Toys R US

This is an older location near the Sherway Gardens mall which is tough to find if you don’t know the area because its surrounded by highway ramps. Also, the shopping carts are old and rusted.
I came here early one Sunday morning during a slow period. For basic questions about where the bathrooms were and store hours they were polite and knowledgeable. They were also helpful with questions about products which is a step up from many locations.
Generally with Toys R Us locations as long as you don’t need to get a hold of anyone on the phone, are willing to serve yourself, and don’t care about service then this is the chain for you.

Lack of service and dirty bathrooms
I called the store 6 times between 10am and 3 pm and every time I got a busy signal. That was my first indicator that management does not prioritize customer service.
Then I went to the store, waited awhile to do a registry because they were under staffed. A lot of the items shown in their catalogue were out of stock in the store. Upon completing the registry, the service rep was so overwhelmed with customers she barely helped me and told me to do the rest online. Seriously, why give a company your business if they make you do the work yourself and don’t care about customer service?
The staff were all pleasant, but there just wasn’t enough staff available to meet client needs.
Also the bathroom, in a business that caters to pregnant women… It was dirty, there wasn’t any soap or paper towel. The toilets were not clean and the floor was littered with paper.

Incredibly cold. Which is good for some, I guess? But I like toys. So in I go. The selection is good. It’s better than the ones you might find stuck in a mall. But it’s Toys R Us. You know what you’re getting into here. Nothing stands out, but that’s fine.

Ahhh! So terrible. I am waiting to buy a car seat and there is no one here to help. Absolutely no help offered, just stock information. These women are completely disorganized and rude. I’m about to blow $ 400 on a car seat, can you at lease be polite?

Brutal, brutal, brutal.
Anytime a friend or family member has registered at Babies R Us, I DREAD going to find them a gift, as this store should just be called «Out of Stock». The last time we tried this, the sales associate helping us had to say «sorry, that’s out of stock» SO many times, that she finally took our list from us to see what they *did* have available. And of 30+ items, they had about 2 cheap, plastic, bottle drying racks available. That doesn’t a gift make. She was apologetic, but it was obviously out of her hands. In order to complete that gift, we had to visit 2 more locations (Dufferin Mall and Yonge & Eg), and even at that, we were getting last picks on most items.
I can’t STAND the lack of selection and stock, so when it came down to it, I refused to register there myself. (If you are looking for better options, try
which will let you add items for any store that has an online shopping page… great way to support local/​independent shops around Toronto!)

So many problems with the service at this place so I will just share my latest experience.
We are in the process of babyproofing and I found some really nice babygates online that were $ 20 off. Sweet! I figured I would call them to make sure they are in stock before heading over so I gave them a ring. My call immediately went to «hold» and for the next 10 minutes alternated between ringing and «hold» music. It seemed like there is a limit to how much time someone can be on hold for before it starts ringing at them again which would mean that every time it rings someone was just putting it on hold.
Finally I cursed them (only in my mind since they wouldn’t answer the phone) and I phoned back but to customer service. My call was answered quickly. I told them I was trying to reach babies r us and I was on hold for 10 minutes. The customer service rep said «yea, they are busy over there. What do you want?» friendly eh? I told her I was trying to find out if they had a particular baby gate in stock and told her which one. I was put on hold again. A few minutes later, someone answers from babies r us and I explain again what I am looking for. I was put on hold again. A few more minutes later she comes back on and asks more about the gate I am looking for. I told her again and said it’s the one on sale. She said they have them in, they don’t show that they are on sale but if they show on sale online I can get it for that price.
When I got there, I found the gates easily enough. I picked a couple of them up and told the cashier that I was told over the phone that I could get the price that shows online. She responded «who told you that?» so I told her I don’t know and that I spoke to someone within the hour who told me that. The cashier picked up the phone and told whoever that she has a customer who says she was told she could get the online price and doesn’t know who told her… Ya, sorry… Even if I got a name from mystery phone person I wouldn’t remember it! Anyways, seemed like she was told that’s cool so she went to check the online price and it turned out to be the same price it scanned in at. Someone just doesn’t update signage at this place and this wasn’t the first time I have encountered problems with pricing inconsistencies at this place.
The only reason this place gets two stars instead of one is because, in this case, I did end up getting what I want at the right price and the baby gates are awesome (First Years, extra tall home décor — in case you are wondering). Also, they were quite easy to find as the layout of the store is very orderly.

Overwhelmed pregnant ladies find themselves at Babies R Us to make baby shower registries because this is the only place most people can readily access. The cute baby store down the street would surely have nicer things at comparable prices, but Babies R Us wins because of their slew of locations.
The registry process itself was fairly easy, most items were clearly marked, and the registry can be tweaked online. The brands that Babies carries are little lower end than a lot of the independent baby stores, which can be frustrating when wanting to register at only one store.
Ordering furniture from Babies R Us is a gigantic headache, the charge online for a dresser delivery is a whopping $ 180, but if you go into the store, its only $ 25. How does that make sense?! And to find out this information, I had to call the store no less than 25 times before someone actually answered the phone.
The delivery window is absurdly large and encompass a work-​day so I was forced to take a day off to wait for a dresser to arrive. On arrival, the 160 pound dresser was not taken up to the room, but plonked in my living room. Thank god I have some burly men in my life, because otherwise I’d have to hire movers! Very frustrating experience with Babies R Us.

My initial trip here to set up my baby registry was fine. No issues. Helpful staff, fun scanning, and a smiley end to the trip with a few impulse buys. Hey, it happens :)
Trip back. Not so great. I purchased a «maternity belt» on the first registry trip and when I took it home and tried it on, it was the most uncomfortable thing ever. It stuck in everywhere, the velcro was rough against my skin, and flat out just not a product I would recommend to any pregnant woman. I check my receipt, it says blah blah blah XX days for return in original packaging blah blah blah. Great! I’m not stuck with a product I can never use and $ 35 out of my pocket. Or am I?
I wait in line and get to the return desk. I let the girl know that I’d like to return X, Y, Z and here’s my receipt. She informs me that they don’t do any returns/​exchanges on underwear. Underwear?!# Who bought underwear and how did they sneak into my return pile? Oh. I didn’t buy underwear. And the way that the corporation of Toys R Us interprets the word «underwear» includes anything that touches the skin. Really. Well, thanks for the definition AFTER I purchased the product and am utterly dissatisfied with it and now stuck with it and out that $ 35 bucks I was talking about. Unacceptable right? I know the lady behind the desk doesn’t have the authorization to do anything about this so I ask to speak with the manager. Well, that was a whole other can of worms.
The manager comes out. I explain the situation and in a flurry of activity the woman runs over to a random display shelf, picks up a sign and comes back to me waving in front of me, repeating something the effect of «i am regurgitating policy, this is what they tell me to say, even though i’m the manager, I still have no power». Okaaaaaay. This is very strange. Even the people in line are surprised at how she’s handling the situation. #1 — the sign is on the shelf that holds breast pumps, maternity shirts and bras. It’s nowhere near where I got the product I was trying to return. #2 — the BELT, is neither underwear or a bra (which is clearly stated in brackets on the sign itself). Oh, I guess that depends on how you interpret underwear (which is a debate I got into with the executive offices). So the manager said she’s done with me and hollers to the cashier to give me the customer service number and walks away. Woah. And all this after my awesome experience at Ella & Elliot — hrmmm, how badly do I want to cancel my registry here and give all the business to E&E? Badly, yes.
Anyway. That episode had me shaken up for a little bit. I still can’t believe how this «Manager» dealt with the situation. No professionalism. No customer service. No tact. Disgusting. I contacted the «executive offices» and managed to get someone on the line that’s been trained in dealing with customers that have been offended by their staff. He was great. A lot of corporate policy regurgitation as well, but I was prepared to stand my ground. It’s principle and it’s my money. They tried to tell me, that they’d make this grand exception and give me a gift card towards a future purchase. Ha! Are you kidding me? You’re going to keep my money in the end anyway? Are you not listening to me? I have a registry there, and seven friends giving birth this year. Am I getting my piddly $ 35 bucks back or what? Yes, they made another grand exception.
The one positive about this whole experience is that after contacting the exec offices, the matter was resolved within THE SAME BUSINESS DAY. Which is rare, so I gotta give ‘em that.

Another birthday, another trip to a Toys R Us in the middle of no where.
I’ll just come out and say it, this place sucks. I’m not usually that blunt when I review things but there was nothing redeeming about this location. It’s right by Sherway Gardens, which is reason enough to dislike it, and feels cramped and old.
Shelves are small and over stocked causing things to randomly fall everywhere. The toys that stay on the shelves look like they’ve taken a tumble or two as well.
I obviously expected everything to be made of cheap, toxic plastic but I wasn’t expecting to find so few things that were educational or creative in some capacity. I spent an hour looking for a present for my niece that wasn’t either Disney branded, hot pink or just plain useless.
Toys R Us staff are always an interesting lot and this place did not fail to deliver. They had three cashiers (in their defense, they’re just kids) but only one of them knew how to work the register and was constantly helping the other two. The only other staff member I saw looked like a paedophile that mugged some kid for his smock and snuck in.
Guess who’s not going back here ever?