I absolutely will not give smelly bath and body products to someone unless I know they use that sort of stuff. If I do give such a gift, it's namebrand stuff and can be returned or exchanged. DD and I spent 30-45 minutes in Ulta picking out the gifts for the two names that she and DS drew. If the girls don't like what we picked out at least they can exchange it.
DD had her Sunday School class party tonight and she received a gift set made by Enchante Accessories. There's no tag or UPC of any kind. I've checked several places online and find only Sears that sells about 5 items of this name brand.
The clear plastic tote has a red satin handle area and has a loofah, shower gel, body butter, body splash and lotion.
I guess we'll have to make the rounds of the stores including: Wal-Mart, Target, Kohl's, Big Lots, Sears, JCP. Off the top of my head that's all I'm coming up with. Of course, there's always regifting but since it was a gift to DD I feel that I have to give her the cash value so she ends up with a "gift".
Have you seen this brand? Enchante Accessories

I am not familiar with this brand.

Are you saying you want your dd to return the gift? Does she want to return it? It's a gift for her, she should graciously accept it and learn that we don't always get something we want or need. It's the spirit of the season and the gift giver that counts. It is possible even as you spent 30 - 45 minutes selecting items for someone else, that person didn't care for it.

If you can only find it at Sears, and if you are bent on returning it, don't "make the rounds" at the other six stores you mentioned - just go to Sears!

dl

So, your daughter got something she didn't like. Is it that big a deal? Is it really worth schlepping all over town to return the thing? You'll probably spend more in gas and time than the thing is worth. Give it to a shelter.

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- Stephen Colbert.

I have not heard of that line. Is there supposed to be a "d" on the end, making it "enchanted"?

These type gift exchanges are difficult....you're trying to buy a gift for someone that you really don't know much about. People usually tend to go with stuff like this, and lip balms, etc.

I agree with the poster who said that is the spirit of giving, and would not try to return the gift. Maybe your DD can "regift" it to a woman's shelter??

My DD was in 2 gift exchanges at school. She brought 2 gifts, came home with one. She was like, "oh well.....I guess someone really couldn't afford to bring a gift??" and that was that.

Good Luck with whatever you decide. Oh, and I did find this on google.com

I went into Enchante Accessories in New York City and found some very helpful sales associates. I was looking for a line of bath and beauty products that were hypoallergenic and fragrance free. They showed me The Olive Vineyard line and I've found several of them very soothing.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

It's cherry blossom scent and is sitting in the garage as I type this. DD does not use bath and body products unless they're lightly scented. At least the gifts that we bought still had tags on them plainly showing where the products came from and can be easily returned or exchanged.
Christmas gifts around our house are in short supply this year so yes, it was a big deal to DD to get something that she liked. However, this most likely was a regift from the person giving. It's not like we're making a special trip to try to figure out where it came from, we'll be out today anyway.

Enchante is a line that is sold at Aldis here in ohio...

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Be careful what you wish for.....

Cherry Blossum from my experience seems to be a lighter scent. She can still use the loofah sponge..and the tote..maybe if she makes a bubble bath out of it the smell will not be so intense. Or, use it to bathe your pets..that's what I do with cheaper shampoos. If it is from Aldi..it may not have cost a lot. I am sorry your dd was disappointed.

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Thanks for the info and the suggestions.

Although I do have to agree with this statement: "So, your daughter got something she didn't like. Is it that big a deal?" Is it worth all this hassle??

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Be careful what you wish for.....

If this had been a huge gift exchange I would understand about getting something that DD didn't like. However, this was a group of 5 that exchanged names, a small intimate group. I am the type that returns a gift that I won't use. I won't regift something that I don't like. So, it's return it or trash it.
Why is it that here lately on this board some of you feel a need to flame others that don't share the same opinions as yours?

Actually I didn't think anyone was flaming you unlike some of the other threads.

I also agree with the others that the entire focus is a bit off. Learning to deal with disappointment is an important reality in life. And learning to turn it around into something good, like giving it to a shelter is also a positive response. I have had many small Christmas times in my life. The focus needs to be shifted from the items received to the items given, regardless of the outcome.

One older woman friend of mine said that growing up her father would ask each child on Christmas morning to pick one of their presents, rewrap it and give it to a poorer family in the neighborhood. The kids got wise to that and would pick their least favorite to give. He said, "O no, you must pick your most favorite gift to give or it would not be a real gift."
She said she learned so much from that and has carried it on through her life.

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Im sorry, I am not trying to flame anyone. I just think that this would be a great chance to teach the child a lesson. You do not always get what you want in life. And at times there is disappointment. I just think that to drive around to all the stores and try to return it is probably a bit much for a gift basket that was not wanted....
How old is this child??

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Be careful what you wish for.....

It is the OP's right to spend as little or as much time as she wants to try to return what is apparently an inexpensive scent gift ( I do hate those myself). Keep in mind that it may be left over from LAST YEAR....double YUK...so that particular style may not be available even if the product line is.

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What I have done in the past when my kids were younger in situaations like this was I'd "buy" the gift from them. I'd pay them a little cash, then I either regift or donate the item (depending on what it was). The kids could then buy something at the store with their money and I could either regift, use it or donate it, but don't have to figure out where it came from and spend my time, gas, energy to return it.

Just an idea.
Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

This is exactly what I usually do also. However, we are so short on cash this year that I was hoping to be able to return it. I checked 3 stores that we were in today with no luck.

I agree with those who feel this is a teaching moment...on many levels. I'm very sorry that money is tight for you at this time and that your DD is feeling the pinch. I'm kinda thinking that even if you found a place that sells this brand, that it might be out-of-season and non refundable anyways.

But I also wonder if your viewpoint on the fragrance and on gift giving and returning might not be affecting DD's thoughts on the subject. Might she not be able to try the cherry blossom fragrance? She might actually like it!

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

OP I know what you mean about cheap/smelly stuff...BBW cherry blossom stuff smells good but one time, we got a present of some no-name cheap brand of 'cherry berry blossom' bath stuff. Someone stuck it in the bathroom cabinet...well for weeks I wondered why that bathroom stunk like urinal cakes. I finally found the jars of cherry berry blossom that matched the urinal cake smell, lol
Since you want to return it, and the gift-giver was a friend/classmate why not just ask them, hey where did you get that cherry bath basket....

DD is the one that put it out in the garage because she thought it stunk. In fact, it's sitting by the trashcans. Next step will probably be into the trashcan.
I don't want to embarrass the girl that gave the gift by asking where it was bought as I think it's a regift since there's no tag or UPC.

I remember my Mom used to get scented gift boxes. The only ones she liked were Jean Nate and Emeraude. We knew that but others didn't. It was popular to give scent gift boxes in the 70s. When my Mom got ones she didn't particularly like she still kept them either on the windowsill or on the mirror with her other scents. She dusted them and took care of them and they were pretty to look at.

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

Can you have your DD just say to the girl "I really like the stuff that you bought me. Where did you get it? I want to get more when I run out of it"?

Why in the world would you trash it instead of donating it I'm sure someone else would love to have it.

So your daughter rec'd a gift she doesn't like. That's happened to all of us at some point in time. You say money is tight. Perhaps the person who gave it to you, money is very tight for them, too, and she gave something she could afford (or regifted). Nothing wrong with that. If you don't like it, please don't throw it away. Give it to a woman's shelter or another charity. I'm sure some lady who doesn't get to have hardly soap much less a gift basket of items would greatly appreciate it. Not everyone's tastes are the same. No reason to toss something just because it's 'cheap' in your opinion.

BTW, when I was in grade school, we had a sunday school Christmas party at the SS teacher's house. This was at least 45 years ago. Everyone was supposed to bring a present to exchange. It was an all girls class. All the gifts were given out to each girl. If you think your daughter's present was bad --- my gift was a small pack of pencils.. just plain #2 pencils. The girl who gave the pencils was one of the well-off kids in our group, and her reason for the gift was 'she forgot and picked them up on the way.' I was so hurt because everyone had cute presents, necklaces, candy, etc. To this day, I still remember the hurt and embarassment.

To me, that gift your daughter got doesn't seem so bad.

Just to say, every time I walked into the Aldis I thought of you and the gift

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My family is cursed with bad memory gifts. My grandmother can remember a bottle of oil that she once got in her teens, my mom remembers exchanges and the most memorable one was a can of prunes and toilet paper, I got a boot candle in high school in an exchange and the torch was passed on to my daughter who got a 6" girl holding an umbrella in a Southern Belle type outfit last year at her school exchange (this year she got a to small tshirt).
We laugh at it!!
This can be just a funny reminder in years to come of the stinky bath stuff!!
(I would also just donate it to Goodwill or somewhere like that)

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A bit off topic, but, I wanted to share an experience my kids had this year at school. They wanted to do the gift exchange..... they got their gifts to give, and got nothing in return. I asked them to not even bother next year. I think teachers should not allow this for several reasons: 1) not all kids have "extra" money for this 2) some kids use this opportunity to be mean spirited.

JMO.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

How could the teacher allow this to happen? Only the kids that came with gifts should have received a gift.

That happened to my daughter last year. Each child was to make a list of 3-5 things under $5 that they would enjoy, and then everyone drew someone else's list out of the hat. The child who drew my daughter's name forgot. If everyone had just brought a generic gift they could've just made sure that only those who brought would participate, but since it was a "Secret Santa" situation, that wasn't going to work.

The best way I've seen this done is when the gifts are to be white elephants (defined as something YOU don't want yourself anymore, but that someone else might be glad to have or something that would get a good laugh). We do it in a way that everyone is encouraged to bring more than one white elephant, so if someone forgets theirs there are still plenty of things to go around for everyone. I think the funniest thing my daughter came home with one year was a big box full to the brim with hotel toiletries.

Now I'd like hotel toiletries !

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Live, Love, Laugh

I know! Some of them were actually pretty nice! It was funny, though, for her to open this good-sized box and WHOA - look at all that shampoo! And lotion! And soap! lol

I always bring home hotel toiletries to my kids when I travel. We stayed at the Westin in Memphis(awesome hotel if anyone goes to Memphis) and they had the nicest toiletries. Really nice stuff. I can't say enough about the hotel. We went there to see Eddie Vedder and I had the worst headache after the show. Someone there had on perfume and I get migraines from perfume. Anyway when we got back to the hotel the little shop there was closed and we didn't know the area, we had traveled from IL to see Eddie, so we asked at the front desk where we could get some Tylenol. The guy working the desk went and opened the shop up asked me what I wanted and gave them to me.
Yes I know I tend to ramble and get OT

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I suspect you'll have to write this one off, especially since returning something without a receipt means you'll get the after-Christmas price, but . . . my googling says Big Lots and Sears have carried this brand. Is it like this one http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...yword=enchante ?