I'm not exactly sure how this applies, nor do I know the exact wording of the policy, but I've always enjoyed when I buy something from Best Buy and it doesn't work, or breaks within a couple days. On two occasions, I returned it to the store and told them I wanted my money back because I wasn't going to take a replacement on something of dubious quality, and they told me that even with a receipt, they could only offer me a replacement. However, if I told them I didn't like it or it didn't work with my computer or something, they had no problem returning it, even if it was broken. I was prompted by return desk to tell them it was an unwanted item rather than a broken one so they could technically return it.

WRT to returns without a receipt. What is there to prevent someone from buying an item at store A and returning it at store B? What is there to prevent someone from taking a product off the shelf and then walking straight to customer service and attempting to return it?

Having worked at customer service, I have seen both things attempted.

What is the problem with buying at one store and returning at another? I do this all the time at Costco when I buy at the outlet near my work and then return at the one near my home (or vice versa). They've never even hinted that this is problematic for them. Of course that may be because Costco has the most troublefree return policy I've ever encountered, but even at Fry's, a notoriously horrendous store for returns, this has never been an issue.

Forever 21's in-store return policy is awful. Exchanges or store credit only, within 21 days of purchase. No refunds, period--even if the item is defective and the store no longer supplies the item. A good reason to shop at Charlotte Russe instead.

Burlington Coat Factory is store credit only as well.

@sleze69: Wal-Mart has been working to prevent the second scenario you mentioned by giving their door greeters scanners and having them print a UPC label for each item you bring through the entrance. If you get to the service desk and don't have a sticker, they won't give a refund/exchange because they think you may have taken the item right off the shelf.

@schweetzy: Was just about to mention them, first thing that came to mind. At least I used my "gift card" before they got rid of their men's section.

Brookstone does however offer "gift receipts" on purchases. So, if you buy someone a gift and send along a gift receipt the store will exchange it. That seems like a standard practice to me and not too big an inconvenience. As far as not issuing store credit for an exchanged item, that's kind of rough. There's so many scams operating these days I'd almost have to take the store's side on this one. At best you should probably only get an exchange valued at the lowest sale price the item has sold for.

As for returning a gift and wanting something of equal value, I think those salad days are nearly over. Christmas comes only once a year, and it's on the 25th, not the 26th or 27th when the malls are packed with people armspiledhigh with junk they want to trade in.

Not saying my logic is completely straight here but maybe you could find a better example, like stores that won't offer returns at all, or will only give store credit (like American Apparel as you mentioned). If I paid with a credit card, and you still stock the same merchandise in your store, I should get a full refund charged back to my card.

@schweetzy: I was just going to say Forever 21. I think they're so stingy about their return policy because their goods are so ephemeral; they're meant to sell fast to make room for new merchandise.

I still buy from F21 and cheap stores like that though, but I make sure to buy the most 'expensive' (which isn't actually expensive) option they offer because their super-cheap stuff like their $4 crew ts are of horrible quality (the seams quickly run askew as they failed to accurately establish the 'grain' along the fabric - I took a few classes on Apparel Design). I think F21 is just hoping that the limited returns time period will pass before you realize you bought cheap stuff that's already starting to fall apart.

I can't say anything about American Apparel's return policies but I will say I've stopped buying their stuff because I quickly realized how poorly constructed or designed they actually were. Their plain t-shirts, for example, skew and get stretched out of shape quickly because of poor fabric grain location (I think I mentioned that somewhere else here). I've had Hanes 'Beefy Ts' that look better, longer.

@kaylabear: That's odd, I've had excellent luck with their t-shirts. Dov Charney and the cumbersome return policy have forced me to reconsider spending my money there all the time, but their shirts are well-made enough, especially the nylon-blend model.

As someone from the UK I have to say most US stores seem to have a better return policy than store here. Apart from a few exceptions stores here will not give refunds/exchanges/credit for any item unless it is clearly faulty. If you buy something at a store, that's it. It's yours. If you change your mind, tough. From comments here it seems many US stores will give at least store credit for many reasons. (Online sales already have a 7 day refund policy, this proposal just extends it to 14 days.)

I used to work at Brookstone, and the return policy used to be different: A person could potentially return a 10 year-old product that they are unsatisfied and get an exchange at whatever price the product was last at. If you had a receipt, it guaranteed the price. However, people really abused this policy be returning things that they had obviously misused, or things that had cease to use because of ordinary wear-and-tear. I mean sure, if you have a weather-proof hammock for 20 years and you leave it out all year long, of course the rope will deteriorate. They changed the return policy because people weren't being responsible and taking care of their products. I hated working for Brookstone, but I honestly understand why they changed their policies.

While it is somewhat understandable, it really annoys me that electronics giants (Fry's NOT included, they have a great return policy!) don't take back open cameras, laptops, or other stuff from behind the counter.

Target once told me to go get a receipt from a gift-giver, because they "couldn't be sure" the item was actually from Target.

The item in question, some baby bedding, said TARGET EXCLUSIVE on the package. Way to go, Target.

I will admit that as much as I dislike Wal-Mart, their return policy is very generous. I had a friend receive a video game (no receipt) and he took it to Wal-Mart for an even exchange for a different game. No muss, no fuss.

In this day and age, a smart consumer would not buy any gifts without a gift receipt. I too work in retail and have seen far too often people take things off the shelf and try to return them, which is why my place of business (Borders) has recently decided that all returns must require receipts, either original or gift. If the recipient has such a problem or aversion with the purchase and they were not given a gift receipt, eBay or Craigslist it. Or use it for a white elephant gift.

"ask the gift-giver for the receipt, an obviously impossible request no half-decent person would make"...

--

Really? I always get a gift receipt for any gifts I'm giving.. and if I don't, I keep the original receipt for the 'giftee' in case they need it. I think it is a completely reasonable policy they have.

Carey, the name of your photo here is "So_Sad_My_Last_Cat_Photo.jpg"...is today your last day? We all love you!

If you really don't want to be tacky, but the store requires a sales receipt (and no "gift receipt" option is available), why not just put the receipt in a small, labeled and sealed envelope along with the gift. If they like it, they need not ever open the envelope. If they don't like it, the faux-pas of seeing the price is secondary to the convenience of returning it. If they are the type that secretly like to find out what people paid, you just granted them that much more pleasure.

(Admittedly, I'm inclined to the latter, although opposite to common motives-- I'm a cheapaholic, and lay praise and respect at the feet of those who managed to get me a gift below retail.)

Who cares about the worst return policy. How about listing the best - L L Bean; Lands' End; Costco.

I would like to mention that gift receipts are a scam sometimes, Sears only allows you to purchase another item in the store (basically store credit) if you give the person a gift receipt, they need an actual receipt to refund the purchase in money. No good if you don't want anything from Sears. I was in the line last year after Christmas when many people were complaining about this policy so I thought I would let you all know.

For the smart gift givers, give the ACTUAL receipt, we are gonna know how much you paid for it anyways when we go to exchange the product.

I am not sure if there are any other stores that don't give a refund with a gift receipt, but you guys might want to look into that or give the actual receipt.

Stores should at least have an exemption for after Christmas sales (this is for all stores), because there is a huge segment of the population that still doesn't give receipts. I think that items should be allowed to be returned within a week of December 25th without a receipt, giving those people at least a chance to get some store credit for an unwanted gift they do not want to ask for the receipt for. Its just good customer service. What little the store loses they will make up for in Customer Service. Maybe hire an extra door greeter or do the Wal-mart tag thing to make sure stuff isn't being pulled off the shelves and then returned.

@proskills: what do you mean "from behind the counter"?

TARGET is the WORST!

If you don't have a receipt you are allowed 2 return per year UNDER $35.00. it makes no difference if you just want another size or color of the exact same item.

I watched a woman try to exchange an unopened box of diapers and they refused.

And, of course, they just hand you a 800 number if you dare to complain.

I've just always have told people if their gift doesn't work out for any reason just to ask me for the receipt. That way they know you're cool with being asked for a receipt. I started telling people about this after watching a friend lost their receipts in the mess of a wedding shower.

I'm sorry, but this isn't exactly true. I just started working at Brookstone, and a lady came in just the other day with a toy she received as a gift. No gift receipt, just a broken toy, and we replaced it no problems. Now maybe this isn't what corporate policy dictates, but there are good people working at this company.

@proskills:

You're crazy. Fry's sucks with returns. They treat you like a criminal and they have the strictest return policies ever. If it even looks like you've might have broken it, they won't take it back. And on top of that, I hate how 90% of everything has that sticker that says it has been returned. I will not buy stuff that is returned.

Toys R Us has a horrible electronics return policy.

I went in there looking for, well, toys; and I happened across a speaker set from iHome that I thought would be kind of neat. The thing is though that I'm picky about speakers. I want to make sure they sound good before I spend money on them, especially the kind of money they were asking for this particular set.

I asked the guy behind the counter what the return policy was for electronics and he said that even unopened, with a receipt, I could only even-exchange for the same thing. No store credit, no refund.

He wouldn't let me open one in the store to listen to it either, so I told him that his store's return policy cost them a customer, and that I'd tell his manager the same. I wasn't all pissy pants about it, or screaming, I just said in my normal cadence that since they had an arcane policy for returning electronics, that I wouldn't be spending my money there that day or any other day.

I doubt he cared.

This totally depends on the area of the country/person at the counter. For example, in Raleigh/Durham, NC about a week ago my friend returned (for a store credit) a hard drive to Best Buy that he purchased SEVEN MONTHS AGO. That crap would never fly in Chicago.

Barnes & Noble doesn't take returns without reciepts either. Sucked for me, when two thoughtful awesome friends bought me the same exact graphic novel. I tried to return the one that was mint condition, still wrapped in plastic, and they wouldn't take it. I wound up regifting it.

@schweetzy: I don't even shop there and that's the first store that popped in my head.

I can tell ya for a fact working in customer service that return policies are NEVER set in stone. They serve as guidelines and a reference for customers but that's mostly it.

If you are very friendly and ask the CSA of a reasonable request, IMHO it should be granted.

If you come into the store pissed off, acting rude, and seem to stink of a sense of entitlement, I'll gladly point to the sign and the back of your receipt and no you to death.

It's all about behavior.

@ToddC: While you may not feel awkward giving someone the receipt to exchange/return what you got them, they indeed may feel it's rude to "disapprove" of a gift by exchanging it, and not want you to know.

@proskills: Are you serious? I hate Fry's return 'policy'! I bought a defective graphics card from them and they argued with me for thirty minutes about how it was my fault the card failed. (It wasn't, I bought two identical cards from them, one of which worked just fine) and then tried to refuse the return because they said the box was an item (it wasn't). The whole process made me so mad that I now consider them about as bad as Best Buy.

@Wolzard:

This. Our return policy where I work says you can't return a camera after 30 days or that you can't return it with a broken screen (when it's clearly your own damn fault) and yet I've seen both happen when the customer was polite the entire time.

The rude customers are told "Sorry but our policy is..." and shown the door.

@jurijuri: My friends did that. They won some random Sex and the City game at a residence hall thing. They knew they would never play it, so they took it to Wal-Mart and returned it and got a game they actually wanted instead.

@MissPeacock: Wouldn't it be funny if it was Nick_Denton_Can_Suck_My_Balls.jpg???

@Wolzard:

I have to agree that attitude is everything in many cases. Once I took a vacuum I bought at Target back because I didn't like it. Technically the return should not have been allowed. However, I stayed calm, was polite and the lady at the return desk just said "I'll just mark it defective" and gave me my money back.

@xman31: Was it Raleigh or Durham? Raleigh/Durham is the name of the airport.

Wizards of the Coast for their Magic Online program.

Their documents that lead you into a game state that if a tournament crashes, your entry fee will be refunded.

But in order to file for a refund, you have to go through their customer service online form, which forces you to agree to receive a coupon instead of an actual refund.

This coupon then expires in 30 days, and cannot be converted back to cash.

I work at a clothing retailer and we take back ANYTHING. It's a little nuts.

I had a woman come in with a tank top yesterday that was obviously worn, to the point that the straps were torn off. She left with a new tank top, and we didn't even put it into the computer.

I've taken back things that have been washed and worn, things that were intentionally damaged, things from 3 years ago. The manager always says "just take it back."

So I guess that would be a good return policy?

I don't see anything odd about the difference in American Apparel's in-store and online return policies. When I in a store I have the chane to touch, examine, and try the stuff on. When I shop online I don't get to see it until it arrived. I'd be furious if they wouldn't take it back no-questions-asked. That being said, I think the store policy should always offer money-back with a receipt, and always exchanges without a receipt.

Motherhood Maternity. It's AWFUL. I was a manager for that chain for a year. When I worked there, the merch had to be unworn, tags still attached, and for store credit/exchange only. Intimates, swimsuits, and anything deemed special occasion were final sale. No returns on intimates due to state health codes, but tell that to a 2 week postpartum woman who really needed a bigger size nursing bra RIGHT THAT MINUTE. SIGH...

We even had to explain the return process at the POS and have them initial the receipt to show we had explained and they understood that you WOULD NOT get your money back.

Of course I didn't want crying pregnant women hunting me down in the mall and throwing soft pretzel bites at me for not being able to return t-shirts that shrunk in the wash, so I would routinely reattach tags if the person was nice enough to me. One lady went all the way to corporate after I had her removed from the store for verbal assault because she came in cussing me out and almost came over the counter at one point, and she still didn't get her exchange.

The only way to get a true refund was very morbid. You could get one, but they made it really hard and it was only for women who lost their babies. They had to bring the clothes to the store, I had to ring up the return, fill out forms, send them to home office, and then they would determine if the return would be credited.

just a crap company all around.

@Wolzard:
Totally right. Treat people with respect and you will get far. However if one of my cashiers calls me over and you've just gotten through yelling and swearing at them, no way in heck am I going to go out of my way to help you.

@soloudinhere:

ah yes, good ole consumer renting.

A lot of stores have return policies as something to point to when they need to say no. Just because a store has a draconian return policy on the wall doesn't mean the store is nasty about returns... The sign is a minimum, not a maximum.

I know I had a retail job where I didn't really know our return policy because we didn't follow it. The only times we refused cash* returns were a) if we thought you'd stolen the product you were returning, or b) if we genuinely couldn't figure out what you needed.

People brought in six-month old products (I think the policy said three months) and we took the return (this was a drugstore, by the way, so even three months is a LONG time to come back in with some tape). They brought in part of a product, no box, no receipt, and we took the product. But I think our policy actually said three months with a receipt and probably that we had the option to give you store credit. I don't think that's draconian, for a drugstore that mostly sells consumables and low-ticket items, but it's a lot stricter than our practice.

So a draconian posted notice and an extremely customer-friendly actual policy are not at all incompatible.

*Well, if you paid by credit card we'd put it back on the card... But that's still money in your pocket, not store credit.

Although not technically a "store", my vote is for Ebay/Paypal. Where else can you buy an item from a "reputable" seller, (either not receive it or receive it damaged) and be unable to return/cancel the order because of draconian paypal rules.

We stopped going to Eddie Bauer a few years back just because of their return policy. Hubby tried to return a shirt given to him for Christmas. Even though he had the original purchase receipt, the store would only give him store credit for the item's current sales price. Since it was the day after Christmas they had almost everything on sale and this particular shirt was marked half off. We've never purchased anything from there again.

@chatterboxwriting: I do have to say..I avoid Wal-Mart at all costs but I did buy some chains for my car about 3 years ago and did not use them on my trip so I returned them. The person at the door just stands there doing nothing.... ..the greeter saw me get in line and yelled at me for not getting a little sticker from her...but I am pretty surprised she even noticed me come in..

ANTonline will not take anything back if its opened, regardless of if it ever worked or not.