They returned that? And we took it?

[Knightmare]

Today, a customer returned a quart of paint, half used, from 5 months ago, and a sample jar of paint that was empty.
"It was the wrong color" was the explanation given to me.
Don't you think she (the customer) would have figured that out 5 months ago?
And why return and empty sample jar? Throw it away!

But what really gets me is:
WHY THE DID WE TAKE IT BACK IN THE FIRST PLACE?

I think I'll return my refrigerator I bought from there 4 years ago and get a better one.
Cripes... we'll take any return it seems.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I think I'll return my refrigerator I bought from there 4 years ago and get a better one.

Tell them it's the wrong color.

[ShortTemperHatesStupidity]

So it would appear that your company doesn't have a statute of limitations on returns. I've seen many a place with a 30 day return policy, otherwise you get a credit.

And what's the deal with returning an empty can? It slays me...

[Knightmare]

Oh yes, we have a return limit of 90 days. Plenty of time for people to use those toilet seats and return them. Plenty of time for SCs to paint their house and return the empty cans. Plenty of time for SCs to wallpaper their walls, and decide they wanted a texture instead. Don't need those extremely cheap, used paint brushes anymore? We'll take 'em back!

Today, we even took back a product we don't sell. I don't know how my department ended up with it, I don't know how returns took it back, but when I left, it was still sitting on my counter. I have no idea what to do with it.

[katie kaboom]

Oh yes, we have a return limit of 90 days. Plenty of time for people to use those toilet seats and return them.

ewww, ewww eww ewww, omg sorry, but ewwwwww. i can't think of anything much more disgusting than returning a used toilet seat.

[Knightmare]

It happens. A LOT. That is one of those things you should NOT be able to return, unless unopened. We should be able to treat it like opened software.
You open it, you own it.

[SuperDan]

I've been hearing lately more about how much of a cheap bastard the owner of the bar I usually hang out at/ballroom my community theatre company uses as its regular venue is. Mind you this guy also owns about half the commercial land in his particular city (leasing out to businesses) and is making a killing off of that, and between that income and a rather large inheritance either he or his wife received, is a multi-millionaire.

Rich people tend to redecorate their houses often and usually end up getting new furniture to match, and P is no exception. How does he replace his furniture every 9 months? He takes it back to Value City where he bought the first set of furniture he had, returns it (yes after 9 months), the dumbasses at Value City actually take back the clearly used furniture and give him store credit, which he uses to buy his next set of furniture for his house. I don't know why I'm saying buy, he's borrowing it is what he's doing. One of his employees (works security for events with bars in the ballroom, cooks bar food for big games, is the father of about a third of the bar and restaurant staff) used to own his own flooring store. He originally met P when P came in and bought the most expensive area rug in the store. P never made a payment on it, and returned it after 6 months, clearly walked on, saying he didn't want it anymore. It was like pulling teeth for the flooring guy to even get P to pay the wholesale cost of the area rug (it was $140 cost, closer to $500 retail) and to this day that's all that has been paid on it. He also decorates his bar and restaurant with set pieces from our community theatre, yet he still charges us $50/month for storage. He just recently started formally requesting the things he takes, and I'm sure if we denied him he'd take them anyway. He stole two extension cords from the flooring guy I mentioned, and when confronted about it gave the flooring guy one of the community theatre company's clearly labeled extension cords.

So yeah, people in general can be cheap bastards and will try to return things they used. Remember, Super Bowl Monday is the biggest day for returns of big screen TVs. How can this be prevented? Corporate growing a spine maybe. No returns on clearly used merchandise, a 30 day or less limit on anything else and it must be clearly defective. Stop letting the gimme pigs walk all over you. Remember that they're not a customer if they're not paying for what they're taking, and that includes paying with store credit they got for returning something they clearly made use of as much as they intended to when they purchased it.

But it will never happen.

[MadMike]

Today, we even took back a product we don't sell. I don't know how my department ended up with it, I don't know how returns took it back, but when I left, it was still sitting on my counter. I have no idea what to do with it.

The place where I used to work did that all the time. I was not at all surprised when the place went under.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

So yeah, people in general can be cheap bastards and will try to return things they used. Remember, Super Bowl Monday is the biggest day for returns of big screen TVs. How can this be prevented? Corporate growing a spine maybe. No returns on clearly used merchandise, a 30 day or less limit on anything else and it must be clearly defective. Stop letting the gimme pigs walk all over you. Remember that they're not a customer if they're not paying for what they're taking, and that includes paying with store credit they got for returning something they clearly made use of as much as they intended to when they purchased it.

But it will never happen.

Or a nice hefty restocking fee on that returned big screen.

Or, as I would implement if I were in charge, a "no returns" policy on assembled barstools. They take up so much room in our backroom and are impossible to put away neatly. There's a really nifty invention out there called a "tape measure". Use one.

But as you said, this will never happen. It's not "customer friendly" and if it ever were to happen there would be an uproar. Lots of angry posts on blogs and PFB, and consumer advocates stating that this isn't a good thing to do.

[Dark Psion]

We have a lady who returns a waterhose every year for a new one because the packaging says it has a lifetime waranty and she was back again today.

When I examined the packaging, the sticker showed this hose was sold in 1995!

And yes, we took it back and gave her a new one.

[repsac]

For the last six months I was working at Lowe's, I spent most of my time in the returns area. I can't tell you how many times I would look through the stuff and find things returned for "Wrong Color" or something similar. Most of the time, I'd find where a random cashier had returned the stuff only to later say that they didn't care, but just wanted out of there (returns) and would take it back anyway.

Just a short list of my biggest annoyances here: (I swear it'll be short)

Water Hoses. (Some companies have a lifetime warranty on them. Thing is, you have to send it to the company to be replaced. NOT THE FRICKING STORE!)

Toilet Snake. (Has big letters on it saying "Once purchsed, may NOT be returned to the store." One came back used. Customer got full price back for it too.)

Paint: (Typically half used. It got so bad that Corporate allowed us to refuse to return it, but opt to retint it.)

Lawn Mowers (I was actually authorised by the ASM and SM to run into indoor lawn and garden and store use air filters to fix these things. Most of the time that was the whole problem.)

Tools (Most were used for one job and returned, but my favorite (sarcasm intended) were the misused ones. Like the guy who tried to cut concrete with a ripsaw blade.)

[ladyklack]

ewww, ewww eww ewww, omg sorry, but ewwwwww. i can't think of anything much more disgusting than returning a used toilet seat.

Funny side story: I actually had a customer try and return a toilet seat once. It was still in the box, unused. Problem? I was working in a camera store at the time. Despite being surrounded by cases of cameras and other photo equipment, it was a challenge convincing the customer that she must have purchased it elsewhere.

[Ree]

Knightmare, I feel your pain. I really do.

My days are filled with trying to figure out what I'm going to do with those types of returns.

One of our guys took back two toilets and a vanity top last week because they were damaged when the customer opened them to install them.

First of all...those items are supposed to be inspected before they leave our store. With the vanity top, if the box was even touched, we could hear all the little shattered pieces moving around inside, so there is no way it would have gone out the door like that, even if it hadn't been opened for inspection.

Secondly...he had no receipt.

Thirdly...the customer had purchased them last August and was only now installing them. (I had to do a search on the computer to find the sale. Turns out, the vanity had been ordered in special for him last year.)

I had to do some pretty convincing storytelling in order to make claims for credit from our head office on these items.

[Shironu-Akaineko]

I already told this one in details but I can't remember the thread, so here's an abridged version.
Hairy cakes, 2 months old, no receipt (gave me a "you're out of your mind!" look when I asked for a receipt) we don't sell those cakes, he didn't see the date, bought them "last week" and ate three.

He got a refund from refusing to listen to me and from me sending him to the head cashier. Said head Cashier is not any brighter than this SC.