Mom Who Miscarried Humiliated After Babies "R" Us Made Her Explain Her Returns
After miscarrying at 24 weeks, Jessica Huchko went to Babies “R” Us to do something she dreaded: return her unused babies items. Huchko and her husband had bought a double stroller and carseat from the store about a month earlier in anticipation of their newest addition.
“Unfortunately we learned that my son had passed away,” Huchko wrote in a post on Facebook. “I had to make the dreaded trip to your store soon after my loss to return my purchases. I never expected that my son would not survive so I did not save the receipt.”
When Huchko got to the store, a sales associate asked if her if there was anything wrong with the items she was returning. Huchko replied that there wasn’t, but the woman at the register pressed on. Huchko then explained that her son had passed away a few weeks earlier, and she couldn’t keep the items. By this point, Huchko was in tears.
“I was so emotional I could not stop crying,” Huchko wrote. “I became nervous now that so many people were watching me cry while she was looking up the product. She must have scanned the items over 20 times and could not find them in the system anywhere.”
Unable to find Huchko’s products in the Babies “R” Us system, the sales associate called over a manager. Again, Huchko was made to explain why she was returning her items. As the manager searched for the items in the system, Huchko and her 1-year-old daughter stood in line waiting for over half an hour. After finding the products, the manager was only able to offer Huchko half price for the $80 carseat and two cents for the $179 double stroller, which had since been discontinued.
“I was so upset and frustrated with this place I started hysterically crying while everyone was watching me,” Huchko wrote. “I have never been more embarrassed in my life. I was still in complete mourning of losing my son and now this? I grabbed my store credit and ran out of the store.”
According to WFSB, Babies “R” Us has since reached out to Huchko to issue a refund. “We are deeply sorry for her experience in our store, and more importantly for her loss,” Babies “R” Us told WFSB. “The store leadership has provided coaching to the team members to help ensure similar situations are handled with more care in the future.”
While there is no simple guide or universal set of instructions for what to do after a miscarriage or stillbirth, resources exist to help grieving parents. Here are just a few:
What Should I Do With My Nursery After a Miscarriage?
Early Miscarriage: What to Do and How to Cope
Jordan Davidson is The Mighty's Managing Editor. Follow her on twitter @JA_Davids or email her at jordan@themighty.com.
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