There, I stole his photo of the HO car wash. Those must be the Ho's.
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 ...
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?
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.
Pre-chewed?
when I was growing up, anything electronic that left the store working was not returnable.
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.
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.
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.
This is pure sociopathic behavior dependant on one not possessing a conscience. A serial returner could escalate into a serial rapist or worse.
Best Buy stop doing mail in rebates over a year ago. Everything is instant now there or not at all.
This is correct of course. However, it ignores the point as this greatly inconveniences normal, legitimate customers.
Wow, that’s insane.
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.
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!
Well, “corporatism” is basically as stupid in its own way as any government bureaucracy.
You think that the only legitimate reason to return something is because you "bought the wrong thing"?
It is. What did I say to make you think otherwise?
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