No controlling legal authority... Where have we heard that one before?
Posted on 02/18/2008 11:02:07 AM PST by Cagey
Jimmy Deignan's first time was with a $500 portable DVD player.
He bought it a few years ago at Best Buy for a Boston-to-Los Angeles flight, knowing he would return it for a full refund when he got back. More recently, in November, rather than spending $600 to rent a LCD projector for a business presentation, the Holden resident purchased one at Staples, then returned it a few days later and got his money back.
The way Deignan sees it, he is just a smart shopper: He gets the things he needs, uses them for as long as he wants, and saves money. But to retailers, this is wardrobing, a practice they say is unethical, damaging to their bottom line, and increasingly common.
Nearly two-thirds of merchants had items wardrobed in 2007, up from 56 percent the year before, the first year the National Retail Federation started tracking the trend. Merchants blame tough economic times and a "customer-is-always right" mentality gone too far. They say a growing number of shoppers feel entitled to return used items they no longer want, and probably could not afford in the first place - from costly cocktail dresses for big events to pricey plasma televisions bought exclusively to watch the Super Bowl. So, they are striking back, instituting more restrictive return policies, imposing restocking fees, and keeping a blacklist of serial wardrobers.
"The economy drives people into this behavior - going through their closets and looking for things they can return, regardless of when they bought it or how many times they've worn it," said Dan Doyle, vice president of loss prevention at Bealls Department Stores, a retailer based in Florida with stores across the Sun Belt.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Jeez.. and here I am still choking down freeze dried chili. ;)
I was working for a large outdoors store chain, running the bicycle department. A guy brings in a strangely bent bike and proceeds to launch into the typical "just riding along" story. I listened patiently until he wound down, and then casually asked "How badly was the garage door damaged?" Before he could catch on he answered, "Not too bad."
Busted.
I know someone who gave someone a dustbuster. The thing was full of dirt. My crazy relative insist that they just wrapped up the one they had in the garage and I insist that they bought it new, took it home and wrapped it and gave it thinking it was in perfect condition.
Who would think to look inside the vac to check for dirt?
Hahahahaha! I can see the makings of a hit film right there.
My wife works at a scrapbook store and had a guy come in and buy an expensive “storage on wheels” thingie for his wife. They have a clear “no returns except for store credit” policy, it was a clearance item and he was asked three times whether he didn’t maybe want a gift certificate instead. He insisted, wife didn’t want it, he tried to return it for a refund and raised a huge stink several times, but the store owner held fast, bless her heart. Waddya mean, I have to live with my poor decisions? It ain’t fair, I tell ya! Sheesh...
This is theft. It’s also low behavior.
I’m disturbed with the concepts of “It’s ok if you can get away with it.”
I shop at Fry’s (basically Krogers) and always keep track of the price on the shelf and what it rings up as. Almost every week I’m back in line at the customer service desk, getting money back.
Customer service is a great thing and many stores apparently consider customers to be problems.
Customers are only a problem if they are problem customers.
Too many customers don't even bother to ask what the return policy is, before they buy.
Retailers don't want a problem either.
A good retailer wants you to be sure you've made the right decision, before you buy.
The ones that don't, get wardrobed.
I can beat this...
My neighbor used to go to garage sales and buy infant car seats and return them at Walmart for a full refund. She’d brag about it.
Just made me sick.
And you still shop there because....
I certainly find that idea to be reprehensible as well. However, if I am a retailer, I have no control over the morality of others. I can only enact return policies that do the most to prevent these kinds of people from costing me money.
I got a Honda gas-powered pressure washer from Home Depot about 1/2 off — somebody else bought it, used it once for a painting job, then returned it.
The only times I have done this were when I took a VCR in for service under the extended warranty that I had paid for, and was told that the repair would take two weeks and no they didn’t have loan units for the extensive repair period. So I went over to the VCR section, bought a cheap VCR and used it while mine was being repaired and then returned it for a full refund when my unit was repaired.
No controlling legal authority... Where have we heard that one before?
One our worst offenders was a prominent local businessman who was worth millions. He would often "borrow" merchandise such as tv's, video equipment, etc. and return them right at the end of the 30 day window. He was also well known for pressuring employees to throw in "freebies" like batteries, extension cord, and surge protectors to make the sale and often would try several employees to see who would give him the most free accesories(of course he never returned those).
Our absoulute worst offender was the owner of a local chain of nightclubs. He would spend thousands of dollars on PA equipment, speakers, mics, karoke etc. All of which would mysteriously break right at the end of the return period. He would then decline an exchange, return it all for a refund, then go straight to another store and repurchase all the same items, wait 30 days rinse and repeat. It got so bad that he was finally told by corporate headquarters that the company would no longer do business with him. Of course he just got around that by sending in one of his employees to make the purchases and returns...
A store I worked at had a return policy that was “dateless”. We would take anything back as long as it had a tag. There was no “return in 30 days” deadline.
We changed the rules and told our customers that the free ride would be over soon. Well, well, we had returns that were 10 years old or more.
These old bags went through their closets and just pulled out everything they ever bought and never wore and brought it back before the policy change kicked in. They walked away with loads of cash.
Our company should have changed the rules and mention it at the time of sale. Instead we lost thousands and thousands of dollars. These returns were marked down to 1.99 and no one wanted them even at that price.
LL Bean will take back anything that you’re not happy with or any of their products that wear out. Boots getting a little beat up? No problem, they will happily exchange them no matter how long you’ve had them.
When my son was in college ,in Maine, he often returned shoes or boots that got a little tattered. Little did he know that in a few years he would head up one of their marketing departments.
I bought my grandson a pair of shoes from Bean this past fall. After wearing them for a few days he complained that they hurt. I called their customer service department and the woman said that it sure sounded like he wasn’t a happy customer and to please return them.
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