Why I’m skeptical, but hopeful, of a Toys “R” Us comeback

Toys "R" Us has announced plans for a comeback nationwide starting in 2022, where kids can once again stroll through isles of endless toys that ignite the imagination.

At least, that's what most of us are hoping to see (check out Dino Flammia's full story of the Toys "R" Us comeback and what it might mean for NJ by clicking here).

Ever since Toys "R" Us shut down in 2018, some other big box retailers have tried to fill the void, but it just hasn't been the same.

The company tried a revival in 2019, but that didn't go according to plan. And now with the announcement of yet another comeback, I can't help but feel skeptical of being let down again.

Another reason I'm skeptical is due to an experience we had back in 2016 with Toys "R" Us, which probably was a good indicator of why the company had to shut it's doors in the first place.

In the fall of 2016, my wife and I ordered a play kitchen for our kids as a Christmas present. My twin boys were only one at the time, but we figured this would be the perfect "big" gift for them.

So we ordered the kitchen online for an in-store pick up. Days later, we got notified that it's in. So we headed over to our local Toys "R" Us store only for the staff to have no clue where our kitchen is.

Upon further investigation, there appeared to be some sort of mix-up with the order and were told the kitchen wasn't available for order after all. The store did apologize for the mishap and said we'd be receiving a refund in the coming days.

Disappointed, we headed home. Days later, we received an oversized package at our front step. It was the kitchen. Puzzled, we called the store to let them know what happened. They had no knowledge of this delivery, and forwarded us to their customer service representatives for online orders.

We explained we were told this kitchen wasn't available anymore, but yet, it just arrived. We know the store was initially issuing us a refund, but that hadn't gone through yet. So we told the rep to leave the charge on since we ended up receiving what we ordered after all.

Then a few days later, we saw the kitchen credited to our account. Thinking that the refund might be followed by another charge, we called customer service back. Long story short, everything looked good on their end, and they said according to their records, we had paid in full.

To this day, we never got charged for that play kitchen. Because of this mishap, we nicknamed it the "Good Karma Kitchen" since we tried to do the right thing and got it for free once all was said and done.

This is certainly a testament to how their customer service was, but also an example of how mismanagement with their products and finances helped lead to their collapse in 2018.

So even though I want to see success with their comeback in 2022, I can't help but remain skeptical. Hopefully, this time will be different.