What's your returns policy?

[pen2670]

Hi Folks

Hope you're all having better weather than us!

Just writing our new returns policy to display near the till and thought I'd ask your opinions on what you do and what you think customers expect as something happened last week that made me realise how wide ranging views are.

Basically a man came into the shop and bought a potty and a training seat (that sits on the toilet to make it small enough for lo), got home and his wife said, no she's way too little for the training seat so he brought it back for a refund - after having neatly torn the packaging open.

My Sales Assistant refunded and carefully taped it up ready for resale.

Now I am aware that as a B&M store we dont have an obligation to refund unless its faulty or not fit for purpose, but what do you do? Do you give your customers extra flexibility or protect your profits? And what about the customer, what do they generally expect?

Thanks for any help with this.
Penny

 

[Doodle-Noodle]

As a small independent retailer in a small town with regular customers who mostly all know each other, "word of mouth" is probably the most important marketing tool we have. On that basis I nearly always give a no quibble refund if asked for one, although usually will try and persuade them to swap it for something else if it's a simple change of mind about what they've bought.
I do it with a smile (although inside I'm screaming!) as I know that people will talk about what they perceive to be bad service more readily than they will good service.
Luckily, it's not often that we are in this position although after Christmas we do get a few things back which were bought as gifts (mostly jewellery) that the recipient hadn't liked or it didn't fit - we always offer them the opportunity to swap for something else but don't offer a refund (although I would if pushed for one!)

 

[deniser]

Our official policy is refunds within 7 days and exchanges or credit notes within 28 days BUT in reality we never refuse a refund even if it is 6 months later.

 

[SillyJokes]

Having a good returns policy encourages sales rather than returns.

Too many sellers anticipate situations where customers abuse a returns policy whereas in reality this rarely happens.

If you do find you are getting loads of returns have a look at why people are buying the wrong item in the first place - is it being missold?

 

[BobbyBoy]

Would there not be a potential health risk taking back and reselling potties and trainer seats?

In the same way the earrings are not returnable

Bobby

 

[mhall]

A few years ago we put a sign up saying "If you are not 100% happy, we don't want your money" We did this because we didn't like the "no quibble" phrase as we thought it sounded like we would bend over for anything when we wanted to point out that we just wanted to make them happy and we would work WITH the customer and it wasn't an "Us and Them" type of thing.

Since then, the only "refunds" we have had to give are for really genuine reasons that we would legally have to do anyway.

Very strange but, for us, telling people we would give their money back if thery weren't happy worked a treat. Even those people who start out wanting a refund end up happy with something else instead.

 

[Hunnie]

Hi
Quote "If you are not 100% happy, we don't want your money"

I think the principle behind this is good, but the wording seems slightly negative and a bit off putting. Obvious you haven't found this to be the case so perhaps it's just me!!

regards
Hunnie

 

[puffin]

Hi
Quote "If you are not 100% happy, we don't want your money"

I think the principle behind this is good, but the wording seems slightly negative and a bit off putting. Obvious you haven't found this to be the case so perhaps it's just me!!

regards
Hunnie

To be fair I agree.
I'd try to rephrase the we don't want your money bit.

 

[pen2670]

Thanks everyone, will take a more relaxed approach to refunds.

 

[BobbyBoy]

Thanks everyone, will take a more relaxed approach to refunds.

I just hope that relaxed attitude does not become your downfall

 

[Talay]

Some services we provide are not paid for until the client is 100% satisfied but for others, where there is a perceived defect, real or otherwise, we'll rectify the problem and if the client is still not satisfied, then they do not pay or are refunded.

No quibble, no arguments, we just accept that they feel there is a problem and we work to overcome it as soon as practical.

 

[emmylou74]

In my shop I do not accept returns, the margin on the brought in products that I sell is insanely tiny. However for regular customers I have accepted returns. The exception is my own product I have no problem exchanging or returning those.

In my online shop I do not have to follow the DSR but I have always allowed returns for any reason so long as the product is not worn. Just because people cannot see it properly online, and I have no problem selling it so I do not mind. I have only ever had less than a handful of returns in all the years anyways and all of them were for exchanges.

 

[fairdealworld]

I think it depends a lot on what you sell and and this hits me (or could) as a seller of very mixed stock but generally speaking it doesn't.

If someone brings back say a packaged food item (rare event) and says they bought the wrong thing as long as the packaging isn't breached we refund or exchange no quibble. I'd have to put my foot down if people were bringing back out of Best Before date foods/beverages (unless we were at fault for still having it on the shelf when it should not have been) but I've never actually encountered this situation. So I don't so far have a policy for this.

We sell a lot of handcrafted items and I always assure anyone who asks that we'll take it back if it turns out to be the wrong colour when they get it home or doesn't fit the space they thought it would fit into or whatever. Also I say that if they give it as a gift, they or the recipient can exchange as long as they produce the receipt. Overall the number of exchanges are very small in relation to our trade and a significant proportion of those making an exchange actually pay extra for a more expensive item or because they choose several items instead which add up to more. They go off happy and obviously I'm not complaining!

Overall I'd rather sell a lot more even if the proportion of exchanges went up but on the other hand we sell things that aren't to be readily found in every shop which may tend to reduce exchanges.

We do sell earrings (in fact we sell a lot of earrings) and I don't allow people to try them on in the shop though they can take them off the card and hold them up to their ear in front of a mirror. But I do accept exchanges of earrings. Why? Well I'm pretty unconvinced of the 'health' issues related to earrings and I get the impression that most customers feel the same way. I reckon you'd be just as or more likely to catch something you didn't want by trying on a pair of shoes or a necklace or a scarf or by taking home a duvet set or towel or rug or sofa or bed or mattress which had previously spent even a brief unused time in someone else's home. The issue over earrings seems to relate to an exchange of body fluids (i.e. still fluid fluids) which could never occur unless you allowed a queue of people to try the same earrings on in turn and they all had unhealed piercings or were jabbing themselves enthusiastically in the ear without crying out and then immediately passing the earring to the next in the queue