Beware! Certain employees at store #838 in Cedar Knolls, NJ run a scam, where they affix the tags/stickers of other items to products making them overpriced. If you bought the overpriced products and then find out through comparison shopping at other TJ Maxx's, the employees running this scheme, notably Molly and Neeti, will refuse to return those mislabeled items, citing "the tag does not match."
Items where I know for sure where I was scammed:
- Portmeiron dinner plate $29.99 when other stores sold for $14.99
- Tahari cashmere sweater $49.99 when another store 8 mi away sold for $29.99
It took me almost a year to figure their scam out. The first red flag was that only certain employees will pretend to check their handheld device even though the tags and receipt are all in order, and then refuse a return by saying "The item does not match in our system." I initially believed them, so I asked them to check what I was buying against their system for legitimacy, but Neeti refused, saying "Are you buying? Then you're fine." If they cared so much about inventory management, they should be checking purchases as well as returns, so obviously something fishy was going on. Twice, there were several of the same exact item sitting on their store floor and shelves, being sold to other unwary customers. When I called them out on their lie by showing them the other same exact items they are currently selling on the floor, Neeti and Molly have made up excuses, such as "Company policy is that we cannot use anything from the floor," or "Our system tells us it does not match." When I asked what the system was showing, I'd get a snarky reply: "That's for our reference." If you have a legitimate system and legitimate reason, you would be transparent about it. The truth is those employees/management know exactly which items they hijacked the price and attached illegitimate tags, so they patrol the cashiers and if they see one of their fraudulent items being returned, they swoop in to prevent the return or exchange.
The second red flag was that Molly coerced me into completing the survey for her store, telling me to "give highly satisfied for everything. My name is Molly, just say Molly was excellent and very helpful." This was quite early, before I caught on to what she and certain others were doing, so I did complete the survey, but nevertheless, I found it weird that not only was she soliciting for compliments, but she insisted I complete the survey under her watch while there was a huge line. Instead of checking out the next customer, she watched me complete the survey on my phone. You guys complaining about the long lines at this store, here is the reason: employees soliciting for surveys and sidling over to other cashiers to intimidate customers and realize their scam.
I am afraid to buy anything from this store anymore, because I do not know which items are legitimate and which are falsified. If I have to comparison shop at other TJ Maxx's, I might as well skip out on this store entirely. Please save yourselves your hard earned money and be very careful. read more