Member- ButtercupBetty
- 4 years ago
- Wedding: May 2013
I just wanted to let other Canadian bees know about my experience with these two registries to possibly help them decide where to register when it comes time.
There seems to be so many excellent small boutique-style stores you can register for, but it’s not very convenient when most of your guests are from out of province/country and they do not offer an online service. I decided to register with both Sears and Bed Bath & Beyond so those who didn’t have a BB&B had the option of going to Sears if they wanted. I wish we didn’t bother registering at Sears because it was such a disappointing experience. I can’t say enough good things about Bed Bath & Beyond. This was what my experience was with these two registries:
Sears:
- More expensive items
- Less selection
- Registry is not visually appealing and makes it a little more complicated for guests shopping online
- One gift came dropped off at our front door with terrible packaging. Just a plastic bag wrapped around it and it was ripped, dented, and filthy.
- Offer free or very cheap shipping if sent to the couple’s nearest Sears store instead of their home.
- All our other gifts from Sears were sent to our local store, but we were not notified until a guest called us a few weeks after our wedding to ask if we received it. We called the 1-800 number and were told that happened a lot because there is a small box to checkmark to have them notify the recipient when it is ready for pick up (if this is a common problem…why they haven’t fixed it is beyond me).
- The quality of the items we received were quite good.
- One item on the registry was bought, but we never received it. We called to find out if it was a shipping mistake, but they told us they couldn’t help us.
Bed Bath & Beyond:
- Items seem to go on sale rather frequently
- Much(!) bigger selection
- Registry is very easy to navigate and user-friendly
- Packaging was excellent! They use a lot to packing materials, but we will be reusing them when we move so they are being recycled. We received several glass items and not one broke during delivery. I was very impressed.
- Not one gift was missing and shipping was prompt (1-2 weeks approx.)
- The quality of the items we received were also quite good. Especially our flatware and glasses!
- Customer service was very impressive. Friendly, knowledgable, and went out of their way to make sure we were happy.
Hopefully our experience helps someone deciding. Neither were terrible, but Sears was much more inconvenient, most guests who bought off our registries chose BB&B, and their customer service was so disappointing. If I could go back, I would just register at BB&B and shop Sears for certain items afterwards when they go on sale.
ETA: I swear I don’t work for Bed Bath & Beyond! haha. I just had such an excellent experience with them and I really appreciate it when I hear first-hand accounts from other people so I wanted to share. 🙂
