Trifeca of....weirdness.

[Hon'ya-chan]

That's not a technicality, that's just grasping at straws.

So I get referred a guy that has no receipt and wants to return stuff (He didn't have the stuff, he just wants to know it's okay). He's not accepting the fact that No Receipt = No Return. And he's getting belligerent in my constant repeating of the policy and pointing it out on the counter, the paper stuck to the back of the computer, and at the beginning of the line.

Oh, but he then throws the most weirdest curve ball i've gotten in my years in retail:

He argues, and I am seriously not making this up, that his Credit Card Statement is technically a receipt. Ergo, we should accept it as fact.

I tell him in plain terms: "No Original Receipt, No Return. Ya want to argue it further, take it up with the manager tomorrow, because two people have already told you the policy, and that's the store policy."

He leaves in an angry state, and I warn the SM about the guy just in case he's determined enough to try and argue his point over the phone. Of course, if he only had been nice.....I think we could've let it slide.

Another service that nobody offers....except us!!

Guy comes up and asks me if we do faxes.

I'll let you ponder that one given that I work in a bookstore. With Books. And Audio Books. And Manga. And Games. And Toys. And cute girls. Well okay, one cute girl.

Um, what just happened?

Girl rushes into our store crying hysterically, and make a beeline for the other exit. A customer runs after her, while I go and call Security.

The woman who chased the girl runs back and the girl is shouting obscenities. Oy.

[crazylegs]

As an aside in the UK a credit card statement (or bank statement) is considered proof of purchase for the purposes of returning goods, was he British (and if so I wholeheartedly apologise)?

[Hon'ya-chan]

As an aside in the UK a credit card statement (or bank statement) is considered proof of purchase for the purposes of returning goods, was he British (and if so I wholeheartedly apologise)?

Dunno, too busy being a jackass to ID. Thought you Brits don't like to complain, or is Dom Joly just full of shit?

[poofy_puff]

I have heard of the credit card statement being accepted as a receipt. It is one of the advantages of using a credit card. This has been applied to software, such as when proving the purchase in order to qualify for a free upgrade.

While the store policy may be explicit, it does not necessarily reflect policies of the broader reality. This doesn't mean the broader reality is disqualified. In other words, it depends on what the contract between the merchant and the credit card companies says.

[crazylegs]

Dunno, too busy being a jackass to ID. Thought you Brits don't like to complain, or is Dom Joly just full of shit?

We don't tend to as a rule...

[persephone]

I have heard of the credit card statement being accepted as a receipt. It is one of the advantages of using a credit card. This has been applied to software, such as when proving the purchase in order to qualify for a free upgrade.

While the store policy may be explicit, it does not necessarily reflect policies of the broader reality. This doesn't mean the broader reality is disqualified. In other words, it depends on what the contract between the merchant and the credit card companies says.

Yes, but I also see a little bit of a difference here. Buying software from a company and using the credit card statement for proof of purchase date might work, because the amount can probably easily be tied to said software and it would be easy to figure out what was bought. At a store like the OPs, a bookstore, just because you made a purchase that shows up on the statement, doesn't mean you purchased the specific item you are showing. Especially in a case of a limited time return policy, how do you prove that THAT purchase was actually the one that THIS item was on without the original receipt?

[Demonoid Phenomenon]

Plus sales receipts tend to have all sorts of information that may need to be entered into the register/computer. This info wouldn't be on a credit card statement.

[poofy_puff]

Like I said, it would depend on the contract between the retailer and the cc company.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I once did a return using a credit card statement but it was a store credit only deal.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I've had people try to use a credit card statement in lieu of a receipt. Not as weird as you think. Problem is, as was already pointed out, the CC statement does not list what was purchased, only that a purchase was made and for what amount. That doesn't help most retail stores. At my company they put in the original transaction number and date from the receipt, also (though it's not strictly necessary for the return). The receipt also tells how much they paid for that particular book. If they had a discount, the CC statement does not reflect that. If a store accepted that, it'd be an easy way to scam for more money than you actually spent. Very few customers without a receipt actually admit to having used a discount on the item (though it does happen; there are honest people out there still).

[Dave1982]

Thankfully I didn't see this much (and have yet to see it since switching departments, knock on wood), but FRAKKING HELL I hated it when people tried to tell me that a credit card statement was somehow equivalent to an itemized receipt!!!!!

Does it tell me WHAT you purchased? NO!

Does it tell me the individual items cost? NO!

Does it tell me the store number, transaction number, or register number? NO!!

All it tells me is that you spent $x on such-and-such day. That's not nearly enough to qualify as a receipt! Now either take a store credit and/or get out of my face!

[poofy_puff]

I wouldn't expect much more than store-credit. No one is ever supposed to get cash back for a cc transaction, with or without a register receipt.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

If I had the choice, I would not be accepting credit card statements in lieu of a register receipt for return purposes.

Just because your statement shows you charged $256.45 or whatever of merchandise on a certain day at my store doesn't necessarily mean the item you're trying to return was among the items you purchased in that transaction.

Key phrase here being "if I had the choice"--i.e. the merchant agreement with the credit card company doesn't state I have to accept the credit card statement as proof of purchase. If it does, then that's just another example of the credit card company bending me over and jamming it in up to my pancreas just Because They Can.

Edited to add: If I had the ability to look up the receipt for the credit-card purchase, I would happily do so.