When you return an item, sometimes a store charges a fee. So for example a $300 phone, they take $35 off your return, so you only get back $265 if you decide to return it.

  • Fletcher@lemmy.today
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    11 days ago

    I believe a fair and reasonable restocking fee is absolutely justified when customers try to game the system. Having worked in several retail establishments over the years, I can tell you that this sort of behavior is rampant and I’ve seen lots of really shady shit from people, including:

    • Buying clothes for a special event and then trying to return them the next day.
    • Buying a tool to fix something in your home, and then trying to return it the next day.
    • Breaking an item that you purchased, and then wanting to return it, claiming that it is defective.

    People are opportunists. If there are no controls in place to keep some people from doing shitty things, some people will do shitty things.

    • Anti_Iridium@lemmy.world
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      11 days ago

      Breaking an item that you purchased, and then wanting to return it, claiming that it is defective.

      Context is king, however, if I bought a tool and it broke when I was using it, you best believe I’m going to return it.

      • Fletcher@lemmy.today
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        11 days ago

        Which, if the retailer has any kind of a brain, will be followed by a polite request for a demonstration of how you were using said tool when it broke. They know what to watch for to identify scammers, trust me.

        • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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          10 days ago

          That’s not going to work a lot of the time tho. Like, I bought a weed puller last month that I had to return for a replacement because one of the bolts just fucking fell off at some point, leaving the head of the tool detached from the handle without threading a zip tie through the hole. How would I demonstrate that failure, other than just showing how the product works? And how would you tell if I was scamming you? Most kinds of tool breakage are going to be from normal usage, so the scammer only has to know how the tool works and have a plausible excuse for why it broke.

          I worked retail for a decade so I have an idea of where you’re coming from, but I don’t think it’s nearly as easy as you’re saying.