Posted on 11/21/2012 9:39:31 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) – When you make a return this holiday season you may have to hand over more than just your receipt, as retailers try to prevent repeated returns.
“I was required to provide them a copy of my driver’s license, where they actually took the information and scanned it into their database,” said a shopper who asked to be identified only as Leslie.
Leslie told the sales associate at The Children’s Place that she was uncomfortable handing over her ID just to make an exchange, but she was told that the requirement is corporate policy.
In fact, according to the National Retail Federation, 62 percent of retailers have a similar policy. Among those who demand ID for returns are The Finish Line, Home Depot, Target and more.
So where does your information go? Likely it’s being stored on The Retail Equation, a service which tracks how often you bring stuff back and identifies habitual returners.
The retail exchange has said return fraud and “renting” – buying an item to wear and return – costs the retail industry billions each year.
(Excerpt) Read more at sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com ...
Well thank goodness the SF city council banned nudity again. I could handle just about any lame excuse from a lemming, but a rude nude lemming...forget it.
In the retail store where I work, we do not need an ID for items returned with a receipt, but we do for items returned without one. Why? Because we have quite a bit of return fraud. There are plenty of people who do not buy an item, but stick in a a bag that they bring to the store. They put the items in the bag and come to the counter telling us they couldn’t find the receipt. We have to give them a store credit, but we need their ID first. I have personally turned in 3 thieves this year who ended up going to jail because of their fraud. Fraud costs my store tens of thousand of dollars each year unnecessarily, and prices keep going up to pay for it.
My favorite fraudulent return stories:
The guy who bought a gas grill, assembled it, turned on the gas with the hood closed, walked away for five minutes, came back and hit the igniter and blew it into shrapnel. (returned it to the store claiming it was “defective”)
And the guy who bought a new TV set and then carefully packed his old one (a 1960’s vintage black-and-white model) back into the same box and returned it for a full refund.
Someone on one of the truck forums I am on told the story of buying motor oil at Walmart and discovering that it was used oil returned a refund.
Is there no low to which we cannot find a way to debase?
Home Depot has had problems in the past of people bringing back stolen merchandise and getting store credit.In some cases people were stealing thousands of dollars of mechandise and then returning it.
The other big problem for them was people buying snowblowers,chainsaws, pumps, paint sprayers, generators,shop vacs and other tools. They would use them and then return them. This would happen during/after every major weather event(bizzard, ice storm, floods, hurricanes). Now they only will accept a return if there is actually something wrong with the product. People are basically scum and they ruined it for everybody.
I brought a whole house humidifier back to Walmart when it stopped working. I had my receipt. They took it out of the box and made sure the model/SKU was the same as on the box.
The lady told me that people would try to return electronic
appliances all the time that were different than the box. They buy a new DVD player or TV and then stick the old one in the box and try to return it.
I believe it. It used to be that people were fundamentally trustworthy. Now everyone’s presumed to be a scumbag until they can prove otherwise.
I once knew a crazy lady who shopped every day and then returned the all stuff. She was addicted to the thrill of buying stuff she could not afford. Shopping and returning purchases was her “job.” Her poor husband and children...
Last time I stayed at the Westin in Boston I opened a beer out of the mini fridge in the room. You know the Heineken that costs $6.00. I took one slip and then spit it out into the bathroom sink. It was water. Some scumbag had drank the beer and then refilled it with water and put the cap back on. I left a note for the maid. I still got charged.
That is why the newest mini frige room bars have an electronic reader that states ANYTHING removed from this fridge will automatically be charged to your room bill.
Same scam, but only this was a P.C. (computer) returned to Wamart after Christmas for a cash refund. The employees failed to look inside the carton until hours later..... The returned carton had an old broken Win 95 ‘puter in it!
People, Black Friday is becoming more important than Thanksgiving. Of course, you need ID. Please, could you keep your priorities straight for a change.
People still do this with high value coupons.
Say the item is 15 bucks but has a 10 dollar store coupon. You buy the item with the coupon and wait a few days.
Then you go back and return said item.
They can’t give you your coupon back, so they refund the full price.
I was at a store that had a huge target on it (if you know what I mean) repairing some equipment and watched it happen. The clerks knew it. They knew the guy.. Said he’s gotten 1000’s back that way.
I was told that no one in the store has the ability to stop it because it’s company policy.
I doubt the store with the huge target on it really cared all that much as the coupon was probably sent in to the manufacturer for payment anyways.
With registers that can spit out coupons at the check out you would think it could reprint the original coupon and give that back to the customer.
I’d bet they are working on that as we speak.
Blitz gas cans just went under for basically the same thing. To many BS law suits. Some as stupid as people suing them because they where pouring gas on a fire from the can.
You just can’t fix stupid.
Hmm...
I purchased the last box containing a Black and Decker jump start battery at Wal-Mart. I saw the that the seals were still in place on the box and I could see that the unit was inside the box.
When i got it home and opened it, I found that the unit inside the box was severely used, to the point that one of the little plastic ears that the battery clips attach to was broken off. There was obvious wear on the other ear.
I got the same treatment that the lady you described got; that is, "That's not possible because we don't sell them in that condition."
But THEY DID sell it in that condition; probably because the criminal in this case carefully repackaged the item and returned it, getting cash back for his used item while keeping the new one.
Fortunately for me, Wal-Mart took the item back and I got a refund. I would have been happy to show my ID if it could put a stop to this kind of fraud. These criminals are stealing from all of us. The retailers must raise prices to cover the loss from the fraud.
All we need in Florida is a report of a storm and people run down to Home Depot and buy a generator use it then return it, I worked at Sears and people would do this also Should charge $100 for restocking fee this would stop this kind of abuse.
Some years back an old acquaintance bragged about getting brand new Craftsman tools from Sears by exchanging beat-up items he purchased at garage sales.
Some years back an old acquaintance bragged about getting brand new Craftsman tools from Sears by exchanging beat-up items he purchased at garage sales.
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Not the same thing ,, Craftsman hand tools have a forever warranty with replacement... it’s a little shady since you’re not the original purchaser but that person was legitimately exchanging worn out tools (covered by the warranty) for identical fresh ones. He didn’t make the policy.
Agree that it’s “not the same thing”. But there are some people that always try to abuse a policy in one way or another.
I was talking about not insisting on everyone having an ID — for voting.
And I constantly hear about folks buying a big screen tv and returning it right after the superbowl.
The store can't sell it at full retail price after that. I'd agree with the charge or a restocking fee. I think Fry's has a 10% restock fee that limits some of their losses.
It’s not just the rap culture folk.
Back in the early seventies I dated a young aspiring actress in NYC who would ‘buy’ dresses at the upscale Henri Bendel’s just to wear for one night. A show opening, show biz dinner or cocktail party, etc. She never had a problem returning them the next day for a store credit. She did buy some way less expensive items to assuage her guilt though.
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