my SC for today

[KellyHabersham]

"Bertha" (my co-worker) rather took over for me when dealing with this customer, but anyhow.......the woman was wanting to return a purse as it didn't go as well with some shoes as she'd thought, which was fine. She did not have a receipt, but did have the price tag & CRL label, but for whatever reason, the terminal wasn't giving me the option to credit it back to her debit card. The customer was pleasant up until this point, but then she was flipping out and acting like I didn't know how to do my job, accusing me of swiping her debit card too fast and all this nonsense. Then "Bertha" steps in, she ends up calling one of the managers on duty and is given the steps to work-around the issue. In the meantime, I'm thinking that something must've been going on with the SC, because there was NO reason to get all bent out of shape like that, and most people wouldn't have acted that way just because there was a small problem processing a return. But, this is a prime example of why I've developed a severe disliking of doing returns where a customer doesn't have the receipt, price tage, and CRL label, because customers almost NEVER understand why I can't process their return in the exact way they want it.

[katie kaboom]

This is why they need to stop accepting returns without a receipt. It encourages people to be too damn lazy to bother keeping the receipt in the first place.

[KellyHabersham]

You'll get no arguement from me there, as while I know the CRL label is supposed to be another way the customer can do a return, there are just some transactions that don't work smoothly, for whatever reason I don't know. One thing that would definitley help is if sales associates had the option to do an override and give a cash return when that wasn't how the customer originally paid for the item.......this is especially a problem when someone is returning a gift, and would prefer cash instead of having it credited back to the giver's credit/debit card.

[Chattyaholic]

I was returning a small portable CD player at Wal-Mart last year, I'd only had it a couple of days and it stopped working. No, I didn't drop it or abuse it in any way. It was sitting on a shelf and just quit. I still had the box/receipt so took it back. I didn't want my money back, I wanted another one like it, just one that worked.

Next to me was a guy trying to return a walkman type CD player. He had no original packing/box, no receipt and the thing was so beat up. I couldn't imagine trying to return something that was obviously USED like that! The customer service girl kept telling him that without the receipt she couldn't take it back. He argued with her a few minutes but she stuck to her guns and he ended up leaving. Good for her!

[Catwoman2965]

Oh i hear you on difficult returns. We will pretty much take anything back, no time limit, even, as the manager who hired me said 'if the cat peed on it" - but depending on whether or not you have a receipt, determines what you get.

Return with receipt gets you credit in the original form of payment, whether it be cash, merch. credit or to your credit card. we will even credit your store account, if you choose.

No receipt, you get a choice of having your STORE charge credited, or a merch. credit. No exceptions. we can't credit your visa, am ex, etc. with no receipt.

So i have a customer a few weeks ago, returning 3 items. 2 are current, with tags and receipt. no problem there, we can credit her mastercard. The third item is older, and damaged, which she didnt' notice at the time of purchase. But she has no receipt. So, we can give her a merch credit, as she doesn't have a store charge...well, you would think we told her she couldn't have ANYTHING back - she ranted and raved, all because we woudl not credit the skirt to her mastercard. She kept saying "but its damaged" -

so the manager gets involved, and she continues her tirade - um, we already agreed to take it back, and the fact its damaged has no bearing - but she wasn't having any of it. on and on, even when we told her that the system WOULD NOT let us do a return with no receipt and credit a random card.

she finally left, without returning it, presumeably to go and find her receipt. I hate customers like that. Our store bends over backward to do things for them, and yet they STILL insist on getting their way, even when it goes against company policy. THank goodness the manager is one who will stand up to SCs.

And one other note; if you use our store charge, for every $500 you spend, you get a $25 certificate...the catch is, when you use the cert. for purchases, you can then ONLY pay the balance with your store charge; our system won't let any other form of payment be used.

The hardest thing to get through to a customer is what happens when they return stuff, having paid with their reward cert. Unlike a lot of other stores, we won't take it away, but will credit that amount back to your charge. So for example, if you spent $85, and use $50 in dividends, you initially have a $35 charge on your account. But if you return that $85 worth of stuff, you will get an $85 credit to the account. Some customers just don't get it, no matter how many times you try and explain. It's simple; we don't re-issue the cert, but give you credit. But they always think we are trying to cheat them somehow!

[KellyHabersham]

One thing I think would make it easier is if we had things set up like they do at Hot Topic - there's a computer with Internet access next to one of the cash registers, so the employees are able to access the website, and look items up if you have a SKU number, or at least a description of the item.

[WSDuckie]

this is especially a problem when someone is returning a gift, and would prefer cash instead of having it credited back to the giver's credit/debit card.

I just want to say that as someone who works in Customer Service, giving back cash to a gift recipient would be a nightmare for my company. My reasoning for issuing merchandise cards to gift recipients is this: you did not spend any money with my company, you don't get money back, you may purchase something else from my company with a card that is only good at one of my stores.

Now, for some stores that don't sell high dollar items like we do, giving cash back may be okay, but I'd still favour giving merchandise credit to people returning, unless they have proof of purchase.

That's just my

[Catwoman2965]

We do that as well, if you have a gift receipt, if you choose, and most people don't , your return can be credited back to the purchaser's credit card, or you can have your store charge credited (even if you didn't buy the item) or a merch credit.

But yes, many people feel that since the item was a gift, and they dont' want it, they should get cash back...um hello, generally, in retail, you get back the form of original payment, OR a credit. no cash for you!

still...they whine and moan about how its not fair, and i don't shop here, etc etc etc. well, take that up with the person who bought you the gift, not us!

[TeslaRecoil]

I've always tried to enforce the rule that rteurns are to be processed based on the original method of payment, with a few minor tweaks:

Cash paid = Cash back
Credit paid = Credit back
Debit paid = 1) Credit back (if the card has a MC/Visa/etc... logo), or 2) Cash back (rare)
Check paid = Cash back (after 5 days)
Gift Card paid = Gift Card back
No receipt = 1) Cash back if under $5 or 2) Gift card (if I decide to accept the return)

I've had fight after fight over it, but I stuck to my guns. If the DM wanted to give them something else, that was his/her business.

Does any place give cash back for purchases made with a gift card? I mean, does policy allow for this (not do they do it to placate an annoyign customer)?

[katie kaboom]

.......this is especially a problem when someone is returning a gift, and would prefer cash instead of having it credited back to the giver's credit/debit card.

At my store we usually just give the person a store credit or a gift card for that. But oh boy, so many of them will try to get cash back regardless of how the purchase was paid initially. Look folks, we're not a bank. Go somewhere else to get cash.

[BookstoreEscapee]

BN gives refunds in whatever method they paid, with the exception of debit. If you used a debit card you get cash back (they can credit the card if the customer wants but it can take a couple of days for the money to go back in the account, which is the reason for the cash back in the first place). Actually, if you cancel a debit transaction, the register will give the cash back instead of reversing the card transaction, unlike with credit cards.

In some stores (Store2 was a test store for this a couple years ago, it was only in certain districts at the time; I don't know if it has been rolled to the whole company yet) if you don't have a receipt and you don't want to exchange right then, you have to fill out a form and your store credit gets mailed to you from corporate, which takes up to 3 weeks. You have to show ID and the cashier has to fill in what kind of ID you used and the expiration date. It surprised me how many people were OK with this; we were expecting a lot more arguements when we first found out about it. But if you were really sucky from the start, it just increased your chances of getting a $2.47 credit in the mail. Normally an amount that small I would have just given cash, but if you start out being a pain in the ass well, you can wait!

I hated the people who tried the "But I don't shop here!" excuse when they tried to return a gift without the receipt. You're telling me that in this huge bookstore, with a music department and cafe, you can't find something to buy?

[KellyHabersham]

Well, in my case, the customers who want a cash refund when returning a gift usually aren't trying to be an SC, they just don't understand that the terminal doesn't always give me that option, and I have no control over that. Which again, is one reason why I think that all associates should have "override capability", this would save alot of time and trouble for everyone. Not that I'm trying to sound all negative, but it's becoming more of a problem that customers blame me for things I have no control over, so I'm somewhat in the process of finding another job.