quote:

Originally posted by RGRacing:
I have dirst hand stories from my Son and his now ex wife returning a Drain Snake after using it. She returned a door lock sets after installing and later reconsidering their need.
Standing in the return line at Medards was a lady returning a space heater in May after using it all winter that was dirty.
Yes I believe there is reason to believe we live amongst some real winners.

All this abuse will do is these retailers will eventually refuse all returns no matter what in the future. All because of these scumbags.

In some states by law grocery stores need to honor the price marked for one of that item.

The LL Bean policy was changed when one of the executives donated an old unique LL Bean shirt to a local charity.

He somehow saw it come in as a return for a refund.

Supposedly he was so angry he changed the national refund policy on the spot.

Many consumers have adopted the tactic of ordering multiple sizes/colors of an item with the intention of returning those they don't like. Perhaps the disinclination to honor return policies flows somewhat from that?

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Many consumers have adopted the tactic of ordering multiple sizes/colors of an item with the intention of returning those they don't like. Perhaps the disinclination to honor return policies flows somewhat from that?

Actually, Amazon and other online apparel retailers encourage this. Zappos, the online shoe retailer, which Amazon purchased, started this, I believe. Zappos’ strategy was to counter the customer’s fear of purchasing shoes without getting to try them on. If you think about it, the practice of buying apparel online would cease if free returns disappeared and the customer just had to take the risk that the shoes or apparel fit.

I had a reaction from a guy at a knife store when I returned a brand new Spyderco the next day for another brand new Para2.
The guy huffed and puffed like a 7 year old. It almost seemed like it was the very last one, and he was about to buy it for himself after his shift.

The smart retailers like Nordstrom put a stop to problematic customers by having a data base,
( This was 25 years ago )

Nordstrom Credit card holders in one data base ,
Another data base for all other credit cards and a third data base for cash customers.

All returns were downloaded every night.

A red flag was put on each damaged or non re sellable transaction.

If Mary b. Purchased $1200.00 per month but had a 6% return rate average over X number of months , no action was taken
But
Another customer with flagrantly inappropriate numbers would receive a warning and eventually
In severe cases a letter was issued inviting them to shop elsewhere.

I haven’t had any issues returning things to Costco or Home Depot. I e even returned bad fruit to Costco- something that looked okay but was not.

As a long time retailer I think these stores with crazy permissive return policies use these instead of actually training employees (or even having employees) to insure that the customer gets what they truly need.

I do not have an abusively liberal return policy in my store. New and unused merchandise can be returned for a full refund within 30 days. After 30 days it’s store credit only. And don’t even think about returning something that you used, especially incorrectly, or even burned up. Nope. A sale is a sale. I have no duty to allow any return at all.

BUT, in my store I won’t sell you the wrong thing, even if you want it. If someone walks in and asks to buy something, we won’t just sell it to them without asking “what are you doing with that, etc? Often we get an answer like “my buddy said I needed this …”. Nope, let me show you what you actually need.

It’s a different culture for sure. But we have almost zero returns.

Auto dealership parts departments, we used to get the weekend crowds. Friday and if we were unfortunate enough to be open on Saturdays we’d sell parts only to have many of them returned on Monday with witness marks where they had been installed only to find they didn’t fix the problem. Then get all pissy when we’d refuse to refund the now once installed items. Hence “no refunds on electrical parts” regardless if installed or not.

Or my favorite. Lost keys. We’d duplicate one from an existing key or from key codes when all were lost. They’d find their lost key and decide to bring back their now newly cut key that is useless unless another vehicle might (fat chance!) the same key code and expect us to refund it.

Just another reason I’m glad to have retired.

Yup, but it was food. A place close to the house. I go there regularly for my cheat meal. They f’d up my order so I kept the receipt. In the past if you they mess up your order they replace it. I guess not anymore. I go up there, with receipt in hand, and the lady, who is also the manager demands to know exactly what was wrong with the order. It’s a taco joint. And they put lettuce/tomato on a taco, which I explicitly said “no lettuce, no tomato” then they left off my sour cream for a quesadilla. She refuses to replace the meal. She also refuses to look at the receipt. Instead she offers to replace the taco and give me a side of sour cream telling me I can pay for the other items. I start to ask how the fuck she would know what I ordered because she didn’t even look at the receipt. She starts barking at me and I said fuck this I’ll contact corporate, and did. Didn’t get a response but made sure the corp knew who exactly did this because I knew I couldn’t be the only one.

Customer service sucks today. These people don’t want to work, at all. Ask them what they really want to do they’d tell you they want to be an inthluencer. I remember being a waiter, and working retail. I’d talk a lot of shit about the customers (to other employees, never the customer), like the movie Clerks, but I did my job, and very well. Some people just would exploit stuff at the restaurants I worked at, like free tortillas, chips, and salsa. They’d often gorge themselves on this stuff, then order a single plate and split it, could be, 2, 3, or 4 people. I wouldn’t say anything just keep refilling. And I knew I’d be lucky to get a one buck tip. Often it was $0. Then in retail, people come in like they are the King or Queen of England, and spend a whopping ten bucks, if that. You just keep it to yourself, until they leave, then talk shit. Today is night/day compared to that.

What is starting to happen is "returnless" refund. It is cost-effective.

""""This is called a returnless refund. It's a service offered by some major retailers, such as Amazon, Walmart, and Target. The retailer may offer this option for returns on small items where it doesn't make financial sense to process the return.
If you receive a returnless refund, you can keep the item and your money. However, if you want to return the item, you can contact customer care to reverse the refund and arrange a return.
Here are some reasons why a retailer might offer a returnless refund:
The cost of processing the return is too high. This is especially likely for small items.
The item is damaged or defective.
The customer is a loyal customer.
The retailer wants to avoid a dispute with the customer.
If you're offered a returnless refund, it's up to you to decide whether to keep the item or return it. If you keep the item, you should be aware that you may not be able to return it later if you change your mind.""""""

quote:

Originally posted by ibexsig:

Of course once certain people learned about the policy they would go to flea markets to buy Bean products on the cheap and return them.

Lands End used to have a similar policy.

I worked with a guy who exclusively wore Lands End oxford dress shirts because of their return policy. He would wear those shirts till they were frayed and torn, then return them to Lands End for new shirts.

He was a great guy except for this. I thought it was a really shitty thing to do.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
All this abuse will do is these retailers will eventually refuse all returns no matter what in the future. All because of these scumbags.

Yep. I believe REI now has a one-year return policy (which is still pretty generous) because of people who abused their unlimited return policy.

Possibly because a new theft trend is steal item from store A. Return items in exchange for other items to store B and obtain receipt. Return secondary items with receipt to store C, getting cash money for items you stole from the same company. This obviously takes lax employees but when no one gives a shit and just returns whatever to whoever, easy money.

Last summer I had a bad experience at Wallymart. Well to be fair, there is rarely a good pleasant experience with them. Too much hassle and irritation.

I had purchased one of their Great Value food items. IIRC it was crackers, not the cheap Saltine type, the better ones like you'd serve with Boursin or hor d'orves. They were nowhere near their expiration date, not at all. They were stale and tasteless, just garbage.

I returned the box to Walmart. The woman at the returns desk asked for my receipt. I told her I didn't have one and didn't need a receipt.

She got pissy and told me that without a receipt she could not issue a refund or an exchange. I told her a store credit would be fine as I was going to buy other groceries anyway.

She refused. I dug in and said "Hey it says right here on the box that I'll be fully satisfied, if not you will replace it or refund your money". Not quite verbatim, but I just grabbed another box of Walmart crackers and it has the same guarantee on the box. You have in your hands the box I brought it, read it on the side here.


It also says "All you need is the package".

She dug in and got stubborn. So I decided to dig in too.

I ended up telling her to page the manager. Manager came over, asked what was wrong. I said these contents are awful and I want a refund or store credit, I'm going to buy other groceries.

He took the box from her hands and read the Walmart guarantee to her. Then he told her to refund my money. Manager apologized and said something about more training to be done. He told her all Great Value products do not require a receipt, see the label.

Manager walked off, the clerk huffed and puffed and mumbled something about cheap people wanting their money back. Pissed me off some more.

Anyway, she refunded my money and never said another word, not even goodbye, have a nice day, up yours, or anything. A really shitty attitude.

I rarely set foot in Walmart anymore, I do NOT go into the Walmart Super Centers, there is a Walmart Neighborhood Market near me that is easy to get in and out of, and so I will occasionally use it.

Walmart. Shaking my head. What a mess.
.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Last summer I had a bad experience at Wallymart. Well to be fair, there is rarely a good pleasant experience with them. Too much hassle and irritation.

I read somewhere that the managers of Walmart stores make great money. But with the employees they have to deal with, they earn every penny.

Re OKCGene's Walmart experience -- I recently had a return at Walmart, I bought some inexpensive drinking glasses and when I got home, I found a small chip on the rim of one glass.

Took it back to Walmart, gave the glass to the customer service rep, told her "Give me a second to look, I think I have the receipt on my phone 'cause I paid with the app"

She said don't bother, she could see the chip, and she asked me whether I wanted a refund or just exchange the glass. Very pleasant lady. I guess it's just the luck of the draw -- like anyplace else, people vary. Some grumpy, some nice.

Customer service employees at many stores frequently seem stressed. Opening with a friendly greeting like 'How's your day?' or 'Wow, that last return looked really complicated.' seems to give them a moment to relax and perhaps vent a bit. It doesn't always work, but when it does the whole process is more relaxed and they're more likely to offer things they wouldn't normally.

I recently had a project that needed finishing ASAP. My Dremel crapped the bed. I had to run out to Lowes for a new tool as I really needed to finish the job. After finishing, I figured 'what the heck' and took the broken one apart. It was a simple part that had broken. I looked on Amazon, and sure enough it was a common replacement part so I ordered it, and got it next day! When I used the new one, I used the attachments from the old one so no way to tell the new one was used, and I 'could have' returned it the very next day after purchase. What did I do? I now have 2 Dremel tools.

Youngest daughter works for a higher-end store & is in the customer service dept. She's told us stories of folks clearly trying to abuse the return policy & kicks it up to the manager who invariably okays the return.

Obviously, if the store policies are being followed then an item return/refund is quickly done.

On a different tangent, I had a customer with a condo out-of-town (his son stayed in it while at college), was selling it & wanted a hand repairing a couple things prior.

No sweat, drive up with him on a Friday....stay the night, start working on Saturday, problem was in the unit on the roof.

Drove to Home Depot & bought a 24' ladder, use it half day, repair complete, load up the truck.

He tells me we will stop at Home Depot on the way out & return the ladder for refund. I told him in no way would I help him carry the ladder back in the store. He could've probably wrangled it onto a cart himself OR even ask an employee for help.....I didn't condone returning it.

Was a long 4-hour drive back home. He kept the ladder but wasn't a happy camper.