What is the Deal with Target?

Seriously, what is Target's problem? First off, about two years ago, they started that new return policy where you can only return two things without a receipt per year. Which sucks royally when you get four of the same crib sheet at a baby shower, but can only return two of them. Unless you already returned a pair of shorts and a shirt three months earlier.
I actually boycotted them for about 6 months over that one. I mean, I totally get that there are people out there who steal things and then try to return them for cash. But that can't be a huge percentage of the total of Target shoppers can it? Here we are again, with 95% of the population being punished for the actions of the other loser, deadbeat 5%.
Nevermind that Wal Mart has the same issues, but they happily accept returns without a receipt. They just give a Wal Mart gift card instead of a cash refund. Seems to make everyone happy. Sure, Wal Mart probably loses every once in a while when some white trash thief tries to return a pair of socks he never actually paid for, but they have a column on the tax forms for just that thing. It's called write-offs. And apparently, Wal Mart has decided that they would rather keep their customers happy and run the risk of losing a few bucks here and there. I like Wal Mart.
Sadly, though, Target has nicer stuff than Wal Mart. And I love Target. But after yesterday's fiasco at the Customer Service (they should call it the Customer Frustration counter), I'm thinking of going back on the boycott. I know they don't care, but man. It's so irritating.
I finally accepted that I would always have to have a receipt. Got it. If I can't find my receipt, I don't even try. I donate whatever it was that I bought that didn't fit/had a hole/etc. I just chalk it up as a loss. But yesterday, I had the receipts. I had everything I needed and it was STILL a huge, huge hassle. I had written a check for one of the items 7 days earlier and they let me know that I could only get a Target Gift Card as my refund choice. Because I wrote a check. Because I couldn't find my debit card. Do they not realize that a check is the same as cash? I understand that a check has to clear before they can do a return, but it had been 7 days since it cleared and besides that, on my bank statement, it said "electronic check" which means it cleared pretty darn quickly from my account. So, if I wanted to go buy something with that money somewhere else, I can't. I have a $114 Gift Card from Target. Nice, right?
But that's not even the worst part. Apparently, I had paid cash (debit card) for one of the items, so they credited my debit card $21.58. Easy, right? Yeah, well, this morning when I went to reconcile my bank statement I noticed that these Target Customer Frustration people had, indeed, credited my account. But 3 transactions later, they debited the same amount. So I'm back to zero on that one. And I called them to tell them and of course, I have to find all applicable receipts and a copy of my bank statement (which would be no biggie if my printer was working right) detailing the problem and then bring it out to them and they will "see what they can do." I can't wait for this one.
Of course, I'm babysitting two kids and I'm not about to go get screwed at Target with 5 kids in tow, so we'll just have to wait until I have some free, kid-less time before I can deal with this. That's hard for my impatient anal-retentive brain to handle, because if I can't deal with it until I'm kid-free, I may not have this problem resolved for the next 3 months. And if you know me at all, you know that an unresolved problem, even one that only involves $21.58, can keep me up at night. Thank God for Ambien.


Update: Sweet Husband is taking care of it. His exact words were "I'll handle this tonight when I get home. You don't worry another second about it." I love that guy.