Toys R Us owes pregnant women a ton of money — and it's refusing to pay up

An expectant mother named Sarah Maiellano says Toys R Us owes her more than $340 in Babies R Us store credit as part of its gift-registry loyalty program called "endless earnings."

But Maiellano — like numerous other people with Babies R Us registries — is unlikely to ever see that money.

Toys R Us pays out endless earnings in the form of a gift card 12 weeks after parents' due dates. Maiellano's due date is in May, and Toys R Us has said it will stop accepting gift cards in a month as a result of its liquidation.

"I'm incredibly disappointed that Babies R Us has chosen to not honor its promise to registry customers," Maiellano told Business Insider. "I chose Babies R Us — not Amazon or other online retailers which are being blamed for the closure — exclusively for this cash-back program."

Toys R Us, which is preparing to close or sell all its US stores, said Tuesday in a court filing that it would stop accepting gift cards on April 19. The company declined to comment further.

That means that any expectant parents who don't receive — and then spend — their endless-earnings gift cards within the next 30 days will lose the value on those cards.

Endless earnings are rewarded based on baby-registry spending. Customers earn 5% cash back on the first $300 spent and 10% back on everything over that amount.

Toys R Us refuses to pay out endless earnings immediately

Maiellano said she called Toys R Us' customer service — and waited on hold for two hours — to urge the company to pay out her endless earnings immediately. A customer-service representative declined her request, she said.

She said she was shocked by the company's response.

"I expect a major company to communicate with its customers, yet registrants haven't been notified of this disgraceful decision in any way," she said.

Natalia Kane, who is expecting a baby on May 6, says she is also owed money through the endless-earnings program.

Kane said she called Toys R Us' customer service three times — and waited more than 90 minutes on hold each time — to find out whether she would be paid the $215 she says she is owed.

Like Maiellano, she was told she would not be reimbursed, she said.

"The company made a very generic statement out of the bankruptcy filing that is completely nontransparent and leaves many customers in hopes to be reimbursed," Kane said.

Toys R Us is planning to close more than 700 US stores as part of a liquidation after disappointing holiday sales thwarted efforts to restructure its business. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.

More on Toys R Us demise:

We visited a Babies R Us store that's about to shut down — and it was a mess
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Here's why Toys R Us couldn't be saved
Toys R Us will close or sell all of its US stores
Toys R Us is closing all its US stores — and blowout clearance sales could begin within weeks
Toys R Us gift cards will expire in 30 days
These companies will be the biggest winners when Toys R Us closes its stores
We visited one of the last Toys R Us stores to open — here's what it looked like
Toys R Us says a 'perfect storm' killed the toy chain — and it blames Amazon, Walmart, and Target

Toys R Us owes pregnant women a ton of money — and it's refusing to pay up

Toys R Us refuses to pay out endless earnings immediately

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