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Go ahead. Call customer service.

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  • Go ahead. Call customer service.

    At Bustice, we have a pretty lenient return policy. I've outlined it before, but the gist of it is that you have 90 days with a receipt to get back what you originally paid, or you can return the item without a receipt at any point for the current selling price. Like most return policies where clothes are involved, there's a stipulation that the merchandise must be unwashed and unworn, the exception being defective items.

    We had a customer come in with what she said was a defective shirt. Personally, I think a bit of glitter coming off is something you should expect, that's why I don't buy things with glitter on them, but I can understand this customer's concern of a quality issue, so I go to process the return. She starts off the conversation by letting me know that she has already called our customer service hotline and they said she could bring the shirt back for an exchange or refund.

    Which is correct. Except the customer service rep didn't bother asking for a few details which would highlight the fine print on his assurance that yes, she can bring the shirt back. See, this lady didn't have a receipt. She was SO SURE she had purchased this shirt at our location, so I looked up her phone number in our register to see if I could find a receipt for the shirt. No dice. So either it was purchased over 90 days ago (no records are kept past that time) or it was purchased at another Bustice. I told the customer that per our return policy, there was simply no way I could give her any more than the current selling price for this item -- not only did I have no way of knowing how much she paid for it, but the item's gone clearance, anyways. That pissed her off, because she was getting back less than $10 for a shirt I'm positive she did actually pay at least $17 for. This is the exact quote I received from her:

    "I understand that you're just doing your job, but this is unacceptable to me and this is not what I was told over the phone."

    Honestly, while this lady got on my nerves as the conversation continued, I appreciated this. My hands were tied, and at least she acknowledged this. Except then she kept going on and on. I even flat-out told her that the information the rep gave her was correct based on his knowledge of the situation -- as far as he knew, she had her receipt or was returning an item that actually was full price so she'd be getting her original money back. But as it stood, I could not process this return at the price she wanted.

    As most customers do when they're upset, this lady asked for the store manager. Well, it was Bosslady's day off, so there was no chance of that happening until the next day. I'm just a shift supervisor, so I doubt she wants to hear anymore from me. The store assistant manager was out running a few store errands and would be back in half an hour, I told her. So I collected this lady's phone number and had the assistant manager call later. There was nothing the assistant manager could do, though, so the customer got even more agitated, even telling my AM that "This glitter coming off is a safety hazard!"

    Well, gee, lady... you sure didn't think it was any more than a quality issue when you talked to me! Customer threatens to call customer service again. We tell her to go ahead and do that, and if they can find a record of her purchase, then by all means we would honor the original selling price for an exchange. We'd have to wait until we heard it from Customer Service, though.

    I didn't work yesterday so I'm not sure how this story turns out. I'd imagine we just never hear from this lady again. I hope we don't, at least. She was one of those "I spend so much money in this store blah blah blah" customers. I checked her 90 day transaction history when I was looking up the receipt for the return she wanted to do --- less than $50 over 90 days hardly makes you a good customer. You may spend a lot at another location in our company, lady, but that hardly makes us want to bend over backwards and break policy for you.

  • #2
    I hate that. With a passion. Your policy is better than my store's though; our policy is 90 days, NO exceptions. And without a receipt or ticket, you get nothing, as in, we can't and will not take it back. Pisses people off, but hey, them's the rules. What makes me laugh is up until about 4-5 years ago, our return policy was "the sky's the limit" we would take back anything, anytime, receipt, no receipt, and so on.

    Then we went to the 90 day policy. I STILL get customers who claim "I didn't know that" Sorry, but that doesnt' fly. A few weeks, or even months, I can see, but years? nope.

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    • #3
      I never understood the customers who are so shocked that they need a receipt for their return. As you say, your store has a pretty generous policy. Most would not accept any return without receipt, and the best I usually see is store credit at the current marked price. Anything more would open you to abuse.
      Fiancee: We're going to need to do laundry. I'm out of clean pants.
      Me: Sounds like a job for Gravekeeper!
      Fiancee: What?!
      Me: Nevermind.

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      • #4
        Quoth thehuckster View Post
        I never understood the customers who are so shocked that they need a receipt for their return. As you say, your store has a pretty generous policy. Most would not accept any return without receipt, and the best I usually see is store credit at the current marked price. Anything more would open you to abuse.
        That is exactly WHY we changed our policy. We only ever had 4 sales per year, and nothing marked down inbetween. So when sale time came, we marked tickets in red. But...if you ordered online, even on sale, the tix were not marked, and if you brought it back with no receipt, we gave you what was ON the ticket, NOT the current selling price. Which I never agreed with. Same with buying something b efore it went on sale, and returning with no receipt. So I'm sure lots of folks took full advantage!

        Now we always have marked down merchandise, and if you bring back with no receipt, you get a merch credit, for the current selling price, with any discounts. so you paid $50, but have no receipt, its on sale for 29.99 plus 50% off, you'll only get $15. and boy do they fuss over that!!! But hey, too bad.

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        • #5
          I'm still trying to work out how the glitter coming off is a "safety hazard." ANYTHING with glitter on it is going to shed some of it, but the only "safety" issue I can think of is that somebody might get some in their eye. Anyway, the longer you own it, the more is going to come off, until there's none left and poof! There goes the "hazard"!
          When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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          • #6
            Its odd. The first time I ever returned anything anywhere was a defective Genesis game. I only wanted a working copy of the game and had my receipt and everything. The lady said rather quickly that I couldn't get a refund. Of course I said that was fine, I just wanted a working copy of the game. She then looked really relieved. I didn't think much of it at the time, but with what I know now I bet she had a similar customer to the OP before me that day.

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            • #7
              The only time I've ever returned an item without a receipt, is when I was simply exchanging it for the same item but the one I had bought wasn't working. (Blue Ray player)

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              • #8
                While trawling on the internet early this morning because I didn't sleep very well, I came across the following despair-inducing tale:

                Guy shows up at the service desk of a well-known retail store with a bunch of electric toothbrush heads, and presumably no receipt for any of them. Wants to return them.

                The service desk person says no.
                The service desk person's supervisor says no.
                The manager on duty says no.
                LP says no.

                But unfortunately, as this is big box retail, there is a force greater than all of them put together, and it's called the customer service hotline. Guy calls the hotline, which he has on speed dial on his cell phone. They say to do the return.

                What's more, guy used a bunch of $25 coupons to buy the toothbrush heads. So he walks out with considerably more money than he spent to purchase the toothbrush heads. Refunds on items purchased with coupons are for the full price, not what the customer paid for them, because of the reimbursement from the manufacturer on the coupon. There's no loss to the store, so it's hard for management and LP to build a case to toss him out.

                And as this is going on, some of the guy's buddies are the store trying to buy more toothbrush heads with the same coupon.
                Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

                "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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                • #9
                  Ugh, made me very glad I worked as a cashier at the Hell Mart and the only other job was the repair center.

                  My sister worked at the other store across the town, doing glassware/housewares. She told me a story from her store a while back, about a guy bringing in a kerosene lamp for an exchange. No receipt, no box, nada. This thing looked like it had seen Hell's maw and barely lived to tell the tale. The person working the desk refused the exchange, because of the condition, it's probably age (she said it was at least 10 years old) and the fact that it wasn't even a brand we sold!

                  Guy goes bug nuts. Flips right out, demanding the manager (one of the corporate gene creations that only has a spine where the employees are concerned. You'll know them by the special pads they grow on their knees...). The manager, after looking at the lantern, tells the cashier to do the exchange! WHA?! The cashier told him he'd need to key it in and write the exchange slip, because she is not taking the blame for this one.

                  Yep, this is why SCs firmly believe that if they are loud, arrogant, jerks, they'll get exactly what they want.
                  If I make no sense, I apologize. I'm constantly interrupted by an actual toddler.

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