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Retailer shelves fees to restock
By DAVE GUSSOW Silence is golden at Circuit City these days. The electronics chain stopped charging customers for returning goods, and customers quit complaining about having to pay to bring things back. "It's much easier to explain" the new policy, spokesman Bill Cimino said. "It's harder to explain why you were charging them to return the product." Many retailers charge "restocking fees" for returned electronics items, typically 15 to 20 percent of the item's price. For consumers already unhappy with a purchase, the charges seem to add insult to injury. About 70 percent called them "unacceptable" in a survey conducted for the Consumer Electronics Association. Yet Circuit City's decision to kill the restocking fees doesn't mean the end of the practice at other retailers. "Right now we have no plans to drop or change our return policy," Best Buy spokeswoman Jenny Bohuslavsky said, though the chain frequently evaluates its policies. Retailers and electronics manufacturers say the fees protect them from frivolous returns that cost them money. For example, someone may buy a digital camera for a weekend trip and bring it back afterward, even though it works fine. Or maybe someone needs a computer for a quick project and wants to return it within a week. "The restocking fee was initially put into place to eliminate abuse, people buying with the sole intent of returning," Circuit City's Cimino said. It changed the policy because of customer complaints about it, he said. If a product has a defect, the fees usually don't apply. And while other retailers don't appear to be following Circuit City's lead yet, it may be only a matter of time before they join in. "If Circuit City is going to drop it, (Best Buy is) going to be under pressure to be not too far behind," said Budd Bugatch, an analyst with Raymond James Financial. "I think it's a great idea on their part. They're trying to become very customer-focused and customer friendly." And, for now, there's no turning back for Circuit City, which is heavily promoting the easy-return policy in television commercials. "We do not expect to resume a restocking fee," Cimino said. -- Information from the Los Angeles Times was used in this report. Dave Gussow can be reached at gussow@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4228.
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From the Times Business report
From the AP
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