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Retailers crack down on serial returns (Short-term 'owners' costing firms billions)
Boston Globe ^ | 2-18-2008 | Jenn Abelson

Posted on 02/18/2008 11:02:07 AM PST by Cagey

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To: Pistolshot
Refunds on items still in the condition they were purchased. Labels, sealed boxes, etc, have to be in place for full refund.

Have you ever bought a harddrive or any type of computer electronics? How else are you going to know that it's defective? And if it is defective should I go to the manufacturer or the local store that sold it to me to get a replacement?

181 posted on 02/18/2008 6:09:14 PM PST by perfect stranger
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To: Cagey
Are you sure he’s the same “Jimmy Deignan”? Although I will say, he seems to be in the type of business that would implicate him. Especially with that model “Bikini Car Wash” on his page. LO

There, I stole his photo of the HO car wash. Those must be the Ho's.

182 posted on 02/18/2008 6:15:47 PM PST by AndrewB
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To: Cagey
Several years ago I was a wholesale distributor of gas grills. One of our major accounts was Home Depot.

We noticed a substantial spike in returns on our grills in Florida during the spring.

As it turns out, Snow Birders were buying the grills when they arrived in Florida in November, using them through the winter, then returning them as 'defective' before they went back up north.

183 posted on 02/18/2008 6:16:42 PM PST by TexasNative2000 (Is this tagline governed by McCain-Feingold?)
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To: TightyRighty; Lijahsbubbe
My trailer park trash sister and her husband went to Costco in the months leading up to Y2K and stocked up on food. The week after they returned it all and Costco took it back!!

Pre-chewed?

184 posted on 02/18/2008 6:25:11 PM PST by Ezekiel
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To: 3AngelaD

Jim Deignan, a 1987 UW-Eau Claire accounting graduate who is administrator of Dove Healthcare Nursing & Rehabilitation in Eau Claire.
185 posted on 02/18/2008 6:40:46 PM PST by AndrewB
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To: 3AngelaD

186 posted on 02/18/2008 6:44:39 PM PST by AndrewB
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To: 3AngelaD


Jim Deignan has been a San Francisco police officer for 36 years. He's spent more than 20 at Central Station. Chronicle photo by Brant Ward
187 posted on 02/18/2008 6:49:22 PM PST by AndrewB
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To: pnh102

when I was growing up, anything electronic that left the store working was not returnable.


188 posted on 02/18/2008 6:53:12 PM PST by going hot (Happiness is a momma deuce)
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To: Emmett McCarthy

Crazy. And sad.

This thread has been a real eye-opener, especially the ppl returning food and the stores taking it back.

The ONLY time I’ve returned food was because it was defective. I’d bought a couple of whole chickens intending to stew them separately in my crockpot. My pot was pretty small, so I had to cut one into pieces to make it fit. When my cuticles began stinging as if from bleach, I threw away the cut one and carried the unopened second chicken back to the store. Just in case they restocked the one I returned, I did keep it refrigerated. I’d expected to be given a hard time over it, maybe only receive a refund for the one. But the manager gave back my full cost with little argument.

This was shortly after this chain had been exposed on a news magazine show for bleaching and repackaging questionable meats. All she said was that the processor had shipped it that way, and her store was not the culprit. I acknowledged that and went about my way. I still wonder if the second chicken got resold. I don’t buy that brand any more. These days, it’s associated with the Clinton campaign machine.


189 posted on 02/18/2008 7:14:53 PM PST by Titan Magroyne ("Shorn, dumb and bleating is no way to go through life, son." Yeah, close enough.)
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To: Cagey

People like this screw things up for the rest of us. I work with a guy who has done the same thing. The worst I’ve done is buy something and return it in fairly short order when I found it did not meet my needs - fully repackaged as when I bought it, with all accessories and manuals. For example, a digital camera I bought at FutureShop back in 2002 that turned out to have unacceptable low-light performance, or a Sony plasma TV I bought at CostCo that had a picture that just plain sucked. Both returned within a week or so, as I say fully repackaged. I bought another digital camera, actually an open-box unit, from FutureShop. The TV I bought on a spur of the moment decision because it seemed like a good deal. I ended up waiting a few more months before buying another (different, cheaper) one at another store.


190 posted on 02/18/2008 7:14:57 PM PST by -YYZ- (Strong like bull, smart like ox.)
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To: Titan Magroyne

Yeah, I don’t buy Tyson chicken either.

Part of the probelm for these home improvement stores is the “corporatism” at every level. A lot of my clients buy plumbing fixtures there, like faucets. Often they don’t work right due to a factory defect. The manufacturer wants to send them replacement parts with a 7-10 day turnaround. People aren’t going to put up with that so they take it back and get another one - or sometimes go get another one first, take out the parts they need and then take back the extra one. The only helpful advice is to never buy anything in a “big box” store where the box has ever been opened because I guarantee you something’s missing.


191 posted on 02/18/2008 7:46:34 PM PST by Emmett McCarthy
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To: Cagey

This is pure sociopathic behavior dependant on one not possessing a conscience. A serial returner could escalate into a serial rapist or worse.


192 posted on 02/18/2008 7:53:27 PM PST by Dionysius (Jingoism is no vice.)
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To: dinoparty

Best Buy stop doing mail in rebates over a year ago. Everything is instant now there or not at all.


193 posted on 02/18/2008 7:58:28 PM PST by rb22982
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To: pnh102
We often make the claim that social welfare policies are to blame for laziness in people who obtain welfare benefits. A store having a liberal return policies should not be surprised when unscrupulous people exploit these policies. If the stores tighten up their policies, the problem disappears.

This is correct of course. However, it ignores the point as this greatly inconveniences normal, legitimate customers.

194 posted on 02/18/2008 8:00:44 PM PST by rb22982
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To: Emmett McCarthy

Wow, that’s insane.


195 posted on 02/18/2008 8:14:03 PM PST by rb22982
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To: Oatka

I work in operations for a grocery chain. That kind of returns happens at our stores almost every day and definately weekly. Our refund policy is pretty liberal but we’re looking at making it stricter. I also convinced upper management to eliminate cash back on checks due to abuse. Saw a 33% reduction in returned checks overnight.


196 posted on 02/18/2008 8:19:16 PM PST by rb22982
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To: Tijeras_Slim
LOL!

My wife did that the *FIRST DAY* we had our new roof rack.

The bike got a cyclecomputer knocked off, but the left side "support bar" of the rack got bent up.

Cheers!

197 posted on 02/18/2008 8:37:46 PM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: rb22982

Well, “corporatism” is basically as stupid in its own way as any government bureaucracy.


198 posted on 02/18/2008 8:38:13 PM PST by Emmett McCarthy
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To: fanfan
You think that when you buy the wrong thing, Best Buy should incur costs, but you shouldn't?

You think that the only legitimate reason to return something is because you "bought the wrong thing"?

199 posted on 02/18/2008 8:44:23 PM PST by South40 (Amnesty is a slap in the face to the USBP!)
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To: giotto
I thought the restocking fee was deducted from the returner's refund. This is how most businesses do it.

It is. What did I say to make you think otherwise?

200 posted on 02/18/2008 8:45:43 PM PST by South40 (Amnesty is a slap in the face to the USBP!)
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