Just after being released from Desert Shield/Storm, I took a part time job for the Christmas rush at a Montgomery Ward store in Indianapolis. I worked in “Electronic Avenue”. I was floored by the many returns of previously sold merchandise purchased either during the previous Christmas or during the after Christmas sales. Most were cordless phones or other small electronics. The phones looked like they had been used in a combat zone but since they had bought the “extended warranty” (a high profit item for the store), all were “entitled” to a newer, comparable phone. No doubt they would all be returned for next Christmas if they lasted that long. I often thought this was one of the reasons Wards went bankrupt.
I did get a great RCA clock radio for myself which had a wonderful radio and sound. It worked great until my cat threw up on the speaker grill. I’ve replaced the speaker but the control wires broke and I’m still trying to find a replacement.
Up here in Massachusetts, there was once a wonderful retail store from the 1970’s through the 1990’s called Lechmere that had great bargains, large selection, and treated their customers like gold. Everyone I knew went there to buy stuff, cameras, clothes, etc.
If you had a problem of any kind, you returned it and were given a replacement or a refund, no questions asked. You didn’t even need the reciept.
I remember people proudly telling me they would buy an item such as a camera for vacation, large television for a sports event, a suit for a wedding, and just return it and get a refund afterwards, no questions asked.
I was flabbergasted. It wasn’t that I didn’t know people could be so dishonest, it was that they talked about it so openly and proudly.
Lechmere went out of business in the 1990’s.