Er...depends on how you view things as right and wrong. Some people, myself included, don't see this as wrong because it's within the return guidelines, it's playing by the rules. However, it's wrong in the sense that you buy it knowing full well you're returning it. Perhaps when a restocking fee is required for items like a computer, one would gladly pay this "rental fee". I do this it's wrong in a sense because you know in advance you're just going to return it, but I wouldn't feel bad about it because someone else can and will still buy it so the retailer isn't out any money.

Of course it is not ethical!

If he wanted to rent stuff, go to a place like Rent-A-Center. People like this just cause the return polcies to become more difficult for regular customers, and screw up the bottom line for stores causing them to increase their prices.

BOOOOO!!!

I work at a retail clothing store and we have numerous who do this all the time because our return policy is especially lax. It drives us insane because we have to take the item back anyway, but once we do, it immediately gets taken into a back room and donated to good will because we can't sell it anymore. It is not only screwing the company, it screws the customer as well, requiring us to charge higher prices for items so we don't have to absorb the cost and have slimmer margins.

there's a reason they're called retailers. it's b/c they sell stuff. if you want to rent, try rent america or rent-to-own, or some other place designed for your needs.

i get angry at retailers b/c they charge restocking fees or blacklist "problem returners:, but when i encounter folks like this, i understand why the policies exist.

the more people that do this, the more things will cost & the more stringent the policies will become. thanks for ruining it for everyone, assholes!

This is a stinky can of worms that you just opened up.

Have I ever bought something, used it and then realized I didn't like it? Yes...

Have I ever bought something knowing that I would return it before the end of the return policy? Yes.

Am I a jerk for doing this? Maybe...

You see, I bought a camcorder from Circuit City a while back. It never worked quite right so they made me send it in for service. The third time I sent it in for service I asked what the replacement policy was. They told me that it would be replaced if it needed a 4th repair. The 4th repair was the motor on the camera.

Guess what? They wouldn't replace it. I owned this camera for 6 months. Three months was the amount of time it spent getting "repaired". The customer service representative simply suggested that I buy a new camcorder if I wanted to be able to film the birth of my first daughter.

So, I did. I was pissed off that they jerked me around. That they didn't stand behind the products they were selling and because they lied to me. So I bought a camcorder, used it for two weeks (during which time my daughter was born) and then returned it on the last day of the return policy. My other camcorder happened to come back from repair three days later which worked out ok.

So, what do you think? Was this retail renting? Was it justified? If I don't like something, I will take it back. My wife hates when I take things back. She believes that if I bought it, I should keep it. But she will also rather not eat her dinner at a restaurant rather than complain that her meat is undercooked.

Retail renting is unethical, but everybody hates chain stores, so it works out.

It may be legal, but it is certainly not ethical.

It is in no way ethical, and it has made it so honest consumers get screwed on honest returns. I do not see how anyone would see this as appropriate.

I don't think any of these examples are remotely ethical.

On the other hand, I have purchased several models of an item (OTA antenna, for example) with the intention of returning the ones that didn't work. I always chose the open boxes and packed them neatly again. And since I was honest with the workers/managers about my intentions I assume it was fine.

I wish there would have been an option for not ethical, but I would do it anyway.

I have no problem with this as long as it's stuff like electronics and such. Clothing is something else entirely. Unless I'm buying second-hand, I don't want to buy anything that has been worn by someone else already but being sold as new.

Of course it isn't ethical. When I buy something, I expect it to be in new condition. I don't want clothes that you've worn out to some formal event, and I don't want to buy a DVD player that you might have somehow messed up while you were "borrowing" it.

This is why most stores won't let you return fancy wear.

With these tacky turds out there, pretty soon returns will be a thing of the past.

I hated it when people would do this when I worked retail. I think it is beyond tacky to do this and if you can't afford to buy something then don't flippin' buy it!

i work at borders and people do this with books all the time. then they try it with cds and dvds and get burned. once those are opened we only swap for same item

Is it ethical? No. Is it wrong? No.

Hell no! Who in their right mind thinks this is ethical at all? They're not paying anything to use a product for a while, and costing the retailer (and in turn, other customers) money. It's stealing plain and simple.

Costco used to have a lifetime return policy. People took advantage, and now it is 90 days.

I bought an LCD about 30 days ago. I jsut found out that Costco is putting a better model on sale on March 10th. I am not sure what the price is going to be yet, but I may return my TV to get the other model.
In this case, I don't think what I am doing is wrong. I am returning something, to exchange it for something I think is better, with the full intent of keeping the next one.

When my husband was a teenager in the eighties, he bought a $3000 video-editing machine so he could put together some footage from an airshow he went to (yes, he was, and is, a total nerd). He returned it 2 days later, no questions asked. I'm amazed he even had that big of a credit line at age 17.

People who do this cause higher prices for the rest of us, and force companies to implement restocking fees that screw the rest of us.

yeah, it isnt ethical. But I have done it back when I was a student twice I bought a boombox to take on vacation with the full intent to return it once I got home.

I have also done a similar thing where if I have a broken item they will not repair/exchange or I lost the receipt, I have bought a brand new one, swapped the boxes and took it back for a refund as faulty. This I don't think is as bad - I've only ever done it when the product is defective and I still end up with the same product, just a working one.

What I love is that the same people who did this would always bring things up looking for a discount when something wasn't perfect. Of course it's not perfect, someone like you already used it. I once had a girl return the dress she wore to a wedding I was a bridesmaid in at the register I was ringing on. It was a small wedding, she knew I had seen her. I had to return it, because her name wasn't in our stupid book of people who do crap like that yet, but it got put in there for that one.

@Copper: The retailer IS out money. For many product types, they cannot be sold as 'new' if they are returned goods. Most retailers will knock about 10% off the price and charge the returnee a 10% restocking fee (net zero), but this ignores the cost of checking the return, the customer service interaction, reboxing, systematically adjusting for it, which all eats up lots of hours of employee time. This does cost business a tangible amount of money. Additionally, some products from specific vendors cannot be sold open box, due to specific mfr relations. So they need to be shipped back, which directly affects operational costs, and wastes gas.

Additionally, with goods like clothes, the price is very sensitive to time, in that the prices rapidly go down after a new piece is released. In this case, 'renting' an outfit is very abusive of a return policy, which is meant to cover issues of satisfaction, or a garment not fitting properly rather than people being cheap and unethical.

@Hackoff: Your case is special. You had a particularly bad experience and felt that some appeasement was in order, and the retailer didn't offer any. Then you used two wrongs to make a right. This is all very specific and warrants individual attention. The scope of this article only covers people who buy and return goods because they want the functionality of it for a short period of time, and are unwilling to pay for it. You were willing to pay for it - you already bought the camera!

This should be an interesting comment thread! The "Celebrities borrowing gowns" excuse is a hoot. Karl Lagerfeld loaning you a gown is a little bit different than "wardrobing" one from Macy's.

In no way, shape, or form is it ethical. The individuals who believe this are typically the ones with the sense of self entitlement and such that helped get our economy in the same it is in.

It sounds like doing this on a regular basis is unethical and even despicable.

So are we in agreement that all of the f'd up return policies are a direct result of people being unethical with their returns?

He's a Pats fan. Go figure.

This is what messes up return policies for the rest of us. You idiots who think it's ok to just go 'rent' anything you want for any time you want should be ashamed.

This is why there are restocking and shorter return periods for allot of those items.

I draw the line with clothes. Because I sure wouldn't want to have my new pants already skankily worn. You can totally tell which pants have been returned, haha.

Many times I have come to regret making a purchase, yet did not return the item. I simply try to improve my decision making next time. It's not the fault of the manufacturer or the store that I made a mistake, so why should they pay for it?

The only occasions on which I will return an item are when it is defective or clearly didn't live up to its advertising.

Retail renting is stealing. Stop rationalizing it.

Morals and ethics do not belong in capitalism

This is not ethical, no. It's screwing with retailers' business and it's making it difficult for people who legitimately return items to make their returns, because with every person who buys it only to use it and return it when they're done with their event, stores tighten their grip on return policies even more.

This is NOT the same as celebrities who borrow Harry Winston jewelry for the red carpet. Harry Winston allows them to borrow the jewels, and this is not underhanded, like if the jeweler in question did not know the celebrity would return the item for any other reason other than that person had used it and didn't need it anymore. If it was defective, return is valid. I don't buy things to use them for a day and return them, especially not clothing. I wouldn't want to buy something I thought was new, only it isn't because someone bought it, wore it, returned it.

This is why retailers treat all their customers like crap because of people that do stuff like this, or try to "return" things they just picked up off of the sales floor.

How is there even a question as to whether this is ethical? The store cannot sell it as new when you return it so it loses value. How the guy compares it to renting in the article is a comlete joke since he obtains value from something for nothing and it ends up costing the store money. I would like people to start 'renting' from him. I have no issue with returning things that were not needed or not liked but to purposefully purchase something for the trip across the country with the intent of returning it is sick.

Oh yeah...and thanks for screwing up the retail return policy for those of us who do not do this.

Anyone who does this had better not complain when they get a pair of snail-trailed jeans!

Is there even a question as to whether people who do this are complete and utter pricks?

It's not just unethical, it's outright stealing. You're stealing an actual revenue opportunity from the merchant by depriving them of the goods for however long you keep them. The fact that you're only stealing something for a short time doesn't make it any less stealing. This one's not even a difficult call.

It sounds like there should be a thread on "Self Entitlement" instead of retail renting!

Not at all ethical. This is why the rest of us get nickeled and dimed at big box retailers. These scumballs (who have not gotten screwed as some of the previous posters have) game the system, so the retailer has to tighten the policy.

electronics often have to be sharply marked down to sell once they are "open box". This means the retailer loses money when people "wardrobe". Pretentious a$$hats who think that having expensive things gives them higher status are only impressing the superficial.

'Renting' implies paying an agreed upon fee to the Lessor (the stores) for the use of the product for a specified time. Since the Lessees (scumbag 'wardrobing' consumers) fully use the product and don't expect to pay a thing in the end, that's not renting, that's called stealing.

If you want to wear clothes that aren't yours for day, either become a celebrity, or go to a Halloween costume store.

For possible solutions to this dilemma, cf. the free rider problem and book II of Plato's Republic. See also 2400 years of intellectual history which hasn't come down on one side or the other regarding grave issues of substantive justice, let alone the trivialities of retail renting.

My hypothesis is that no resolution of the latter will be forthcoming.

@backbroken: You must be out a lot of money then, if you don't return the item you buy and regret. I bought a shirt last week that I thought looked fine, and when I tried it on again a few days later, I realized I didn't like it as much as I originally thought. Am I going to keep it just because I made a mistake? Nope. I'm returning it because I can, but it's not unethical because I fully intended to keep the shirt, before I realized it didn't fit as well as I thought.

In other words, returnable dresses are the new ring of gyges.

DEFINITELY NOT ETHICAL! I don't try on clothes at the store. I know my size and what I like. At home I see if they fit, and if I don't like it I return it. It is rare for me to return something I don't like. About electronics, is really hard to find something brand new and seal from factory.

@Javert: "he store cannot sell it as new when you return it so it loses value." I would disagree a bit with you. I was looking for a Nintendo DS to buy as a gift for my nephew. Most of the NDS where "returned" and they had the sticker "Open Box" and the price was the same as a new one. So I don't think the stores will low their prices, if the item has been open and returned within a couple days...

I worked for a time at the mall in a sports apparel store. I overheard some guys that were planning to buy jerseys, shorts, and hats for a dance and return them the day after. We had a strict receipt to return policy and imagine that, they couldn't find their receipt in their bag. Oops

@KyleOrton: So it's ok to rent electronics to "test" them and see which ones will work for you?

If I intentionally buy a product that I don't plan to keep and plan to use and return, why am I not committing fraud?

Aren't I purchasing under false pretenses? Renting an item (which most retail stores don't offer) would assume one is paying some amount in exchange for temporary usage. Although I would have the benefit of temporary usage, I am providing the merchant no compensation for that usage.

The fact that this is unethical is completely obvious, but can an attorney weigh in on if it is legal, when someone purchases with the intent to use and return?

Now - all that being said, I too have used the purchase and return scenario - when a product has been defective. For example, when purchasing an item missing components, typically the retailer cannot assist and you must contact the manufactuer (and sometimes pay shipping charges. Since I feel this is no fault of my own, in situations where I've lost the receipt, I've purchased the same item and returned the incomplete original. The merchant will return it to the manufacturer as defective and chargeback the mfg. Note that the merchant still has one complete transaction for the product I've retained.

I hate people that do 30-day rentals.

Back when I worked at Microcenter in Customer Service, there was a guy named Avni Gurun. I returned software for him and for some reason (later in the day) I had to look at his purchase/return history. The guy's first purchase was a 300 MB hard drive (this was a LONG time ago). Every purchase since (about 50 items) was mac software and was returned about a week later. Any questions as to what he was doing?

Every now and then, I would see an RTV (return to vendor - any open software that got returned) that one of the other reps processed with his name. I would curse his name as he got away with another one. Finally about 2 or 3 months after I first discovered him, a guy tried to return some software and when I looked at the reciept...it was him. AVNI GURUN!

I grabbed his receipt and software, excused myself and ran back to our awesome service manager, who we called Dr. No., and explained the situation. He had me go grab Avni and bring him into the office. My boss explained to Avni that we will happily return this item, however, he was effectively banned from the store as we were flagging his account and credit card stating not to accept any returns from him.

A few months later before I moved on to a new job, I checked the system one last time. My return was the last transaction he made. I still get a tear in my eye when I think of him...