Nobody really wants their pocket to explode or their purse to catch fire. That’s bad. So owners of defective Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones, which have a manufacturing defect in the battery that can lead it to catch fire or explode, have been told to exchange theirs. That, however, is proving much easier on paper than in reality. [More]
exchanges
Target Employee Lies To Me About Refund Policy, Short-Changes Me 25% Of Purchase Price
By 1.25.13
If you buy something for $10 and have to return it a couple weeks later because it’s defective, you should get the full $10 back, even if it’s since gone on sale, right? This is a lesson that never made it to the employees of one Target in Tennessee. [More]
Is It Impolite To Return Or Exchange Gifts?
By 12.28.10
Returning gifts can be a tricky and sensitive proposition, especially if the gift is from a loved one who really thought they had found just the right thing for you. So to help you navigate this minefield, we turned to etiquette expert Anna Post of the Emily Post Institute for advice. [More]
Woman Finds Sleeping Pills In Beef Bought At Walmart
By 9.23.10
Butcher! There’s a sleeping pill in my beef! A woman is upset after buying meat at Walmart for stroganoff, only to crack open the beef and find two sleeping pills inside. [More]
SIGG CEO Contacts Customer, Restores Faith In Bottle Exchange
By 12.31.09
A few months ago, SIGG USA announced that the plastic liners of their metal water bottles actually contain the dread plastic additive bisphenol-A (BPA.) Since avoiding BPA is the reason for the popularity of metal water bottles in the first place, SIGG offered to exchange the thousands of the offending bottles for shiny new ones. Many Consumerist readers have written in to share their tales of mixups, confusion, and mysterious $50,000 gift certificates in dealing with the replacement program, but Matt actually had a pleasant experience, and he shared it with Consumerist. [More]
Radio Shack Replaces Its Crappy Mouse Again And Again
By 12.10.09
Bobby has found that Radio Shack’s Gigaware wireless mouse to be shoddily made and breakdown-prone, but is happy that the company seems happily eager to replace it as many times as necessary. [More]
Hard Rock Sends Collectible Glasses To Make Up For Gaffe
By 12.7.09
A mix-up at the Hard Rock Cafe gift shot left Simon with different keepsake booze glasses than the ones he tried to buy. He sent a letter to the restaurant’s GM, who made things right. Simon writes: [More]
*Guy Finds Customer Service For Bogs Walks On Water
By 10.21.09
Sergio writes in to gush about exchange service he received for Bogs waterproof shoes. The pair he ordered didn’t fit right, and the company sent him out another pair immediately, not even requiring him to send back the original order.
Toys R Us Wants Your Recalled Baby Gear
By 8.26.09
Responding to a rash of recalls involving cribs and other baby paraphernalia, Toys R Us is starting a trade-in program Friday, asking for recalled items in exchange for discounts on new stuff.
U.S. Open Backtracks After Telling 42,500 People They'll Get No Refund For Spending A Day In The Rain
By 6.21.09
The U.S. Golf Association initially told 42,500 U.S. Open ticketholders who spent most of Thursday standing in the rain that they would be unable to refund or exchange their tickets. Then New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo stepped in and convinced the USGA to make the washed-out tickets valid for entry on Monday. Tomorrow’s forecast: rain.
Mindy Is Not A Beanbag
By 6.19.09
The founder of Sumolounge.com, an online beanbag company known for high quality products and good prices but not necessarily great follow-through on the shipping/delivery side of things, responded personally to our post yesterday on Eric’s troubles with them. Among other things, he says our theory about Mindy is incorrect: “She is not a bean bag.”
US Cellular Offering Free Battery Replacements To Customers
By 5.15.09
If you bought your cellphone from US Cellular in the past 18 months, as of this week you can get your phone’s battery replaced for free. We’ve contacted US Cellular to ask them to answer a couple of questions, namely whether the replacement battery is brand new and whether a customer can swap more than once. If they get back to us, we’ll post an update. In the meantime, if you’re a customer of theirs and your phone’s battery is dying, just stop by any US Cellular store to make the exchange.
Radio Shack Punches Customer In Face
By 4.29.09
Instead of getting his money back, one Radio Shack customer got a sock in the jaw when he tried to return something. According to the police report, the employee wouldn’t let the customer return the item. When the customer asked to speak to a manager – kapow! And you thought the worst thing you had to worry about was if you kept your receipt!
Virgin Mega-Liquidation: All Sales Final, Even On Defective Merchandise
By 4.7.09
Regular readers of the site already know this, but we will tell you again anyway — in a liquidation “all sales are final” means just that. You will not get an exchange if your item is defective. Period. You lose. Good day, sir!
Best Buy Goes Above And Beyond To Make Up For Selling Busted Camera As New
By 3.11.09
Michael is happy to report that he got a really great resolution from Best Buy, who had sold his grandma a broken camera as new and then accused them of breaking it themselves. The shots of Best Buy employees Michael found on the camera, and the repugnant attitude he encountered when they tried to return it and disinterest when he complained to corporate multiple times, only made the story that much juicier. After Micheal’s story went up on Consumerist and hit Digg, Best Buy contacted him. Here’s what they did to make nice:
ALDO Refunds My Sunglass Money
By 1.8.09
A few weeks ago I wrote a peeved post about how I was mad that ALDO wasn’t refunding my money after sending me the wrong pair of sunglasses, broken. Instead, they seemed to be giving a sucker’s prize of only free shipping. My finger was quivering on the chargeback button, I said. But thanks to a few of your comments, I realized that while their wording was unclear about what the next action was supposed to be, ALDO had approved my return, I just needed to either ship it back to them or take it into a store. I did the latter, and they processed my refund promptly. Hooray.
Which Store Has The Worst Return Policy?
By 10.12.08
As part of their multi-pronged effort to fight the financial Godzilla besieging the world economy, the European Commission today proposed a 14-day no-questions-asked return period for any online purchases made within the European Union. The “two-week cooling-off period” is designed to give consumers a chance to shop across borders for the best prices without worrying about return policies. The practically adorable European decision to respond to a financial crisis with consumer protections made us want to look inwards at some of the onerous return policies Americans face.
