Return Policies

[WolfLover]

Hello everybody! Let me ask your opinions.

When you make a purchase from an online store, don't you check and see what their Return Policies are BEFORE you decide to make your purchase?

Don't we as shop owners have a right to whatever Return Policies we choose? Every once in awhile I'll get a whining customer who cries they don't like the Return Policy, but of course they never read it first.

Just wanted to see what others think. Thanks in advance!

[piatkow]

My return rights are set out by law, anything on a web site saying otherwise is BS.

Of course other countries may differ.

[MisterT]

if you have overly stringent return policies, you might want to have a checkbox agreement or something during online checkout - so the customer actively agrees to the policy. however a stringent return policy will cost you sales. most customers expect at minimum a 30 day policy.

[topr8]

>>don't you check and see what their Return Policies are BEFORE you decide to make your purchase?

no, i've a fairly good idea of my rights as a consumer, it doesn't make any difference what a web site says it's return policies are.

>>Don't we as shop owners have a right to whatever Return Policies we choose?

ditto what piatkow said
... not in the uk if you sell by mailorder/internet.


... some sites are cheeky, like i bought a sofa recently online it arrived damaged - fine the company said they'd refund no problem. when i checked my cc statement the shipping hadn't been refunded, i phoned to ask why, they explained that they can't refund the shipping charge, blah, blah (a regular scam)
... i didn't argue, i just said, fair enough no problem, however of course i'll be phoning mastercard to ask them why i had to pay for a damaged sofa to be shipped to me ... naturally they then suddenly agreed to refund the shipping too.

[HRoth]

I never check the return policy first, and I buy a lot of stuff online. I did just buy some glasses, which arrived with the name of the company and the registered trademark symbol literally etched into the glass in a prominent place. This was NOT on the picture. I checked the return policy, and they think they are going to charge me shipping. Not if I can help it. The thing has to be as advertised, or they are not deducting anything.

I don't many requests for returns, but I do get occasional requests for additional widgets because people did not follow the directions with the widgets they received and so the widgets did not perform as they expected.

[Raza]

As a merchant: our 7-word refund policy is at the top of every product page of our site. FWIW, we offer a 30-day any-reason full refund, and our returns are much less than 1%.

As a buyer: for anything more expensive than about $75 I make sure I check out the return policy before buying.

[MrHard]

People do these things. You will find in business that many people will say what they need to say to get their money back.

We do some custom items that are not returnable at all. If there is an ongoing issue, we are willing to fight it out in court if need be (has not come to that yet, knock on wood). You don't have to do returns at all, just make sure your solid first.

[jwolthuis]

Our store offers 365-day returns, which has never been an issue for us. We also require that they contact us for an RMA number prior to returning anything.

The real problems are with the parts of our policy that states, the item must be returned in the same condition that you received it, and in the original packaging.

We've had customers try to return tool-type items that were worn down to the nubs, once their project was completed. Stuff they'd never try with a clerk at a brick-n-mortar store. I guess they think that since our store is "virtual", they can pull a fast one, and simply return "used" items at their convenience.

[digitalv]

It doesn't matter what your return policy is ... what matters is your customer's card-issuing bank's chargeback policy.

It's always cheaper to take back the item than to not take back the item and pay a chargeback fee.

[jwolthuis]

... what matters is your customer's card-issuing bank's chargeback policy.

That's a very merchant-centric view of things. At the end of the day, isn't it more important to do the right thing in terms of treating your customers honestly and fairly, and not necessarily rely on a policy written by some banker with no skin in the game?

[MrHard]

... what matters is your customer's card-issuing bank's chargeback policy

That's what the banks want you to believe. Actually what the card issuer say matters very little except they can withdraw your money.

There are plenty of ways of collecting unpaid debts is what card issuers don't want merchants to know. A cardholder must be very unhappy when they realize they are not legally protected by the bank. Losing a chargeback does not forfeit your rights.

[digitalv]

That's a very merchant-centric view of things. At the end of the day, isn't it more important to do the right thing in terms of treating your customers honestly and fairly, and not necessarily rely on a policy written by some banker with no skin in the game?

I think maybe you misunderstood what I meant. I'm all for offering "no questions asked full refunds" - it doesn't get any more honest and customer-centric than that.

My point is that when merchants make tricky return policies, want to charge re-stocking fees, or make you answer 3 ancient riddles before they'll take the product back they're making more work for themselves because the majority of card-issuing banks will side with their customer and just take the money back from you anyway.

Better to have a no-hassle refund policy, where at least you get the item back from the customer, than to make it difficult for the customer and have to deal with chargebacks.

[MrHard]

Have you ever tried to unload used items that cannot be resold because they are broken or used? Having to inspect, re-label and reship items. It's not very easy. It's a lot of work. It also takes a lot of time which is paid for by the restocking fee.

Fight or be used as doormat, your choice.

[digitalv]

Yeah, it sucks... but it's also part of the cost of doing business. Just like having to pay someone $15 per hour to talk to a customer on the phone that you only billed $20. I don't know what your average sale amount is, but at some point you have to factor in what your time is worth too. Just saying sometimes it's easier (and less expensive) to let a few go.

[doornum3]

We manufacture a relatively low-cost fragrance consumable that's ORM-D (hazardous to ship) and made to order, and have a strict return policy on opened items and a restocking fee for unopened items. The customer is required to check a box before purchase indicating they have read the return policy. That said, I often take returns on a case-by-case basis or offer refunds without the necessity of returning the product. We don't get many returns and haven't had many complaints about the policy, either, although I'm sure some customers leave without purchasing after reading it. I'm okay with that.

[Digmen1]

What about this that go missing in the post ?
Do you refund those ? or send replacements ?

[doornum3]

We send replacements.

[p5gal5]

Second that - replacement(s) sent, signature required. If it was a big enough order that we wanted to ensure it was delivered, we send it signature required the first time.