I’ve always said, “Imagine if we could harness the power of criminal minds for the good of mankind.” They think of things that I never would. A group of scammers could probably cure cancer if they put their minds to it...
I've always thought so too. They think of things that I would never dream of. They work so hard at scamming, just imagine if they worked that hard at doing good.
I love how you had a conversation with the manager because that seems like the best way for something to get done. Maybe they can go back in their system and see who returned it and see if this is a habit of that particular returner.
I was one time returning something to Kohls and seen an item laying on the counter, the sales person was putting things away, I spoke up and said "Isn't this a Walmart brand?" Someone had returned something with a Faded Glory tag on it to Kohls!!! The clerk didn't even know it and the person was long gone
O you would be surprised, lol I work the fittingroom I see it all. And the age range of people that come in change tags lol are older. They will want the 50 dress, and walk around the store and find a red take from wherever 13 bucks and you let them know this dress just came out its 50 bucks, well it was in the clearance don't you have to honor it? We couldn't if we wanted to cuz than were stealing from the company. I'm happy this came up
Thank you so much!!! Great info here for sure. I use to work at Nordstrom Rack and this was an ongoing problem. I use to really look over returns and when I caught someone trying to return a fake, I'd tell them we can't accept the return and they would NEVER push it because they knew they'd be getting into trouble if they did.
I was a manager at Winners, the Canadian TJ Maxx. This was a huge problem, I mean HUGE! I was loss and prevention and I made sure our cashiers were checking returns really good. I had to write off so many articles of fakes. Biggest tell tale was material, lots of fake returns that were polyester. They also started getting sloppy and started sewing in the tags over other tags, so you'd lift up the fake tag and the real tag would be underneath. It was unreal!! Made my job suck as a manager. When you'd catch them, they would say that they were returning for a neighbor or friend, or that this was how they bought it. These instances need to be tracked so cases can be made against the fraudsters. Your video was awesome for the everyday consumer to watch and learn what to look out for. Thanks for making it.
This is so unfortunate. What happens if a person unknowingly bought an item and once they found out it was fake they tried and return it? Would you deny the return? Cause it sucks for the consumer too
The flip side of this is when you’re a genuine customer trying to return a genuine item and you’re treated like a criminal. I returned two shirts to my local TJ Maxx - not designer just random mid price brands - and the cashier lost her mind checking all the tags, the seams, that the little loop connecting the tags hadn’t been tampered with, that the printing on the shirts wouldn’t scratch off....it was embarrassing for me as a customer with the line of people behind me waiting. I won’t be shopping there again any time soon. And I used to work there in college and never treated a customer the way she did.
Back when I worked at Bealls Outlet ... I walked out of the stock room and one of my coworkers was refusing to do a return because she thought the lady switched tags. But I recognised the lady from the day before when I was briefly on the register. I confirmed that the item was in fact on clearance and she'd purchased it from me the previous day. Coworker apologized, customer left happy, all was good. If I hadn't been there it would've turned out very different!
livealife I get that it’s embarrassing but as a cashier in retail we HAVE to be careful about shoplifting, especially if it’s been an issue at our store and if a manager has given us training that day. I don’t think what you described is rude at all, she was just doing her job as well as she could. And this ensures that at that store the items are probably more likely to be authentic and not face that problem.
livealife I guess you don't have much working experience then because you'd be patient and understanding. They're doing their job, and chances are their manager is much stricter than whatever one you had.
I can assure you that this is a crime and I believe it's called theft by deception. There was a young woman in the news the other day who did this with numerous luxury handbags and she got a substantial prison sentence (I want to say 8- 10 years but I don't remember off the top of my head). I'm not sure if you did/ want to, but this is serious enough to report to the police. Usually with things like this, it's an entire racket, not just one item or one instance.
Something similar happened to my store when I worked at Old Navy. People would shop clearance, flip the tags with a super old item and do a no receipt return. Newer employees didn’t realize what they were returning so we would get things from 2009 or 2010. It’s so sad. I wish people didn’t do things like this!
Basically, TJ Max got scammed and didn't catch it. I know a few years back Saks Off 5th Avenue got in a lot of trouble for selling fake Fendi bags. The Fendi bags were coming from a supplier who was apparently buying fake bags. The Fendi's weren't coming from the regular Saks stores. People often assume that the discount stores get their products directly from the 'mother' stores but this is often not the case. And the staff at these stores just aren't trained to be able to recognize fake bags/clothing/etc.
I just came her to say the same thing! I went to cosmotology school and we learned that most of the beauty products for sale at Marshalls, Ross, TJ Maxx and those discount stores are all fake. If you look up product diversion you can learn more. It's wild how many people out there make money scamming others.
Taplan that's not true. I work at TJMaxx and we sell ORIGINAL beauty products. Some might expire sooner than the inventory at Ulta & Sephore but they are definitely NOT FAKE. Others might not do so well upon launching e.g ABH subculture palette but they aren't fake.
I never knew. I feel so stupid. I am sure I have been scammed before! I always just figured it was "manufacturer defect" if it didn't feel right or fell apart sooner than I expected. Thank you!
girl same, I think ive been scammed too, I always thought discount stores sell authentic stuff that had a manufactured defect and thats why theyre there, like off stitching or something. my guess purse has a slightly off stitch. how can i authenticate it? whats a RN? how do i do it?
I use to think it too, but everything tjmaxx, Marshall, home goods get is real and comes sealed with tags on them. The scammer is profiling cashiers and they talk a lot. Drop stuff,but if that cashier just take that 5 minutes to look up their return over the amount we are told to I promise you, she would have called a manager up cuz it's not saying the same thing your looking at, and managers have to check and approve it. So a lot of it is laziness
If u know quality when u see it, u won't get caught up in the brand names. Try on the item...if it fits well and it's well made, good fabric...buy it n be happy!
The criminal mind that these people have never ceases to amaze me!! I use to work security at a store like this one & I thought shop lifters were bad, but this is like a whole new level of terrible! I’m so glad u posted this video, very informative. Keep up the good work & good for you & your moral ethics.👍👍
Happens ALL THE TIME. The people that do this purposely pick out the cashier that looks either young and inexperienced or like they don't give a F. It's really really prevalent with handbags in general. People will get the real thing, buy a knock off and return the knock off to the store they bought the real one from. I was in loss prevention in a previous life
I worked at Marshall’s years ago and we took that stuff back in order to appease the customer. We couldn’t outright call people out. You can blame consumers and scam artist for that.
I work at target for the apparel department and I noticed so much ticket switching. I’ve been working there for 6 years that by now I can feel right away when clothing isn’t ours. I recently asked my coworkers at guest services that why don’t they call out people and tell them a certain product isn’t ours, they said they wish they could but can’t call them out since it’s not 100% sure they did it, that the buyer can claim they bought it like that
Ok.... so that's why I was scammed at T.J.Maxx this year by their cashier who treated me like piece of s##t... I found The North Face men's pants with original tags $188 it was marked down by T.J.Maxx $10! I was super excited because those pants were my son's size and I wanted to buy for him. I was also buying bunch of crap like Michael Kors (that nobody wants) and Tommy Hilfiger to send overseas (there those brands are very popular still). After I spent $300+ at cash register on crap that they probably wouldn't sell anyway, a cashier began looking closely at my North Face pants tag. She told me "she can't sell me The pants, because the tag is WRONG". I felt uncomfortable and people began looking at me like I stole something. I pulled up my iphone and began recording the encounter on video. The woman was very rude to me and she was laughing at my accent and I felt very intimidated. I asked to call the manager (she did) but the manager was very concerned why I was video recording them instead looking at the issue. The woman using her 5" nail began peeling off the $10 sticker... then she told me "I cant' sell you the pants, the tag is wrong" and HOW IS THIS MY FAULT??? I told them they can pull the surveillance footage from security cameras and see that I did not temper with the tag in any shape of form! I picked the pants off the rack and put them in my cart! End of story! They did NOT sell me the pants, they said the price was $49! I said no. I should've returned right there crappy Michael Kors crap and Tommy Hilfiger too! Since they treated me that way! But I walked out crying because the cashier was even laughing and making rude remarks as I finished paying for other crap I bought from them! Her argument was that the CODE did not match other code BS. When I came home and told my husband, we looked at the tags of other crap like Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, NONE of them had matching codes!!! So she sold me that crap but when it came down to The North Face pants, it was an issue.... Sorry for lengthy post. Thought I'd chime in and tell you about my experience there!
No offense, but someone else probably DID switch the tags before you picked up the pants. It happens all the time. The cashier was wrong to be rude to you, however, but most often it is the switcher who comes up to make the purchase, so that's why she was giving you such a hard time.
What she probably meant was that when she scanned the tag the item that came up was not those pants, alerting her to the fact that someone (not saying it was you) tampered with the tags. Sorry!
Same happened to me with a Shiseido eye cream and some nail clippers that were marked down from $4 to $2. I was treated like I was scamming by changing the prices.....Yeah sure, a $2 clipper. Swore to never go back, but I didn’t keep my promise. Not sure why I still go there.
Leah Kirchinger they all already know, they have a whole division within the company dedicated to this, the fact that she as an associate didn’t know is just lack of training.
Daniela Lopez i think she did. She said that the tag she had was a tag they used when they return things without a tag. She also said she was shopping in a hurry and didnt pay much attention to it. The fact that she knew what happenes just knows that she had the training lol
chaotic_gabby I wasn’t saying anything about the tag, just that when she was an associate she should’ve known about fraudulent returns. By the way she said that she was making her manager that she used to work for aware that people do fraudulent returns, it makes it seem like her manager doesn’t know about them.
I use to be an employee of nordstrom rack and they're taking a lot of precautions on returns and exchanges. In their system when you return an item they try to see you do have an account with them to look up the receipt via email. Also, if the customer has the paper receipt we scan the barcode and all the items they purchased pop up with pictures of the item. We had to match the picture and the code number to be able to return the item or get the clear from the manager. In college I worked for a platos closet and we accepted lower designer brands like michael kors, rebecca minkoff and others, but the store manager/owner who is trained in designer items had to give the clear. I hope this made sense.
Plato's closet, where they'll offer you literally $2 for brand new $65 jeans with the tags on. And then resell them for whatever they want. I call them the pawn shop of fashion.
Michele Martin I worked for one in college and we do have a system that we have to input the brand and the system that makes the amount. The only control we have is imputing the condition of the clothing. The only person that could change pricing at the store I worked for is the owner/manager, but every store has a different owner. That’s why it could vary, but all of them have the same system.
@@sarahledwig2701 I know, I get there's a "system" and that the employees were doing their job and they got the manager. Their "system" is again, in my opinion, to screw people (not your fault!) and hope the person is desperate enough to take their offer. I'd rather donate my stuff to Goodwill than take it there again. I quit shopping in there once I realized what was going on. I wasn't that desperate to sell my clothes. Listed on Craigslist instead, got almost what I paid for them. Lesson learned.
Thank you so much! I always shop at Tj max and marshalls, and I’ve never thought something like this would happen. Keeping an eye out on stuff I buy there from now on
This was extremely informative and I literally would’ve never had this on my radar. Thank you for this info! People are so shady. It’s obviously going beyond saving money, they are literally screwing over shoppers and the company itself. It’s taking away from the shoppers that can’t afford name brand but can get these items on discount from places like TJ Maxx and Marshall’s. Will definitely be more alert when shopping there. And thank you to the Marshall’s/TJ Maxx employees who are working hard to try and prevent these scams. You can’t spot everything and you can’t stop everything. But I’m glad to see that this is on our radars. Love love love Marshall’s/TJ Maxx/Ross❤️
In the U.K, our version of TJ Maxx (TK Maxx) now has chunky red plastic security tags that have to be cut off with scissors if you want to keep a designer item - or still attached if you want to return it. I’m guessing it’s because of the kind of scams you mention. Hopefully, the U.S is rolling out this system too...
I use to work for tj Maxx and I live in the south. All high end apparel known as runway (ex: theory, Vince, DVF etc) Carry red tags that Cannot be returned without them for ANY reason. My managers have turned down so many upset customers Bc of this policy. But like this video shows, it’s needed.
Here in Virginia a lady has been doing it for over a year, she would buy fake LV, MK, and other designer brands from china and would switch them with authentic ones and sell them on eBay. She made over a million $ off this, she was trying different stores across the country and it was kinna full time job until a Tjmaxx employee caught her pattern (she might have gone there more than once, apparently), now she is in the federal prison awaiting trial. You can Google her.
Yeah I read about that. The Thailand native would purchase designer bags from major department stores, but return its fake resemblance to outlets like T.J. Maxx, that claimed she was the brand's "biggest online customer in the world."
I currently work at tjmaxx in Michigan, I watched your video and I wanted to share my take on the tag. As soon as you lift up the tag, I knew the difference of a online return tag, and in store return. I want to let you know that was a online return, that should have been caught by two people, so the person that returned the knock off has the real DVF dress. And looked for a cashier that looks new or just not checking items as they should. Cashier didn't look at the dress and do a RIL on the item, she just matched numbers. Yes the dress is marked down, but over a 100 dollars, so manager was the second person that didn't do a RIL, return item lookup it would say DVF and give you description of the dress. So people double check when you buy anything make sure it all checks out. I'm sorry that happened to you, but it should of been caught when the owner of the dress made first attempt to return good luck
this happens at a lot of retailers, esp department stores - most of the people working for example, at Celine who sell bags from 2K to well over 5K are not trained to know fakes!
My daughter worked at Marshall's for years and people would return obviously worn items and items that she knew were not sold there, as she was an assistant manager with a great memory who really knew the merchandise. Her manager told her to just make the returns each time. My daughter quit and got a much better job in another field where she did not have to deal with scammers and a manager who was not working for the company's or consumer's interest, for the reasons you so well stated. BTW I also sell on PM and I am really diligent in being sure about tags and such. My things are primarily vintage and 100% linen, which makes that a bit easier.
Unrelated to the topic, but your hair is really fantastic. My daughter has been trying to find someone who could do a good balayage for a couple of years. She would go nuts over your hair. Very informative video. Caveat emptor. It’s a damn shame.
I used to be a manager at TJ MAXX and we ran into people scamming us like this all of the time. I fought so hard to have allllll of the associates at my store to be fully trained by LP (loss prevention) to thoroughly check items to ensure that they didn’t accept counterfeit returns
I work for the company it is really sad to see. I often come across this scenario atleast 2-3 times a month I have learned to make myself aware of these situations and to refuse returns from these situations
The makeup and skincare TJ Maxx carries is majority expired too. If you look up lot numbers on the makeup/skincare you'll see it's 2-3 years past production date.
Thank you so much for making this video! I had no idea this could go on in a reputable store (even though discount) like T.J. Maxx! You do need to put a bug in that managers ear and tell her to report to T.J. Maxx headquarters nationwide. Thank you again!
I did not think about comparing RN numbers as a form of authentication, will definitely be doing this in the future when I feel something is questionable
I used to work at TJ as well. People would cheat all the time. I worked as their cashier for 6 years and I had to return merchandise knowing that it was a scam because there was no way to prove it on the spot. People buy expensive jeans with those yellow clearance tags, carefully remove the sticker and return the jeans at the original price with no receipt. I learned that people scam so so much, its unbelievable. They also tend to return stolen items with no receipt last minute, right before the store closes because they know the cashier will be tired and ready to go home.
Thank you for this video! Very informative. That’s why I look up everything online before I buy it just to check if it’s real. Especially for makeup and skincare.
To be honest I didn't even know that this was a problem.. This was super informative and I'm glad I know to be more aware of this type of stuff now. Thank you!
I worked at TJ Maxx for over a year and there were times when people would try to return items when switching tags. Customers would get upset if we inspected return items but then if we didn’t we would get in trouble for not checking. It’s best to be an informed consumer and not assume we are judging anyone, it’s simply our job and don’t take it personally. I just wanted to share because I think a lot of people think we only check returned items when we think a customer is being dishonest.. it’s every return !!!
I sell lots of authentic DVF..most but not all will have the hologram. Most of the newer items will have the hologram but there are still pieces that won't--certain styles will not have the hologram. I can give more info on this if needed
I found at a thrift store the other day a True Religion label on the back of a pair of jeans and on the inside there was a polo ralph lauren label! Good thing I looked at the inside label!
I saw a video and the girl was shopping at Marshall’s, she bought some Lilly lashes, when she took a closer look she noticed that the lashes looked used and even had a little glue on them.
I used to work at a TJ Maxx that carried a lot of depart 7 “runway” and sooooo many people would purchase a dress and try to return it even though I’d explain once they removed the red tag, it couldn’t be returned. Ugh. I hated my life dealing with that. Lol I hate when people get upset and yell because they’re not allowed to wear a prom dress and then get their $ back. Super uncomfortable!
If it's the tag that is sewn at the back of shirt, they need to do some work. Like getting the thread to match, clear out the old sticking some certain materials. IF it's within a bias, they they will have to remove the whole thing or you can see the bad stitchings. I been sewing for nearly 30 years and it's pretty easy to spot when a tag has been removed or resewn. Also they can sometimes get legit tags from sewing shop when they have extras. I really hate people do sell fake stuff...I seel Disney and Anime and there are so many bootlegs even at the malls. Most people can't even tell.
Yep people do this all the time, even switching of the price tag in the store to get a cheaper price. People always did this to me and I worked at one of these stores. So so sad.
Every time buy a high end brand item at Tj Max, Marshall’s, Nordstrom rack, or Ross I always google the item cause I don’t wanna buy a cheap knockoff and I wanna be sure that I’m spending my money wisely.
At the T.J. Maxx I work all the employees are train to look up the tags but ppl do switch the tickets which sucks. If this ever happens to you tell the manager and ALWAYS HAVE YOUR RECEIPT when ever you need to return anything especially if the tags is switched
This happened to me at Dillard's in Atlanta. They sold me fake uggs The second I got them home and stuck my foot in them I knew right away and immediately contacted the store. People are disgusting in what they are willing to do. I learned a huge lesson and that is to never be afraid to ask questions or research before making a large purchase. I always wonder about the deaigner sunglasses at last call neiman Marcus.
I bought a “Kate Spade” dress, came home and realized the tags were sewn on. The tag said M but on the inside of the dress it said L. I like the dress non the less and kept it but i didn’t pay much to begin with but i have noticed a lot of clothes are switched.
Most people would not even know. They would buy the dress thinking they got a good deal, wear it & enjoy it. ( unless you're a scummy re-seller! On line)
I have seen items in the thrift store that people had switched out the tags...I have almost fallen for that too! You have to be super careful. I don’t understand the point of people doing this....
100% illegal! I’ve worked at tjmaxx for 2 years now. All of our employees are trained to look up items and if it doesn’t come up in the lookup, we are very skeptical!
Wow I never thought to actually check on this. Thanks for the video, and explaining how we can see if something is a fake or not!! Definitely subscribing 🤗
This was an interesting video. Thanks for filming this information. At one time I had a night time job unloading trucks and stocking at a Target along with holding down my daytime job. I was there for almost 7 years before quitting due to the change of scheduling the truck unloading time which interfered with my day job. I worked the years when we had collaborations with many fashion designers such as Libertine, Anna Sui, Phillip Lim, etc. Time had passed and a dress on a rack at TJMAXX stood out and I walked over and picked it out and found it was definitely a Target Anna Sui dress which I knew should not have been there. I had a sales associate scan the tag and she said the label read Ralph Lauren on it......heaven knows what happened but the person returning the dress got a lot more than the price of the actual dress. Again thanks for filming!
I used to work at the discount store ross and switching tags was a massive problem . People would get the new clothes, switch the tickets with a tag gun and try to return them. You would have to pay close attention to the ticket and item to catch it especially with more experienced thieves who would make sure the fake ticket had a similar description as the item. I've never seen theft so bad in my life, it was just awful.
Omg, I'm such a die hard TJMAXX fan. I had absolutely no idea this even happened! A few years back I purchased a DB purse and although it didn't look right, since I'd purchased it from TJMAXX it was legit. So I rocked it for awhile but then donated it to Goodwill. Thank you so much for sharing! I'll be sure to share this!
I live in Canada and tried to return something to Winners (owned by TJ max) and the employee looked up the item in the machine but did not relate to my item that I was trying to return! I was so pissed and thinking how is this my problem and they probably thought I was trying to scan them. Thankfully I had taken pictures of a few items including the questionable one in the store showing the tags to show a family member before my purchse. They were very apologetic after that and did my return. Now I am very careful when I shop at these type of stores like if it’s a newer item and there’s a few with the same tag I know I am good. But if there’s questionable odds and ends that I am not sure if I will keep or not, I take a picture! Unfortunately it has come down to that thanks to the scammers! I also started to notice a lot more employees checking the tags in the system when I return items which is better for them but if not all are doing this, the consumer can end up innocently getting screwed like it almost happened to me. There’s no win win and completely switching the inside tag is a whole other level!
smiley0987 Awesome info about taking pics in store to have proof you bought it there....too bad it has come to this. Shopping is supposed to be FUN, not an exercise in legally defending ourselves against criminals!!!
Hi...I'm a antique dealer so I understand what you mean about fakes or reproductions. I have a booth in the antique store. The owner who owns the store was telling me not to sell any name brand handbags, purses, etc. Because most of them are fakes and some dealers will try to make big profit. He was telling me that once a month, the fashion police will walk in and take all fake and real items out of the store without paying for it. Nowadays, people are getting greedy to sell fake products. If you're not sure if it's fake or not, don't buy it.
I work at Ross and we have to look at your return items and actually make sure their from our store. I can tell if it’s our item or not. Most times if you don’t have the original price tag on the item we won’t return it. If anything we go back and check cameras.
This isn't just a TJ Maxx problem. I worked at Saks Fifth Avenue, the full price one, not off Fifth, and people used to buy a $3k dress, have a replicate made, attach the tags from the real one (even the side seam one) and return the fake. We used to have to flip dresses inside out, smell them to see if they have a weird chemical smell, check the hem to see the quality of the blind stitch, and compare with a new dress to check the zipper, beading, etc. Even then we would normally get about 6 fake returns a week.
I noticed this in TJ Maxx jewelry twice. Someone had switched the tags on a dollar store necklace - I had just seen it at the dollar store. In the second instance, a clearly fake pearl necklace was returned with the TJ Maxx real pearls tag. The paint on the pearls actually had chips missing.
Back when the store Mervyn's existed I was a cashier there for a while and once a customer returned a couple of clothing items with Mervyn's price tags that they had put on clothes that were not from our store. I started as a seasonal worker and was not 100% familiar yet with all the brands we carried yet so I took the return since the tags were intact. I later learned that these ppl use retagging guns like the ones we used to attatch tags that fall off with the little plastic part and the giveaway was that our plastic was always clear and the one they used was white which I had not noticed at the time of the return but from then on I knew to check little things like that.
People do this at places like sephora and ulta as well. They purchase high end product, get really good fakes (look-wise, not quality obviously), and then switch the box. Most times the employees don’t look at it that closely or can’t tell. I watched a few videos about it a while back. It’s so awful.
About 3 months ago my daughter and I watched a woman walk right out of Walmart with a cart full of loot. I told the “greeter” who did nothing. I walked up to the woman and told her I watched her walk out without paying-she laughed it off. She was with two other men and 2 kids. There was already a cart of stuff in the back of the van. I took a pic of her license plate to give to Walmart. Waited on my phone for 45 minutes for a manager, who was nonexistent. When someone finally spoke with me they said they appreciated the call but they will not put employees in jeopardy for theft. As I said my daughter was with me so I was trying to make it a teaching moment between right and wrong. Jeez. What a joke that was. The whole experience was very frustrating as these people got away with it and were probably back for more the following week. My point with this story is, the stores don’t care. They may listen politely and nod their heads, but they do not care. They don’t care because the cost of theft is just passed on to the consumer. I’m sure it happens everywhere, all the time, but when you watch it happen right in front of you and nothing is done? I won’t shop at Walmart anymore.
Brianna Ramos that sounds reassuring. Glad to know companies at least TRY to cut down on theft. I understand, employees aren’t hired for security especially at the hourly rates they are paid. I’m not blaming the employees, I get it. I’m just frustrated at how brazen criminals are and it’s hard to watch as they just stroll out the door.
I used to work at Target and people would return items with switched tags there too. Sometimes, they don’t even change the tags. They’ll just attach the retail tag and wait till the store is busy. You often just have to know what the tags are supposed to look like so you can spot the scam.
I used to work at Nordstrom rack for two years. The specific Nordstrom rack that I worked at carried high end designer clothing ( Gucci, Herve Leger, Roberto Cavali, Valentino, Dolce and Gabana, and more). We would have this issue happen sometimes. One of the things that we would do is check all the tags on the clothing item and request a receipt and a tag. If the tag was missing one of us would be called to the cash station to pick up the dress to make a tag. I would have to check all of the tags inside of the clothing item and would need to pull up style numbers in our system and match the item to the picture pulling up. If it didn’t match and looked sewn on, that item would not get returned and would never hit the sales floor. I believe part of the problem is the employees not taking the time to check that the item being returned is authentic.
I almost got scammed @tjmaxx in GA. Someone had put a tag for a $400 Kate Spade dress onto a cheaper Kate spade dress and returned it for the difference. I always check the tags and style before buying, but sometimes don’t in a retail store and thank goodness I did. I told the workers and showed them what the tags dress shows up as.
I had a very similar situation happen with a Rebecca Taylor at Marshall’s. It was marked down to $25 (too good to be true but it looked okay at the store). Got home to photograph (after cutting off the Marshall’s tag) and started noticing weird things. The size on the main tag said 4, while the size on the care tag said Small. I searched through a billion Rebecca Taylor photos and the sizes always match. Then on the actual RT hang tag the color was listed as blush but the dress was black. I searched and searched for the style number provided and couldn’t find anything. I took it back to Marshall’s and they gave me hell because the tag was cut off. When it’s off, they run the number and it didn’t match a RT dress - it was coming up as some men’s shirt. I literally had to get a manager and argue for 15 minutes to get my money. Luckily the red tab they use for higher end items was still on the dress or I don’t think I would have received my money back. So always be sure everything is good before you cut the tag off. The manager I dealt with said he would damage out the dress but he didn’t believe me the whole time so I’m pretty sure it went back to the floor as soon as I left.
They should come up with a system that pulls information from the internet and makes a database of their designer pieces and tracks who buys. That way if someone tried to return the item and it doesn't match the original data on the date of purchase you can refuse to refund the item or call the authorities. Also it could send info to other stores about these customers and when they try to purchase designer items at other stores they would know to watch out for certain individuals.
Hi Deal Queen, I love your video! The public can be aware of it. I am always shopping in TJJ Maxx, it is a great place. One day I was shopping at a TJJ Maxx close were I live, I had on a Ralph Lauren black jeans jacket I put it in the shopping cart , because I got warm, I selected a black top like a T-shirt gold threads. You are no going to believe it ! Someone stole my jacket & the top I was going to buy. Some people just go in to stores to still. Thanks again for the info.in your video.
Years ago, I worked at Macy's, and we would often find designer clothes in the fitting rooms that had the logo buttons and/or labels removed by people who would sew them into fakes.
Woah! I worked at Ross and Nordstrom in College. At Ross, people would swap tags. Example, they'd switch a $59.99 tag for $19.99 tag on Michael Kors shoes. They didn't know we wrote the real price on the bottom. The same people would try and then stop coming to the store. At Nordstrom, some customers would wear clothes and try to return them which is disgusting. Loved the info you shared ❤️
I just came TJ MAXX and bought a Vera Bradley Backpack for $39 vs $115 on HSN. Going to check it out thoroughly as it has a similar tag, although all the zippers has VB so I think I’m safe. Thank you very informative as I wouldn’t have thought about that...
I had customers telling me that we (Marshall's) sell counterfeits but I told her we do not sell counterfeits. But now I think I know the reason why she said it now. That is so unfortunate that people would do that because that brings really bad reputations on the store.
I work at Burlington and some of our issues are people will buy items, go home and then take off the tags and put it on clothes THAT THEY OWN AND HAVE IN THEIR CLOSET and return it and get their money back. its a big scam and obviously illegal.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I go to TJ Maxx and Marshalls so often and I never knew this was a form of shoplifting. I agree with everything shoplifting, you're saying especially the moral implications. DVF is a really complicated brand to authenticate I feel like. The wrap dress especially has gone through so many labels over the years and now the holograph label is the norm but there are plenty of authentic dresses from before she took back the label to now that are just hard to authenticate. It has made buying dresses for me reallly hard. Especially because she did not always use silk with the clothes wool/synthetic material mixes.
I’ve always said, “Imagine if we could harness the power of criminal minds for the good of mankind.” They think of things that I never would. A group of scammers could probably cure cancer if they put their minds to it...
I've always thought so too. They think of things that I would never dream of. They work so hard at scamming, just imagine if they worked that hard at doing good.
That's a very interesting perspective and you're probably right.
rlavelleSLP probably.......
Holy crap. I say that ALL the time! So true
Criminals aren't born their made. But yes let's imagine a world where people were treated as intellectual equals. 🤔
one greedy person can mess it up for everyone. Then stores are not going to want to do returns anymore.
I love how you had a conversation with the manager because that seems like the best way for something to get done. Maybe they can go back in their system and see who returned it and see if this is a habit of that particular returner.
This is very informative... Call me naive, but I would never think people did stuff like this.
I was one time returning something to Kohls and seen an item laying on the counter, the sales person was putting things away, I spoke up and said "Isn't this a Walmart brand?" Someone had returned something with a Faded Glory tag on it to Kohls!!! The clerk didn't even know it and the person was long gone
I'm thinking that it came that way from the warehouse, not from the workers. TJMax got scammed...
or some jerk "returned" it and the low paid worker bee just took it back.
LuvLiLyn same
O you would be surprised, lol I work the fittingroom I see it all. And the age range of people that come in change tags lol are older. They will want the 50 dress, and walk around the store and find a red take from wherever 13 bucks and you let them know this dress just came out its 50 bucks, well it was in the clearance don't you have to honor it? We couldn't if we wanted to cuz than were stealing from the company. I'm happy this came up
If people doing this just put their efforts into something constructive- what a change in the world. I would be so embarrassed to do any of this.
Thank you so much!!! Great info here for sure. I use to work at Nordstrom Rack and this was an ongoing problem. I use to really look over returns and when I caught someone trying to return a fake, I'd tell them we can't accept the return and they would NEVER push it because they knew they'd be getting into trouble if they did.
Ugh, I basically live in TJ Maxx and Marshall’s 😩 Thank you for making this video! I’m going to be extremely cautious now.
Really thankful for this information. I would never think to look for a tag sewed on.
Me too!
Great info! It's a bummer that honest people have to deal with the crummy things dishonest people do.
I was a manager at Winners, the Canadian TJ Maxx. This was a huge problem, I mean HUGE! I was loss and prevention and I made sure our cashiers were checking returns really good. I had to write off so many articles of fakes. Biggest tell tale was material, lots of fake returns that were polyester. They also started getting sloppy and started sewing in the tags over other tags, so you'd lift up the fake tag and the real tag would be underneath. It was unreal!! Made my job suck as a manager. When you'd catch them, they would say that they were returning for a neighbor or friend, or that this was how they bought it. These instances need to be tracked so cases can be made against the fraudsters. Your video was awesome for the everyday consumer to watch and learn what to look out for. Thanks for making it.
I worked at a Nordstrom Rack, and I saw the same things so many times. I had someone once see a Kate Spade tag on a Merona brand pair of pants.
This is so unfortunate. What happens if a person unknowingly bought an item and once they found out it was fake they tried and return it? Would you deny the return? Cause it sucks for the consumer too
Yeh, Vancouver. Scam central.
The flip side of this is when you’re a genuine customer trying to return a genuine item and you’re treated like a criminal. I returned two shirts to my local TJ Maxx - not designer just random mid price brands - and the cashier lost her mind checking all the tags, the seams, that the little loop connecting the tags hadn’t been tampered with, that the printing on the shirts wouldn’t scratch off....it was embarrassing for me as a customer with the line of people behind me waiting. I won’t be shopping there again any time soon. And I used to work there in college and never treated a customer the way she did.
Back when I worked at Bealls Outlet ... I walked out of the stock room and one of my coworkers was refusing to do a return because she thought the lady switched tags. But I recognised the lady from the day before when I was briefly on the register. I confirmed that the item was in fact on clearance and she'd purchased it from me the previous day. Coworker apologized, customer left happy, all was good. If I hadn't been there it would've turned out very different!
livealife I get that it’s embarrassing but as a cashier in retail we HAVE to be careful about shoplifting, especially if it’s been an issue at our store and if a manager has given us training that day. I don’t think what you described is rude at all, she was just doing her job as well as she could. And this ensures that at that store the items are probably more likely to be authentic and not face that problem.
livealife I guess you don't have much working experience then because you'd be patient and understanding. They're doing their job, and chances are their manager is much stricter than whatever one you had.
Working for the last 20 years (including many in retail) but don't let that stop your criticism of me.
livealife In that case you should be more than understanding then...
I can assure you that this is a crime and I believe it's called theft by deception. There was a young woman in the news the other day who did this with numerous luxury handbags and she got a substantial prison sentence (I want to say 8- 10 years but I don't remember off the top of my head). I'm not sure if you did/ want to, but this is serious enough to report to the police. Usually with things like this, it's an entire racket, not just one item or one instance.
Who would have thought about looking for this ? Thanks for the heads up !
It seems like there's always a new scam to watch out for these days !
Something similar happened to my store when I worked at Old Navy. People would shop clearance, flip the tags with a super old item and do a no receipt return. Newer employees didn’t realize what they were returning so we would get things from 2009 or 2010. It’s so sad. I wish people didn’t do things like this!
Basically, TJ Max got scammed and didn't catch it. I know a few years back Saks Off 5th Avenue got in a lot of trouble for selling fake Fendi bags. The Fendi bags were coming from a supplier who was apparently buying fake bags. The Fendi's weren't coming from the regular Saks stores. People often assume that the discount stores get their products directly from the 'mother' stores but this is often not the case. And the staff at these stores just aren't trained to be able to recognize fake bags/clothing/etc.
I just came her to say the same thing! I went to cosmotology school and we learned that most of the beauty products for sale at Marshalls, Ross, TJ Maxx and those discount stores are all fake. If you look up product diversion you can learn more. It's wild how many people out there make money scamming others.
Taplan that's not true. I work at TJMaxx and we sell ORIGINAL beauty products. Some might expire sooner than the inventory at Ulta & Sephore but they are definitely NOT FAKE. Others might not do so well upon launching e.g ABH subculture palette but they aren't fake.
Someone was caught doing this. It was discussed on the purseforum. She made over a million in profit but was put in jail.
I never knew. I feel so stupid. I am sure I have been scammed before! I always just figured it was "manufacturer defect" if it didn't feel right or fell apart sooner than I expected. Thank you!
girl same, I think ive been scammed too, I always thought discount stores sell authentic stuff that had a manufactured defect and thats why theyre there, like off stitching or something. my guess purse has a slightly off stitch. how can i authenticate it? whats a RN? how do i do it?
Same 😩😩
My daughter got some levi pants and the logo in the back looks so loose. I m be pissed if its fake.
I use to think it too, but everything tjmaxx, Marshall, home goods get is real and comes sealed with tags on them. The scammer is profiling cashiers and they talk a lot. Drop stuff,but if that cashier just take that 5 minutes to look up their return over the amount we are told to I promise you, she would have called a manager up cuz it's not saying the same thing your looking at, and managers have to check and approve it. So a lot of it is laziness
If u know quality when u see it, u won't get caught up in the brand names. Try on the item...if it fits well and it's well made, good fabric...buy it n be happy!
The criminal mind that these people have never ceases to amaze me!! I use to work security at a store like this one & I thought shop lifters were bad, but this is like a whole new level of terrible! I’m so glad u posted this video, very informative. Keep up the good work & good for you & your moral ethics.👍👍
Happens ALL THE TIME. The people that do this purposely pick out the cashier that looks either young and inexperienced or like they don't give a F. It's really really prevalent with handbags in general. People will get the real thing, buy a knock off and return the knock off to the store they bought the real one from. I was in loss prevention in a previous life
I worked at Marshall’s years ago and we took that stuff back in order to appease the customer. We couldn’t outright call people out. You can blame consumers and scam artist for that.
D B I work at Marshall’s currently and they’ve gotten so strict it’s crazy
Wow!
Randi Schultz It depends on the Marshalls you work at. Depending on the location some are stricter than others.
I work at target for the apparel department and I noticed so much ticket switching. I’ve been working there for 6 years that by now I can feel right away when clothing isn’t ours. I recently asked my coworkers at guest services that why don’t they call out people and tell them a certain product isn’t ours, they said they wish they could but can’t call them out since it’s not 100% sure they did it, that the buyer can claim they bought it like that
D B as a former employee i second this.
Ok.... so that's why I was scammed at T.J.Maxx this year by their cashier who treated me like piece of s##t... I found The North Face men's pants with original tags $188 it was marked down by T.J.Maxx $10! I was super excited because those pants were my son's size and I wanted to buy for him. I was also buying bunch of crap like Michael Kors (that nobody wants) and Tommy Hilfiger to send overseas (there those brands are very popular still). After I spent $300+ at cash register on crap that they probably wouldn't sell anyway, a cashier began looking closely at my North Face pants tag. She told me "she can't sell me The pants, because the tag is WRONG". I felt uncomfortable and people began looking at me like I stole something. I pulled up my iphone and began recording the encounter on video.
The woman was very rude to me and she was laughing at my accent and I felt very intimidated. I asked to call the manager (she did) but the manager was very concerned why I was video recording them instead looking at the issue. The woman using her 5" nail began peeling off the $10 sticker... then she told me "I cant' sell you the pants, the tag is wrong" and HOW IS THIS MY FAULT??? I told them they can pull the surveillance footage from security cameras and see that I did not temper with the tag in any shape of form! I picked the pants off the rack and put them in my cart! End of story! They did NOT sell me the pants, they said the price was $49! I said no. I should've returned right there crappy Michael Kors crap and Tommy Hilfiger too! Since they treated me that way! But I walked out crying because the cashier was even laughing and making rude remarks as I finished paying for other crap I bought from them! Her argument was that the CODE did not match other code BS. When I came home and told my husband, we looked at the tags of other crap like Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, NONE of them had matching codes!!! So she sold me that crap but when it came down to The North Face pants, it was an issue....
Sorry for lengthy post. Thought I'd chime in and tell you about my experience there!
Return everything
СашаЛ СЕКОНД ХЕНД РАСПАКОВКИ ШОПИНГ ОБЗОРЫ ПОКУПКИ Take the junk back, unbelievable !
No offense, but someone else probably DID switch the tags before you picked up the pants. It happens all the time. The cashier was wrong to be rude to you, however, but most often it is the switcher who comes up to make the purchase, so that's why she was giving you such a hard time.
What she probably meant was that when she scanned the tag the item that came up was not those pants, alerting her to the fact that someone (not saying it was you) tampered with the tags. Sorry!
Same happened to me with a Shiseido eye cream and some nail clippers that were marked down from $4 to $2. I was treated like I was scamming by changing the prices.....Yeah sure, a $2 clipper. Swore to never go back, but I didn’t keep my promise. Not sure why I still go there.
Every TJ Maxx manager needs to watch this!
Leah Kirchinger they all already know, they have a whole division within the company dedicated to this, the fact that she as an associate didn’t know is just lack of training.
Daniela Lopez i think she did. She said that the tag she had was a tag they used when they return things without a tag. She also said she was shopping in a hurry and didnt pay much attention to it. The fact that she knew what happenes just knows that she had the training lol
chaotic_gabby I wasn’t saying anything about the tag, just that when she was an associate she should’ve known about fraudulent returns. By the way she said that she was making her manager that she used to work for aware that people do fraudulent returns, it makes it seem like her manager doesn’t know about them.
Leah Kirchinger yes!!!!!
Lets not forget how little TjMaxx employees get paid though.
I use to be an employee of nordstrom rack and they're taking a lot of precautions on returns and exchanges. In their system when you return an item they try to see you do have an account with them to look up the receipt via email. Also, if the customer has the paper receipt we scan the barcode and all the items they purchased pop up with pictures of the item. We had to match the picture and the code number to be able to return the item or get the clear from the manager. In college I worked for a platos closet and we accepted lower designer brands like michael kors, rebecca minkoff and others, but the store manager/owner who is trained in designer items had to give the clear. I hope this made sense.
Plato's closet, where they'll offer you literally $2 for brand new $65 jeans with the tags on. And then resell them for whatever they want. I call them the pawn shop of fashion.
Michele Martin I worked for one in college and we do have a system that we have to input the brand and the system that makes the amount. The only control we have is imputing the condition of the clothing. The only person that could change pricing at the store I worked for is the owner/manager, but every store has a different owner. That’s why it could vary, but all of them have the same system.
@@sarahledwig2701 I know, I get there's a "system" and that the employees were doing their job and they got the manager. Their "system" is again, in my opinion, to screw people (not your fault!) and hope the person is desperate enough to take their offer. I'd rather donate my stuff to Goodwill than take it there again. I quit shopping in there once I realized what was going on. I wasn't that desperate to sell my clothes. Listed on Craigslist instead, got almost what I paid for them. Lesson learned.
Koo
Thank you so much! I always shop at Tj max and marshalls, and I’ve never thought something like this would happen. Keeping an eye out on stuff I buy there from now on
Wow I didn’t know about this! Thank you for letting us consumers and Poshmark users aware!
This was extremely informative and I literally would’ve never had this on my radar. Thank you for this info! People are so shady. It’s obviously going beyond saving money, they are literally screwing over shoppers and the company itself.
It’s taking away from the shoppers that can’t afford name brand but can get these items on discount from places like TJ Maxx and Marshall’s.
Will definitely be more alert when shopping there. And thank you to the Marshall’s/TJ Maxx employees who are working hard to try and prevent these scams. You can’t spot everything and you can’t stop everything.
But I’m glad to see that this is on our radars.
Love love love Marshall’s/TJ Maxx/Ross❤️
In the U.K, our version of TJ Maxx (TK Maxx) now has chunky red plastic security tags that have to be cut off with scissors if you want to keep a designer item - or still attached if you want to return it. I’m guessing it’s because of the kind of scams you mention. Hopefully, the U.S is rolling out this system too...
Space Woman it does for cocktail dresses or evening prom like dresses
Yes, our TJ Maxx does that too! Here in the Tri-state area/US
I use to work for tj Maxx and I live in the south. All high end apparel known as runway (ex: theory, Vince, DVF etc) Carry red tags that Cannot be returned without them for ANY reason. My managers have turned down so many upset customers Bc of this policy. But like this video shows, it’s needed.
I work at TJ Maxx in Southern California that has run way (our designer area) and we have red tags on all of it.
i work at tjmaxx in the usa and we do this on department 7 which is runway fashion! i know this is many months late. but yes it is implemented lol
Here in Virginia a lady has been doing it for over a year, she would buy fake LV, MK, and other designer brands from china and would switch them with authentic ones and sell them on eBay.
She made over a million $ off this, she was trying different stores across the country and it was kinna full time job until a Tjmaxx employee caught her pattern (she might have gone there more than once, apparently), now she is in the federal prison awaiting trial. You can Google her.
Aini Tariq yep, she is screwed. I know someone who went to prison for a couple years for selling fake golf clubs
Aini Tariq must be why you have to fill out a lil form when you return an item
Yeah I read about that. The Thailand native would purchase designer bags from major department stores, but return its fake resemblance to outlets like T.J. Maxx, that claimed she was the brand's "biggest online customer in the world."
So glad to know this! This could be ANY store, but TJ Maxx is one of my favorites.
No wonder... I’ve seen “name brands” at Ross but they ALWAYS feel cheap. Now it’s starting to make sense... thank you for this very informative video!
Nidia Shalfie omg yes! There are a lot of fakes at Ross be careful with their Michael kors and Bebe brands I learned the hard way.
I currently work at tjmaxx in Michigan, I watched your video and I wanted to share my take on the tag. As soon as you lift up the tag, I knew the difference of a online return tag, and in store return. I want to let you know that was a online return, that should have been caught by two people, so the person that returned the knock off has the real DVF dress. And looked for a cashier that looks new or just not checking items as they should. Cashier didn't look at the dress and do a RIL on the item, she just matched numbers. Yes the dress is marked down, but over a 100 dollars, so manager was the second person that didn't do a RIL, return item lookup it would say DVF and give you description of the dress. So people double check when you buy anything make sure it all checks out. I'm sorry that happened to you, but it should of been caught when the owner of the dress made first attempt to return good luck
So TJ Maxx got scammed too. Great topic! Love your shirt!
this happens at a lot of retailers, esp department stores - most of the people working for example, at Celine who sell bags from 2K to well over 5K are not trained to know fakes!
This was really informative. I LIVE in TJ Maxx. :( Can you upload a video on how to authenticate clothing items?
My daughter worked at Marshall's for years and people would return obviously worn items and items that she knew were not sold there, as she was an assistant manager with a great memory who really knew the merchandise. Her manager told her to just make the returns each time. My daughter quit and got a much better job in another field where she did not have to deal with scammers and a manager who was not
working for the company's or consumer's interest, for the reasons you so well stated. BTW I also sell on PM and I am really diligent in being sure about tags and such. My things are primarily vintage and 100% linen, which makes that a bit easier.
Unrelated to the topic, but your hair is really fantastic. My daughter has been trying to find someone who could do a good balayage for a couple of years. She would go nuts over your hair. Very informative video. Caveat emptor. It’s a damn shame.
Oh my god!! I didn’t know this was even an issue!!! How scary!!! I never thought of double checking the piece!!
I used to be a manager at TJ MAXX and we ran into people scamming us like this all of the time. I fought so hard to have allllll of the associates at my store to be fully trained by LP (loss prevention) to thoroughly check items to ensure that they didn’t accept counterfeit returns
I’m also super thankful that you made this video because it needed to be said
I work for the company it is really sad to see. I often come across this scenario atleast 2-3 times a month I have learned to make myself aware of these situations and to refuse returns from these situations
The makeup and skincare TJ Maxx carries is majority expired too. If you look up lot numbers on the makeup/skincare you'll see it's 2-3 years past production date.
Man! People suck. Thanks so much for sharing this!
Thank you so much for making this video! I had no idea this could go on in a reputable store (even though discount) like T.J. Maxx! You do need to put a bug in that managers ear and tell her to report to T.J. Maxx headquarters nationwide. Thank you again!
Can you do a video on how to search RN numbers to find the Styles and the Garment so that it teaches us how to do it
almostantiquemn
😦😈😨
Search google how to check RN number. It's easy.
Yes, please.
She ain't trying to help nobody but herself now a days
I used to work at Marshalls and customers always try it with these fake-ass returns. Sometimes I just look at them and shake my head
TJ Maxx is hands down my favorite store. I found this video by accident and so glad I watched. Thanks for the tips!
I did not think about comparing RN numbers as a form of authentication, will definitely be doing this in the future when I feel something is questionable
This is ridiculous, what is wrong with people!!
I used to work at TJ as well. People would cheat all the time. I worked as their cashier for 6 years and I had to return merchandise knowing that it was a scam because there was no way to prove it on the spot. People buy expensive jeans with those yellow clearance tags, carefully remove the sticker and return the jeans at the original price with no receipt. I learned that people scam so so much, its unbelievable. They also tend to return stolen items with no receipt last minute, right before the store closes because they know the cashier will be tired and ready to go home.
That RN search is EVERYTHING! Thanks for the video!
Where can you find the RN
Thank you for this video! Very informative. That’s why I look up everything online before I buy it just to check if it’s real. Especially for makeup and skincare.
To be honest I didn't even know that this was a problem.. This was super informative and I'm glad I know to be more aware of this type of stuff now. Thank you!
I worked at TJ Maxx for over a year and there were times when people would try to return items when switching tags. Customers would get upset if we inspected return items but then if we didn’t we would get in trouble for not checking. It’s best to be an informed consumer and not assume we are judging anyone, it’s simply our job and don’t take it personally. I just wanted to share because I think a lot of people think we only check returned items when we think a customer is being dishonest.. it’s every return !!!
Wow! This has opened my eyes! I live in 🇬🇧 and we have TKmaxx. I will be closely checking labels from now on, thank you for spreading the word x
I sell lots of authentic DVF..most but not all will have the hologram. Most of the newer items will have the hologram but there are still pieces that won't--certain styles will not have the hologram. I can give more info on this if needed
I NEVER knew about this!! So crazy, will def keep my eyes out better for this now
I found at a thrift store the other day a True Religion label on the back of a pair of jeans and on the inside there was a polo ralph lauren label! Good thing I looked at the inside label!
I saw a video and the girl was shopping at Marshall’s, she bought some Lilly lashes, when she took a closer look she noticed that the lashes looked used and even had a little glue on them.
Milly and DVF at TJMaxx?? I shop the wrong location apparently.
Not all stores carry Dept 7 which is Runway (Higher-end designer) fashions.
I used to work at a TJ Maxx that carried a lot of depart 7 “runway”
and sooooo many people would purchase a dress and try to return it even though I’d explain once they removed the red tag, it couldn’t be returned. Ugh. I hated my life dealing with that. Lol
I hate when people get upset and yell because they’re not allowed to wear a prom dress and then get their $ back.
Super uncomfortable!
Same here, both of our TJ Maxx's sell total ugly crap. Even the beauty dept is junk.
Jess H yep, I feel that is just as shady
Some here in california have Versace, Rag & bone, DVF, Tory Burch, Givenchy, Louboutin, and ive bought Several Gucci sunglasses too
If it's the tag that is sewn at the back of shirt, they need to do some work. Like getting the thread to match, clear out the old sticking some certain materials. IF it's within a bias, they they will have to remove the whole thing or you can see the bad stitchings. I been sewing for nearly 30 years and it's pretty easy to spot when a tag has been removed or resewn. Also they can sometimes get legit tags from sewing shop when they have extras. I really hate people do sell fake stuff...I seel Disney and Anime and there are so many bootlegs even at the malls. Most people can't even tell.
I can not believe people do this - thank you for this information - very very helpful
Yep people do this all the time, even switching of the price tag in the store to get a cheaper price. People always did this to me and I worked at one of these stores. So so sad.
Every time buy a high end brand item at Tj Max, Marshall’s, Nordstrom rack, or Ross I always google the item cause I don’t wanna buy a cheap knockoff and I wanna be sure that I’m spending my money wisely.
Where can you find the Google numb3r?
WOW. This is crazy 😧 I never would have thought to double check designer items for this reason. Thank you for the very informative video! 👌🏼💜
At the T.J. Maxx I work all the employees are train to look up the tags but ppl do switch the tickets which sucks. If this ever happens to you tell the manager and ALWAYS HAVE YOUR RECEIPT when ever you need to return anything especially if the tags is switched
Omg I shop at Marshall’s all the time and often buy the designer clothes there. Thank you so much for this! Will def keep my eyes open for this now!
I’m obsessed with TJ Maxx now I’m going to be looking out for this! Thanks girl
This happened to me at Dillard's in Atlanta. They sold me fake uggs
The second I got them home and stuck my foot in them I knew right away and immediately contacted the store. People are disgusting in what they are willing to do. I learned a huge lesson and that is to never be afraid to ask questions or research before making a large purchase. I always wonder about the deaigner sunglasses at last call neiman Marcus.
I bought a “Kate Spade” dress, came home and realized the tags were sewn on. The tag said M but on the inside of the dress it said L. I like the dress non the less and kept it but i didn’t pay much to begin with but i have noticed a lot of clothes are switched.
Most people would not even know. They would buy the dress thinking they got a good deal, wear it & enjoy it. ( unless you're a scummy re-seller! On line)
WOW!!
@@christaray2966 Resellers aren't scummy. They're making a living too which is better than being on welfare.
If criminals would put their energy into being better people rather than scamming, imagine what the world would be like.
I have seen items in the thrift store that people had switched out the tags...I have almost fallen for that too! You have to be super careful. I don’t understand the point of people doing this....
Flippinblonde yep, it's greed. Eventually the items will make there way to the thrift store when the person who bought the item is done with it
100% illegal! I’ve worked at tjmaxx for 2 years now. All of our employees are trained to look up items and if it doesn’t come up in the lookup, we are very skeptical!
Wow I never thought to actually check on this. Thanks for the video, and explaining how we can see if something is a fake or not!! Definitely subscribing 🤗
This was an interesting video. Thanks for filming this information. At one time I had a night time job unloading trucks and stocking at a Target along with holding down my daytime job. I was there for almost 7 years before quitting due to the change of scheduling the truck unloading time which interfered with my day job. I worked the years when we had collaborations with many fashion designers such as Libertine, Anna Sui, Phillip Lim, etc. Time had passed and a dress on a rack at TJMAXX stood out and I walked over and picked it out and found it was definitely a Target Anna Sui dress which I knew should not have been there. I had a sales associate scan the tag and she said the label read Ralph Lauren on it......heaven knows what happened but the person returning the dress got a lot more than the price of the actual dress. Again thanks for filming!
I was SO distracted by the southern charm dress in the background LOL
I used to work at the discount store ross and switching tags was a massive problem . People would get the new clothes, switch the tickets with a tag gun and try to return them. You would have to pay close attention to the ticket and item to catch it especially with more experienced thieves who would make sure the fake ticket had a similar description as the item. I've never seen theft so bad in my life, it was just awful.
Omg, I'm such a die hard TJMAXX fan. I had absolutely no idea this even happened! A few years back I purchased a DB purse and although it didn't look right, since I'd purchased it from TJMAXX it was legit. So I rocked it for awhile but then donated it to Goodwill. Thank you so much for sharing! I'll be sure to share this!
I live in Canada and tried to return something to Winners (owned by TJ max) and the employee looked up the item in the machine but did not relate to my item that I was trying to return! I was so pissed and thinking how is this my problem and they probably thought I was trying to scan them. Thankfully I had taken pictures of a few items including the questionable one in the store showing the tags to show a family member before my purchse. They were very apologetic after that and did my return. Now I am very careful when I shop at these type of stores like if it’s a newer item and there’s a few with the same tag I know I am good. But if there’s questionable odds and ends that I am not sure if I will keep or not, I take a picture! Unfortunately it has come down to that thanks to the scammers! I also started to notice a lot more employees checking the tags in the system when I return items which is better for them but if not all are doing this, the consumer can end up innocently getting screwed like it almost happened to me. There’s no win win and completely switching the inside tag is a whole other level!
smiley0987 Awesome info about taking pics in store to have proof you bought it there....too bad it has come to this. Shopping is supposed to be FUN, not an exercise in legally defending ourselves against criminals!!!
Hi...I'm a antique dealer so I understand what you mean about fakes or reproductions. I have a booth in the antique store. The owner who owns the store was telling me not to sell any name brand handbags, purses, etc. Because most of them are fakes and some dealers will try to make big profit. He was telling me that once a month, the fashion police will walk in and take all fake and real items out of the store without paying for it. Nowadays, people are getting greedy to sell fake products. If you're not sure if it's fake or not, don't buy it.
I work at Ross and we have to look at your return items and actually make sure their from our store. I can tell if it’s our item or not. Most times if you don’t have the original price tag on the item we won’t return it. If anything we go back and check cameras.
Wow I never knew this happened! Thank you for sharing great video!
This isn't just a TJ Maxx problem. I worked at Saks Fifth Avenue, the full price one, not off Fifth, and people used to buy a $3k dress, have a replicate made, attach the tags from the real one (even the side seam one) and return the fake. We used to have to flip dresses inside out, smell them to see if they have a weird chemical smell, check the hem to see the quality of the blind stitch, and compare with a new dress to check the zipper, beading, etc. Even then we would normally get about 6 fake returns a week.
I noticed this in TJ Maxx jewelry twice. Someone had switched the tags on a dollar store necklace - I had just seen it at the dollar store. In the second instance, a clearly fake pearl necklace was returned with the TJ Maxx real pearls tag. The paint on the pearls actually had chips missing.
Back when the store Mervyn's existed I was a cashier there for a while and once a customer returned a couple of clothing items with Mervyn's price tags that they had put on clothes that were not from our store. I started as a seasonal worker and was not 100% familiar yet with all the brands we carried yet so I took the return since the tags were intact. I later learned that these ppl use retagging guns like the ones we used to attatch tags that fall off with the little plastic part and the giveaway was that our plastic was always clear and the one they used was white which I had not noticed at the time of the return but from then on I knew to check little things like that.
People do this at places like sephora and ulta as well. They purchase high end product, get really good fakes (look-wise, not quality obviously), and then switch the box. Most times the employees don’t look at it that closely or can’t tell. I watched a few videos about it a while back. It’s so awful.
Wow!! Had no idea about this! Thanks for letting us know!
About 3 months ago my daughter and I watched a woman walk right out of Walmart with a cart full of loot. I told the “greeter” who did nothing. I walked up to the woman and told her I watched her walk out without paying-she laughed it off. She was with two other men and 2 kids. There was already a cart of stuff in the back of the van. I took a pic of her license plate to give to Walmart. Waited on my phone for 45 minutes for a manager, who was nonexistent. When someone finally spoke with me they said they appreciated the call but they will not put employees in jeopardy for theft. As I said my daughter was with me so I was trying to make it a teaching moment between right and wrong. Jeez. What a joke that was. The whole experience was very frustrating as these people got away with it and were probably back for more the following week. My point with this story is, the stores don’t care. They may listen politely and nod their heads, but they do not care. They don’t care because the cost of theft is just passed on to the consumer. I’m sure it happens everywhere, all the time, but when you watch it happen right in front of you and nothing is done? I won’t shop at Walmart anymore.
Brianna Ramos that sounds reassuring. Glad to know companies at least TRY to cut down on theft. I understand, employees aren’t hired for security especially at the hourly rates they are paid. I’m not blaming the employees, I get it. I’m just frustrated at how brazen criminals are and it’s hard to watch as they just stroll out the door.
I used to work at Target and people would return items with switched tags there too. Sometimes, they don’t even change the tags. They’ll just attach the retail tag and wait till the store is busy. You often just have to know what the tags are supposed to look like so you can spot the scam.
thats crazy, never knew of this until it popped up into my recommended!
I used to work at Nordstrom rack for two years. The specific Nordstrom rack that I worked at carried high end designer clothing ( Gucci, Herve Leger, Roberto Cavali, Valentino, Dolce and Gabana, and more). We would have this issue happen sometimes. One of the things that we would do is check all the tags on the clothing item and request a receipt and a tag. If the tag was missing one of us would be called to the cash station to pick up the dress to make a tag. I would have to check all of the tags inside of the clothing item and would need to pull up style numbers in our system and match the item to the picture pulling up. If it didn’t match and looked sewn on, that item would not get returned and would never hit the sales floor. I believe part of the problem is the employees not taking the time to check that the item being returned is authentic.
That is ridiculous, I cant believe it!
I almost got scammed @tjmaxx in GA. Someone had put a tag for a $400 Kate Spade dress onto a cheaper Kate spade dress and returned it for the difference. I always check the tags and style before buying, but sometimes don’t in a retail store and thank goodness I did. I told the workers and showed them what the tags dress shows up as.
That’s crazy! I can’t believe someone would do that. Thanks for sharing!
I had a very similar situation happen with a Rebecca Taylor at Marshall’s. It was marked down to $25 (too good to be true but it looked okay at the store). Got home to photograph (after cutting off the Marshall’s tag) and started noticing weird things. The size on the main tag said 4, while the size on the care tag said Small. I searched through a billion Rebecca Taylor photos and the sizes always match. Then on the actual RT hang tag the color was listed as blush but the dress was black. I searched and searched for the style number provided and couldn’t find anything. I took it back to Marshall’s and they gave me hell because the tag was cut off. When it’s off, they run the number and it didn’t match a RT dress - it was coming up as some men’s shirt. I literally had to get a manager and argue for 15 minutes to get my money. Luckily the red tab they use for higher end items was still on the dress or I don’t think I would have received my money back. So always be sure everything is good before you cut the tag off. The manager I dealt with said he would damage out the dress but he didn’t believe me the whole time so I’m pretty sure it went back to the floor as soon as I left.
They should come up with a system that pulls information from the internet and makes a database of their designer pieces and tracks who buys. That way if someone tried to return the item and it doesn't match the original data on the date of purchase you can refuse to refund the item or call the authorities. Also it could send info to other stores about these customers and when they try to purchase designer items at other stores they would know to watch out for certain individuals.
Hi Deal Queen, I love your video! The public can be aware of it. I am always shopping in TJJ Maxx, it is a great place. One day I was shopping at a TJJ Maxx close were I live, I had on a Ralph Lauren black jeans jacket I put it in the shopping cart , because I got warm, I selected a black top like a T-shirt gold threads. You are no going to believe it ! Someone stole my jacket & the top I was going to buy.
Some people just go in to stores to still.
Thanks again for the info.in your video.
Years ago, I worked at Macy's, and we would often find designer clothes in the fitting rooms that had the logo buttons and/or labels removed by people who would sew them into fakes.
Woah! I worked at Ross and Nordstrom in College. At Ross, people would swap tags. Example, they'd switch a $59.99 tag for $19.99 tag on Michael Kors shoes. They didn't know we wrote the real price on the bottom. The same people would try and then stop coming to the store. At Nordstrom, some customers would wear clothes and try to return them which is disgusting. Loved the info you shared ❤️
I just came TJ MAXX and bought a Vera Bradley Backpack for $39 vs $115 on HSN. Going to check it out thoroughly as it has a similar tag, although all the zippers has VB so I think I’m safe.
Thank you very informative as I wouldn’t have thought about that...
I had customers telling me that we (Marshall's) sell counterfeits but I told her we do not sell counterfeits. But now I think I know the reason why she said it now. That is so unfortunate that people would do that because that brings really bad reputations on the store.
I work at Burlington and some of our issues are people will buy items, go home and then take off the tags and put it on clothes THAT THEY OWN AND HAVE IN THEIR CLOSET and return it and get their money back. its a big scam and obviously illegal.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I go to TJ Maxx and Marshalls so often and I never knew this was a form of shoplifting. I agree with everything shoplifting, you're saying especially the moral implications. DVF is a really complicated brand to authenticate I feel like. The wrap dress especially has gone through so many labels over the years and now the holograph label is the norm but there are plenty of authentic dresses from before she took back the label to now that are just hard to authenticate. It has made buying dresses for me reallly hard. Especially because she did not always use silk with the clothes wool/synthetic material mixes.