Bored on a summer evening without much to do, I ordered a watermelon-colour purse. It seemed like a great way to add some cheer to the day. Before the purse showed up in the mail, and definitely after, I realised that the colour was definitely not for me. I don’t even like watermelon, and I dress in dark, solid colours year around.
It was not hard to print out the return documents, repackage the purse and send it back. In a couple of days the money was refunded to my credit card. Yes, I got out of the deal with no financial loss — the return shipping was free. Thanks, Macy’s.
But that is definitely not always the case with online orders that fall short from pleasing the recipient. People could have all sorts of experiences with unreliable retailers who don’t take anything back, charge you for return shipping, or simply procrastinate in making refunds. That is why checking a retailer’s return policy closely before your order anything online is a must.
Even if you’re dead sure that you want an item, you never know what can happen during shipping. A wrong item may be sent to you, or you may get a size that doesn’t fit or a package that gets damaged on the way. Any of these situations may force you to return an item and seek a refund or exchange. If you are not aware of the return policy, you may find yourself forced to pay at least for the return shipping or get stuck with store credit or a gift card instead of getting your money back.
Here are few points you must check in return policies.
Free shipping isn’t free returns
Many online retailers offer free shipping on specific purchases, either on condition of spending a minimum of money, as a special offer or for a particular promotional period. Regardless to how you get the free shipping, returns are a different story. What you need to do is to simply check if your purchase qualifies for this or not.
If not, look at how much a return — if any — will cost you. If you’re spending hundreds of dirhams and your cost is low, this may be an easy decision to make. But if you’re buying a relatively inexpensive item and you will have to pay — almost as much as it costs — to return it, then you probably should make sure that you really want it and it will work for you first.
Other return options
Mail returns are probably the most costly. Many stores may accept that you return items to their stores for free. So check if your retailer offers this option before you go ahead and order an item. Returning to the store can be particularly convenient if your shopping online is driven by the product availability rather than location. If you can shop online at the ease of your house and return orders — for free — to the nearest store, that is definitely a big incentive.
In addition, pay attention to what time frames are good for returns. These period can run anywhere from seven days to 90 days, so don’t take anything for granted unless you check. And, as with almost everything else related to online purchases, check the exclusions. Some stores may have different limits for their clearance or sale items. In addition, they may update or change these policies at their discretion. So, before you jump into conclusions about any particular retailer’s return policy based on what you did in the past or what others say, check out again.
Product status
While one retailer may accept return of products that are in as-new status, another may have more tolerance allowing items that have been opened or even lightly used to be returned. None is better than the other, so make sure you know what your retailers’ conditions are.
To be on the safe side, always be cautious with items that may be returned. If you’ve receipts, tags, etc you are more likely to be able to build a case even with a difficult store representative. Still a new item that can be resold can be an easier return with almost every store.
Rania Oteify, a former Gulf News Business Features Editor, is a Seattle-based editor.
