I was talking with someone the other day who told me she had tried to return an item with a defect to the store. They asked for her ID, and said they could not help her. She was on a list of people who violated their "serial returns" policy or some such nonsense. So, even if you're only returning things that are broken/defective/or otherwise no good, you only get to do it so many times now? It's not her fault if their stuff was garbage. I can see it if someone was actually abusing it, but if she returns defective items, complete with packaging and receipt, I think the policy is outrageous. I would stop going to that store if they did it to me. I went to return a heater today that malfunctoned, and all I could think about was when was the last time I returned something. I was hoping I wasn't "on the list."
All stores have those policies, and the fact is that they would only ask for an ID if she didn't have a receipt. It's a policy that can be found online and in most stores, so the information is out there. These policies protect businesses from receipt shopping, which costs businesses billions of dollars collectively each year. It's definitely not nonsense, and you'd implement the same thing as a business owner after seeing how fraudulent returns impact the bottom line.
I think more stores are clamping down on it and when I worked in retail we used to inform security of people that returned items frequently. Sometimes they are scams, or people use them and then return them. Most people don't have to return items and I hate doing it, so to be on a list it must have happened at least a few times. If it is a genuine fault, she could get someone else to go in and exchange it with a receipt. That is possible and if the cardholder is not there you can exchange or get credit as that's what happens with gifts. Whenever you exchange or get a refund your details are kept on file.
As I stated in my original post, cases of abuse are one thing, but what happens when people have genuine complaints? If the products are bad, they shouldn't have the right to refuse to offer you a solution. I only take things back when there is a legit problem. I guarantee that I wouldn't just walk away, head bowed, and accept, "Sorry, can't help, you've had too many returns." I wonder how many is considered too many. I didn't return a single thing for years, but lately it seems like many products just aren't made very well.
That's just incorrect. There are many stores that ask for ID when you return items with your receipt. I return items all the time. I buy tons of clothes for my husband and have him try them on at home, then end up returning half of them. When I was decorating my house, I bought all sorts of interior decor, brought it home and tried it, if it didn't match I'd return it. Really it's to a lot of business' benefit to have a decent return policy, or people like me wouldn't take the chance to buy a lot of things.
You don't have to worry about that. There's a reason why appliances and a number of other things have warranty - so that the buyer could return in case of hidden defects. Stores and manufacturers can of course get sued for hiding such defects from their consumers. On the one hand, it would be good to check the item thoroughly and have it tested prior to making a purchase. This approach will help spare you the hassle of having to return things all the time.
I rarely have to return anything I bought personally, although I have been unsatisfied with some of the products that I have bought online. I never bothered to return it though because of the overseas shipping costs. If a store had such policies then I would not be shopping in that store anymore if they don't offer an item exchange, since refunds are not offered over here, only item exchange.
There are many stores that say all sales are final. Stores are not generally obliged by law (varies state to state and country) to offer you a refund if you don't like the product. They are obliged to if the product is faulty though, but even then, you can always return it to the manufacturer. Only recently in the last couple of decades were refunds and exchanges allowed in stores for non-faulty products to help encourage and boost sales, but it is not a legal right and is at the stores discretion.
Well, in some ways I can't blame this store. If this person had a reputation for being a serial returner it means that there were times when they returned an item without a legitimate reason for doing so. There are just some people like this, they receive a gift for example during Christmas and return it in the hopes of getting the money instead. I am related to someone who tried to return a family members present in the hopes of doing this but they used a credit card so the only thing that was possible was an exchange. Also, last Christmas season there was a report on the news about people returning items to stores. They featured one woman who said she was returning twenty items. I was like what was she doing returning every gift she got? Seriously I found this unbelievable, maybe this woman's familiy and friends ought to give her nothing but gift cards.
