Posted on 02/09/2018 11:48:57 AM PST by Leaning Right
L.L. Bean's outdoor gear — including its signature Bean Boots prized by campers and hipsters alike — is no longer guaranteed for life.
In a letter to customers Friday morning, the company said it has updated its return policy to give customers one year to return purchases, with a receipt. The previous lifetime guarantee, which enabled customers to return products years — or even decades — after purchase, has long been a selling point for the company.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
I can’t really blame this on immigrants. Our morality on such things went down the craphole in the 60’s with the Abbie Hoffmann Hippie crowd. The guy actually wrote a book on how to survive by stealing things and copping freebies. That ethos pretty much pervades all Libs now.
I shopped in their ME store about 15 years ago and saw a lot of poorly made chinese goods with huge markup.
40 some years ago my mom worked in a bra and girdle department in a major department store. Styles really didn’t change much over the years. Women would buy a new bra. A week later they would bring an old worn out one with the new receipt and want their money back.
Although personal integrity may be going down, slime bags have always been here. Thank God at least girdles are gone!
I am aware of seasonal resturaunts that used to outfit their waitstaff with bean clothes and return them in the autum. One can only have good policies that require honor, if there is honor pervasive in the culture.
Sounds like a good decision.
I think their policy is a great one ... if you’re living in a society primarily composed of decent honest people.
When the takers and scammers become legion, they ruin it for the rest of us.
It’s not a dumb policy if people are fundamentally honest. They no longer are.
Yes, of course I’d have my engine replaced if it died during the warranty. That is the whole point of a car warranty - to guarantee that my car lasts at least as long as the warranty period.
I think the point the LLBean policy was not to replace clothing that I’d worn to shreds, but to let (honest) people know that they would not be hassled with red tape if there was a real problem. The scammers ruined this policy. Why “lifetime”? Because unlike a car, which you use almost every day, you might only use your toboggan a few times a year. You might only wear your hiking boots a few times a year. If am a weekend hiker who only hikes once or twice a year, I shouldn’t have to find out the next year when I get my boots out to wear for the third time that they have fallen apart.
I also recall that Nordstrom’s used to have a no questions asked return policy. They would accept returns without receipts and even sometimes accept returns and exchanges on items they never carried or sold. Their belief at the time was that few people would take unfair advantage, and even among those who did, they might end up being customers in the future or the good word of mouth and positive PR would offset any losses. But I think they changed or cracked down on that not long ago.
I think it was a returned plaid snow suit from 1972 that sent them over the edge.
Used to be (still is) a problem with expensive suits and tuxedo, prom dress, wedding dress. EBay has serious problems, because they seem to think they are LL Bean now as well. Liberals are usually a “want somethin’ for nothin” type as my dad used to call ‘em. Whether at the national or federal level right down to local.
Ex: Some of the taverns around where I worked used to have free snacks after 5 pm on certain days to drum up business. They might cook up a few pizzas and cut ‘em up into squares. That kind of thing. Just kind of a nice gesture, ya know? What the hell.
You’d hear some idiot or two bragging about how they skipped breakfast and lunch to take advantage of “free food” and inhale almost all of it. Result? No more free food nights. Stupid fu&@ers.
“American system of government was designed for a moral and religious people. It is wholly unsuited to any other.”
John Adams
Back in the day I used to buy Craftsman tools exclusively because of their lifetime replacement policy.
Back in the day I used to buy Craftsman tools exclusively because of their lifetime replacement policy.
“Has the quality of their products deteriorated in recent years?”
Speaking from personal experience, YES. I bought two shirts there a couple of months ago, and they were shirts that looked like they came off the rack at Walmart. Not long after, I bought slippers for my wife. They didn’t fit so she returned them and it took them more than a month to respond. They also did not give her full credit for the return. They knocked about $10 off of the price and it was for merchandise only, no cash.
Screw LL Bean. Done business with them for a long time, but no longer.
I found a rusty old Craftsman 1/4” socket wrench, took it in and they gave me a new one!............
One of the most prominent (and most evil, IMO) Leftists ever to live in this country, Saul Alinsky, bragged all the time (including an interview with Playboy) about how he used to cheat cafeterias out of meals.
He was so damned proud of it. Now, I can understand someone who is starving or undernourished being unable to eat and resorting to that, but...I cannot fathom how they can be PROUD of it and brag about it.
Which is what this person I knew did. He thought it was great. I still shake my head...
About six years ago, I bought one blue dress shirt from LL Bean, and six blue dress shirts from Sears. I still wear one of the Sears shirts to work every day. The L.L. Bean started fraying at the pocket and collar after one year. I never bothered to send it back. I DID order six more shirts from Sears about a year ago though in case they go broke. That way I should make it through with them to retirement.
It’s about time.
You still get a year,with receipt.
.
Their slippers are all I ever want to wear in the house.
I worked for a company that had a policy like that and we sold marine supplies. A live aboard ordered a tv antenna for his sailboat ( very expensive back then). After he received it he put it on his boat and sent the old one back in the packaging and demanded a refund because he claimed we sent him the old beat up one. We know what he did because of the serial numbers that didn’t match. However because of our return policy we had to “eat it”.
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