Home Depot return policy change without notification

[Brian Ashton]

Don't think this has been mentioned but no store has to inform anyone that they are going to follow the law more closely. Certain returns are backed up by consumer protection law i.e. not fit for purpose, defective... but not convenience or customer satisfaction returns. And, why should they, negative advertising isn't exactly what stores strive for.

[Clarence Martin]

If you think that their return policy is bad, imagine buying a product from a store, finding out an hour after it was delivered and set up, that the product was all rusted inside. The store you bought it from won't deal with you and tells you to take it up with the manufacturer.

2 Months later, you get the manufacturer to give you your money back !!

[Ole Anderson]

Everything I buy at HD is through my non-HD credit card. I always say yes when asked if I want an e-mail receipt also. I have a folder on my PC for HD email receipts. 127 at last count. Always toss the receipts. When returning an item they just want my credit card and it automatically pulls up the transaction. No problem. Never even had to print out a receipt from my PC. I do believe they are now adding a last-date-for-return to the receipts. If you pay cash and can't produce the receipt you have no business expecting a refund unless it is a HD only product, unopened.

[John K Jordan]

I like the emailed receipt idea. I've never done that but I can see it's a smart thing to do.

... If you pay cash and can't produce the receipt you have no business expecting a refund unless it is a HD only product, unopened.

A friend who worked at HD said they have a huge problem with people walking out one door with stolen goods then coming in the other door to return them, unopened, unused, but no receipt. He said work gloves are a popular target since they can be stuffed into clothes. I have no idea how to combat that without hiding security tags on everything in the store.

He also said people will also buy things in boxes, replace the contents with something worthless of equal weight, then reseal and return for cash with the cash receipt in hand. I bought a garden sprayer at HD once that was caked with residue of deck stain where someone bought, used, then returned. And on a public photography forum one person told how he gets good photo lights for a job for free - buy, use, return. Gasp.

It astounds me to even know about such things.

JKJ

[Jim Koepke]

And on a public photography forum one person told how he gets good photo lights for a job for free - buy, use, return. Gasp.

IMO, there is a special very hot uncomfortable place reserved for people like this.

My wife's first husband thought he was smart for doing this. His son by his second wife just got married. He was not allowed to attend. His children by my wife do not want to have anything to do with him. They all get along with me.

Most of the time when there are things bought for a job that were not needed they go into my parts accumulation instead of being returned.

jtk

[Al Launier]

WOW! 79 responses to this thread. Sounds like the OP hit a nerve.

It seems to me that many abuse the practice of buying things using guesswork instead of homework. Buying several items to ensure getting the right thing and then to return the non-used items for a refund without a receipt, and doing so much later is a lot to ask.

If you have to get multiples to save yourself a trip back place the receipt with the extra items. I can only ask if it were your business would you be so accommodating? Businesses have to absorb this extra cost by pricing it right back to the consumer. A large retail store can usually handle this better than a small business, but sometimes the larger stores do go out of business too.

Also, if practicing multiple purchase to get the right thing, at least return it to the same store, otherwise a store at a different location has to absorb the expense rather than the original store.

Ole's idea is a good one!

And to hear of some of the tactics used like those stated above in post #80 is incredible.

I was told by a friend who worked at Lowes that they are very well aware of the thefts that go on, yet it is not worth the expense to challenge the thieves, so in most cases dealing with small items they don't bother. I didn't realize how commonplace this was.

[Erik Loza]

...I bought a garden sprayer at HD once that was caked with residue of deck stain where someone bought, used, then returned...

This is funny. My trusty Dremel tool (10 years old) died literally right in the middle of a project over the weekend. So, I run over to HD and buy a replacement. Open it up from the plastic clamshell case and the whole tool is covered in dust. Not sawdust but like, "house dust". As it if had been sitting on the shelf for a while. REALLY DUSTY. The cardboard sleeve did not appear to have been opened previously. At least that I could tell. And nothing else inside the clamshell was dusty, just the Dremel tool. I HAD to get this project done that afternoon and the tool worked fine, so keeping it, but that was really weird.

Erik

[Jim Becker]

WOW! 79 responses to this thread. Sounds like the OP hit a nerve..

The thread was started in 2015...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

A couple years ago I was in HD shopping for a carpet cleaner. A guy walking by, stopped and asked me what I was buying. After I told him, he stated he came into the store, bought one, took it to the new home he was buying, used it to clean all the carpets in the house he was buying and then returned it for a refund. I am often surprised places like HD and Costco have such a easy return policy. Do people realize or even care that once something is used, it can't be sold as new and the business can lose money or profit? In the end, the buying public pays higher prices to make up for the people who do this stuff.

[Edwin Santos]

WOW! 79 responses to this thread. Sounds like the OP hit a nerve.

It seems to me that many abuse the practice of buying things using guesswork instead of homework. Buying several items to ensure getting the right thing and then to return the non-used items for a refund without a receipt, and doing so much later is a lot to ask.

If you have to get multiples to save yourself a trip back place the receipt with the extra items. I can only ask if it were your business would you be so accommodating? Businesses have to absorb this extra cost by pricing it right back to the consumer. A large retail store can usually handle this better than a small business, but sometimes the larger stores do go out of business too.

I understand your point of view, especially from the ground view. But most larger, sophisticated retailers view this issue from a high level and the thinking in support of a liberal return policy is as follows:

1. A meaningful number of customers buy multiples with the intention of returning the unused product, and never get around to doing the return - Retailer wins
2. A trip back to the store to do the return results in some % of customers making another purchase now that they're there - Retailer wins
3. Making it painless to return things makes the customer buy if in doubt i.e. "I'm not sure, but I'll just buy it anyway because I can always return it" - Retailer wins
4. A trip back to the store for a return brings the customer back on the premises. This is what they also spend $$ in advertising to do - get you in the store - Retailer wins
5. The studies show that customers are creatures of habit and the no-hassle policy of returns results in relationship acquisition - Retailer wins
6. A retailer who folds his arms, shakes his head and says no, I won't take this return back, maybe lecturing the customer in the process, will accomplish the opposite of all these things, in other words - Retailer wins one battle, but loses the relationship, hence the war

Another note, HD is very clever, if you sign up for their credit card, in addition to the sign up perks they offer, you get one year to return an item. So guess what, in this case if that feature attracted you, then the enhanced return policy is a form of cc customer acquisition, and credit cards are a monster source of income to retailers and the partner issuing bank.


Every once in a while I see a suggestion that using a return policy is unethical, or at least borderline unethical. Personally I don't agree with this. I generally think the retailers are sophisticated, competent business people who set up their policies knowing the pros and cons, risks and rewards. To take them up on it is no less ethical than taking a tax deduction that the IRS allows.
Though I do agree that examples like the one of the guy "renting" the carpet cleaner that he had not intention of keeping is pushing it. But again, the retailer knows a small % of people will do things like that and their financial guys have built an allowance reserve into their financials for it, kind of like a bad debt allowance (not that it makes it okay for the ill-intentioned customer to do so). A tough return policy might win the retailer some nickels but lose them dollars.

How many successful retailers (not mom & pops) do you know that have tough return policies?

Amazon has now made it this easy - on many items, you don't even have to repackage the item to send it back, you have the option of simply taking it to the UPS store unpackaged and show a QR code on your phone and they take it from there.

[Doug Dawson]

It seems to me that many abuse the practice of buying things using guesswork instead of homework. Buying several items to ensure getting the right thing and then to return the non-used items for a refund without a receipt, and doing so much later is a lot to ask.

What difference does it make? All it costs them is the minimal labor to put something back on the shelf, which is repaid by the good will of the customer.

[Mike Henderson]

My wife was at a party and noticed a tag on another's woman's dress. She had a folding scissors in her purse so she offered to cut the tag off for the woman. But the woman said, "No, I can't cut that off. I'm going to return this dress tomorrow."

Mike

[Roger Feeley]

I agree completely. We all end up paying extra to make up for the people that abuse the system.

I usually check every boxed item and won't purchase it if there are signs that it has been opened before.

Steve

I guess I'm the sucker. I try to buy the opened stuff. I don't mind the damaged packaging. I do check the item inside to make sure everything's there..

[Curt Harms]

I was in the tool section of Home Depot recently and noticed a couple pairs of bolt cutters that appeared WELL used judging by their jaws. They were being sold as new. I guess the hope is that people would buy the used one, take it home and return it rather than a new looking one.

[Kev Williams]

My wife was at a party and noticed a tag on another's woman's dress. She had a folding scissors in her purse so she offered to cut the tag off for the woman. But the woman said, "No, I can't cut that off. I'm going to return this dress tomorrow."

Mike

There are online clothing places where they let you try clothes and return them if you don't like them, could've been that sort of deal. I guess the minor catch is, if you buy from them it's likely you'd be aware of the possibility someone's worn them before. But then, how long have fitting rooms been in existence?

There's a real easy fix for dealing with cash sales, that nearly every B&M store can do with their current cashiering equipment and be paperless to boot: the cashier types your first name into the register, you sign the CC machine's screen, take your stuff and go home. Your sale is now recorded with what you bought, where you bought it, the date, your name and your signature. It would be reasonably failsafe, the actual buyer could easily prove he WAS the buyer, a thief not so much, and just by trying he'd put himself in jeopardy of being caught in possession of stolen goods. AND, with your cash sale being recorded, it'll deter the chronic bringer-backer's...