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oh there it is
*I have noticed a new trend getting under way that will eliminate the use of currency as we know it.The major retailers in my area, as well as other regions of the country have started a new "return" policy. Instead of giving you a refund, they give you an in store gift certificate. The certificate is good on merchandise in their store, but no money is given back. When you use the card at the register, you do not get the difference in cash anymore. You get whatever is left on the card (card still has a balance, and can be used later). They definitely want to keep the sale in store, and no matter what you do, once you make a purchase there, it stays there. There are many reasons that they started doing this, but I get really pissed when I go to a store to buy something, and it is broken, doesn't work, or is the wrong thing. I go back to the store to exchange the item, but they don't have anymore. Now instead of giving me my money back so I can go to a store that DOES have the item in stock, I am stuck with merchandise from this store that I do not want, and do not need. Maybe someday I will go there and need something, maybe not. Either way, I am stuck with their card. It will not be too long in the future when they won't even take a check from you. Everything will be done by a debit type card. Present the card, and they take money from your account. Get a refund, and they will credit the account, or just plain make you use THEIR gift cards. Another thing I have noticed is the refund policy of usually generous stores has also been changing. If you write a check for merchandise, and you return it, they will write YOU a check. It comes from the corporate office, and arrives within 10 to 15 days. Some stores here do this, even if you pay with cash. I have seen some pretty pissed off people in the stores recently, and I have to wonder how well the public is gonna take all of this. It will be gradual, and nationwide. I have had "discussions" with managers, but they stood their ground, and all I got was a check mailed to me. They did not give me my refund in the store. Makes for a bad day.Sooner or later, your cash won't be nothing but trash.Just an observation...James DuHamel
*Is the store gift certificate a legal alternative to a refund of your money, James?It certainly isn't here.
*It will be in the future. Legislation can change fast, and major retailers have lobby groups that are very powerful. Sooner or later, it will come to your hometown too.I think right now they are testing the market to see just how far they can push the public before they have to back off a bit. This is the point at which they will stay. James DuHamel
*There are two different things here. In general a store can have whatever return policy that they want. And that included not allowing any returns or not.However, they are also required to sell merchanise that is what it is claimed to be. A drill that does not work out of the box or defective draw slide they have to replace or refund.
*I'm afraid the cashless society is on its way whether we want it or not They are already using a fairly advanced smart card in France that can be 'topped-up' electronically with money from your account.
*Just wait until we convert to the Euro in two years.
*Are these the same retailers who decided erect nipples on the mannequins would increase sales?? Think of the poor sucker who decided to table that one in the board room...Around here "Interac" debit cards are used about as much as cash, and no one says boo about them.
*You keep your hands off 'em --- don't you know they're meant to be Europe's answer to the Almighty dollar???
*Are these the same retailers who decided erect nipples on the mannequins would increase sales??And here's me thinking all this time that it was so they'd have somewhere to hang the price tag. -- Damn me, I'm getting old!
*James, that sucks. Yes, if you pay by check it will take days and days to get your money back (BTDT). I'm thinking of using only a cc (that will credit my account in the case of a purchase gone wrong). Now, I need a really low-level cc so it can't be used to kill the retailers if stolen.I'm finding return policies far more forgiving online than in stores, but I haven't returned anything in a long time. Easier to give it away.
*They have to ,at least here in Calif. post there return policy in a conspicuous place so you know what it is at the time of the purchase.
*Same here(NJ) Ron. Most returns to my store get store credit, a few get a refund, but it depends on the length of time between buy and return. My first priority is keeping the customer happy, a real close second is keeping the money in the shop. It's just business. In the 1-1/4 yr I've been open, you have no idea the amount of people who have tried to get over on me.Write me a check for a purchase, come back next day and expect a cash refund. I tell them I've got to wait for their check to clear and guess what- NSF when it does. I had a guy not too long ago ask my advice on tires. His buddy recommended Super Swamper Thornbirds, I recommended BFG A/T K/O's since this was a daily driver and told him the T-birds look and work great in the mud/snow but are noisier than hell on the pavement, and he'd hate'em in a week. He decided to order the t-birds. I did a body lift on his truck, installed the t-birds and he came and picked it up.5 minutes later he's on the phone DEMANDING a full refund because he didn't like the noise. Needless to say, he didn't get one. Primary reason= I can't return installed tires and would have had to sit on $800 of specialty rubber. He didn't want to hear it.How about the fiberglass ground effects kit that was brought back SIX MONTHS after the sale because it didn't just fall onto the car-after I informed him that 'glass kits usually cost more in body labor than the kit cost-and he wanted it anyway. I can't return installed merchandise with NO defects.I have a lot of stories to share but yer all probably bored by now...anyway imagine what it's like on the other side of the counter. If you gave me a check, I had to wait to get paid(if at all), so you'll wait to get it back. We all set these policies to cover our butts. 99% of returners have no problem whatsoever with store credit.
*Yeah, about those mannequins.... I don't know about increasing sales or anything but I seem to get a woody whenever I walk through sears on my way to the tools 'n stuff. James, I've been noticing the same trend here in Iowa. Although fortunately they do seem to back down if you rant loud and long enough so it seems it hasn't reached the point that you are at.
*Try the latest at Wal-Mart. Wife wrote them a check last week. They ran it through the "Cash register," which printed "VOID" on it and handed it back to her. It automatically instantly debited our account. Boy, what that does to check kiting!Don
*The sad part is that only the honest people are feeling the impact of the return policies. Like Mike G says, there are people who literally make a living by finding ways to cheat businesses. And some are pretty good at it, but soem are dumber than a bent nail. We had people going into my bank trying to cash stolen checks, and they were so stupid that anyb of the tellers can catch them. Here's a few clues (true stories): the name on the check and the signature don't match. the signature doesn't fit on the line (when's the last time you signed you name, and forgot how much room it took?). the amount was a big, even amount, like $2,000.00 for yard work. the handwriting looks like your baby sister wrote it. two or more colors of ink on the same check (I mean the ink from the pens used to fill out the check). obviously fake signsatures like C.U.Later (I've seen it!). We had a teller get suspicious and call the company; the guy that answered the phone said his partner, who had 'signed' the check, had died a uear ago.
*K-Mart today denied a return without a receipt. No in store credit, no exchange, no nothing. Simply said "can't do it". My client walked out of the store with the merchandise in hand, unable to return it for anything. She was pretty pissed off about it too. When she talked to the manager, he told her the same thing. "New policy. We don't accept ANY merchandise without a receipt."James DuHamel
*I really don't find anything wrong with that James.It's like all the TV programs about rip-off builders -- no-one ever talks about the rip-off clients.There are people who make a living shop-lifting items and then trying to return them for a cash refund.Evryone knows by now you should hang on to the receipt when you buy something if you think it might need to be changed.If it was faulty that's another thing again.
*Guess you could buy the same thing again, and return it twice ?
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See first post.