Will bringing their online purchases back to a physical returns counter make shoppers happier about the shopping process, and maybe cause them to buy things at an actual mall? A startup called HappyReturns hopes so, hoping to work with a variety of online retailers to collect their stuff at malls without having to pay for return shipping. Will it save shoppers work? Not necessarily, and they might actually shop at the mall. [More]
many happy returns
Here’s Where The Gifts You Return To The Store Will End Up
By 12.28.15
Are you planning to return a gift this holiday season? The odds are good that you’re returning something: as many as 15% of all items bought online are returned to the retailer, and the number is even higher for items where fit and color can vary, like clothing. When an item has been opened or is otherwise unfit to go back on the store shelf, where does it end up? It goes to a growing industry of specialized liquidators. [More]
Which Retailers Have Changed Their Return Policies This Holiday Season?
By 12.16.15
While it’s always important to keep a store’s return policy in mind when you shop, during the holiday season, return policies are extra important. That’s what happens when we give gifts that other people may not want. Every year, ConsumerWorld’s Edwin Dworsky compiles a list of major retailers’ return policies, comparing them to each other and to previous years’ policies. What do stores have planned for remorseful buyers and giftees in 2015 and early 2016? [More]
Comcast Does Something Not-Awful, Teams Up With UPS Store For Easier Equipment Returns
By 10.30.14
From stories of waiting hours in line at a local cable office just to hand back your old cable box to tales of being billed hundreds of dollars for equipment that get “lost” in shipping even though you have tracking info showing they were sent back, one of the most frequent complaints we hear about cable companies is that it’s a huge pain in the derriere to return equipment. Comcast, in its bid to do things that aren’t always horrible and anti-consumer, announced today that its customers can now go the UPS store to return their Comcast stuff. [More]
This Will Make You Feel Old: Bar Code Scanning Just Turned 40
By 6.26.14
Get a flaming cake out and take a deep breath, party people, because it’s time to feel old: The Universal Product Code was first put into use only 40 years ago, when a $0.67 10-pack of Wrigley’s gum was scanned by a cashier at an Ohio grocery store on June 26, 1974. Yes, bar codes have only been on the things we buy for 40 years. [More]
More Holiday Buying Leads To More Returns
By 12.15.11
Retailers that rejoiced over big Black Friday numbers that kicked off a strong holiday sales season now have reason for pessimism. More buying means there’s also more buyer’s remorse, with a National Retail Federation survey finding that retailers will refund 9.9 cents for every dollar they take in, due to returns. The figure is up 0.1 cents from last year, and nearly three cents higher than in a better economic climate. [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]
