If you're planning to commit fraud....

[MannersMakethMan]

I am pretty sure in England you can't sell a returned item as new, even if it is mint condition.
Items returned at PC-World seem to be sold for 10% off or thereabouts so the shop would make a loss even if they sold it.

Really? We used to take returns and put them back into stock all the time at the LBoD if we were sure they were mint - sold at full price too. I hope it's not illegal...

If we start justifying such items then it is a slippery slope. Returning an item from another store is OK, swapping price tags is OK, using discount you aren't entitled to is OK, taking things that won't be noticed is OK, taking anything you want is OK.

Perhaps that's a little harsh - after all, there are genuine reasons for some returns. The folks who use the system genuinely like to have a little backup just in case. I know that when I was younger, there wasn't the money to buy another one in a different size just because granny read the wrong number of x's before my dad's underwear size.

Maybe it's different if you have to take something off your returns, but I don't see why if the return is obviously mint it couldn't be sold as new.

At my local Currys (electrical store) they can look you up on the computer if you know when you bought an item. I would think a system like this should be the only get-out when you have no receipt.

We could do that, but never advertised it. In fact, I can only recall having to use it as proof once in 4 years. It's not something that's 100% reliable either if they don't know the exact dates, or there's about 3 transactions in about 5 minutes on that day, so I made sure the manager dealt with that. Too many holes to exploit I think.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I'm sorry, I'm lost, what's illegal and what was his scam?

He bought merchandise at Staples and was planning to return it to Wal-Mart.

If Wal-Mart accepts the return and issues a refund or store credit, they're out $50, or an Xbox live card, in exchange for merchandise that wasn't bought from Wal-Mart in the first place.

Now Wal-Mart has to hope the items returned sell at full retail price (without a receipt how do they decide how much to reimburse him?) so that they can break even on the whole deal.

Whether it's legal or not is for the law to decide, but this is something that costs retailers lots of money. And as a result stores tighten up return policies, put employees under greater surveillance, and/or close down.

[Peppergirl]

How do people seriously STILL not think this is fraud? I'm absolutely gobsmacked by the thought that some people see nothing wrong with returning an item to different store than the item was bought from!!!

If someone gives you a gift and doesn't include a receipt, that's their fault, not the stores fault. If the giftgiver purchased the item at a store with a strict return policy, it certainly doesnt give the receipient the right to return it to a store with the stupid policy of taking back an item not purchased there.

Granted, stores that tolerate the practice of giving credit without proof that it was purchased at their store tend to bring it on themselves, I guess. Spineless management and policies breed SC's, as we all know.

I would imagine that in this shitty economy, this fraud garbage is getting worse and worse.

[Dave1982]

I'm sorry, I'm lost, what's illegal and what was his scam?

Unless they specifically say otherwise, no store accepts back merchandise they did not sell, regardless of whether or not it's something they sell.

This guy was buying items from my store with the intent of returning them at Wal-Mart. In doing so, he must make false statements to Wal-Mart, claiming he DID buy them there, thus unjustly depriving them of goods (those he wanted to buy with the store credit).

That is textbook fraud.

[MoonChild2007]

Oh okay, thanks so much!

[Kogarashi]

How do people seriously STILL not think this is fraud? I'm absolutely gobsmacked by the thought that some people see nothing wrong with returning an item to different store than the item was bought from!!!

I, at least, am not arguing that point. It's wrong to return an item to a store you know it didn't come from. I'm merely defending/stating gratitude for stores that do returns without receipts, for those times when I get two idtentical DVDs from two different relatives (likely because it was the cheapest on my wishlist). It's unique enough that I can't really regift it, and selling it on eBay or elsewhere wouldn't work, so I'm thankful that there are stores who will take it back if I know there's a good chance it was purchased there. I only take the same item to multiple stores if I haven't the foggiest notion which one it came from (Hubby and I had a wedding gift that we checked five different stores for before one finally took it).

I do like the return system that Macy's and Dillard's and some of those other department stores use. Instead of requiring a gift receipt (which not every gift-giver is going to ask for), they slap a return barcode on the package. If the item is returned, that barcode says, "Yes, this was bought at a Macy's," and tells the cashier how much to refund. No hassle, no gift recipients stuck with an item they can't use and can't regift.

Shame on the couple in the OP, knowing that they were returning merchandise to one store when they bought it at another.