NPR article on returns

[thekloset]

for your perusing pleasure....so much for ebays favorite excuse of "retail trends". I have to say, i'm secretly loving the "industry BBL" and liking that they are no longer making any apologies for it. that is a trend i can get on board with (ok, i've loong been on board that train and i bbl for less). 


www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/19/593920576/some-retailers-are-holding-your-returns-against-you

[chapeaunoir]

I have an ex-relative who was banned from TJ Maxx for returning so much stuff - she'd buy a cart-load, take it home, try it on, and bring most of it back. She couldn't figure out why she was banned lol.

[kritter]

Walmart has been doing something like this for years. If you bring back an item without a receipt, they ask for your driver's license and enter it into their system.

Not sure of the number but I think they cut you off at 3 returns without a receipt.

Plus no cash back or credit card credit without a receipt. You get a gift card.

That is how it has been at my local Walmarts for at least 5 years.

[thekloset]

many places have tried and got pushback for it---target used to do it too.

it seems to be revisited now because of the complete abuse of the process and the entitlement that goes along with it. retailers realized that unlimited and free returns is a huge part of shrink, and its not the "cost of doing business"---at least it isnt one that there cant be some protocols to reign in the runaway train that is returns and to mitigate the damage to bottom lines. a tighter return policy goes a LONG way these days.....there are a lot of retailers both big and small that are struggling across the board and are realizing they have to tighten up if they want to stay viable.

it just speaks to the liar, liar, pants of fire ebay statements. i said it in a different thread--ebay is literally behind five years in retail trends.

on a side note: i cannot believe im in a blizzard on the first day of spring! my hydrangas will never flower

[Deleted]

Both Target and Home Depot keep records of purchases made with a card. If you lose or don't have your receipt, the return can be found in the database under your card number. They do have steps in place to help the honest consumers.

Target at one time would take anything back. You could let your kid wear a pair of shoes for a year and then exchange them for a bigger size. They had to reign that one in. My mom use to manage a Target and she had many stories of return abuse. She couldn't do anything about it. She would kick someone out if they were rude to any of her employees.

Online is a lot different than brick and mortar. You can't touch, feel, or handle the item. I rarely shop Ebay, and when I do, if a seller doesn't take returns, then I won't buy. I've received too much garbage in the past from Ebay to take that chance anymore. I just fought a no returns seller on his car part about a month ago. I won.

**I should say I rarely buy. The car part was something DH wanted. I told him to let me do the return because I know how to word it. The part wasn't as described and I wasn't getting stuck with it. 

[val2525]

We had a customer return ban list at Catherine's. It was short, and you had to really abuse it, but we had one. One lady would hit the casinos, have a few drinks and come shop while drunk. She'd buy a huge amount of stuff, take it home, and return what didn't fit. We didn't mind her returning what didn't fit, it was maybe 25% or less of her entire haul. What got her banned was her smoking. The clothes would stink so bad that we had to mark out of stock and donate - we couldn't put them back out on the floor. We couldn't even air them out in the stock room, they were so bad the layaways would start smelling of smoke.

[Deleted]

Yuck, Val. I don't blame retailers for banning people like that.