "All the email vouchers will be emailed no later than on 1/18."

That's three totally different stories from three different agents working the phones for the same company. I doubt they were being dishonest; but would you "trust" them when you evaluate the above info?

Quote: Skylander562

maybe its by first name.

It's not: my first name starts w/ "C". I just talked to CS and they said call back if I do not receive an email by Monday. They said all emails are out but that does not explain why mine is still missing.

My last name starts with "A'" and still nothing *sad panda*

Still haven't received mine yet. I spent over $100 even with them screwing up the midnight spending binge when I got most of my stuff.

My only wish is that the amount of "in stock" on their website is reduced by those who were eligible for the promotion. That would be a pisser to get the e-mail and find out they are out of stock.

If the 80,000 number is correct...seems like we'll be fine.

I just got off the phone with Toys R Us Rewards.

What I was told - If you haven't received the e-mail yet, make sure you call them and make sure there is physical mailing address linked to your account. When I set it up in store, all that attached was my email. So I was getting most my emails, but this one wouldnt work because there was no mailing address for it to reference.

Can anyone that's gotten the email advise if there is a section where you put in an address for mailing? Just curious if that might be some random BS excuse. Either way I was told if I hadn't received the email by midnight (EST) to call back with my reference number, as it was clear that I qualified.

I finally broke down a called about an hour ago. The rep was very polite. She said I was the first person she had spoken to today who still did not have the email. She verified my purchases and contact info and said that they would make sure I get my email, but it has to go through escalation, so it may take a few days.

Also, she said that they had some kind of flag on my email address that told her emails were not deliverable, but I explained that I get emails from them all the time so I don't know where that came from.

Maybe this email flag is why mine was never sent or maybe it means Microsoft/Live/Hotmail bounced my email back to TRU. I dunno. I'm not worried about it.

In any case, it sounds like as of now they are acknowledging that all emails have been sent, so if you haven't gotten yours and it is not in your junk of spam filter, then you might want to call.

BE POLITE, not pushy and they will run it up the command chain.

Here is my expierence:
Last year I had an issue with my rewards account that for some reason I could not log in. I call CS and told them what was going on. Turns out I had an OLD rewards account that I no longer used. Long story short they merged the old account with the one that goes on my credit card/rewards.
Today I try to log in and nada so call CS again. Turns out that their system still shows as merged but all emails are going to someone else (carlos789_@hotmail.com) carlos if you are reading this, I am on to you buddy.
Hopefully all is reset now (which I doubt) and CS also said that no emails have been sent to the account yet so to call back tomorrow if nothing was received.

Quote: GothamLord

I just got off the phone with Toys R Us Rewards.

What I was told - If you haven't received the e-mail yet, make sure you call them and make sure there is physical mailing address linked to your account. When I set it up in store, all that attached was my email. So I was getting most my emails, but this one wouldnt work because there was no mailing address for it to reference.

Can anyone that's gotten the email advise if there is a section where you put in an address for mailing? Just curious if that might be some random BS excuse. Either way I was told if I hadn't received the email by midnight (EST) to call back with my reference number, as it was clear that I qualified.

Yep, there is a place for you to put your shipping address in. Its exactly like making a regular purchase on their website, but when the payment screen comes up you put the promo code from the email in and that makes both the figure and shipping free.

Yeah, I figured that part was bogus. I really wonder how they can get away with half the things they say in these type of jobs. Either way I have a recording of the rep telling me that I qualified, I can clearly see it on my online account, and I have a reference number if things don't drop into my inbox by midnight. I'm annoyed, but not flipping out yet.

Quote: GothamLord

Yeah, I figured that part was bogus. I really wonder how they can get away with half the things they say in these type of jobs. Either way I have a recording of the rep telling me that I qualified, I can clearly see it on my online account, and I have a reference number if things don't drop into my inbox by midnight. I'm annoyed, but not flipping out yet.

I'm in the same boat Gotham Lord. Weird thing is, less than 2 minutes after I got off the phone with the rep. that gave me a reference number and said I would be escalated and contacted by Email, Toys R Us called me and said "OK, so are you ready to set up the order by phone?" I said "Wow, that was fast! Are you talking about the Green Gill Grunt?" to which she replied "yes, I understand you want to order one and pay by phone?"................................Needless to say I was a little miffed. I explained - again - what was going on and she looked up my info. - again - and told me if there's no Email by midnight to call back. This kinda stinks, but I did buy one online already in anticipation of this TRUS BS.

I just got an email just now that lets me redeem the figure online and get free shipping on it. I only ordered skylanders stuff online and so it's kind of nice that all I had to do was punch a code in at checkout and voila I now have my special edition gill grunt coming in.

I called and they told me to wait 24 to 48 hours and if I still havent received an email then to call back agin!!!!....lol. As usual the promotion is a joke and as I previously stated TRU sucks!

Quote: spoons10696

I called and they told me to wait 24 to 48 hours and if I still havent received an email then to call back agin!!!!....lol. As usual the promotion is a joke and as I previously stated TRU sucks!

Agreed. The "R US" rewards customer service was not armed with enough information or authority to help people with meaningful or useful information. That leads to frustrated customers.

Quote: spoons10696

I called and they told me to wait 24 to 48 hours and if I still havent received an email then to call back agin!!!!....lol. As usual the promotion is a joke and as I previously stated TRU sucks!

Ahem.. ToysRUs does not suck, RewardsRUs does. That's your opinion.

Mine last name begins with a "W" and I recieved mine yesterday and ordered. My parents however have not received the email yet and have no idea why. They tried calling CS and they told them that it was a limited supply and tried to make it sound like that if you haven't received the email yet you are too late and aren't going to get an email. Also, the CS rep told them that they would hear something about the promo within 3-5 days. I mean really isn't every one already going to have ordered theirs by then and the gill grunt be out of stock? I like shopping at Toy's r Us because they always get skylanders in before every one else, but come on don't do a promotion if you are going to screw over people that came there to shop just for the promotion.

I agree with Spoons. TRU customer service is HORRENDOUS. I have had so many problems over the past year with them, it is beyond infuriating....

I'm surprised there's so many people having a problem with this. I only have done toys rus online lately and they had no problem at all giving me a coupon. The voucher lets you redeem in store or online at the store from what I look at it.

Still nothing in my email Inbox from Toys R Us. Two other family members with Rewards accounts also still nothing received.

Spoke to another TRU customer service representative just now, and she stated that "there are 42,000 email vouchers going out to qualified Rewards members today; I don't know if they've all been sent yet or not". She verified that my physical address and email address were correct and re-verified my purchase history for Rewards during the promotion period, and stated that there's no reason why I shouldn't receive an email voucher today.

I suppose there's still a chance that email could come through during the next six hours, but I'm not holding my breath on that. The longer this continues, the more and more likely it becomes that TRU is going to join the ranks of US retailers that seemingly can not do a Skylanders promotion without screwing it up. Tick-tick, TRU, tick-tick.

I was just told they were going out at 8pm tonight by a TRU rep.

Matteomax!...everyone is entitled to their opinion. Freedom of speech and all that and mine is that TRU sucks!...thanks for sharing yours!....but well they suck!....how hard can it be to compile and email list and send it out??...I work for an IT company and we do it on a weekly basis with no issues. If my company f'd it up like TRU have and provide customers with various stories and excuses then we would suck too!!

I called TRU earlier today to see where my code is, here is the email that I got:

Dear XXGuestNameXX,

Thank you for contacting RUs.com regarding our promotional offer, "XXPromotionNameXX" Due to the overwhelming popularity of this promotion, our inventory of the XXItemNameXX has been depleted. Though we tried to gauge our guests' interest to the best of our ability, the promotion was advertised as "while supplies last."

I apologize for any disappointment this may cause you. We strive to offer a level of service which invites you to return, and it is never our intention for our promotions to cause any of our guests dissatisfaction. Guests such as yourself are truly important to us and deserve the best of what we have to offer.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to call us at either of the numbers listed below or just respond to this email. Thank you again for contacting RUs.com. We value your business and look forward to serving you in the future!

Sincerely,

XXAgentNameXX
Guest Service Team
www.ToysRUs.com (800) ToysRUs / (800) 869-7787
www.BabiesRUs.com (888) BabyRUs / (888) 222-9787
Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!!

---------------------------

On the phone again right now & they said they are all out.
Funny cause I can still buy from their webpage.

Yes, that is exactly how the email came in to me. They were very lazy in filling out their auto mailer.

What? So am I to understand tthat if I haven't gotten the email that I don't get one?

That sounds fishy, Mac.

Im still on the phone.
I orderd one while on hold, I selected pickup at store.
A few minutes later I got the email that reads:

Dear <removed>,

Thank you for shopping at Toysrus.com and Babiesrus.com. Your online order has been reserved.

To complete your order, please print this email or bring it up on your Smartphone at the store. A full payment of $20.12 can be made at any register at your nearest U.S. Toys"R"Us or Babies"R"US store within the next 48 hours.

To avoid order cancellation, please pay by 01/20/2014. Payment must be received during normal business hours, excludes promotional event hours and holiday hours.

After your payment has been received, you will receive a Payment Acknowledgement email and your order will be processed and shipped.

Here is a summary of your order:

Your order number is <removed>.

Sub-Total: $ 10.99
Shipping: $ 7.99
Sales Tax: $ 1.14
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Order Total: $20.12
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Item #: 17168113
Description: Skylanders Giants Individual Character Pack- Special Edition Gill Grunt One Color
Status: Pending Payment
Quantity: 1 @ $10.99

Shipping Method: Standard Ground

Important: Once payment is provided, you can expect to receive your item(s) in about:
3-8 business days with Standard Shipping
2-3 business days with Expedited Shipping
1-2 business days with Express Shipping


Lady on the phone is putting in for me to recieve a refund since I paid for it.
Headed to TRU only to be dissapointed they don't have any in stock.

Quote: GothamLord

I just got off the phone with Toys R Us Rewards.

What I was told - If you haven't received the e-mail yet, make sure you call them and make sure there is physical mailing address linked to your account. When I set it up in store, all that attached was my email. So I was getting most my emails, but this one wouldnt work because there was no mailing address for it to reference.

Can anyone that's gotten the email advise if there is a section where you put in an address for mailing? Just curious if that might be some random BS excuse. Either way I was told if I hadn't received the email by midnight (EST) to call back with my reference number, as it was clear that I qualified.

I fulfilled that requirement. A lot of work apparently to get my $10 figure

Quote:

Due to the overwhelming popularity of this promotion, our inventory of the XXItemNameXX has been depleted.

It's still available. As usual, a terrible employee's excuse.

I still haven't received an email.

Still waiting for my email as well. I did call today and was told I would get the email before midnight tonight, and if I don't to call them tomorrow. We'll see what happens, but I have a feeling they are gonna get flooded with calls tomorrow.

I still have not gotten the e-mail. What # are you guys calling? I guess I'll call tomorrow if I don't get it, and if they are taking calls on Sunday.

i just called and the guy told me, in reference to the e-mail, "You should get that tomorrow." Make no mistakes, this was an obvious made up answer. When I pressed a little more and told him that a bunch of people had already got the e-mails yesterday and today and that they had been told that all e-mails were supposed to be coming out by the end of today, he put me on hold. He ended up giving me a reference # and told me I should get a call within the next 48 hours, at least I have something on record now.

When I heard about this promotion leading up to launch day, I thought there was no way that Toys R Us could screw up this promotion. Boy was I wrong. I still have not received my e-mail. Toys R Us selling them on-line before sending vouchers to those that had earned them was a huge red flag. If anyone who earned one through this promotion isn't able to receive one, then the entire promotion was false advertising. I am honestly amazed by the people that get paid to make decisions at big companies. I guess this is the reason why so many big name companies go out of business. I am definitely not implying that Toys R Us will go out of business because they won't any time soon. I am just simply stating the fact that there is so much incompetence in big business.

Haven't gotten my email yet. However, a green shroomboom is on ebay now http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylan...=item2c7a8688a1

Quote: SlayerX11

Haven't gotten my email yet. However, a green shroomboom is on ebay now http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylan...=item2c7a8688a1

And just like the first Green Gill, this will be a future "promotion" selling for $10. People with more money than sense.

On Topic: Still no e-mail...what's their customer support number? I'll be calling in the AM.

Totally agreed, Griswold.
Toys R Us will hopefully eat a pile of crow for this mess.

FYI/update: 11:10 PM Eastern on 11/18, and still no email voucher for any of my family's three Rewards accounts.

Nothing for our 2 rewards accts either.

Still nothing here. 9:48 PST on 1/18. Time to begin massive freak out?

Well its an hour past midnight here on the east coast. No email as it stands. I will give it until midnight on the pacific, as I did specifically ask them if the "by midnight" was EST or PST, and they couldn't tell me. Given thats only two hours away though and I don't have anything yet, I suspect I will be having a rather unpleasant phone call later regarding this.

If I remember correctly, they told me it should have been sent by midnight eastern time. They did tell me they are there 24/7, but I don't feel like calling them now, I'll just wait til the morning. My biggest concern is that I'll have to wait days for them to straighten this out, then by then the figure will be sold out.

Well I broke down and tried the Rewards number. I did get a real person, so I guess they are manned 24/7 ?? There are no hours marked around anywhere. The woman was very pleasant and apologetic for my situation. Again it was verified I should have qualified and should have gotten my email. No reasoning behind the reason I didn't get. My ticket was forwarded up the chain. There are "exec" people in the office Sunday, but she couldnt tell me if the people in charge of my situation would be, so it was recommended I wait until at least Monday to see if I receive the email.

:/ I'm not a major person regarding the variants, at least if they dont look any different in the game itself. So if I dont get the actually Gill Grunt from this promotion, I'm not going to go insane. Given however its clear that I qualified, and if they posted it for sale online before confirming everyone from the promotion got theirs??.... I should at least get another figure of equal value to compensate for not getting the one from the promotion. I'd be content with that outcome from all this mess if it goes south.

It looks like customer service is going to be of no help on this. Seems like it just comes down to luck with some random people getting the email and others won't. Also from my experience in dealing with other customer service on the phone anytime they give you a reference number and say it will be escalated it means absolutely nothing.

Quote: GothamLord

Well I broke down and tried the Rewards number. I did get a real person, so I guess they are manned 24/7 ?? There are no hours marked around anywhere. The woman was very pleasant and apologetic for my situation. Again it was verified I should have qualified and should have gotten my email. No reasoning behind the reason I didn't get. My ticket was forwarded up the chain. There are "exec" people in the office Sunday, but she couldnt tell me if the people in charge of my situation would be, so it was recommended I wait until at least Monday to see if I receive the email.

:/ I'm not a major person regarding the variants, at least if they dont look any different in the game itself. So if I dont get the actually Gill Grunt from this promotion, I'm not going to go insane. Given however its clear that I qualified, and if they posted it for sale online before confirming everyone from the promotion got theirs??.... I should at least get another figure of equal value to compensate for not getting the one from the promotion. I'd be content with that outcome from all this mess if it goes south.

What's the rewards number? Is it just the standard 1-800-TOYS-RUS?

No email here ... I did order one though .....

For those of you not receiving the voucher, did you receive the promotional email back in October? I am beginning to think that TRU marketed directly to certain customers with this promotion and those folks now receiving the vouchers were only those who were flagged in October.

Update: Just talked to a rewards R US customer service rep. and after being put on hold for a while, she came back and said "sir we still have 71,000 Emails to send out, and it may just be that we ran out of stock and we are waiting to get more in before we send out more Emails, please wait 2-3 business days and if you still haven't received the Email then give us a call back".

71,000 emails to send out??? That's messed up.

Quote: j32bass

Update: Just talked to a rewards R US customer service rep. and after being put on hold for a while, she came back and said "sir we still have 71,000 Emails to send out, and it may just be that we ran out of stock and we are waiting to get more in before we send out more Emails, please wait 2-3 business days and if you still haven't received the Email then give us a call back".

Thank you for that update. *sigh* Then I guess there is no point in calling today. I can wait until Wed, I guess. Still, I ordered one just to be sure I am going to get one. I didn't buy the regular GG this time around because I figured I'd be getting this guy from the promo and I really don't need 2.

Quote: rsmith11

For those of you not receiving the voucher, did you receive the promotional email back in October? I am beginning to think that TRU marketed directly to certain customers with this promotion and those folks now receiving the vouchers were only those who were flagged in October.

Yeah, I did.

EDIT--wait, read your question wrong. I got both the promo email and the voucher. My bad.