“On November 29th, 2007, I purchased a Phillips HTS3544 HTIB (Home Theater in-a-box) online at circuit city.com for $197.47. This included the extra that I paid for expedited 3-day shipping. Done. I thought with the weekend coming up I would receive it around December 3rd-4th. And thats when the problems started rolling on it. The first problem was that the circuit city warehouse didn’t even notify FedEx until December 4th, and I didn’t receive the item until December 7th (which is 3-day on FedEx’s part). Okay, fine, I think Ill just call and have the extra charges refunded. But no way did I know this would spiral into what it has become.”
returns
Returning A Defective Home Theater To Circuit City Makes You Bang Your Head Against A Wall
By 12.28.07
How To Get Cash From Best Buy With Only A Gift Receipt
By 12.27.07
Reader Nick writes in with a bit of social engineering.
Return Policies For 15 Major Retailers
By 12.27.07
Hate that stationary bike your hint-dropping friend got you for Christmas? Want to return it so you can buy something useful like a cook book or ten pounds of fudge? Well Mouseprint rounded up return policies for fifteen major retailers to help you offload all those gifts you never wanted. Retailers readily accept returns if you have a receipt and the original packaging with price tags. Most stores charge a 15% restocking fee and want their merchandise back within a few weeks. Happy returning!
Best Buy Refuses To Accept Legit XBOX Exchange Because Of Typo
By 12.13.07
The XBOX that I bought on Black Friday had recently been scratching my discs.
Best Buy Sells You A Box Of Bathroom Tiles Instead Of Hard Drive, Won't Issue Refund
By 10.29.07
Sam says that he went to BestBuy.com and bought a hard drive for in-store pick up. What he got was a box of bathroom tiles. Now Best Buy is saying he’d better take it up with manufacturer and that they’re not going to issue a refund and that Sam should just take his loss. We don’t think he should. We think it’s not legal to sell someone a box full of bathroom tiles instead of a hard drive.
Man Attempts To Return Walmart Ammunition At 1300 Feet Per Second
By 9.10.07
It’s Walmart’s policy, clearly visible on their website and in their stores, that all sales of guns and ammunition are final. One San Diego man didn’t like that policy so he tried to return the ammunition in another way. By firing it in the Walmart parking lot.
Instruction Manual? Check. Battery? Check. Cords? Check. Camera? Whoops!
By 9.9.07
I purchased a camera from Target the day before my vacation. Later that night I opened the box and there was no camera! Everything else was in there the owner manual, battery, cords, etc. but no camera! I called Target customer service and they said to bring the box back.
Best Buy Sells You A Game That Is Missing Its Manual, Won't Exchange It Because It's Missing Its Manual
By 8.23.07
Jenn’s husband Dave bought a game on BestBuy.com then picked it up in store. By doing this he saved $10. Sadly for Dave and Jenn, the game was missing its manual and you need a code from the manual to play the game. Simple, enough, right? Just exchange the defective game for a new one at Best Buy.
14 Days To Return The iPhone, 10% Restocking Fee If Box Is Opened
By 6.27.07
If you’re planning on buying an iPhone, make sure you won’t have buyer’s remorse because if you do, it’ll cost you 10%. AT&T has released a PDF of “pre-purchase understandings” that read like warnings:
Target Tightens Return Policy: No Returns Over $20 Without A Receipt
By 5.7.07
Target is tightening up their return policy according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Currently Target doesn’t allow any cash/check returns without a receipt for items over $40, but in August that limit will drop to $20. Customers who bought their items with credit or debit cards will still be able to return items without a receipt.
Improved Xbox Warranty Is Victory For Gamer's Bizzare Project
By 4.4.07
Conor’s plan to return his broken Xbox in a 40ft shipping container is over, thanks to Microsoft’s improved Xbox warranty, which now says:
Target Revises Return And Exchange Policy: Items With No Receipt Worth $100 $20
By 4.1.07
…people need to know about this. This policy change will increase customer inconvenience and dissatisfaction in order to stop the 1% of shoppers who collect $200 a year by gaming Target’s current return policy.
Target is not worried. They are telling concerned cashiers, who must explain the change to potentially angry shoppers, “of every 100 guests, one will be affected.”
This Is Why Costco Revoked Their Super Nice Return Policy
By 3.19.07
This picture shows why Costco changed their really nice return policy recently: because of jerkwads abusing it. Here’s the IM conversation we had with a Costco employee who processed this return.
Best Buy Quotes Four Different Exchange Policies
By 3.3.07
Best Buy quoted four different policies to Mark when he tried to exchange his step-daugher’s iPod speaker. The speaker was purchased as a gift from BestBuy.com by her father, who is currently serving in Afghanistan.
After we received the items, we decided that she would take back the iPod speaker set because we already had one in the house. That way she could get something that she would enjoy, and she could still use our speakers. It sounded simple, just return the item, get a store credit, and let her pick something out. We were so wrong on that one.
Mark brought the speaker to Best Buy, where he was told that the stores could only return, not exchange items purchased through the website. Not wanting to argue, Mark went home and called customer service. A supervisor said only the corporate office could help. When Mark reached corporate, he was told stores could accept exchanges. The CSR gave Mark a case number and an 800 number to call if there was a problem exchanging the speaker at the store.
Costco Million$ Lost Spurred Return Policy Rip
By 2.26.07
Like momma always said, if you don’t stop using that thing, you’re gonna break it… and Costco Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti says the same of the cash-and-carry retailer’s decision to limit its generous return policy for electronics.
WSJ: Returning Things Is Hard
By 2.22.07
Working mom/WSJ reporter Suzanne Barlyn discovered it wasn’t easy to return a busted Tamagotchi. The Journal also tried to return a Target shirt that didn’t make it through the wash, a $13 camera from Toys “R” Us that broke after one use, a broken flat-panel TV from Amazon, a coat that didn’t fit from BabyGap, and an oversize duffel from L.L. Bean. At each turn, they discovered retailers tossing road-blocks in their way.
Who can blame them? Return fraud soaked retailers for an estimated $9.6 billion in 2006, according to the National Retail Federation. Returning stolen merchandise for a refund is the most flagrant offense, affecting 95% of retailers last year. Computer-generated, counterfeit receipts make the practice easier. So-called wardrobing — the unethical practice of returning nondefective, used merchandise — affected 56% of companies. About 69% of retailers have modified their return policies in response to fraud, according to NRF. Changes include shorter time limits, restocking fees and requirements for original packaging.
The Journal recommends making purchases with a credit card (paid in full each month,) since retailers look up purchases electronically. We agree, but for a different reason: credit cards allow you to dispute charges. Tell us about your fun experiences returning products in the comments. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
