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American Morning

Unhappy Returns

Aired December 26, 2002 - 09:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SANJAY GUPTA, CNN ANCHOR: Now that everything's been unwrapped, the shoppers are already back in the stores this morning looking for bargains or returning gifts that aren't quite right. But the rules of some stores may result in unhappy customers and some unhappy returns. We'll sort it all out and show you how to get the most of your return engagement, with the help of Lauren Young. Thanks for joining us, senior writer for "Smart Money" magazine, who's been doing a lot of shopping and returning.
LAUREN YOUNG, SENIOR WRITER, "SMART MONEY" MAGAZINE: A lot of shopping and a lot of returning.

GUPTA: So there are some stores that are particularly good about it, some stores that aren't so good about it. Tell us some of the good ones first.

YOUNG: There is the old line, always take back -- customer's always right, companies out there. J. Crew, Eddie Bauer, Land's End, Nordstrom is the cream de la cream, and L.L. Bean, they're all excellent at taking back your stuff. Actually, we took back to J. Crew, for example, we took back a dry clean-only item that we washed, and we admitted it to the clerk, and they took it back.

GUPTA: Wow. Sometimes it's hard to get things that have even been unwrapped or have the plastic seal broken.

YOUNG: Exactly. That is exactly right. We tried to take back a pair of 9-year-old bathing suit trunks. They didn't take them back at Eddie Bauer, but they did take back one of our shirts.

GUPTA: What are some of the things that make stores particularly good about taking things back?

YOUNG: Well, it is that customer's always right, customer Satisfaction, and just also getting things back and really getting the full retail price back. We took back at Land's End one of those canvas bags with the stripes that was from 1998, and we said our reason for returning it was that it was linty, and they gave us a check for $57.

GUPTA: IS that right? Wow. Pull some stuff out of the closet, maybe.

But along with being some particularly good store, there are some stores that are very difficult as well. Let's take a look at the list of some of those as well. And you did some shopping and some returning at Target. What about Target, Old Navy, Best Buy? YOUNG: Target and Old Navy both will not take items back without a receipt now. So if grandma gave you a sweater you don't really like, and -- or maybe you just tell her you want to exchange for another color because you have three red sweaters, please ask for that receipt, because they may give you a tough time at the counter. At Best Buy, and this is very popular with the electronic chains now, they charge something called a restocking fee of 15 percent. It you open the box, if you got a CD player and already got one, please don't open it up to see which you like better. Go back to the store and look at the item on the shelves, because they will charge you a 15 percent restocking fee to take that back.

GUPTA: Just opening the box?

YOUNG: Opening the box.

GUPTA: Even if you restaple it?

YOUNG: We found if you open things from the bottom, they may take back without charging that restocking fee.

GUPTA: I'm one of those guys who loses everything, including receipts, and I still try to get things back. What if I've lost my receipts?

YOUNG: If you're lost the receipt, go back within 14 days to return the item. I know today will be a harry day. So when you do go back, check to make sure that it's still on the shelves and it hasn't been marked down yet, because the whole idea with retail right now, especially in the '90s, they were great at taking things back. Well, now, they're losing money. So they really want to turn the inventory around quickly, and they don't want to take it back if they can't sell it for the full price.

GUPTA: Sure, especially in this economy. No receipts, late returns, a lot hassles trying to get things back. Do you have any tips just in general about being able to charm those customer care people?

YOUNG: First thing is be polite. It's so important to be polite. Because if you are rude, no one wants to deal with you. Never go at midday. That's when the clerks are really harried, and really, ideally, you shouldn't even talk to the clerks. You want to speak with the manager or the head of customer service. Just make your plea.

Tell them what's going on. And then finally the best thing to do is try the corporate route. Write a letter to the customer service, I tried to return this on this date. They wouldn't take it back. If that doesn't work, go to the head office. We had one guy, one of our sources, he wrote a letter to the CEO of the Banana Republic of the Gap Company and he got his $157 back for the shoes, the soles were starting to crack. But it took him about four hours of time, but he said it was worth it.

GUPTA: Worth $157 bucks. Tell the customer service guy, I'm going to your bass if you don't take this back. Maybe that will work.

Lauren Young, thank you so much for joining us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 26, 2002 - 09:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN ANCHOR: Now that everything's been unwrapped, the shoppers are already back in the stores this morning looking for bargains or returning gifts that aren't quite right. But the rules of some stores may result in unhappy customers and some unhappy returns. We'll sort it all out and show you how to get the most of your return engagement, with the help of Lauren Young. Thanks for joining us, senior writer for "Smart Money" magazine, who's been doing a lot of shopping and returning.
LAUREN YOUNG, SENIOR WRITER, "SMART MONEY" MAGAZINE: A lot of shopping and a lot of returning.

GUPTA: So there are some stores that are particularly good about it, some stores that aren't so good about it. Tell us some of the good ones first.

YOUNG: There is the old line, always take back -- customer's always right, companies out there. J. Crew, Eddie Bauer, Land's End, Nordstrom is the cream de la cream, and L.L. Bean, they're all excellent at taking back your stuff. Actually, we took back to J. Crew, for example, we took back a dry clean-only item that we washed, and we admitted it to the clerk, and they took it back.

GUPTA: Wow. Sometimes it's hard to get things that have even been unwrapped or have the plastic seal broken.

YOUNG: Exactly. That is exactly right. We tried to take back a pair of 9-year-old bathing suit trunks. They didn't take them back at Eddie Bauer, but they did take back one of our shirts.

GUPTA: What are some of the things that make stores particularly good about taking things back?

YOUNG: Well, it is that customer's always right, customer Satisfaction, and just also getting things back and really getting the full retail price back. We took back at Land's End one of those canvas bags with the stripes that was from 1998, and we said our reason for returning it was that it was linty, and they gave us a check for $57.

GUPTA: IS that right? Wow. Pull some stuff out of the closet, maybe.

But along with being some particularly good store, there are some stores that are very difficult as well. Let's take a look at the list of some of those as well. And you did some shopping and some returning at Target. What about Target, Old Navy, Best Buy? YOUNG: Target and Old Navy both will not take items back without a receipt now. So if grandma gave you a sweater you don't really like, and -- or maybe you just tell her you want to exchange for another color because you have three red sweaters, please ask for that receipt, because they may give you a tough time at the counter. At Best Buy, and this is very popular with the electronic chains now, they charge something called a restocking fee of 15 percent. It you open the box, if you got a CD player and already got one, please don't open it up to see which you like better. Go back to the store and look at the item on the shelves, because they will charge you a 15 percent restocking fee to take that back.

GUPTA: Just opening the box?

YOUNG: Opening the box.

GUPTA: Even if you restaple it?

YOUNG: We found if you open things from the bottom, they may take back without charging that restocking fee.

GUPTA: I'm one of those guys who loses everything, including receipts, and I still try to get things back. What if I've lost my receipts?

YOUNG: If you're lost the receipt, go back within 14 days to return the item. I know today will be a harry day. So when you do go back, check to make sure that it's still on the shelves and it hasn't been marked down yet, because the whole idea with retail right now, especially in the '90s, they were great at taking things back. Well, now, they're losing money. So they really want to turn the inventory around quickly, and they don't want to take it back if they can't sell it for the full price.

GUPTA: Sure, especially in this economy. No receipts, late returns, a lot hassles trying to get things back. Do you have any tips just in general about being able to charm those customer care people?

YOUNG: First thing is be polite. It's so important to be polite. Because if you are rude, no one wants to deal with you. Never go at midday. That's when the clerks are really harried, and really, ideally, you shouldn't even talk to the clerks. You want to speak with the manager or the head of customer service. Just make your plea.

Tell them what's going on. And then finally the best thing to do is try the corporate route. Write a letter to the customer service, I tried to return this on this date. They wouldn't take it back. If that doesn't work, go to the head office. We had one guy, one of our sources, he wrote a letter to the CEO of the Banana Republic of the Gap Company and he got his $157 back for the shoes, the soles were starting to crack. But it took him about four hours of time, but he said it was worth it.

GUPTA: Worth $157 bucks. Tell the customer service guy, I'm going to your bass if you don't take this back. Maybe that will work.

Lauren Young, thank you so much for joining us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com