Castle Toys — Local services in Calgary

I live in NW Calgary, 30 minutes away from Castle Toys.

I went to Castle toys because one of the companies that I work with had positive experiences with them catering toys for their company kids Christmas party. I had to make gift bags for all my nieces and nephews so I figured I would give it a shot.

Purchasing the gifts on December 26, Boxing Day was easy. However, when I purchased my gifts I was never told the following: toys that are on sale are non-refundable or exchangeable you cannot refund a toy before January 7th or 8th (I can't remember the exact date) It does not say this on the receipt either and I was not offered a gift receipt as an option.

I came back to Castle Toys some days later to do a refund for one toy, but the first time I had gone back, it was closed but didn't say so on google or on their website. It was on a paper that was taped to the front door.

The second time, when I walked in, the store was completely empty and I asked if I was able to do a refund: I was told by one retail staff that you can only do an refund or exchange after January 7th or 8th. I understand that as a policy for making sure that the store isn't over-flooded with exchanges and returns so you can focus on purchases, but the store was empty and this is my second time back which is very frustrating because Castle Toys is far and out of the way for me. I wanted to ask a manager if some flexibility was a possibility but the staff said there was no manager present that day so I couldn't do anything.

Life gets busy and I'm understanding of that. I wasn't able to make it back to Castle Toys before the refund time had run out. So, I understood that I had another month to exchange the toy.

I went to Castle Toys again on February 16th and halfway there I realized I had forgotten my receipt in a different purse. I called Castle Toys and asked if I was able to exchange using a picture. The staff replied yes, and I do appreciate that they let me use a picture of the receipt. I walked in with a friend and picked the toy I wanted to exchange with and asked the staff to help. She looked at my receipt and then asked if the toy was on sale when purchased and I replied 'yes.' She proceeded to tell me that items that are on sale cannot be refunded or exchanged. I asked to speak to a manager because I surely do not have time to come to Castle Toys three times to have nothing done. She told me there is no manager and only an owner, Nick. She gave me his email to contact him.

I had to go out of my way to Castle Toys 3 times just to do nothing each time when all of that information should have been told to me on the day of my purchase. So much of my time could have been saved had your staff told me, on the day that I purchased all the toys "please note that all toys purchased on sale cannot be refunded or exchanged and also we only do refunds and exchanges after January the #th". Then I was told that i'm actually unable to do any of those things when I had already been in the store multiple times? The customer service and the lack of information is astounding. There is nothing on the receipt that says I cannot refund or exchange, nor any store signage. And when any of your staff is asked a question, they can't answer because they claim to have no authority. One technically lied by saying there was no manager in if you don't have any managers to begin with.

I emailed Nick the same as I just stated as above and there was no reply. I will not be returning here and will encourage companies to look...

Just wanted to warn people. Sorry longer post Please be careful when shopping at Castle Toys. My husband and I went in and went to pay for something that was 24.99 (as per the sticker on every one of the items) as well as another item for 6.99 (again as per there price tag) the clerk ripped the sticker off and rang us through. I paid as I was a bit distracted then as we were walking out, I noticed she charged me 27.99 and 8.99. We went back and asked her about it and she said "ya sorry sometimes are prices are higher on the computer" she said this happens quite a bit and there is nothing I can do and I said well you have it listed for this price as per your price tag and she said sorry we have to go by what the computer says, so I asked to speak to manager/owner. My husband called the Owner Nicholas as he was out skiing and he said the same thing sorry its our policy and my husband said well you have it listed for this price and we agreed to pay this price and now you are pulling a Bait and Switch and trying to charge us more for it. My husband said I would like to pay the price you have it listed for on the price tag or else im returning it and going somewhere else and he said "well do what you have to do" and my husband said well im not shopping here again and he said ok fine. Now I just want to point out this has nothing to do with extra 5 dollars. I can afford it but what was upsetting was that every one of those items was listed at the same price and when we got to the till she sneakily took the tag off (not telling us that this is in fact more then the price tag) and was just going to let us leave. And how the owner handled it. Not even sorry this shouldnt happen etc.... So if they are doing this to everyone that goes in they are making an extra few bucks off everyone (and there prices are already higher than most places!. And my husband is a business owner as well, you do not just let customers walk out on account of your or your...

I purchased a toy for through their online store which turned out to be defective right out of the box on Christmas morning. When I went to return it I was denied as I only retained the digital receipt and not the paper one that was provided when I picked the toy up. I was offered an exchange of another defective toy (the one in inventory was also defective) or take my issue up with the manufacturer for a replacement. I would not recommend shopping at this store unless you are completely confident your toy will not require an exchange at any time over its life and make sure you keep your PAPER receipt for the entirety of you owning the product as Castle Toys is not capable of linking digital receipts or looking through their purchase history even with a date/name/time/item, that is something I have never encountered. I figured a store with a digital storefront would be able to use the order numbers as reference for a receipt but that is not the case. Unfortunate situation as I was happy to support local this year rather than purchasing on Amazon or a big box retailer, in this case that would have been a better choice as they would offer a return for selling something defective from the manufacturer.

Edit: Looked at a few receipts from other items that I did happen to have still on hand from online purchases from Castle Toys and neither the Shopify nor the store receipt indicate that they're required for returns. Their online return policy only indicates a 'valid receipt' is required so that was not made clear.

The toy purchased was from "Green Toys" so I would stay away...