Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Return policy at Sears tightens
The Chicago retailer, hoping to restrict abuse, limits customers to 90 days to bring back most goods.
By MARK ALBRIGHT
Published February 19, 2005
After 119 years of "satisfaction guaranteed," Sears, Roebuck & Co. has tightened its policy on returning goods.
The Chicago retailer has decided a customer dissatisfied with a purchase has 90 days to bring it back or forever hold his or her peace.
The only restriction had been that the product be returned within a "reasonable time," a definition Sears managers typically gave pretty wide latitude.
The 90-day limit, posted at Sears checkout counters, does not apply to Sears product lines such as Craftsman, KidVantage children's clothes and appliances that have separate lifetime wear-and-tear guarantees.
Sears' satisfaction-guaranteed policy dates to the 19th century. It has long been credited with overcoming rural customers' fears of buying products sight unseen through a mail-order catalog. Now Sears follows many other big chains that have restricted how they handle returns and exchanges to cut down on widespread abuse.
Many chains will not accept returns for exchange after a set period, typically 30 to 90 days. Even with a receipt, many - now including Sears - will not provide a cash refund more than 90 days after the transaction. Sears, however, has no plan to add restocking fees, those 10 to 15 percent surcharges chains such as Best Buy want when taking back some types of electronic gear.
The limits on cash refunds are aimed at keeping thieves from fencing stolen goods back to stores. The tighter exchange rules are to stop chronic exchangers, such as those who update their wardrobe by exchanging last season's purchases for new ones. Some chains are beginning to identify chronic exchangers by mining their past purchase database.
"We've done a lot of research on what shoppers consider a reasonable time for an exchange, and they overwhelmingly agree 90 days is quite generous," Sears spokeswoman Corinne Gudovic said.
Sears found that 70 percent of returns are turned in for an exchange within 30 days and 92 percent within 90 days.
Mark Albright can be reached at albright@sptimes.com or 727 893-8252.
[Last modified February 19, 2005, 00:56:09]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
