Toys R Us Employees Confess The Behind The Scenes Secrets Customers Don't Know
Working at Toys R Us sounds like a dream come true for anyone who ever walked among its towering displays of action figures, Hot Wheels, Barbies, and video games. While many people fantasize about working there, most people fail to truly understand what it's like to work at Toys R Us. The actual experience isn't all playing with toys (although it does include that once your day finishes). When you get to the heart of it, major Toys R Us horror stories exist from employees across the nation. Toys R Us employees tell stories about everything from being bitten by children to selling Nerf-guns to legions of college students.
Toys R Us is a retail store like any other, so you'll find bad customers and weird policies just like you'll find at stores like Game Stop and Hot Topic. Some of these Toys R Us employee stories remain unique to the business of selling toys to kids and their parents, a combination that heightens tensions during the holiday season, as you'll see from the Reddit users below. If you ever worked at a Toys R Us, some of these might be relatable. If you're a customer, these might help you a little with understanding the store's inner workings.
- 14,788 VOTES
You Hear Some Truly Sad Stories From Customers
From mallory_knox:
"This woman came up to the return counter with about four carts worth of stuff. Car seat, stroller, play yard, etc. Everything you would possibly need for a new baby. When I told her that I could return it all using her baby registry but it would go on to a store credit, she broke down hysterically crying while trying to explain why she had no use for store credit. Her baby died at two-weeks-old. It was so heartbreaking.
I've seen women returning items after a miscarriage, but this woman's baby was alive and breathing and would one day need all of this great stuff, and then suddenly it was all over and her baby was dead. It still makes me very sad to think about it."
- 23,340 VOTES
The Interviews Can Be Pretty Fun
From TILsomethingnew:
"They made us role play with a toy of our choice (group interview) and that was the most interesting thing I've ever done at an interview."
- 33,353 VOTES
Yeah, They Can Be Haunted
From imatoysruskid:
"The few times I've done overnight have been terrifying. Laughing and crying babies, a cat mewing, and even a few times tricycles have just shown up in weird places."
- 43,017 VOTES
Customers Ask If You Sell Dildos. No, Really.
From 28Gigabytes:
"Once a month this one girl calls us and asks us if we sell dildos so clearly there's a market to be had out there!"
- 53,521 VOTES
Employees Hide Products From Ravenous Collectors
From a deleted user:
"Every Saturday morning, bright and early at 9:00 (keep in mind, we opened at 9:30), there was one collector who would come up, take the closest parking spot (which ended up being an expectant mom's spot), and wait until we opened, only to rush in and snag as many things as he could. He collected Skylander figures, die-cast car vehicles, Monster High dolls, trading cards, a bunch of stuff. He openly admitted to us that he just bought this stuff to collect, then eventually sell on Ebay for a higher price. It got to the point where he snagged a rare Monster High doll in front of a little girl and her mom who wanted it, and told them that 'They should have gotten there first.'
"My assistant manager ended up taking some of the rarer items every morning we unloaded the truck and stashing them in the office until he came and left just so other people could get them."
- 62,880 VOTES
Sometimes, Kids Bite You. Literally.
From SilverHoudini:
"My boyfriend worked for Toys R Us for a while and would always come home with the most ridiculous stories. My favorite, though, shows parenting at its best.
"He had just finished restocking and straightening up the Hot Wheels section. It had taken him nearly two hours. A little kid, about five, walked up to the display to look at it. My boyfriend chuckled at the kid, asked if he was looking for a certain car. The kid looked up, grinned, and reached up to the display. He grabbed the first one he could reach and went to find his mom.
"The two came back, she was telling the boy he couldn't have the car (Jake had moved to the other side of the isle to straighten up that section), and put it back. She then walked away, telling the boy to follow her. Instead of following her, he reached up to the Hot Wheels display again and pulled off every toy he could reach and threw them on the ground. Jake immediately walked over, asked the kid to stop. The kid did, just looked at Jake, and took a step back. Jake then began straightening the display up again.
"The kid walked back to Jake, grabbed his leg, and bit him. Surprised, Jake yelped and reached down. He didn't touch the kid, as that was against policy, but just as that happened, the boy's mom walked around the corner. She saw what was happening, and began chewing Jake out for making her kid mad, for being a horrible employee, and for being a filthy man.
"I'm so incredibly thankful that Jake has a very even head. He just took the woman's wrath, smiled, and asked if he could help her with anything. He wasn't even reported for it."