I have no problem giving my ID to Home Depot when I return lumber or hardware I didn’t use. They often require it for store credit and cash returns, and since I generally go back to spend that money on something else in the store, it’s not really a loss for them.
The idea of storing the information to track habitual returners is a bit much though. What are they going to do, turn you away from the store or otherwise ban you from shopping there?
I don’t understand the “renting” of things though. The black community, specifically rappers, made it popular about 10 years ago to buy clothes and leave the tags on them. It became a status symbol of sorts. The fact that they were returning those items is tragic if not comical and I think a testament to society overall.
You're still free to shop, they just want people to stop returning things they purchased but never intended to keep. There are valid reasons for returns, but some people do it habitually or to obtain use of an item for a short time.
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.
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.