On January 6th, watch Twin Cities Live on ABC in Minneapolis, at 3PM CST, where I will talk about the best and worst in holiday gift returns this year. Many new return policies this year. Some stores are more lenient, while others are making their return policies more vague. If you need to make returns you won’t want to miss this show.

This holiday season has been the first in years to have decent return policies across the board—well almost. If you’ve been wondering how long you have to return your holiday presents policies have changed somewhat this year—more favorable to customers.

In an aggressive bid to win loyal shoppers, stores have pulled all the stops when it comes to returns this season.

BIGGEST TRENDS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

  1. Vague return policies—need to really read the policy carefully, and even then, you may be missing some of the facts (Ex: Target and Victoria’s Secret).
  2. Returns at store/department manager’s discretion: this policy hasn’t been in place for more than a decade
  3. Receipts not crucial in many stores (Target, Macy’s)
  4. Extended time for returns; now 90-120 (Target- 90 days) days instead of 14-30, with the exception of electronics/games (14 days the norm, and restocking fees after that)
  5. Stores are not locking into return policies—Policies are changing all the time—even after the holidays, allowing flexibility for the stores; a wait and see approach. Good and bad.
  6. Tracking the number of returns—Wal-Mart, Target—could hurt your chances for a refund.

TIPS

  1. Don’t test a retailer—don’t use items, abuse gifts, etc., and hope the store will take them back
  2. Go to consumerworld.org to find the latest retailer updates—you will see a lot of stats coming from the National Retail Federation, but that is a group that is paid by the retailers, themselves. Consumerworld.org has more information across the board.
  3. Every store puts returns into different return categories—many different policies in each big box store.
  4. If your gift really is defective, electronics or not, and store won’t take it back, go to the Attorney General’s office to file a complaint.
  5. Stores in every state are able to set up any kind of return policy that they want

BIG BOX RETAILERS — SOME PLEASANT SURPRISES FOR RETURN POLICIES

  1. Best Buy: Extending returns thru January, instead of 14 days (but computers have only 14-day returns still)
  2. Target will allow some items to be returned without receipts (but $70 limit/year)
  3. Wal-mart has extended returns for electronics—for about 45 days.
  4. Sears doubled return period for electronics to 60 days
  5. Kohl’s—no deadline; just need receipt
  6. Macy’s has return tags, and 180 days.

MOST CONFUSING STORE POLICIES

  1. Amazon.com has 29 different return policies for different types of products
  2. Overstock.com has a 60% restocking fee for many open items
  3. At Wal-mart—if you’ve returned 3 items without receipts within 45 days, the cash register will automatically flag the return.

BOTTOM LINE

  • Return gifts with managers, when possible . . . stores don’t want bad press right now
  • Keep your tags and receipts
  • Return sooner rather than later—return policies changing often

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