I have been shopping at Big Lots stores for close to 10 years and had always enjoyed finding close out bargains and purchasing without worrying about whether Big Lots would be there in the case that the product was unsatisfactory or if I needed to return it because it was no longer needed.
Apparently Big Lots has acquired a 30 day return policy on all returns. So when I purchased Christmas gifts in October and gifted in December, we were not able to return any unwanted gifts even for store credit.
After speaking with Big Lots Columbus Oh customer service, I learned that the corporation stood by that policy with no exceptions.
I'm glad that I learned a valuable lesson about Big Lots with the little investment / loss that I did incur... I'll take my shopping elsewhere.

Kingman Arizona Big Lots;

I will not print her name, but the woman who is one of the managers at the Kingman Arizona store, has most likely never had a retail job before in her life. She is VERY rude, can not make ANY decision her own, want to argu with anyone, and dresses like a slob. I was in retail management for 30 some years, and if she was my employee, she'd be long gone. Even with proper training, I would not want her with my company. As a result, i will NOT shop in that store again.

We went on on Friday and saw a great recliner for $350. We did not have the money for it, so the clerk told us that we could sign up for a VIP card. It would give us 20% off if we came back and used it on Sunday. We verified that it made the chair cost $280 and he said yes. So on Sunday, we drove the 40 miles BACK to Big Lots along with a rented truck as it was too big to fit in the minivan. We got there and the recliner was now $400. We asked the manager why we weren't told that the chair price went up on Saturday, and now with the discount, it would still be $40 more than what we were told on Friday. The "manager" then told us that he could give the chair to us for the $350 it was listed for on Friday...which was now $30 MORE than the 20% off of the $400...he math was horrible...and he was still trying to gouge us. So, now we have no chair, we have lost about $80 in gas and renting a truck for nothing, and BIg Lots will not give us the price they promised. To make it worse, when the manager told us that we could pay $350 for the chair, he told us to step outside and wait for him to come and see if he could give us a better deal. When we stepped outside, he kept us waiting there until after the store closed. Then he locked up the door and never came out, leaving us standig outside waiting fro his answer for 45 minutes. That was cowardly and in bad taste. NO MORE BIG LOTS FOR US!!!

Its not the refusal to accept the check that's the problem, it's not working with us to resolve the problem. That was so embarrassing when we were told that our check was declined. It made me feel as though I wrote a bad check. I don't appreciate being put in that sort of position. We have wrote checks there at Big Lots many a time, but if we choose to pay cash for our purchases, there shouldn't be any questions asked about it. Would you rather we walk out of the store without paying for our purchases? I've said my piece. Now what are you going to do about it?

On 03/01/08 my wife was shopping at Big Lots, and purchased a few items. She wrote a check and had valid Id. The check was declined, she was given a piece of paper with the phone number of certegy on it... she called and they advised here it was declined due to the elevated security. We have money in our account and will not EVER do business at that store again. This experience is a total embarrassment and is very humiliating.