Merchandise Return Policy

There is a special day next week, and I want to address that in this column. No, I’m not referring to Thanksgiving, and I won’t publish the gravy recipe for the fourth time (Hint: You can find it in the archives to the left side. The day I mean is called “Black Friday” and it signals the start of the holiday shopping season.

Personally, I wouldn’t shop on that day, but a lot of people apparently do so. Therefore, it makes this a good time for some advice on shopping.

This might be one of those columns you will want to forward to your family and friends. That is really quite easy to do, either by sending them the URL, or if they don’t like to open links or attachments, by simply copying the text and pasting it into your email. I don’t care whether or not you give me credit for the column, but I hope you will.

I received an email from a buddy this week that related an incident where a GPS unit was purchased at a big electronics store. It turned out to be less than satisfactory to the buyer, so he returned it with his receipt for a refund. Here is a shortened version of what then occurred:

· There was a 15% restocking fee assessed against the refund—in this case $45.
· Since the item cost over $200, no in-store refund was given.
· Even though the item was purchased for cash, the corporate headquarters would have to issue a check in 7-10 business days and mail it to him.
· If he wanted to purchase a replacement GPS immediately, he would have to start all over again with cash, check or credit/debit card.

When he complained to the clerk that he was never informed about the return policy when he bought the item, the response was what you would expect. The clerk advised him that “It is clearly printed on the back of your receipt.”

He asked to see the manager, and was given pretty much the same treatment, but was provided the phone number for the corporate office. He left the store in a very bad mood.

When he got home, he called the corporate office. The response from there was only a little better. He was promised a $45 gift card to use on a future visit to the store. He told the representative what he could do with the gift card, and promised that he would never shop at that store again.

Okay, there is a moral to the story.

Whenever you plan to purchase a big-ticket item, go online first and check out the refund policy of the store. The big chains all publish their refund policies on the Internet, but it is up to you to look at them before you buy.

In some cases, you might decide not to even go to that chain store due to the published policy. Restocking fees would be an excellent reason to boycott, since it is a silly and superfluous charge in the first place. Some stores seem to have a restocking fee that goes all the way up to 25% of the purchase price for certain items. If that becomes a reason not to shop a particular chain, and if you want to advertise the policy via your email contacts, maybe you can affect a store boycott that will cause them to change the policy.

If nothing else, you will at least alert your family and friends to what you consider an unfair business practice. They can then make their own decisions on whether or not to shop at that store.

Here’s another way of dealing with returns. If you are not sure of the specific item that will please your gift recipient, give them a gift certificate instead. Let them choose which brand and model to buy and avoid the return/refund dilemma altogether. There is nothing wrong with giving a gift certificate as long as you are certain that it will be used.

You’ll notice that I never named the chain or the store in this column. That is because I want you to take charge and do your own research on the subject. There are several stores that publish some pretty unfair refund policies, but it is up to you to find out before you patronize those stores.

Just remember that clichéd phrase, “Caveat emptor!” which translates to “Let the buyer beware!”