Store denies refunds to customers from NJ towns with lots of Jews

When it comes to most retail stores, customers looking for a refund better have saved their receipts.

But at Shan and Toad, an online purveyor of designer children's clothing, customers better live in the right neighborhood.

The website has no problem granting a full refund "for any reason" to just about anybody.

Unless, that is, the customer comes from Lakewood or Passaic or three other locations in New York — Monsey, Monroe and all of Brooklyn.

What do all five towns have in common? They have major Orthodox Jewish populations.

The website doesn't explain their policy and when New Jersey 101.5 tried to reach out to the merchant for an explanation, we got no call back.

The policy was first highlighted last week by the Lakewood Scoop website. One commenter on the site complained that she only found out about the policy after she decided she wanted to return an item.

Whether the store's policy amounts to illegal discrimination is unclear.

New Jersey's Refund Policy Disclosure Act does not address online sales, according to the state Division of Consumer Affairs spokeswoman Lisa Coryell.

Furthermore, the refund law doesn't address the issue of discrimination — geographic or otherwise.

"The act requires stores in New Jersey to conspicuously post their refund policy on an item, at the point of sale, in a spot visible to the buyer from a cash register, or at each store entrance used by the public," Coryell said. The act does not set any parameters for the refund policy itself."

CORRECTION: This article has been updated to reflect that Shan and Toad is based in the United States, according to a company spokeswoman.