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Return policies usually cover a lot of products like clothes, electronics, books, cars, and even food. Most customers love simple return policies according to latest research. If you are ever in doubt, ask the cashier or the manager about the return policy. There is always a manager or someone with similar powers on duty in almost every store in the country. If the cashier gives you an unclear answer about return policies, ask the manager for a clear answer. Return policies for online purchases are a bit different than purchases made in person. In my personal experience, most major websites usually list their return policies clearly.

Following are some time frames you should keep in mind when returning some items for a refund or for an exchange:

Time frames allowed for product returns with original receipts

• 30 days for clothes.

  All clothing stores allow clothes to be returned within 30 days. When in doubt, ask the cashier. I know people who buy 10 dresses and shirts and then return about 8 of them on the 28th day. You should not abuse the power you have as a customer, but you should exercise the power when you feel it is necessary.

• 14-30 days for books.

  Return time-frames for books depend on the bookstore. Ask the cashier about the return policies or look at your purchase receipt. Almost every bookstore allows book returns. If yours does not, shop elsewhere.

• 15-30 days for electronics.

  Some stores prefer a 15-day return policy while many stores give a 30-day time frame for electronic returns. When in doubt, ask the cashier or look at the receipt.

• 30 days for software.

  Most stores allow you to return software boxes within 30 days.

• 15 minutes to 30 minutes for movie tickets

  If you buy a movie ticket and do not enjoy the movie, most movie theatres will provide a refund or exchange the ticket for another movie within 15 minutes if the movie you are watching is less than 2 hours long, and within 30 minutes if the movie in question is over 2 hours long. Ask your specific theatre branch manager before you walk into a movie if you are not sure.

• Within 1 day for food items.

  Food items are treated a bit differently than all other items. If you were the manager and I brought a rotten banana to you saying “I bought a dozen bananas three weeks ago and 11 of them were bad. This is also bad. Here is my receipt and I want a refund“, you may probably wonder if you have the legal right to attack me. You can usually return food items if you go back to the store the same day, and hopefully within an hour or two of your purchase. Many restaurants with take-out dinner can also change the food for you, and so can drive-thru fast food places and pizza companies that deliver to your home.

• Around 16 days for all over-the-phone and online purchases.

  Most online stores and over-the-phone orders allow items to be returned within 30 days. While this may sound like an incentive to use these channels to buy something, consider this: it takes about a week for such orders to arrive in the mail, and takes another week to have them shipped back and received by the company. That amounts to a total of 14 shipping days, leaving you with 16 days to decide if you want to return the item or not. Last year I got a Samsung t509 by calling T-mobile. After a major unresolved issue, the phone came less than a week before the 30-day deadline for returns. I was told that I could not return the phone anymore. Keep the shipping situation in mind when making purchases online or over the phone.

• Around 15 days for travel tickets.

  Your airline purchase receipt should tell you how many days you have to change your mind. Some airlines charge a fee to cancel or change your reservations. When in doubt, call your airline or visit their site. JetBlue, for example, allows me to cancel or change my reservations even on the last day as long as I am willing to pay a $35 fee. The rest of the money, if any, is added to my JetBlue credit which I can use for future flights.

• 15-30 days for services.

  Signing up with services like new cell phone plans or yearly contracts with your internet service provider also gives you the power to cancel your contract within 15 to 30 days. Some services will even refund you the money if you do not like their service. Ask your service provider for cancellation policies.

• Around 3 days for many automobile and real estate contracts.

  Many agreements related to car and real estate leases and purchases can be legally withdrawn within 3 days. This is called the Cooling-Off rule and you should check if you can exit a contract legally.

• 30 days for different merchandize.

  Tupperware, stationary, toys, sunglasses, beauty products and almost all other items can be returned within 30 days of their purchase.

Thus, you can return most items within 30 days to get a full refund, and some items within 2 weeks.

Things you cannot return

There are a few things you cannot return once you have purchased them. This includes gas, or petrol as many people call it. Once you put the liquid in your car, there is no known way to get a refund. You can apply the same rule to travel tickets. If you buy a train ticket, you cannot use it to get to the another city and then say “I did not enjoy the ride. Refund me some money!“, unless you have some very good reasons to back up your refund request. Items purchased directly from individuals or through classified systems usually cannot be returned either unless you have prior arrangements with the seller.

5 things to remember when returning items

Even when you return an item within the allowed time, you have to keep a few things in mind depending on the items you are returning. Following are 5 tips about returns and refunds that you should keep in mind when you want to return something for a refund or an exchange.

1. All returns at almost any store require the original receipt, even if you throw away the name and price tags. A few stores allow exchanges if you do not have the receipt, though that policy is usually never publicized.
2. All items you return must be in sellable condition. There is no known exception to this rule unless you return a dozen items and the store staff overlooks the condition of some items.
3. Electronic returns vary depending on locations. Many electronic accessories like blank CDs cannot be returned if they are not in their original packing. Similarly, if you buy a computer and break the seal located on the back that allows you to open the unit itself, you will probably not be able to return the computer. Always ask the cashier when buying an electronic item if the item can be returned after you open it.
4. Software CDs and bundles are treated differently than electronics. Software can usually be returned only if you have not opened the box. I once bought Windows XP at a Fry’s store and could not return the item the same day even when I had not used it. The returns department staff told me this reason: I had opened the plastic wrapper on the box and thus the box was considered open. Whenever you buy software, never open it unless you are fully sure. Always ask the cashier what the return policy is for the specific software you plan on buying.
5. Food items can usually be returned if you bring back some of the food that you did not consume as a form of proof. If you buy a box of cereal and return it empty the same day saying “It did not taste good“, you will probably only get back some attention and no money. Many store managers are nice enough to even offer a replacement and a full refund if you buy something that upsets your stomach or has gone bad and you bring back a good portion of it to show to the store staff. Try to go back to the store as soon as possible and simply ask for an exchange or a refund.

The next time you want to buy something, whether it is a bottle of milk or a new computer, keep in mind the options you have if you think you might reconsider your decision later on. Please let me know if you have any questions or wish to share your own experience or points here. Thank you for reading.

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What rebates really mean

Rebates mean that you pay a company a certain price for an item and that company mails you some money back later. The process described by companies is simple: you buy something, mail in a rebate form along with a copy of your purchase receipt, and then wait for the check in the mail. What most companies do not tell you is that the last part of the rebate filing procedure is where the problem lies for majority of the customers: the rebate check never arrives in the mail. Customers are then told, most of time, a myriad of reasons why their rebate claims was not processed. Majority of the customers who sent in rebate forms during the past 5 years have not received their rebate checks, and they never will.

There are companies out there that specialize in handling rebates for big companies, and many of them promise their corporate clients that they will do their best to ensure that the percentage of customers who get their rebate money back remains low. While many call such business acts unethical, many rebate processing services call that a business promise. Such and similar tactics do not go unnoticed, however. Best Buy got sued in 2004 by Ohio’s Attorney General for not honoring rebates, and that shed more light on the whole rebate scenario in the media that year.

One of my personal experiences with rebates

If you are expecting a rebate, you are usually depending on mere chance to get your money back. I purchased an eMachines system in 2004 and mailed in a $200 rebate form to eMachines, for both the computer and the Hyundai monitor that came with it. I waited for a month and then contacted their customer support, only to find out that they needed more information from me. Obviously, since it was my money, they were not going to call and say “Hey, we want to give you your money so we need more information.” Instead, I had to call them and ask about the rebate myself. After faxing in more papers that they needed, I was told to wait a month for my check to come in the mail. After another month, I was given several reasons ranging from them needing a copy of my original receipt again to them needing my mailing address again to them having to check why they had not sent out a check to me yet, and so on. I never got the rebate money back.

8 reasons rebates are a scam

Many people question why companies will not simply make the customers pay less in the first place instead of offering rebates. Following are the top 8 reasons why:

1. Most customers never send in a rebate form.

   Only about 10% of all eligible customers send in their rebate forms. Many companies depend on this. Online orders usually take about 7 business days to be delivered, and mail-in-rebates have to be mailed with the invoice, which is usually only mailed with the online orders, within 30 days of the purchase date. Thus, online customers lose around 7 days to begin with and are already at a disadvantage to begin with.

2. Most rebate forms are rejected by companies.

   Most of the rebate forms mailed by customers are rejected for various reasons by the companies. Whether it is for late rebate submissions or for incomplete forms, most rebate forms are rejected by companies and the customers are always notified via the standard postal mail, which itself usually takes several days or even weeks to arrive. By the time it takes for a customer to start sorting things out, they usually give up because of the hassle involved.

3. Rebates are used to attract more sales during busy shopping seasons.

   Companies usually go on a rebates-offer spree around the busy shopping seasons, telling customers through price tags that a certain expensive TV costs “only $199*” while that * means that there is probably a mail-in-rebate on such an item. Some prices tags do not even mention such disclosures, and people have to find later on that a rebate is involved. Rebates are simply another way of having a sale and attract a lot of people.

4. Customers lose money because of the actual price of the item at the time a rebate check is received.

   By the time it takes to get the rebate, one may have paid more depending on the value of a product. For example, if you paid $200 for a stereo system in January and got $50 in rebates after 5 months in June, you may have lost money as by June the stereo may be selling for $120 without any rebates.

5. Customers still pay taxes on all the money sent back to them while the company keeps the extra tax.

   When you pay full taxes on an item, the company never refunds you the tax you paid for the amount of money you get back in the refund. For example, if you pay $550 on a computer that comes with a $90 mail-in-rebate, any tax you pay for that entire $550 amount is lost completely, as the rebate sent back [which is the $90] does not include the taxes you paid for those 90 dollars. This extra sales tax stays with the company.

6. Most rebates require cutting the UPC label from the product box, meaning you can never return that item.

   Most companies require customers to send in both an original receipt and the UPC bar code that is present on almost all boxes for things you buy. Cutting this UPC sticker from the box means that you cannot return that item for a refund in most cases. Thus, companies that do not like honoring rebates actually make sure that you can never return the item for a full refund if you are not satisfied with your purchase.

7. Many rebate checks are never cashed or get lost in the mail.

   Almost all rebate checks are sent by standard mail and many of them get lost in the mail. Checks usually gets canceled when not cashed within 6 months. Some companies send rebate forms in unmarked envelopes or in envelopes that look similar to envelopes used by most junk mailers. Many customers simply throw such envelopes away, which plays to the company’s advantage. I am not yet sure if the companies do this on purpose, but I am keeping a track of which companies do this and will probably share my results in the future.

8. Interest is made on the rebate money by companies.

   The money that is sent back as a rebate to a customer is held for a while as interest. By the time a rebate is mailed to a customer, the company has already earned a lot of interest on that money. This is the same as a loan or the money you put into your savings account. The main difference is that in case of a rebate, you may actually never see the money you lent the company in the first place.

5 easy steps to ensure you get your rebate money

Here are 5 easy steps you can take to make sure you get your rebate money on time.

1. Most rebates require cutting the UPC code from the product box. Make sure you want to keep the product before doing that, as stores do not accept returns that have missing UPC labels.

   Since most online and retail stores do not accept returns on items where the box does not have a UPC code, make sure you like your purchase before mailing off that rebate form. If you do not like the item your purchased, simply return it and get all your money back.

2. Mail in your rebate forms right away using the correct shipping method

   Most customers never file a rebate claim, and many people send in rebate forms after they have expired. I have also waited several times before sending a mail-in-rebate, and most of the time it was too late. Send your rebate forms right away and make sure you send them either with a return receipt or a delivery confirmation. Return receipt allows you to get a receipt from the post office stating that the recipient got the mail you sent them, and a delivery confirmation also shows written and official proof that you mailed something which was received by the other person. Any of these two options can help you in cases where you have to start arguing with a company that you did send them those rebate forms.

3. Keep a copy of everything.

   This may be the single most important thing you can do when filing a rebate claim. Keep copies of everything as many companies are famous for never getting rebate forms or for losing them. If you do not have copies of all your forms and receipts and the company denies ever receiving your form, you are most probably never going to receive any rebate check from that company.

4. If you do not get anything in the mail soon, start inquiring.

   Many companies have been known to make customers wait for their rebate checks for a long time, hoping that the customers will forget about it and move on. Many customers do forget about their rebate checks until its too late. Try not to be one of those people. I know you are busy, so if you can, mark down some future date on your calendar as a day to start contacting the company and inquiring about your rebate check. Keep a track of all things on your calendar.

5. Avoid rebate items altogether

   This is the most logical step to take. Avoid items that require a rebate. If a store is selling an item that comes with a $50 mail-in-rebate, chances are there is another store selling the same item at a price that will save you exactly 50 dollars without any rebates and thus a lot of hassle. Shop around. The internet is a valuable tool to find good prices for a lot of things.

How companies are changing their policies regarding rebates

Because of the complications and complaints involved with rebates, many companies are simply trying to eliminate any headaches associated with rebates. Staples is taking an interesting approach to this by allowing people to submit their rebates online through the “Staples Easy Rebates” program. This allows customers to submit everything online instead of mailing stuff, and also helps customers keep an online record of everything submitted. Such online systems let the customers know immediately what extra information is needed before a rebate can be processed, and it also helps the company track down and fix any rebate issues experiences by a customer.

Other companies are taking a different approach by trying their best to eliminate rebates altogether. Dell is planning to end mail-in-rebates in order to further improve its image in front of customers. Similarly, after getting sued, Best Buy announced it will try to curb out mail-in-rebates by 2008. Other companies like OfficeMax have also taken similar steps. This way, a customer does not have to wait for any rebate check to be mailed to them and can save money right away.

More resources that talk about the rebate hassle

In addition to the links mentioned above, following are some resources I found useful in the past, and I think they may help you also in finding out more about the nature of rebates.

• Business Week article titled “The Great Rebate Runaround” - first published on November 23rd, 2005.
• Slate article titled “The Great Rebate Scam” - published on June 30th, 2003.
• A 5 part series written by Lyle Bateman, talking about a rebate scam involving a Creative webcam and Future Shop. The posts are titled “The Rebate Scam” and divided into 5 parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and The finale. The author explains how even though the rebate check was received, it was still a hassle and involved a lot of risks for the end consumer overall. Published from October 24th, 2006 to January 15th, 2007.
• MSN Money article titled “Don’t get ripped off by a rebate ‘deal’.”

I hope that helps. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know or post them here so others can share their opinions also. Thank you for reading.

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1. Make necessary shopping tools easily available to a customer.

Giving a customer all the necessary tools to find an item and its details increase the chances of that customer actually buying something. A good example of this is the discount signs in retail stores. Many retail stores usually have discounts on multiple items, and most of the times these discounts are not reflected on the actual price tags on items. Price scanners located throughout the store can help customers by allowing them to scan any item under a scanner and find out the exact prices and any eligible discounts. Without such scanners, shoppers have to go through the hassle of hunting down staff members to find out the exact prices for different things. Usually, customers will get fed up of going back and forth between the cashiers and different departments, and may end up not buying something because of the hassle involved.

Similarly, making it a nice experience for customers to browse through a store helps customers relax. Having disorganized aisles and unclear item displays add stress, resulting in customers unconsciously not wanting to shop at such stores in the future. That’s why many people I know prefer going to Target instead of Kmart, because Target is well organized while Kmart, going through a huge reorganization, looks like it survived a nearby tornado. I went to a few Kmarts last week to look for some hard drives. The staff did not even know that they carried hard drives, and it took me a few hours to look through the disorganized and messy electronics section myself to find out that they did carry hard drives, but not the ones I was wanted. I may have a trauma one day thinking of going through the dirty aisles at Kmart again while the staff follows me on a “What does this aisle carry?” discovery spree.

2. Reduce outside stress for customers

Shopping stores should act like shells. The same way the shell of an egg protects the contents and the life within, a shopping store should enclose and protect the customers from any outside factors and stress that may affect their mood in a negative manner. Stress can come from unrelated elements that may actually be seen by the store as incentives to get people to come back to the store more often. Outside noise, outside lights and outside issues should be blocked from the domain of the store itself. If that is not possible, efforts should be made to minimize any outside interference as much as possible. If a customer can feel they are in a different environment when they enter a store, they will feel mentally refreshed. Happy customers now mean happier and satisfied customers in the long run. Stressed-out customers and customers who feel rushed may actually end up avoiding a particular store in the future.

I saw a couple last week in Macy’s where the husband was happily browsing the aisles while telling his wife in great detail what he thought of the dresses she was trying on. Once he sat down in one of the waiting rooms fitted with a TV which showed CNN’s coverage of the world, his mood quickly changed and he got more serious. He tried changing the channel and found out that CNN was the only available channel. After a while, he started offering his wife shorter and more serious responses, like “That’s ugly” and “That looks weird.” In the end, his wife did not buy anything. The couple left the store empty handed, with the husband feeling more serious and the wife feeling a bit sad. All of this happened simply because of Macy’s putting a TV in the waiting room that showed something that many stress-free-wannabe customers would not like to think about when they are shopping and relaxing.

The above two steps can easily fix the issues shown in the examples that follow them. Kmart prices are cheaper than Target for many items, but a stress-free environment that saves time and hassle at Target results in many customers favoring Target over Kmart. I’m looking forward to the progress of the huge reorganizations going on at Kmart, which may result in the shopping experience getting better. Similarly, the husband at Macy’s got moody because of watching some news that he may have had a strong opinion about, and the change in his attitude resulted in the wife not buying anything. If a TV must be put in a store, Macy’s could make available some more channels so that customers could change to a channel they prefer and feel happier at the store even if they do not buy anything.

A stressed customer will not be overall happy with their purchase at a particular store, and that unhappiness is going to be reflected in the long run in the form of fewer purchases at that particular store. Offering a relaxing environment with the least possible resistance to shopping both consciously and unconsciously helps a customer associate happiness with shopping at a certain store. A customer is more likely to be happy about making a purchase at a store if the items they are looking for and any related information is easy to find and the entire shopping experience is stress-free.

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