...............stage of the thread.
Believe me, I know about those "failure to communicate" moments. Hahahaha
Posted on 02/18/2008 11:02:07 AM PST by Cagey
Jimmy Deignan's first time was with a $500 portable DVD player.
He bought it a few years ago at Best Buy for a Boston-to-Los Angeles flight, knowing he would return it for a full refund when he got back. More recently, in November, rather than spending $600 to rent a LCD projector for a business presentation, the Holden resident purchased one at Staples, then returned it a few days later and got his money back.
The way Deignan sees it, he is just a smart shopper: He gets the things he needs, uses them for as long as he wants, and saves money. But to retailers, this is wardrobing, a practice they say is unethical, damaging to their bottom line, and increasingly common.
Nearly two-thirds of merchants had items wardrobed in 2007, up from 56 percent the year before, the first year the National Retail Federation started tracking the trend. Merchants blame tough economic times and a "customer-is-always right" mentality gone too far. They say a growing number of shoppers feel entitled to return used items they no longer want, and probably could not afford in the first place - from costly cocktail dresses for big events to pricey plasma televisions bought exclusively to watch the Super Bowl. So, they are striking back, instituting more restrictive return policies, imposing restocking fees, and keeping a blacklist of serial wardrobers.
"The economy drives people into this behavior - going through their closets and looking for things they can return, regardless of when they bought it or how many times they've worn it," said Dan Doyle, vice president of loss prevention at Bealls Department Stores, a retailer based in Florida with stores across the Sun Belt.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
I practically have a heart attack out of embarrassment if I return something that got wrinkled in the bag.
i have been burned by best buy...bought a defective piece of merchandise, went back to the store (within an hour of purchase) and they would not take it back, but offered to send it out for repair (6 weeks minimun) that was 8 years ago, and I have not set foot in a best buy since then..
I hate the people who buy spamvertized products.
seems they can make a fortune renting the now used ones over and over again.
My husband likes the Banana flavored Power Bars.
I don’t know how anyone can do this and not feel a sliver of guilt over it.
...............stage of the thread.
Believe me, I know about those "failure to communicate" moments. Hahahaha
Unfortunately, there will always be a segment of society that looks for ways to take advantage of the goodwill of others - which is what a “no questions asked” return policy is. It’s disappointing to know there’s an entire segment of society that thinks this is just smart shopping. And we wonder why our kids don’t get the “give your word and then keep it” gestalt. Sad...
Colonel, USAFR
I take umbrage at that remark, I'm a Mason and everybody knows we control everything.
I can believe that. I have seen some old stuff on the shelves at Kroger. I think reason it happens there so much is their prices are so high on some stuff just sits on their shelves forever. I remember a few years back I had some coupons for free luzianne tea up to $2.00. I had a coupon for Wal-mart and one for Kroger. I used the Wal-mart one immediately. The Kroger one I had for like 2-3 years because the small package of tea was always over $2. And all during that time the same package of tea at Wal-mart was around $1.50. Kroger overprices alot of stuff. Another thing I don't like about them is they also ring stuff up at the wrong price. It's hard to catch while your there and it is a pain in the butt going back to complain about it.
LOL!
I can’t help him. They don’t package Banana in the Costco pack.
Are you sure it’s the same guy?
We had a woman who tried to return a dress she wore to a wedding which smelled like cigarettes, booz AND had a cigarette burn in it, BUT it still had the tag...dah...and she actually thought she would get her money back.
If you want to study insanity get a job in retailing.
My trailer park trash sister and her husband went to Costco in the months leading up to Y2K and stocked up on food. The week after they returned it all and Costco took it back!!
We know a guy who does this at Costco because they have a 6 month return policy, no questions asked. It is pure and simple manipulation and theft, at least the way he does it. The guy we know is loaded and yet he often returns items back to Costco because he is “done” with them.
I understand, to a point, why retailers are doing this, but there should at least be an exception related to cost. One video was $10.
I couldn’t even tell you what the jewelery department went through or the fur department. Prom season was a real treat too. If they could have, I’m sure they would have tried returning wedding dresses.
It got to the point where the designer department would almost demand that alterations be done because then the item couldn’t be returned.
The amount of stuff we wrote off as “damaged returns” was staggering.
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