'Tis the season to return stuff, after all, so it seems like an appropriate time to continue our discussion of return policies. A recent story about a reader who found he couldn't return a defective product 14 days after it shipped elicited a number of different opinions from readers on just what is a fair product return policy.
Some readers were pretty hardline on the idea that it's up to the customer to check ahead of time. "Before I buy anything, whether at an old-fashioned brick-and-mortar store or online, I ALWAYS check what the return policy is," wrote one reader. "That seems to me like plain common sense logic. Then, at least you know. If you don't like it, buy elsewhere; there are a million other places willing to do business with you. The real problem is when companies don't honor their posted policies, but it seems in this case the customer was at fault for not knowing something every savvy customer should know."
Low prices mean poor return policies, another reader said. "You get what you pay for, and this includes the return policy," the reader wrote. "Handling returns costs money. The longer the return time, the more returns, and the more the vendor has to mark up the product. If you want 90 days return, buy it from a local retailer with a 90-day return policy, and the price to match. If you want to go cheap-cheap, well, you get what you pay for."
Other readers took more of a middle ground. "I can't decide if I think 14 days for an online reseller is fair or not," a reader wrote. "I do think that 30 days is probably more the norm offline. Either way, a line has to be drawn by the reseller somewhere, and it will probably be well before the manufacturer's actual warranty against defect, which range from one year to 'lifetime.' Your reader is not out of luck, because after the return period has expired, the manufacturer warranty takes over. No reseller's warranty, or lack thereof, supersedes the manufacturer's warranty, and no reputable manufacturer has a warranty of 14 days."
But many readers felt that the 14-day limit was unfair. "In the bad old days a company that did not 'stand by its products' was the exception because it actually made the products, rather than outsource manufacturing. It controlled everything from the raw materials to the final advertising. People held onto things longer so it was even more important that the customer remembered just how good the company was ... Fourteen days from shipping date is too short a time frame for a return policy. It shows either a total lack of consideration for the customer or a total lack of understanding how slow the actual delivery of an item can be. Both the big home shopping concerns have a 30-day window that starts about 7 days after their shipping date. Like all retailers, brick and mortar or virtual walled, they rely on customer satisfaction. My guess is that (this vendor) does not rely on return sales otherwise it would not sustain such a cavalier attitude toward its buying public."
In point of fact, the vendor in question decided after seeing our discussion that 14 days was indeed too short and wrote that it they have now changed their policy to give customers 30 days to return a defective product. But some readers felt that, at least when it comes to products that are truly defective, it should be a lot longer than that.
"If the product never worked as intended and it is provable, a year doesn't seem unreasonable for computer parts, since they obsolete fairly quickly," wrote one reader. "Pick your own time frame. My point is, if you sell a defective product, the contract is invalid since you didn't provide the service that was implied when you take a person's money. No terms of contract -- e.g., 14-day limitation -- should be valid if the contract isn't."
And one IT manager held out the experience of his or her own company in an unspecified retail-related business to argue that there should be no time limit on returns. "We've always offered a 100% satisfaction guarantee without a time limit," the IT manager wrote. "Also, we cover the cost of return shipping if the product is defective. While most businesses think such a return policy is foolish and will cause us to lose money, the fact of the matter is that just the opposite has been the case. While the economy continues to trend towards falling sales figures, we've averaged a 35% to 45% increase in sales each year for the past five years. Sure, we have a few customers that do abuse the policy, but for the most part our customers would rather have a good product than just keep sending things back."
The IT manager expects at least a 30-day return policy without restocking fees from any retailer doing business with them. "As the person responsible for all IT purchases for my company, I make it a point not to shop anywhere -- brick and mortar or online -- that have policies that do not meet my standards for returns," the reader wrote. "Retailers beware, if you want my business -- and my annual budget is fairly impressive -- you'll offer a reasonable return policy that is intended to meet the customer's needs rather than boost your own bottom line."
Where does your view on product return policies fall on this spectrum? Post your comments on my website or write me at Foster@gripe2ed.com. And many happy returns.
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