A word of warning: Gone are the days when retailers would take back almost anything the day after Christmas — often without a receipt.
Retailers have started to act more like Scrooge than Santa when it comes to deciding what they'll take back, whether you can get money or store credit and how much you'll receive.
"We have not changed our return policy, even with the merger with Filene's," said Angie Wezorek, spokeswoman for Kaufmann's, the Pittsburgh region's dominant retailer. "Much of it depends on how a customer purchased the item."
Wezorek said that as long as a receipt is in hand, it is easy to either get a cash refund, if the purchase was made with cash, or credit to a credit card account. For purchases by check, if the check has already cleared, you can get cash. Otherwise, you get store credit.
"Now, when you don't have a receipt, that is where it is different," she continued. "Then you are given the lowest price on that item in the last 30 days, with a store credit slip." That policy has become a basic rule of thumb for returns.
She said there was particular emphasis on getting each customer to get a gift voucher for purchases. "It was programmed right in the register, and the customer can opt to take it or not," she said.
"Our basic return policy is very liberal," said Bob Balanti, store manager for Lazarus' downtown Pittsburgh store. "If you are not happy with he product, bring it back and we'll either give you cash or a store credit," he said. He said without a receipt, customers will get store credit, or credit to a credit card account.
"We haven't moved to make it any more strict, because we want our customers to come back, and we want them to know how convenient it is to shop with us," said Balanti.
At Best Buy, the return date varies depending on the item. Tightest deadlines are for notebook or desktop computers, which can only be returned up to 14 days from the original purchase. That means shoppers who bought gifts in November are going to be out of luck.
"We have signage all over the stores and on the receipt explaining the policy," said Donna Beadle, a company spokeswoman. "It's posted everywhere."
K-Mart has not changed its return policy, according to spokeswoman Susan Dennis, who said the company gives a 90-day limit for returns with the original receipt. Air conditioners and gas-powered equipment must be returned within 30 days. Open music, movies, computer software, video games and some other items "cannot be returned for refunds, but we will exchange them for identical merchandise."
Retailers say they've had no choice because of rising losses due to a combination of theft, fraud and error. Losses hit $33.2 billion in 2001, compared to $25.2 billion in 2000.
The tighter rules are also designed to crack down on consumers who tend to "borrow" merchandise, then return it after Christmas Day, a practice which has sparked 15 percent restocking fees on certain items at some stores.
Circuit City is bucking the trend. After receiving customer complaints about the restocking fee, the electronics retailer eliminated it this year.
"Our customers didn't like the fee, and we like our customers," said Circuit City spokesman Jim Babb.
Knight-Ridder Newspapers contributed to this story.
