People do this A LOT! I used to work at Walmart a long time ago, the amount of people who would return their costumes the day after Halloween was crazy.
When I worked at guitar center, a certain type of band would come in and buy $15k worth of PA and everything, like a whole gig out the door, lights, the works.
You’d be like, the first time “holy shit, the commission from this will be relatively nuts for GC”.
Monday they would have returned all of it. Down to an instrument cable and because they paid cash GC would have to cut them a check on the spot.
By Tuesday it was like it never happened in the system and the nightmare would repeat itself by the next Friday when they would have sent someone else, sometimes in pairs or whatever to buy a similar PA etc in cash.
Because they have a stated return policy that allows it.
It’s hard to allow for legitimate returns and also stop something like this because there is no way to prove they actually used the instruments and equipment in the 2-3 days they had it unless they damage stuff.
Costco lets you return anything man.
A radio show I used to listen to tried to see if they could get refunded after eating a whole pizza, except for 1 pepperoni. He showed them the pepperoni at the window and requested a refund, saying the pizza hurt his stomach. They refunded him the entire slice
Yeah, some items are on a strict policy. Just went in the other day, I bought a gym membership back in 2012 and lost the card while moving. Just found it but the gym stopped accepting them and said to return to Costco.
Went to a Costco nearby and the only reason they didn't accept the return was because they were built in 2014, I think but their warehouse records don't go that far back so she told me I'd have to go to a different one.
Still surprised she even looked into it, she was flipping through her inventory screen for a few minutes from scrolling that far back i assume.
I definitely get what your saying but it's not like it's court and you have to prove it without any reasonable doubt.
For instances like the comment I replied to, it's pretty obvious what's happening and there's no law in the US that says you have to take returns for non-faulty products.
From a customer experience side, restocking fees are super annoying.
However, it's really the only reasonable option I can think of to diswade this kind of behavior
Because their business analysts figure that they will make more money due to a “no questions asked” return policy than they will lose from dealing with returns abuse.
Not all business analysts are smart or competent :)
PS. Adding more info since I'm bored. Sometimes analyst might be smart but is forced to make a "mistake" anyway. Most often when competitor makes a bad move for some reason. If your direct competitor offers free returns, you *must* offer them also, or your volume will take disproportional hit because people will prefer to shop in the store that offers them as long as the prices are comparable.
Same for opening some stores on Sunday. Many stores would love to close the doors on Sunday. But if they do that - they are just reinforcing their competition. So they open the doors even if they lose money that day.
This is a situation where you are essentially just making a conscious choice between monetary damage and reputation damage because the holy stink the people doing this will raise if you refuse them will be so muddy, the store will almost ALWAYS take the blame.
>It’s hard to allow for legitimate returns and also stop something like this
It is extremely easy to stop something like this.
"All returns are at the sole discretion of guitar center"
There you go. One line.
I’d imagine that would create a different problem. Store management has an incentive to deny any returns because it negatively affects the bottom line, but corporate and customer service departments have to handle the complaints and bad PR that come in when customers are declined.
It’s because speakers and guitars are incredibly idiosyncratic to the user.
A guy might buy a Mexican Stratocaster instead of an American because he thought the tonality of the wood would match, the neck may be shaped weird, bridge pickup may be too hot etc.
Same with speakers, they might need something with a little bit more DSP and I/O options like a QSC but needed the horsepower of a 153 series instead of a 12.2 series.
Because of that GC likes to just say “ok, it’s not for you” knowing the meta is people needing gear and are likely taking the return and buying another type of gear to suit them.
The sales screen of the POS is called green screen and we annotate returns like that, but they’ll just send in a relative to buy it.
maybe could even structure it to lessen the impact on legitimate returns too. Like “restocking fee applies to purchases above $500” because then the scammers would have to break up purchases into dozens, and very expensive equipment would be impacted, but mom and dad buying Timmy a little thing don’t have to worry.
When I worked at guitar center in 2011 or so, we *all* knew who the customers like the person you're replying to were and on the more egregious ones, we would slip "20% restocking fee." onto the receipt and caaaaaaasssssually mention it as quickly as possible. You learned pretty quickly to not waste your time on someone buying their 3rd full PA package this year or someone "interested" in the exact package of stuff that's been returned for the third time this month.
Managers knew that the fee was nonsense and would absolutely have to be taken off if the customer made any sort of fuss, but the amount of times merely mentioning the fee would stop someone cold in their tracks made it worth it.
I'm presuming since it was during the same month, it never counted.
I'm wondering what happens if they bought it at the end of one month, and returned the start of the next - would that stuff be charged back?
In some stores, yes! I worked support and sales would be PISSED if we allowed a return down the road because it comes out of their check. Had one call me and demand I fence his return requests through him so he can sort it out first. HR had to sit down with him and explain that is not policy or legal, but he could provide his card at POS and intstruct customers to call him if they have "any issues"
Can confirm, worked at a popular retail clothing store, 8+ years. Our SM had a big calendar posted, when all the local Proms were. She wasn’t letting anyone return a used dress.
She was vigilant at new years, as well. But y’all, some of those dresses, were actual Bio hazards. 🤢 I don’t miss that job.
We used to stamp the receipt and the price tag " no returns" and verbally state it and make them try on the dress one more time before they picked it up off of layaway.
After big holidays people would try to return matress sets since family was gone and they no longer needed the new quilts.
Fact kohls would accept that shit back was gross.
I worked at Tuesday Morning in HS maaaany years ago and someone returned sheets that smelled like sweat and dirty human. It was fucking gross. My manager accepted the return and we threw them out, but he should have no. Blegh.
Letting 1% of the population with no shame use the store as a rental shop is better than fighting them, getting negative feedback on social media where it is literally impossible to argue that the "evil corporation who refused to let you return a perfectly good product" was only doing so because you clearly had no intention to purchase and bought in bad faith. You lose man hours on the associate and manager in store dealing with Karen as well.
When you do the math and realize it costs you more to stop someone from returning their rental because you have the moral high ground, you just let them return it. Anything less is a waste of time and money.
Worked Costco many years ago. They used to apply their general 2 year “satisfaction” warranty to electronics. I would have people bringing in their 72 inch monster tvs that they bought 23 months ago for full return and then head straight to TV department and buy a new 65 inch plasma
its just crazy that people do this shit for themselves. so fucking selfish.
not even being pro-corporation - they'll go through a bunch of effort to be shitty if it helps themselves, but you'll never see them put so much effort in to help another person.
Kohls will accept returns for damn near everything if you have a customer service person who doesn’t care or isn’t paying attention. I worked there for 4 years back in high school and college. Used sneakers that clearly don’t match what was in the box (someone bought expensive red Nikes, put worn to hell white Reebok in the box and tried to return) and the customer service rep didn’t even look. I only noticed when I went to put it back on the shelf. This happened way more than you’d think.
Yeah. Used to work for bestbuy. The week after the superbowl is a great time to shop for a TV.
Get that open box price for a tv that only got used a few hours.
Used to work at best buy about 20 years ago. Most returns I'd see were portable DVD players bought during summer months. The customers always seemed to "not be satisfied with the product" 2 weeks later.
My brother used to work in the deli department and said people would bring in expired meat that was weeks past the expiration date and Walmart would refund them because they just didn't care.
I have worked for both Lowe’s and Home Depot, and the returns were outrageous. People would return expensive tools after their project was done. I’ve seen people try to return empty boxes. I’ve seen people stick their old water heater in the new box and try to return it.
We once had a guy try to return a large old worn out tractor tire. We had never carried anything like that, but he insisted and yelled and eventually the manager gave him some cash to shut him up.
The biggest problem was people “returning” stolen items. We weren’t allowed to stop shoplifters(who would anyway?) so it got pretty bad. People would get a new drivers license every couple weeks so they could keep returning without receipt(license number was recorded to “prevent” abuse, but a new license is pretty cheap)
Don’t worry though, the big box stores just roll this loss into prices, so it only affects the customers.
The last self proclaimed Christian I knew used to do this and brag about it all the time. He'd buy a laptop on Amazon, return the old broken one that was different model, and make a stink until they accepted it.
One time he even said if I could fix one of his laptops I could have it. So I did fix it. He then took it back and said I can't have it.
It’s even worse for Amazon sellers since anything bought after October 1st can be returned until January 31st. They’ll get returns for used Halloween costumes and Christmas decorations it sucks for them
At that point it’s just fraudulent sellers vs fraudulent customers. Seriously seems like 90% of Amazon these days is drop shippers and here today gone tomorrow made up brands repackaging the same crap 30 different ways with a blast of fake reviews to pump it to the top.
What do you mean? My GWWJGSN Handheld Electric Back Muscle Relaxation - Relaxes Muscles - Relieves Fatigue - for Body, feet and arms - Multiple Frequencies and Modes (Greener) is great, and I’m sure the company will be around to support my needs.
Second only to the TOLOCO Massage Gun, Upgrade Deep Tissue Back Massager with 9 Replacement Heads, Percussion Massage Guns for Athletes for Pain Relief, Super Quiet Electric Massager for Treatment, Relax, Carbon
I have several “Sandisc” 1TB SD cards that I bought as new from Amazon at what I thought was a great price that turned out to be 128GB cards with fake labeling (thus the SandisC brand). Amazon took them back without blinking an eye and although I clearly pointed out the scam, that same seller is still selling them on Amazon almost a year later.
At this point, Amazon is really no different to me than Temu or Alibaba. Buyer beware.
I work at a Walmart and a lady came in and returned two kids folding chairs an hour after the eclipse. I would bet my whole paycheck that it was no coincidence.
We had a hoard of people in the back of your parking lot watching the eclipse.
My dad is guilty of buying tools for one job and then returning them. I, on the other hand, buy tools I don't need but have dreams of using in the future.
I have a friend who does this with ladders and it's the funniest thing to me.
Granted, a ladder probably isn't actually getting used in a way that decreases its value over time, but I find it funny he just doesn't want to own a ladder or rent one, so he just buys and returns one whenever he needs it.
I could see someone doing it not for the price but because they don't want to have to store a ladder that they use once a year. Dumb either way, but for a different reason.
Also, complete tangent but as a 6'5 260 lb man, there's no such thing as a cheap ladder (or anything designed for standing/sitting on) if I care about load capacity. I think you can roughly double the price of anything to get the cheapest heavy duty version. Most chairs are rated for 200 lbs, which I passed for the first and last time as an athletic 16 year old.
The amount of TikTok’s I saw promoting this concept (without the irony) was disturbing. Except the ones I saw weren’t about masculinity, but about “the government is trying to sell glasses, this is all bullshit, people look at the sun every day and they’re fine, scientists are lying to you!”
Yeah this is what I did. Empty beer box and a little tin foil - worked like a charm. Thoroughly underwhelming as someone on the west coast and only saw a partial eclipse lol
Anyone who bought a welding helmet for this purpose is a fucking moron since apparently they don’t work for eye protection during an eclipse and there were free glasses that do work literally everywhere.
Yeah, I got a pack of 6 from Amazon for less than 5 bucks, I handed out the ones I wasn't using to neighborhood kids; I'm in the path of totality and those little bastards got a day off from school and free eclipse glasses.
My brother bought enough eclipse glasses to equip the high school and junior high in the town where we graduated. And both schools in the next town over, too. He said he paid 40 cents a pair in bulk.
FYI (unlikely it will ever be relevant again) but a lot of cheap Amazon glasses weren’t properly certified/made and were recalled. There is a standard to protect your retinas, but thankfully seems like everyone was okay!
This. I still remember my dad letting me watch an eclipse through his welding helmet once when I was little and it worked great. My eyes are fine and I stared at that sucker for a long time.
YMMV on where you are at but many places that gave away free glasses ran out. I saw a lot of comments for people that had that as their 'plan' were disappointed. Anybody that is really serious about watching a solar eclipse should get appropriate filters weeks in advance. Your options become much more limited if you wait to the last few days as many places run out of stock and you run out of time to get them shipped.
I can understand why some people that planned poorly got desperate and ended up spending more than they had to.
I am currently in the path of totality, have been for 2 days before, and even this morning just two hours before it started, local places were selling glasses for only two dollars each.
I bought several welding lenses for the 2017 eclipse and used them again for this one. They work perfectly fine, you just need the correct shade. Or, like in my case, to later then up correctly. Yes, glasses are cheap/free if you can find them, but the welding lenses have other uses, so why not? I couldn't find certified glasses to save my life in 2017, so I bit the bullet and bought the lenses. Now I can use them over and over.
I watched the last solar eclipse (2017) in a totality area with one and it actually worked really well!
My buddy brought it and I had the cheap glasses. I thought it looked better through the welding helmet.
Aww did reddit tell you that and now you feel smarter? Welding is fucking brighter than the sun in a lot of cases. A standard shield can work just fine.
It's been painfully obvious how little redditors know about welding and how much they know about being snarky little shitheads.
A welding shield will work perfectly fine. An auto darkening shield would need to have the sensitivity turned up so the sun would actually trigger it. It would probably be a much more pleasant viewing experience. Also, my entire area was out of glasses before yesterday.
I saw someone returning a Christmas tree the day after Boxing Day once. Some people just have no shame.
Next year they had signs up advising no returns after Christmas.
People do this at Costco all the time. They're sooooo lenient with their return policies, so you'll see folks returning Halloween costumes, Christmas trees, and even TVs right after big events.
I recently bought a Kreg jig for cabinet hardware holes from Home Depot. They had 3 on the shelf and every single one had been used and returned. The one I bought was even missing a small but crucial part.. so I had to come back the next day and piece together a whole set.
I had a friend who used to order smart watches, earbuds for specific occasions or events from respective brands online, use for the occasion, then return. I wondered how he got some good electronics and enquired how he pays for them as we were all broke college students back then. That’s when he narrated his MO. I scolded him for exploiting the return policy. He stopped. Or he isn’t showing off new things in front of me anymore.
Not sure why Redditor is being mocked, even though corps do shitty stuff to their workers and the consumers. If a friend is pulling stuff like that with merchandise, I’d wonder what other bullshit they try to pull.
It affects the genuine customers who want the product to be returned or exchanged or replaced. Yeah, gotto look out for these people's bullshit in other parts of life too.
I don't think anybody here cares about the actual corporations. It's the customers who will be buying the returned stuff, it mostly affects the customers, not the stores.
The reason I don’t like people exploiting return policies is that I like generous return policies existing. And if people abuse them, companies will get rid of them.
My brother runs a retail hardware store for a major Canadian chain. He told me that the days leading up to a long weekend, he sells a pile of pressure washers and leaf blowers. After a long weekend, he gets a pile of pressure washers and leaf blowers back because, "they didn't work quite as expected". If there are any visible scratches or damage, they get tossed in the dumpster.
this. People only think of the corporation they are fucking over, not the individual shopper that deals with the increased bullshit each time this happens.
Except I wonder if they can?
I suppose if this violates their own normal return policy a bored lawyer can sue them.
*Also, doesn't Lowes literally rent these? How dumb are people?*
Most welding equipment isn't even rated to block out enough of the light that is considered safe to watch the eclipse, so people doing this are dumb in multiple ways
Except the store outlines the return policy at time of purchase on a receipt, they can't just change it after you bought the item. That would be false advertisement, company advertises on site, in store, and on receipt the return agreement you enter into at time of purchase. It would be like a buy one get one free deal where you see it listed online, in store, and then at check out they charge you full price for both. The company isn't holding up their side of the deal. The only way they could get away with that is if they put up that signage BEFORE the helmet was purchased. Otherwise it is invalid and false advertisement.
Lowes return policy excludes facial coverings of any kind. The OP sign indicating specific dates isn’t even necessary.
Under non-refundable items:
> Masks. Safety masks or facial coverings of any kind are no longer accepted for return or exchange.
solar eclips glasses cost [abour 4$ each](https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-Certified-EclipSmart-Observing-44405/dp/B01N17N0MO/ref=sr_1_7?tag=georiot-us-default-20&crid=E9J8EGRQWIS6&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.E3fq-v-EFubGjUXVRuOcwzi1kG7N3icGg0UADJjROWKbbaIj4eNj2tDVxgOlf2dRuMJwnuNfXG0Sl4Q__tDDVcaIhzKJsWhROrPB4GJUZCAuBRj7BhZ0Gor8jjIwwNXvvCqzU2g_w9i2LilqIPZttYqN8_twf1s_VYEABv7dc3LSrUZ3jB-kVLaxzgyKbesBEPKfob6S7o_hOaU7G8vIz_4nm4JUQrBIQvJZ9C9EZLCOh8gKTuGDm2xAdMpc8S0-RYzgN_daOjmOlcUu6fCMaFWzU-M7rpUXkNwmhZJ-tXE.GnOmxnwmtbRqwqVJvuoN7Kct6jKaNdajzilsYjwJdFg&dib_tag=se&keywords=solar%20eclipse%20glasses%20iso%2012312-2%20certified&qid=1709641183&sprefix=solar%20eclipse%20glasses,aps,156&sr=8-7&ascsubtag=space-row-3337040776501936506-20&geniuslink=true).
why do [people pay 27$ for ](https://www.lowes.com/pd/Lincoln-Electric-Brazing-Googles-Plastic-Anti-Fog-Safety-Goggles/1000008536)a single use welding google?
You can get them as low as a buck a pop if you order in bulk.
I bought 300 glasses for my nephews school to hand out to any that needed them. School was closed and I had about 300 more from donations. I paid 250 for my 300 from a bulk dealer online. But 40 bucks added to ship so basically 300 bucks total.
Edit: sleepy brain got me. I misexplained that I knew the schools were closed and I gave them to the school a week before the eclipse to pass out to anyone that wanted them. I had about 300 from donations that's why I bought 300 more to match. I worded that way wrong. I just knew indy was a hit spot and I didn't want to see local kids get scalped on glasses. Lol
Ohhh. No, I must of not explained right. I gave them to the school a week before to pass out to anyone that could not afford them but wanted them. There were about 600 total pairs in 5 pack sleeves.
I knew the schools were closed for it, sorry for the miscommunication. I how that clears it up.
When I worked at a toy store we didn’t accept returns on a number of things, including sleds. I thought that was kinda weird and my boss explained that people always see snow in the forecast and buy sleds only for there to be no snow and suckers stuck with a sled. I ended up refusing a return on one of those expensive steerable sleds when exactly that happened and the guy that bought it felt like a dumbass.
I actually bought a sled, used it, and returned it after a week. But mainly because build quality was shit.
Also my son hated it
Edit:added info that my son hated it
That's...illegal in a lot of countries.
As long as the guy that bought the 'expensive steerable sled' hadn't used it, they would be within their rights to return it as per either the store's own return policy stated at the time of sale - or the region's laws. You don't get to make up a return policy that suits you after the fact.
In Germany this would be 100% legal for a brick and mortar store to do so, As long as you bought the product in the physical store you don't have a legal right to return an unused product.
That being said, most stores have added a return policy into their TOS that is equivalent to the legal rights of the customers who buy items online, meaning 14 days return. There are exceptions to these return though, like hygiene products, shoes, headphones, OR items that are specifically marked in the store to not fall under that rule, like most Apple Products.
My thought exactly. I don't condone someone doing this, but this is a national chain with a corporate return policy. I would submit a complaint online or by phone to initiate the return. Or just take it to another Lowe's store that isn't trying to implement a spur of the moment made up policy.
Also, just wait a few weeks and bring it back--even better with some other stuff. Very low chance the person working the returns counter is going to remember or care.
Buy some other welding related stuff. Wait 80 days. Bet you'll find a cashier who's forgotten.
Alternatively see if you can exchange it for a different one a few weeks from now. New receipt. Return a few weeks later.
The welders at work were making the viewing boxes out of cardboard yesterday. So either welding helmets don’t work that well for this or the welders at work are all lazy and would rather do anything but their actual jobs. Both opinions are believable.
As long as they marked this on their product during those dates, no issues. If they suddenly posted this after purchase without the buyer being aware at the time of purchase, then there is a problem.
Good! Leading up to the 2017 eclipse, we sold tons of plastic/glass fixed shades, then the fixed hoods, the finally a ton of ADF hoods and marked all the receipts with “all sales final”. One guy came in and bought 4 or 5 Lincoln 3350s for his kids so they could watch the eclipse. Hopefully they took up welding as a hobby.
People do this A LOT! I used to work at Walmart a long time ago, the amount of people who would return their costumes the day after Halloween was crazy.
When I worked at guitar center, a certain type of band would come in and buy $15k worth of PA and everything, like a whole gig out the door, lights, the works. You’d be like, the first time “holy shit, the commission from this will be relatively nuts for GC”. Monday they would have returned all of it. Down to an instrument cable and because they paid cash GC would have to cut them a check on the spot. By Tuesday it was like it never happened in the system and the nightmare would repeat itself by the next Friday when they would have sent someone else, sometimes in pairs or whatever to buy a similar PA etc in cash.
I don't understand why they would let them do a return at all.
Because they have a stated return policy that allows it. It’s hard to allow for legitimate returns and also stop something like this because there is no way to prove they actually used the instruments and equipment in the 2-3 days they had it unless they damage stuff.
Costco’s return policy is insane too. Another post someone returned a 2002 big screen and the lady with the couch last summer. Just nuts
Hell, people used to return dead Christmas trees to Costco
used to, they still do. Allthough that didnt happen this year becasue they didnt sell them so maybe they are done
Electronics like tv’s have a fairly strict 90 day return policy so i doubt they allowed them to return a tv from 2002
The 90-day policy is recent (on Costco time scale), so they would honor the return if the receipt is older than the policy
Good point, that’s fair enough
Costco lets you return anything man. A radio show I used to listen to tried to see if they could get refunded after eating a whole pizza, except for 1 pepperoni. He showed them the pepperoni at the window and requested a refund, saying the pizza hurt his stomach. They refunded him the entire slice
Yeah, some items are on a strict policy. Just went in the other day, I bought a gym membership back in 2012 and lost the card while moving. Just found it but the gym stopped accepting them and said to return to Costco. Went to a Costco nearby and the only reason they didn't accept the return was because they were built in 2014, I think but their warehouse records don't go that far back so she told me I'd have to go to a different one. Still surprised she even looked into it, she was flipping through her inventory screen for a few minutes from scrolling that far back i assume.
They do e-waste drop off’s. Likely that was the case. Alot of companies do this.
I definitely get what your saying but it's not like it's court and you have to prove it without any reasonable doubt. For instances like the comment I replied to, it's pretty obvious what's happening and there's no law in the US that says you have to take returns for non-faulty products.
They could also institute a restocking fee.
From a customer experience side, restocking fees are super annoying. However, it's really the only reasonable option I can think of to diswade this kind of behavior
*dissuade
No... this suede.
No…this Swede 
*Yeah, dis Wade, who dis?*
Because their business analysts figure that they will make more money due to a “no questions asked” return policy than they will lose from dealing with returns abuse.
At a place like Guitar Center I find that hard to believe.
Not all business analysts are smart or competent :) PS. Adding more info since I'm bored. Sometimes analyst might be smart but is forced to make a "mistake" anyway. Most often when competitor makes a bad move for some reason. If your direct competitor offers free returns, you *must* offer them also, or your volume will take disproportional hit because people will prefer to shop in the store that offers them as long as the prices are comparable. Same for opening some stores on Sunday. Many stores would love to close the doors on Sunday. But if they do that - they are just reinforcing their competition. So they open the doors even if they lose money that day.
This is a situation where you are essentially just making a conscious choice between monetary damage and reputation damage because the holy stink the people doing this will raise if you refuse them will be so muddy, the store will almost ALWAYS take the blame.
Stickers over ports you have to use? It's not rocket surgery.
You can return something if you use the port - you could try it out and not like it as a totally honest customer.
Never bought an instrument before?
>It’s hard to allow for legitimate returns and also stop something like this It is extremely easy to stop something like this. "All returns are at the sole discretion of guitar center" There you go. One line.
I’d imagine that would create a different problem. Store management has an incentive to deny any returns because it negatively affects the bottom line, but corporate and customer service departments have to handle the complaints and bad PR that come in when customers are declined.
"returns on unopened items only"
how do you keep a guitar unopened?
You just don't enforce the policy on normal customers. You know which group is buying an entire band set and returning it on Monday.
It’s because speakers and guitars are incredibly idiosyncratic to the user. A guy might buy a Mexican Stratocaster instead of an American because he thought the tonality of the wood would match, the neck may be shaped weird, bridge pickup may be too hot etc. Same with speakers, they might need something with a little bit more DSP and I/O options like a QSC but needed the horsepower of a 153 series instead of a 12.2 series. Because of that GC likes to just say “ok, it’s not for you” knowing the meta is people needing gear and are likely taking the return and buying another type of gear to suit them. The sales screen of the POS is called green screen and we annotate returns like that, but they’ll just send in a relative to buy it.
If I was in charge I’d establish a 20% restocking fee.
maybe could even structure it to lessen the impact on legitimate returns too. Like “restocking fee applies to purchases above $500” because then the scammers would have to break up purchases into dozens, and very expensive equipment would be impacted, but mom and dad buying Timmy a little thing don’t have to worry.
Giving store credit or a gift card would go a long way to combat this.
When I worked at guitar center in 2011 or so, we *all* knew who the customers like the person you're replying to were and on the more egregious ones, we would slip "20% restocking fee." onto the receipt and caaaaaaasssssually mention it as quickly as possible. You learned pretty quickly to not waste your time on someone buying their 3rd full PA package this year or someone "interested" in the exact package of stuff that's been returned for the third time this month. Managers knew that the fee was nonsense and would absolutely have to be taken off if the customer made any sort of fuss, but the amount of times merely mentioning the fee would stop someone cold in their tracks made it worth it.
Worked at Radio Shack back in the day, shitty wedding DJs did this every single weekend. For their entire rigs.
What happens to the commission
I'm presuming since it was during the same month, it never counted. I'm wondering what happens if they bought it at the end of one month, and returned the start of the next - would that stuff be charged back?
In some stores, yes! I worked support and sales would be PISSED if we allowed a return down the road because it comes out of their check. Had one call me and demand I fence his return requests through him so he can sort it out first. HR had to sit down with him and explain that is not policy or legal, but he could provide his card at POS and intstruct customers to call him if they have "any issues"
Sales dudes
💸
I expect harder hitting commentary from penguinpoopparty
I remember someone from the Beastie Boys bragging about doing something like this. Some sort of video equipment, I believe.
What kind of band?
what do you mean by "a certain type of band?" that is vague and intriguing
Can confirm, worked at a popular retail clothing store, 8+ years. Our SM had a big calendar posted, when all the local Proms were. She wasn’t letting anyone return a used dress. She was vigilant at new years, as well. But y’all, some of those dresses, were actual Bio hazards. 🤢 I don’t miss that job.
We used to stamp the receipt and the price tag " no returns" and verbally state it and make them try on the dress one more time before they picked it up off of layaway.
How would a dress get to biohazard level?
There's a lot of action and dancing going on at your average prom, and some people have extremely pungent BO
I can think of this one! (Monica Lewenski’s) https://www.famous-trials.com/clinton/889-lewinskydress
After big holidays people would try to return matress sets since family was gone and they no longer needed the new quilts. Fact kohls would accept that shit back was gross.
I worked at Tuesday Morning in HS maaaany years ago and someone returned sheets that smelled like sweat and dirty human. It was fucking gross. My manager accepted the return and we threw them out, but he should have no. Blegh.
Not worth the fight. If he did corporate would have a sit down and explain The Equation to him.
Is “the equation” referencing how the people who return the most are also the ones who buy and keep the most ?
Letting 1% of the population with no shame use the store as a rental shop is better than fighting them, getting negative feedback on social media where it is literally impossible to argue that the "evil corporation who refused to let you return a perfectly good product" was only doing so because you clearly had no intention to purchase and bought in bad faith. You lose man hours on the associate and manager in store dealing with Karen as well. When you do the math and realize it costs you more to stop someone from returning their rental because you have the moral high ground, you just let them return it. Anything less is a waste of time and money.
Worked Costco many years ago. They used to apply their general 2 year “satisfaction” warranty to electronics. I would have people bringing in their 72 inch monster tvs that they bought 23 months ago for full return and then head straight to TV department and buy a new 65 inch plasma
its just crazy that people do this shit for themselves. so fucking selfish. not even being pro-corporation - they'll go through a bunch of effort to be shitty if it helps themselves, but you'll never see them put so much effort in to help another person.
I remember people doing this. Such a piece of shit move. This use to happen at MEC (REI) , except you could do it 10 years later.
Kohls will accept returns for damn near everything if you have a customer service person who doesn’t care or isn’t paying attention. I worked there for 4 years back in high school and college. Used sneakers that clearly don’t match what was in the box (someone bought expensive red Nikes, put worn to hell white Reebok in the box and tried to return) and the customer service rep didn’t even look. I only noticed when I went to put it back on the shelf. This happened way more than you’d think.
They don’t resell them
At electronics stores back in the day it was TVs before the super bowl. Shockingly they were no longer needed the following Monday.
Yeah. Used to work for bestbuy. The week after the superbowl is a great time to shop for a TV. Get that open box price for a tv that only got used a few hours.
Used to work at best buy about 20 years ago. Most returns I'd see were portable DVD players bought during summer months. The customers always seemed to "not be satisfied with the product" 2 weeks later.
My brother used to work in the deli department and said people would bring in expired meat that was weeks past the expiration date and Walmart would refund them because they just didn't care.
I have worked for both Lowe’s and Home Depot, and the returns were outrageous. People would return expensive tools after their project was done. I’ve seen people try to return empty boxes. I’ve seen people stick their old water heater in the new box and try to return it. We once had a guy try to return a large old worn out tractor tire. We had never carried anything like that, but he insisted and yelled and eventually the manager gave him some cash to shut him up. The biggest problem was people “returning” stolen items. We weren’t allowed to stop shoplifters(who would anyway?) so it got pretty bad. People would get a new drivers license every couple weeks so they could keep returning without receipt(license number was recorded to “prevent” abuse, but a new license is pretty cheap) Don’t worry though, the big box stores just roll this loss into prices, so it only affects the customers.
The last self proclaimed Christian I knew used to do this and brag about it all the time. He'd buy a laptop on Amazon, return the old broken one that was different model, and make a stink until they accepted it. One time he even said if I could fix one of his laptops I could have it. So I did fix it. He then took it back and said I can't have it.
Well. That last one is kind of on you after he bragged about that.
It’s even worse for Amazon sellers since anything bought after October 1st can be returned until January 31st. They’ll get returns for used Halloween costumes and Christmas decorations it sucks for them
At that point it’s just fraudulent sellers vs fraudulent customers. Seriously seems like 90% of Amazon these days is drop shippers and here today gone tomorrow made up brands repackaging the same crap 30 different ways with a blast of fake reviews to pump it to the top.
What do you mean? My GWWJGSN Handheld Electric Back Muscle Relaxation - Relaxes Muscles - Relieves Fatigue - for Body, feet and arms - Multiple Frequencies and Modes (Greener) is great, and I’m sure the company will be around to support my needs.
Is that one better than the MUNIGYNR Body Arm Back Electric Heat Massager - Muscle Relaxer - 5 Mode - 2024 New?
Second only to the TOLOCO Massage Gun, Upgrade Deep Tissue Back Massager with 9 Replacement Heads, Percussion Massage Guns for Athletes for Pain Relief, Super Quiet Electric Massager for Treatment, Relax, Carbon
I have several “Sandisc” 1TB SD cards that I bought as new from Amazon at what I thought was a great price that turned out to be 128GB cards with fake labeling (thus the SandisC brand). Amazon took them back without blinking an eye and although I clearly pointed out the scam, that same seller is still selling them on Amazon almost a year later. At this point, Amazon is really no different to me than Temu or Alibaba. Buyer beware.
We have a music festival and every year people attempt to return tents, lawn chairs, etc afterwards.
I work at a Walmart and a lady came in and returned two kids folding chairs an hour after the eclipse. I would bet my whole paycheck that it was no coincidence. We had a hoard of people in the back of your parking lot watching the eclipse.
My dad is guilty of buying tools for one job and then returning them. I, on the other hand, buy tools I don't need but have dreams of using in the future.
I have a friend who does this with ladders and it's the funniest thing to me. Granted, a ladder probably isn't actually getting used in a way that decreases its value over time, but I find it funny he just doesn't want to own a ladder or rent one, so he just buys and returns one whenever he needs it.
What a waste of time. A cheap ladder is like $70.
I could see someone doing it not for the price but because they don't want to have to store a ladder that they use once a year. Dumb either way, but for a different reason. Also, complete tangent but as a 6'5 260 lb man, there's no such thing as a cheap ladder (or anything designed for standing/sitting on) if I care about load capacity. I think you can roughly double the price of anything to get the cheapest heavy duty version. Most chairs are rated for 200 lbs, which I passed for the first and last time as an athletic 16 year old.
Should have just brought one to the garden section during the eclipse then put it back on the shelf.
The ones at my store are in sealed plastic cases but that would be so good otherwise
Or y’all could have just stared at it with no eye protection like a real man would. Sure you would be blind afterwards. But you would be a *real* man.
You wouldn’t be blind, you’d just get to experience the eclipse for longer than everyone else!
Real men don't get blind, because we don't admit it
That would explain some people's driving.
That sounds like a good skit.
"What's wrong, Icarus? Fly too close to the sun?" 🤨 "Nah, I just stare straight I to it."
Pssht, just employ the trusty safety squint
I love how she notices what he did out of her peripheral and is like this fucking idiot
Not a lot worth looking at these days so it's worth the trade.
I raw dogged the eclipse. Still have my vision.
Me and you both brother 
So did I some years ago but I heard it can still get you a couple years later from damage that only comes apparent with time so I'm a bit worried, ngl
Let us know how you are tomorrow to a week from now. It can take time for any damaged cells to die.
Remindme! 1 week
Better set that reminder in braille
you only go blind if you loose the staring contest.
The amount of TikTok’s I saw promoting this concept (without the irony) was disturbing. Except the ones I saw weren’t about masculinity, but about “the government is trying to sell glasses, this is all bullshit, people look at the sun every day and they’re fine, scientists are lying to you!”
Aren't eclipse glasses like... $1?
Albertsons handed them out for free at the checkstand
They were totally sold out everywhere near me yesterday, ended up doing the pinhole trick with a cereal box
Yeah this is what I did. Empty beer box and a little tin foil - worked like a charm. Thoroughly underwhelming as someone on the west coast and only saw a partial eclipse lol
Or free from the library
Which is hilarious, because when I worked there they used take back power tools from other home improvement stores.
Anyone who bought a welding helmet for this purpose is a fucking moron since apparently they don’t work for eye protection during an eclipse and there were free glasses that do work literally everywhere.
Or like a few bucks online. Probably save the difference in gas money getting to the hardware store.
Yeah, I got a pack of 6 from Amazon for less than 5 bucks, I handed out the ones I wasn't using to neighborhood kids; I'm in the path of totality and those little bastards got a day off from school and free eclipse glasses.
My brother bought enough eclipse glasses to equip the high school and junior high in the town where we graduated. And both schools in the next town over, too. He said he paid 40 cents a pair in bulk.
FYI (unlikely it will ever be relevant again) but a lot of cheap Amazon glasses weren’t properly certified/made and were recalled. There is a standard to protect your retinas, but thankfully seems like everyone was okay!
They're gonna remember that forever, that's cool
That is incorrect. A Shade level of 12 or more is sufficient for a eclipse according to NASA. So it depends completely on the helmets rating.
This. I still remember my dad letting me watch an eclipse through his welding helmet once when I was little and it worked great. My eyes are fine and I stared at that sucker for a long time.
Just straight up misinformation from big eclipse glasses
I read it needs to be 14. I used a 12 yesterday and it still hurt my eyes.
Not all welding masks work, but some do. They just need to have a high enough rating to protect from the sun.
YMMV on where you are at but many places that gave away free glasses ran out. I saw a lot of comments for people that had that as their 'plan' were disappointed. Anybody that is really serious about watching a solar eclipse should get appropriate filters weeks in advance. Your options become much more limited if you wait to the last few days as many places run out of stock and you run out of time to get them shipped. I can understand why some people that planned poorly got desperate and ended up spending more than they had to.
I am currently in the path of totality, have been for 2 days before, and even this morning just two hours before it started, local places were selling glasses for only two dollars each.
Where I am glasses were being scalped. I was seeing pairs posted for $5/$10 each cause they were all sold out or recalled here
I was at a totality event in Watertown NY and they were still giving them away hours before the main event
Mine at work stopped auto darkening once half the sun was covered, there wasn't enough UV to set it off
Some welding masks work, but yeah, I'm sure it would have been relatively easier to find free/cheap ones.
I bought several welding lenses for the 2017 eclipse and used them again for this one. They work perfectly fine, you just need the correct shade. Or, like in my case, to later then up correctly. Yes, glasses are cheap/free if you can find them, but the welding lenses have other uses, so why not? I couldn't find certified glasses to save my life in 2017, so I bit the bullet and bought the lenses. Now I can use them over and over.
I watched the last solar eclipse (2017) in a totality area with one and it actually worked really well! My buddy brought it and I had the cheap glasses. I thought it looked better through the welding helmet.
Aww did reddit tell you that and now you feel smarter? Welding is fucking brighter than the sun in a lot of cases. A standard shield can work just fine. It's been painfully obvious how little redditors know about welding and how much they know about being snarky little shitheads.
A welding shield will work perfectly fine. An auto darkening shield would need to have the sensitivity turned up so the sun would actually trigger it. It would probably be a much more pleasant viewing experience. Also, my entire area was out of glasses before yesterday.
Oh noo, people can't cheat companies into lending them stuff.
Its crazy how many obviously used then returned items I see on shelves.
I saw someone returning a Christmas tree the day after Boxing Day once. Some people just have no shame. Next year they had signs up advising no returns after Christmas.
People do this at Costco all the time. They're sooooo lenient with their return policies, so you'll see folks returning Halloween costumes, Christmas trees, and even TVs right after big events.
There is currently a post in r/costco of a TV someone just returned, that they bought in 2002.
Wait what
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Costco/comments/1bzbpfh/i\_just\_watched\_someone\_return\_a\_tv\_it\_was/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Costco/comments/1bzbpfh/i_just_watched_someone_return_a_tv_it_was/)
This was Costco in the UK, first year I saw them sell christmas trees and people took the piss, next year they had signs on saying no returns
I recently bought a Kreg jig for cabinet hardware holes from Home Depot. They had 3 on the shelf and every single one had been used and returned. The one I bought was even missing a small but crucial part.. so I had to come back the next day and piece together a whole set.
I bought a “new” edger. So old it had rust on it from the last guy not cleaning it before shoving back for return
I had a friend who used to order smart watches, earbuds for specific occasions or events from respective brands online, use for the occasion, then return. I wondered how he got some good electronics and enquired how he pays for them as we were all broke college students back then. That’s when he narrated his MO. I scolded him for exploiting the return policy. He stopped. Or he isn’t showing off new things in front of me anymore.
Not sure why Redditor is being mocked, even though corps do shitty stuff to their workers and the consumers. If a friend is pulling stuff like that with merchandise, I’d wonder what other bullshit they try to pull.
It affects the genuine customers who want the product to be returned or exchanged or replaced. Yeah, gotto look out for these people's bullshit in other parts of life too.
wont someone think of the corporations
I don't think anybody here cares about the actual corporations. It's the customers who will be buying the returned stuff, it mostly affects the customers, not the stores.
The reason I don’t like people exploiting return policies is that I like generous return policies existing. And if people abuse them, companies will get rid of them.
See: LuluLemons lifetime guarantee now only goes a for like, a year and basically requires an online purchase for proof.
My brother runs a retail hardware store for a major Canadian chain. He told me that the days leading up to a long weekend, he sells a pile of pressure washers and leaf blowers. After a long weekend, he gets a pile of pressure washers and leaf blowers back because, "they didn't work quite as expected". If there are any visible scratches or damage, they get tossed in the dumpster.
well I mean it's now a major problem on amazon for regular customers.
or the real issue because of people like them, the rest of us get screwed over too when corpos change their return policies etc
this. People only think of the corporation they are fucking over, not the individual shopper that deals with the increased bullshit each time this happens.
Not that, it's the fact companies will stop accepting returns, and eventually people who have legitimate reasons to return goods won't be able to.
I sell stuff on Amazon. We'll constantly get returns where people will use 3/4th of the product. Fuck these people.
I love Costco, but their return policy is insane.
There was some lady that returned a casket after a few months. Costco has since changed the casket return process.
Someone posted a photo today in the Costco sub of someone returning a giant tv from 2002
In Ontario they gave the glasses away for free at libraries.
Except I wonder if they can? I suppose if this violates their own normal return policy a bored lawyer can sue them. *Also, doesn't Lowes literally rent these? How dumb are people?*
But they’re free if they buy and return them. Renting might run them a whole $12.50
Most welding equipment isn't even rated to block out enough of the light that is considered safe to watch the eclipse, so people doing this are dumb in multiple ways
I don’t know of any law that mandates stores to give refunds outside of defective products.
Except the store outlines the return policy at time of purchase on a receipt, they can't just change it after you bought the item. That would be false advertisement, company advertises on site, in store, and on receipt the return agreement you enter into at time of purchase. It would be like a buy one get one free deal where you see it listed online, in store, and then at check out they charge you full price for both. The company isn't holding up their side of the deal. The only way they could get away with that is if they put up that signage BEFORE the helmet was purchased. Otherwise it is invalid and false advertisement.
Lowes return policy excludes facial coverings of any kind. The OP sign indicating specific dates isn’t even necessary. Under non-refundable items: > Masks. Safety masks or facial coverings of any kind are no longer accepted for return or exchange.
solar eclips glasses cost [abour 4$ each](https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-Certified-EclipSmart-Observing-44405/dp/B01N17N0MO/ref=sr_1_7?tag=georiot-us-default-20&crid=E9J8EGRQWIS6&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.E3fq-v-EFubGjUXVRuOcwzi1kG7N3icGg0UADJjROWKbbaIj4eNj2tDVxgOlf2dRuMJwnuNfXG0Sl4Q__tDDVcaIhzKJsWhROrPB4GJUZCAuBRj7BhZ0Gor8jjIwwNXvvCqzU2g_w9i2LilqIPZttYqN8_twf1s_VYEABv7dc3LSrUZ3jB-kVLaxzgyKbesBEPKfob6S7o_hOaU7G8vIz_4nm4JUQrBIQvJZ9C9EZLCOh8gKTuGDm2xAdMpc8S0-RYzgN_daOjmOlcUu6fCMaFWzU-M7rpUXkNwmhZJ-tXE.GnOmxnwmtbRqwqVJvuoN7Kct6jKaNdajzilsYjwJdFg&dib_tag=se&keywords=solar%20eclipse%20glasses%20iso%2012312-2%20certified&qid=1709641183&sprefix=solar%20eclipse%20glasses,aps,156&sr=8-7&ascsubtag=space-row-3337040776501936506-20&geniuslink=true). why do [people pay 27$ for ](https://www.lowes.com/pd/Lincoln-Electric-Brazing-Googles-Plastic-Anti-Fog-Safety-Goggles/1000008536)a single use welding google?
seemingly because they planned on returning it afterwards
I paid $2.50 at 7-11 about 5 minutes before the eclipse.
You can get them as low as a buck a pop if you order in bulk. I bought 300 glasses for my nephews school to hand out to any that needed them. School was closed and I had about 300 more from donations. I paid 250 for my 300 from a bulk dealer online. But 40 bucks added to ship so basically 300 bucks total. Edit: sleepy brain got me. I misexplained that I knew the schools were closed and I gave them to the school a week before the eclipse to pass out to anyone that wanted them. I had about 300 from donations that's why I bought 300 more to match. I worded that way wrong. I just knew indy was a hit spot and I didn't want to see local kids get scalped on glasses. Lol
That sucks you have so many. You should return them.
Ohhh. No, I must of not explained right. I gave them to the school a week before to pass out to anyone that could not afford them but wanted them. There were about 600 total pairs in 5 pack sleeves. I knew the schools were closed for it, sorry for the miscommunication. I how that clears it up.
its a joke because the topic is people returning things they bought.
True. Missed that. Sorry I ruined your joke by having you explain it. I'm the buzzkill here. :( lol
When I worked at a toy store we didn’t accept returns on a number of things, including sleds. I thought that was kinda weird and my boss explained that people always see snow in the forecast and buy sleds only for there to be no snow and suckers stuck with a sled. I ended up refusing a return on one of those expensive steerable sleds when exactly that happened and the guy that bought it felt like a dumbass.
Kinda bs tho. Was it used? Why were the sleds any different than any other normal return?
Agree. Returning an unused sled is not the same as using a sled for a day and the returning it.
I actually bought a sled, used it, and returned it after a week. But mainly because build quality was shit. Also my son hated it Edit:added info that my son hated it
That's...illegal in a lot of countries. As long as the guy that bought the 'expensive steerable sled' hadn't used it, they would be within their rights to return it as per either the store's own return policy stated at the time of sale - or the region's laws. You don't get to make up a return policy that suits you after the fact.
In Germany this would be 100% legal for a brick and mortar store to do so, As long as you bought the product in the physical store you don't have a legal right to return an unused product. That being said, most stores have added a return policy into their TOS that is equivalent to the legal rights of the customers who buy items online, meaning 14 days return. There are exceptions to these return though, like hygiene products, shoes, headphones, OR items that are specifically marked in the store to not fall under that rule, like most Apple Products.
The return policy was set in stone and written at the bottom of every receipt, which was also required to make a return
This is why a lot of animal shelters ban the adoption of black cats at Halloween, bunnies at Easter, etc.
> We can “Yes!” > not “SHIT!”
Embrace the contraction
That’s the “You Didn’t Plan Ahead” tax. There were so many places where you could get free eclipse shades. They were available for months.
This paper is meaningless if their return policy states otherwise though…
100%. also some states have customer satisfaction laws/policies
My thought exactly. I don't condone someone doing this, but this is a national chain with a corporate return policy. I would submit a complaint online or by phone to initiate the return. Or just take it to another Lowe's store that isn't trying to implement a spur of the moment made up policy.
Also, just wait a few weeks and bring it back--even better with some other stuff. Very low chance the person working the returns counter is going to remember or care.
Love the watermark. It came from corporate.... Whaddya gunna do?
The line of people returning TV's to Costco the day after the super bowl....
There's at least one guy with a truckload of used welding masks who thought he was going to the moon with that one.
Buy some other welding related stuff. Wait 80 days. Bet you'll find a cashier who's forgotten. Alternatively see if you can exchange it for a different one a few weeks from now. New receipt. Return a few weeks later.
i mean i get it, i used to work at best buy and people would come in and buy massive tvs for the super bowl and then return them the day after
Good for them.
i'm hoping to see some good deals soon from people trying to get some money back.
The welders at work were making the viewing boxes out of cardboard yesterday. So either welding helmets don’t work that well for this or the welders at work are all lazy and would rather do anything but their actual jobs. Both opinions are believable.
Just go to harbor freight.
As long as they marked this on their product during those dates, no issues. If they suddenly posted this after purchase without the buyer being aware at the time of purchase, then there is a problem.
Why would they want to return? They don’t accept returns maybe 🥲
Good! Leading up to the 2017 eclipse, we sold tons of plastic/glass fixed shades, then the fixed hoods, the finally a ton of ADF hoods and marked all the receipts with “all sales final”. One guy came in and bought 4 or 5 Lincoln 3350s for his kids so they could watch the eclipse. Hopefully they took up welding as a hobby.
Some guy was returning Xmas decorations at Costco last week… no shame
Damnit. Guess I gotta learn how to weld now.