Banned from making too many returns? - Share your experiences!

linpaddy

linpaddy

O.G.
Dec 26, 2007
3,182
4
#1
Hello everybody,

I was reading up on stores' return policies and did not realized that stores could ban you from making too many returns!

This totally shocked me as I did not know that stores could do that!
I read that a TPFer received a nasty letter from Bl**mingdales from returning too many pairs of shoes. But the shoes were mostly from online and unworn with the receipt to boot! She did not do anything wrong!

This worries me. Over the past month, I ordered almost $1k worth of jewelery from Banana Republic (in separate orders). They were meant as gifts but I was very disappointed at the quality.

I had no problems doing the returns although a couple of BR clerks checked the items very carefully (making me feel really bad).

I am now worried that I could be banned from BR because I have a very high return rate. I use a store card so I know that I am definitely being tracked!

Does anybody have similar stories to share or experiences from being banned? How do we know what triggers a ban? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
 
#2
I've heard that if stores suspect that you are buying to resell (like on ebay), they watch more closely.... because some people buy the item, then list it, if it doesn't sell, they return it.

On the other hand, some people are just chronic returners. Many moons ago when I worked retail, we had this one woman who would return EVERYTHING.. One day the woman was interested in a jacket, but it had a small defect.. so the manager gave her a discount.. manager decided to write "final sale" on the slip because of the special discount. Mid-way through the transaction, the customer backed out of the purchase and we never saw her again.
 
#3
I've been a bit worried reading the stories of others recently. I don't live anywhere near any of the stores I shop with, and I do lots of online purchases and over the phone.

Someone mentioned this in another thread, that the SA's encourage you to charge send something to see if you like it and return it if you don't. Yet it sounds like at some point those returns might work against you.

The one thing I keep telling myself is if it happened to me, it might be a good thing. Then I really would be able to stay on a ban!:smile:
 
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#5
ssc0619 said:
I've been a bit worried reading the stories of others recently. I don't live anywhere near any of the stores I shop with, and I do lots of online purchases and over the phone.

Someone mentioned this in another thread, that the SA's encourage you to charge send something to see if you like it and return it if you don't. Yet it sounds like at some point those returns might work against you.

The one thing I keep telling myself is if it happened to me, it might be a good thing. Then I really would be able to stay on a ban!:smile:
Click to expand...

This is my situation too. I tend to shop more online simply because DH does not seem to get upset at boxes arriving versus me coming back with shopping bags.

He does not enjoy shopping but loves to give his opinion so shopping online is a win-win situation.

However, this does mean that I buy multiple sizes in one single order.

i wonder if being banned would affect one's credit score. I mean, if you are banned from using your store card/shopping at the store, wouldn't your account be closed?

I'm fearful of being banned!
 
#6
I personally have not been banned so I can't from own experience. What I do know is this: Three people I know have been banned. Two were banned from NM for excessive returns (and store CC's account closed). What they were doing was.. purchasing items during SALE EVENTS and working in tandem to buy at the next discount event.

The other is a chronic returner and was banned at Macys, The Limited, and Coach for excess returns. I believe that she has been reinstated to purchase at The Limited now. But she has not been reinstated at Macys or Coach. I know Macys pretty much told her, to never come back again.

I am close friends with a store manager at another high-end dept store. I know they ban people there for a number of other reasons (other than returns). If they suspect fraud... or suspect money laundering, or make claims of items not received (when system shows received) .... if you use the "employee" discount without being an employee.. (or accept any other discount the store normally does not offer) you may be banned.

I just recalled another friend who was banned from VS for doing the following: taking the customer returns that the store discarded (VS discards used items upon return, even if the beauty product was just opened to be sniffed or when an item comes back without tags attached yet clearly it appears brand new and not used). This was an employee though. She wanted to sue them but the employee handbook clearly stated the type of items that were to be discarded and that the employees were not allowed to take them. Fired and banned from shopping there.
 
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#7
Yes, frequent returners can and have been banned. Below is a link to a 2007 article that discusses the databases being used by companies like the Limited, and Wal-Mart.

As someone who worked in retail, I think it's an excellent idea for merchandise purchased in store. I feel that for online, purchases, the policies should be more liberal.

Linpaddy,
I don't believe your credit score will be harmed. A friend is a manager at Anne Taylor, and they banned people from returning, but they didn't actually cancel the card. You could still shop, just not return.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22397251/ns/business-personal_finance/
 
#8
I feel bad when I return things (which is like once in a blue moon). The last three things I have returned to a store were a pair of jeans to BR in 07 - when I got home and looked in my own mirror, I realized HOW funky the pockets made my butt look. The next thing was a tank to AE last year because I misread the size (XS instead of S). And lastly, I returned a sweater to Macy's in December I got as a gift because the fabric felt funky. I shouldn't feel bad for returning these things. With the first two I feel like I should have been more careful and stringent in checking sizes/how things look. I'm usually super good about being in love with something when I buy it.
 
#9
WOW! I've never heard of this!! I buy online a lot because of the free shipping, coupon codes, and larger selection. As a result, I return quite frequently because it looks different online or doesn't fit well. I can't believe stores are tracking it! Why have a return policy if you can potentially be banned for using it!
 
#10
ColdSteel said:
I shouldn't feel bad for returning these things.
Click to expand...

You definitely shouldn't feel bad! The type of returner I take issue with is not someone like you, or me, for that matter who returns infrequently. What I'm remembering is the lady who would come into the store, spend three or four hours, be demanding, rude and go so far as to make me try on the clothes so she could see how they looked. She would spend a grand, and then return it all a week or so later reeking of cigarette smoke, and now unsellable. A month or two later she would do it again. If we seemed at all unwilling to help she would threaten to sue.

These databases won't harm infrequent returners. My friend at Anne Taylor said theirs flagged at something like ten returns a month.
 
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#12
mmmpurses.. can you elaborate? not following this at all

What they were doing was.. purchasing items during SALE EVENTS and working in tandem to buy at the next discount event.
 
#13
OlgaMUA said:
mmmpurses.. can you elaborate? not following this at all

What they were doing was.. purchasing items during SALE EVENTS and working in tandem to buy at the next discount event.
Click to expand...

I assume she means one friend would return an item and then another friend snap it up when it was put back on the sales floor (at the newly discounted price).
 
#14
I do shop on the "I'll buy this and decide whether to keep it later" theory. A lot of times I just need more time to think about whether to keep something before I commit to it. But I certainly never wear things around as part of that decision process. My returns are always pristine. I also do a lot of shopping online, which doesn't always work out.
 
#15
Realistically, most return bans happen at levels of shopping and returns that most of us would never reach. Having one or two large returns due to a holiday is different, and it certainly does not meet the numbers needed to flag the system at most places. Most of the people banned from returning or even purchasing at a store know quite well why it happened to them. They may not think it was fair, but purchasing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise to resell or chronically purchasing high dollar amounts and then returning all of them isn't normal behaviour and it isn't good for the store. The average consumer will never have this happen to them.
 
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