Reader “Nick” manages a store that sells DVDs. And while store managers have many, many legitimate gripes that they could share with the Consumerist Nation, Nick has a very specific complaint about Walmart. It’s his belief that Walmart is making Americans stupid. Well, stupider. Hear him out.
He writes:
I’m a Manager at a DVD store, the golden policy on returns is… [We need a] receipt for any returns. 90% of the time when a customer tries to return a item without a receipt, they go off on me for poor customer service and tell me Walmart takes any returns without receipts. Countless times I been called racist names wile they storm out of the store (hopefully not knocking something over).
Tonight(2/21/2012) I had a man try to return a item he said he purchased from us back in December as a Christmas gift for a girlfriend. He said he lost the receipt on his way over.
I explained to him multiple things. Our receipt policy and our 30 day return policy. Even tho I been taking back returns as old as black Friday on the first of February and receipt less returns 3 weeks after Christmas. No way I can return a item from December now.
The kicker is we never carried the item. Man went off a tangent stating the consumer is always right and that Walmart take back items without receipts all the time. He stated he would not leave the store till I give him his money back.
Tried to explain it all to him clearly again, he just kept going in a circle about Walmart and how unfairly I’m treating him. After the 5th time I tried to explain why I cant do the return walked over to the main register started to yell that the store steals from hard working Americans and block people from using it. I had to call security to have him removed.
At this point I’m convinced that Walmart is making everyone an idiot.
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If you want to return an item without a receipt then you have to say it was a “GIFT”. This is the reason you don’t have a receipt. You also have to make sure Walmart sells that item. Their own store policy states that gifts without receipts will be given store credit. So take your gift card and go crazy! It works every time because it is their store policy. Read the policies and know what you are doing please.
Sounds more like an entitlement problem than a Walmart problem.
Walmart isn’t making people “stupider”, it’s part of the culture cog that breeds self-entitlement.
Next time just suggest that he take it to Walmart and return it there.
money makes people evil…..
No, money just brings out the evil that’s already there.
If they customer keep saying that Walmart = no receipts required, just tell the customer to go return the item at Walmart! Problem solved! :O
Most people are just stupid in general.
the customer is not always right! i used to laugh when idiots would say that to me.
Wal-Mart has a pretty generous return policy for most retailers. I worked at a Best Buy in Fayetteville, AR (down the street from Wally-HQ in Bentonville) and BBY’s 30 day return policy and restocking fees confused the hell out of people.
While I don’t think Walmart has anything to do with this, I do have to wonder if Walmart themselves is the idiot… I don’t understand why they don’t have the capability to look up your receipt if you present the card it was purchased on. Lowe’s does this. I’m pretty sure Target does too. Implementing a system like this allows for more reciepts matched up with returns… unless they’re doing this to force more usage of store credit.
Nordstrom also has a very liberal return policy, they handle each return on a case by case basis. I was able to return a mother of pearl ring that I had for several months that ended up cracking. They still carried the ring so they accepted the return and sent me a new one (since the store I was at didn’t have it in stock) and didn’t charge me anything for shipping either.
Nordstrom also has awesome customer service and helpful/happy people. I had a sales guy running around for me in the shoe dept the other day, b/c I only had about 10 minutes to complete my transaction, I bought two pairs of shoes, the third pair they shipped to me, again at no cost b/c the poor guy couldn’t find the match to one shoe.
It isn’t just Wal Mart.
I used to work at a True Value Hardware store.
Wal Mart’s house brand is “Great Value”.
I lost count how many time we had to explain to people that you can’t return something you did not buy here. I remember one customer who actually did return an item. The boss tracked them down and told them to come back and get their item and return the refund.
Another was Ace Hardware products, people would argue that they were the same as True Value because we were both hardware stores.
Honestly, I don’t have an issue with such a policy. I try to take some personal accountability/responsibility and keep receipts for items I might need to return. I also put gift receipts with items I purchase for gifts whenever possible and give those with the gift, so the recipient will be able to do a smooth return if needed.
Where I work, we will take back certain items without a receipt, especially if the item is defective. (Defective is easier – we keep the broken item and swap it out for one that isn’t broken). If we know that the item has been on sale, we will refund the sale price to the customer. Without the receipt, we do not know what the orig. price was, and giving full price back in store credit on an item that was bought on sale is *technically* a loss.
Some items we will not refund at all because it would be a health and safety violation (food, otc medicine), or because they are easily read before returning (magazines).
Customers pull crap no matter what. Did you explain Walmart has a 90-day return policy and with reciept it has to be on the reciept and if no reciept that you have to have the form of payment, and the item has to have been purchased from them? Did you tell the customer it is thier responsibility to educate themselves on the return policy? You seem to be more than far for going over the return policy.
I was at a Borders and heard a one end convo on the phone, the customer kept trying to trick her to say opened packages can be returned. She kinda did say it but retracted and kept repeating un opened. I later went down stairs and this lady got this employee upset at the registers claiming she called a bit ago and saying someone said opened dvds was ok. I almost opened my mouth to stick up for borders. Maybe next time this happens I will.
Here’s your sign: “No returns or exachanges without receipts, no execptions.”
They don’t put movies for smart people in those $5 bins!
It might not be stupidity though. Some people abuse Walmart’s return policy on purpose by returning items they did not actually purchase.
I have had ‘friends’ return gifts they did not like for example to Walmart with no receipt just because they would rather have the money or credit. Had a friend that got 5 extra of an item (and was not charged for it) through the online store and they ‘returned’ the extras for credit (after they told him to keep it when he asked if he should send it back).
So, maybe unethical but not stupid generally. Now in this example, getting angry because another store won’t do it? Yeah, I would call that stupid.
Walmart is not making people idiots, it only attracts them.
This guy is wrong to blame Walmart. He’s also wrong to think the customer is stupid; he’s trying to rip off the store. He is right, though, that he shouldn’t have to accept the return, especially when they don’t even sell that item. I was kinda hoping he was going to say “but sir, we’re a DVD shop. You’re trying to return a canned ham.”
I’m glad Walmart has that liberal return policy. The electronics they sell tend to break WAY more frequently than other stores, in my experience. I’ve bought and returned about 5 or 6 coffee choppers, a couple of cameras, blenders, and laptop cooling pads. Most failed within a period of a day to 3 or 4 months later.
Electronics I’ve purchased at Target hold up much better. However, after spending about $75 on one from Target that failed after the 30-day return window, I’d rather gamble with Walmart, knowing I can return it instead of being stuck.
I do not know this for sure, but I suspect that the reason that Walmart has such liberal return policy is because Walmart is going to charge the cost back to its vendor. I have heard that Walmart will even require vendors to issue credits for items that came from a different vendor. Large stores such as Walmart and Home Depot have tremendous power over their vendors. If a vendor does not like the way they are treated by the super stores, the super store will just find a more compliment vendor. With a situation like this, why shouldn’t Walmart be willing to take anything back.
I guess I just don’t understand why so many people dislike Walmart. If you’re one of them, just don’t go there. Personally I like that I can shop at one store and get most everything I want in one place, and generally at a good price and quality.
In my opinion, I feel that in most ways Walmart gets it right. Good price, good quality and good service. If Walmart feels that taking returns without a receipt is fair, it must be, or else they obviously wouldn’t do it, and they’d be out of business like so many others that haven’t treated their customers right.
I guess I just don’t understand why so many people dislike Walmart. If you’re one of them, just don’t go there. Personally I like that I can shop at one store and get most everything I want in one place, and generally at a good price and quality.
In my opinion, I feel that in most ways Walmart gets it right. Good price, good quality and good service. If Walmart feels that taking returns without a receipt is fair, it must be, or else they obviously wouldn’t do it, and they’d be out of business like so many others that haven’t treated their customers right.
My guess the OP is someone who doesn’t speak English as their primary language. The point they are trying to make is valid too bad the grammar took away from the actual message.
I always thought that was a dumb business policy that actually encourages shoplifting. A friend who is a police officer told me drug addicts often boosted items from Walmart and other retail chains and easily took them back to Walmart to get a cash refund.
What boggles my mind is that they permit returns. Now if it was UNOPENED with a reciept, that is different. If not, I’d say hell ^$#% no, because where’s the proof you didn’t just make a copy of that disc and want to return it. That very reason is why every game store and shop does NOT take returns. Hell, Even WAL-MART has it clearly listed they don’t do returns on electronics that are opened and even then, it’s 14 days with reciept only.
Listed 4 times at the Customer Service desk… even in huge block letters to boot.
There could be a clear policy that says, “If it has been opened and you want to return it, you must show that it was somehow defective before you opened it. Receipt or not, within 14 days or not, we have no legal obligation to accept any returns for non-defective merchandise. We accept unopened merchandise as a courtesy only and reserve the right to charge a re-stocking fee.”