Is nothing sacred?

1Jerseydevil

Explorer
Feb 14, 2009
567
214
Yes, given a chance folks will take advantage and abuse everything. Your local Home Depot is a good example. I've been burned more than once on returned crap that was repackaged to look new while the contents were abused. I'm not blaming the local store, I think it is the "returning" folks doing the repackaging deed. Reading the story how can anyone blame them? Still a 1 year return policy with receipt is still generous. Interesting they say returns have doubled in the last 5 years. They blame social media which I'm sure , but I wonder if it's also an age group thing like Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, etc?
 

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,143
Coastal NJ
True, but it was the one thing that made them stand out. They are now just another store selling stuff made in the Orient. They lost a lot of business when they overhauled their web site and never recovered, will probably lose even more with this. Just enforcing a receipt required policy would have helped with the dishonest ones.
 

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,143
Coastal NJ
Interesting they say returns have doubled in the last 5 years.

I don't doubt that, their quality went down with the move to where the products come from. I have a pair of their boots, probably 20+ years old that are still made here, but the other stuff's quality isn't what it used to be.

Not much from the USA.

https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/981?thumbType=0&sort_field=Relevance&position=1&csp=a

166989319.jpg
 

Jon Holcombe

Explorer
Dec 1, 2015
967
1,934
Medford
Yes, given a chance folks will take advantage and abuse everything. Interesting they say returns have doubled in the last 5 years. They blame social media which I'm sure , but I wonder if it's also an age group thing like Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, etc?
When I was in college in the 70's I worked at Sears Pleasantville store. They had a very liberal return policy at that time. Some people with summer homes in OC and Margate would "buy" vacuum cleaners, and even boats in June and return them in September. Some people have, and always will abuse an "honor system" return policy.
 

Tom Jenkins

New Member
Nov 30, 2016
13
8
78
Pennsauken, NJ
When I was in college in the 70's I worked at Sears Pleasantville store. They had a very liberal return policy at that time. Some people with summer homes in OC and Margate would "buy" vacuum cleaners, and even boats in June and return them in September. Some people have, and always will abuse an "honor system" return policy.
I worked in a Sears hardware department for a short time in the '80s. We would see these kinds of things almost daily, we referred to them as "rentals." Some of the biggest abusers were employees, making the original purchase using their employee discount and trying to have a relative do the return at full price.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,153
4,257
Pines; Bamber area
That was a harebrained stupid policy for clothing and camping gear anyway. We were all paying higher prices so others could rip them off.

I could have turned in lots of things in the past years from normal wear and tear. Why do that? Nothing lasts forever, especially where I go.
 
T

Toothy Critter

Guest
After I retired I worked part time for a while at Home Depot in the plumbing section. One time I went to get returns to re shelve and someone actually brought back a snake they used in the sewer drain and it still had crap on the end of it. :dance: I kid you not !!! not only did the customer have the nerve to return it, he couldn't even clean it. And the girl at returns accepted it. So when you pay extra every time you buy something that cost a bit more than its worth, blame it on guys like that ;)
 
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Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,502
2,765
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Several years ago I got a chainsaw there, it was one of the most expensive models. They had already scanned it at the checkout counter when I noticed the box had been opened. We looked inside and it actually contained one of the cheap models and not the one shown on the box. I guess someone ripped them off by putting the expensive saw in a box from a cheap one. I was really lucky, if I had taken it home and returned it later I doubt they would have believed me. :argh:
 
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dogg57

Piney
Jan 22, 2007
2,912
375
Southern NJ
southjerseyphotos.com
Several years ago I got a chainsaw there, it was one of the most expensive models. They had already scanned it at the checkout counter when I noticed the box had been opened. We looked inside and it actually contained one of the cheap models and not the one shown on the box. I guess someone ripped them off by putting the expensive saw in a box from a cheap one. I was really lucky, if I had taken it home and returned it later I doubt they would have believed me. :argh:
Takes all kinds
 

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,502
2,765
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Interesting article about a mysterious and powerful company that is watching every time your return something...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-yo...st-you-at-best-buy-other-retailers-1520933400
__________

"Every time shoppers return purchases to Best Buy, they are tracked by a company that has the power to override the store’s touted policy and refuse to refund their money."

"That is because the electronics giant is one of several chains that have hired a service called Retail Equation to score customers’ shopping behavior and impose limits on the amount of merchandise they can return."

"The service also works with Home Depot, JC Penney , Sephora and Victoria’s Secret. Some retailers use the system only to assess returns made without a receipt."

"Retail Equation said its services are used in 34,000 stores, but declined to provide a full list of its clients."
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,153
4,257
Pines; Bamber area
Interesting article about a mysterious and powerful company that is watching every time your return something...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-yo...st-you-at-best-buy-other-retailers-1520933400
__________

"Every time shoppers return purchases to Best Buy, they are tracked by a company that has the power to override the store’s touted policy and refuse to refund their money."

"That is because the electronics giant is one of several chains that have hired a service called Retail Equation to score customers’ shopping behavior and impose limits on the amount of merchandise they can return."

"The service also works with Home Depot, JC Penney , Sephora and Victoria’s Secret. Some retailers use the system only to assess returns made without a receipt."

"Retail Equation said its services are used in 34,000 stores, but declined to provide a full list of its clients."

How do you feel about it Boyd?
 

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,502
2,765
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
How do I feel about it? I think it's lovely Bob. ;)

You can usually read any Wall Street Journal article by just searching for it with Google. Evidently they have some kind of agreement - I have posted this trick before. Try pasting the following line into a Google search and see if it works:

Wall Street Journal How Your Returns Are Used Against You at Best Buy
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,944
3,080
Pestletown, N.J.
I haven't bought many things at Bean since the 1970's and 80's. To me, that is when I started seeing more imported crap in their line. I still buy their wool hunting socks because they are still US made but if that stops, I'll go elsewhere.

I migrated to Filson for the US made tin cloth hunting gear and have stayed very satisfied with the longevity and quality. Unfortunately, I can no longer afford Filson. :) The tin hunting coat I bought twenty five years ago for about $225 is now $450.00. My double Mackinaw wool hunting coat was over $300 back then but now it's $495. Ouch.

I exercised the return policy once in the 80's with Bean when I returned their upland field hunting coat. After just a few seasons of normal rabbit and bird hunting the game bag started to disintegrate. First the liner crumbled and then the snap hooks failed and the fabric tore easily. I did not want another one because of the inferior quality so they estimated it's value at the time I bought it and refunded the money. I was satisfied with that.
 

1Jerseydevil

Explorer
Feb 14, 2009
567
214
I believe every one of us prefers to buy American made. Unfortunately our high standard of living comes at a cost. Most American wages follow suit just to be considered middle class. Following suit the American companies would buy American made or processed materials which again are affected by the above high standard of living which raises that cost. Combined with manufacturing costs, profit, transportation, middle man and finally retail we end with the above result of RedneckF350's plight. Those that are on a fixed income or those whose wages haven't kept pace with the economy suffer and simply can't afford American made no matter how firmly they believe in buying American made. It's sad but unfortunately true.
 
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