Nordstrom Return Policy Thread!!

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Id like to clarify a few things. The shoes were two years old, yes, but were not worn for two years. I wore them twice both times being indoors majority of the time and that was to see if i can break them in, but did not happen just did not fit well. The part that i was a little unhappy about was A. The way she did treat me and expose me out to everyone around being rather loud. B. With the return receipt sticker she could have looked up my original transaction(based on what my friend told me who works there). Now dont get me wrong i was very thankful for what she did, but she could have gone about it in not so much of a demeaning way. And my situation is clearly different then taking back an old disgusting shirt. Not to be rude but here is where the ignorance comes in as i clearly stated if i had found the box around the time i got them i would have returned it then, but honestly if i wore the shoes 2 times and returned them after a month as opposed to 2 years does that make a difference?You really dont know how a shoe feels until you actually walk in them not just where them around your home. Look if i felt the shoes were in bad shape and i clearly used them different story. I have a pair of ferragamo shoes with the box and return receipt sticker that only a year old, but i wear them a decent amount.If i really wanted to take advantage of the system and that was my end goal then i would have made a big deal over those resulting in more money for me, but thats not the case. I believe the shoes did not fit right they were still in great condition, so i decided to see what options i could take. At the end of the day i purchase a lot of my clothing from nordstrom and they really do have a great return policy, but if i wanted to take advantage of the system im sure i could. That was my first time doing a return like that and probably wont be last given the amount i shop there.
 
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Also, i forgot to mention. I had purchased 2 ferragamo belts from nordstrom. 1 of the belts after about two months started to really change shape while the other one had no problems (i brought both to show the difference) At this point thinking i did not need to keep my receipt i threw it out along with the tags the day after i purchased them. The manager was extremeley helpful as she was able to find my transaction in the system using my card and gave me a return on the belt. every manager is different the return i did for the belt was at a different nordstrom and had i returned my shoes at that one im sure my experience would have been much better then the nordstrom i returned the shoes at.
 
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I think the shoe return was really unethical. At some point, you need to take responsibility for your purchases. Are you suggesting that returning shoes after you wear them around several times is ok if you decide you don't like them? SMH They can't be sold -- so the store eats the loss because you decided you didn't like them? Really?
If I am going to return something, it is most often returned within days. It is unfair to hold onto it when the store could sell it.
People who do things like this are going to ruin the liberal return policies that exist in this country.
 
I think the shoe return was really unethical. At some point, you need to take responsibility for your purchases. Are you suggesting that returning shoes after you wear them around several times is ok if you decide you don't like them? SMH They can't be sold -- so the store eats the loss because you decided you didn't like them? Really?
If I am going to return something, it is most often returned within days. It is unfair to hold onto it when the store could sell it.
People who do things like this are going to ruin the liberal return policies that exist in this country.

Exactly! Only worn a few times still mean they are used. Something is either unused, or it is not, there is no "sort of" or "not that much" stage for used.

I am a big fan of Nordstrom's customer service and do take advantage of price adjustments, or returning something within a reasonable period.
If an item is defective, or breaks or tears immediately, then sure, return it. But returning things that are used, bought years ago, or that one just decides are uncomfortable, is unfair and unethical. If Nordstrom has to take a loss each time someone does that, they will be forced to change their liberal policies.
 
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I think the shoe return was really unethical. At some point, you need to take responsibility for your purchases. Are you suggesting that returning shoes after you wear them around several times is ok if you decide you don't like them? SMH They can't be sold -- so the store eats the loss because you decided you didn't like them? Really?
If I am going to return something, it is most often returned within days. It is unfair to hold onto it when the store could sell it.
People who do things like this are going to ruin the liberal return policies that exist in this country.

Quite agree with you here.

She said, "I wore them twice both times being indoors majority of the time and that was to see if i can break them in, but did not happen just did not fit well."

?? Both times being indoors majority of the time?? That means the rest of the time was outdoors right? Therefore those two year old shoes can't be re-sold to anyone else. Interesting that her takeaway from her "ordeal" was how she was treated and made to feel rather than to accept the responsibility and somehow trying to justify her return. Did she honestly think that the SA would receive back a pair of worn, two year old shoes with open arms and smile throughout the entire transaction? No. Wrong is just plain wrong, no matter how we try to justify it.
I'm smh too because I've been on the other side of that counter and have heard every excuse in the world.
Retailers DO change their return policies due to customers like this, just look at Costco.
 
Id like to clarify a few things. The shoes were two years old, yes, but were not worn for two years. I wore them twice both times being indoors majority of the time and that was to see if i can break them in, but did not happen just did not fit well.
You WORE them!! And in "trying to break them in," no doubt they were somewhat stretched, though obviously not enough to satisfy you. (I may be reaching but I'm guessing that if they were "too" broken in, you'd have returned them for stretching out, just as you did with the belt you used and returned.)

Used/worn items should NOT be returned; not a day after purchase, not a week after purchase and certainly not 2 years after purchase! (And worn inside "most of the time" certainly implies they were worn more than just to test drive them.)

The part that i was a little unhappy about was A. The way she did treat me and expose me out to everyone around being rather loud. B. With the return receipt sticker she could have looked up my original transaction(based on what my friend told me who works there). Now dont get me wrong i was very thankful for what she did, but she could have gone about it in not so much of a demeaning way. And my situation is clearly different then taking back an old disgusting shirt.
You may not like it but IMO, someone who returns a used item 2 years after purchase doesn't deserve to be treated with kid gloves. It's customers like this who cost us all extra money in the form of higher prices and changes in return policies.

There's a difference between a store offering good customer service and one that clearly allows unethical customers to take advantage of them.

And whether it's used shoes or a used t-shirt, there's no difference. Both are used and should be ineligible for return.

if i wore the shoes 2 times and returned them after a month as opposed to 2 years does that make a difference?You really dont know how a shoe feels until you actually walk in them not just where them around your home. Look if i felt the shoes were in bad shape and i clearly used them different story. I have a pair of ferragamo shoes with the box and return receipt sticker that only a year old, but i wear them a decent amount.If i really wanted to take advantage of the system and that was my end goal then i would have made a big deal over those resulting in more money for me, but thats not the case. I believe the shoes did not fit right they were still in great condition, so i decided to see what options i could take.
Whether they were "still in great condition" or if they were "worn a decent amount" is irrelevant. Return policies are intended to allow for returns of new, unused or defective products, none of which applied to shoes you admit to having worn both indoors and out.

That you would even consider or compare this return to the well-used Ferragamo shoes is incomprehensible to me! That type of rationalizing is something people do when they know what they've done is wrong but are justifying that their actions aren't as dishonest as they could be.
At the end of the day i purchase a lot of my clothing from nordstrom and they really do have a great return policy, but if i wanted to take advantage of the system im sure i could. That was my first time doing a return like that and probably wont be last given the amount i shop there.
Other stores have been known to ban customers who do what you've done. Now that you've admitted that it probably won't be the last time you'll do it speaks volumes -- and not in a good way!
 
I used to work at Macys so I can only imagine what Nordstrom sees. When I worked at Macys you could return anything provided you had proof it came from Macys. During my time there, in 2006, in the area I lived in, we had a regular group of elderly women who would buy clothes, wear them for one year, and then return them, worn, used, and in some cases falling apart, with the tags and the receipt, so I had to give them the full refund, in the manner in which they paid. The clothing was worn, and so old it would be damaged out, it never made it to a discount retailer.

Other notable stories from when I worked there include the large Mormon family that came in and bought over $2000 worth of Christmas clothing for their Christmas photo shoot at the photo studio in the mall. They wore the clothes for the photo shoot and for family dinner at the Golden Corral and to church one Sunday, then returned the whole lot. The clothes reeked of perfume and aftershave, the kids clothes were stained, one teenage girl hated her sweater so she wore a hole in it, and the babies had pooped in their onesies. We took it all back and one of my coworkers took a gigantic massive hit to her sales goal. The whole pile of clothing was unsalvageable, it had to be damaged out. And get this: most of it still had the tags on it.

The high school girls getting ready for prom were the worst. They would buy a dress, shoes, lingerie, jewelry, and demand a free makeover at the MAC counter. They would wear all their new clothes to prom, and return them stained, ripped, and really worn a week later, and policy was that I had to take it back. Later on MAC started to demand that people wanting makeovers buy something, and so the teen girls would just buy something, and return the MAC product with the pile of used worn prom clothing.

When my mother started to work at Macy's, they dropped their return policy to six months, and people returning very old worn things was the reason.

I've known many people who have worked for Nordstrom, Kohls, and Bloomingdales and their customer return stories are as awful as mine. I think most retailers have beyond generous return policies. If you can return used prom clothing that is ripped and torn, that is beyond generous.
 
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All of these stories are mortifying. I could not live with myself if I did some of this stuff. I do a fair bit of purchasing and returning but always within a couple of weeks and certainly not if I've taken the tags off. If it's been over 30 days or so, even if I haven't taken the tags off, I will just sell it on Poshmark or something. I don't think buyers remorse is a good reason to abuse a return policy.
 
All of these stories are mortifying. I could not live with myself if I did some of this stuff. I do a fair bit of purchasing and returning but always within a couple of weeks and certainly not if I've taken the tags off. If it's been over 30 days or so, even if I haven't taken the tags off, I will just sell it on Poshmark or something. I don't think buyers remorse is a good reason to abuse a return policy.
I'm the same way. If I used it and don't like it, I will sell it. I won't try to return it because it's just not right.
 
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Question after reading this thread. I am mainly curious to your thoughts after reading all the comments

Do you think there is a fine line between people that abuse the policy mentioned in some stories in this thread and the loyal customers that mainly buy from Nordstrom knowing that if an item does not work for them that they can bring it back used or not? I think for the latter it is what keeps loyal customers coming back and mainly buying from Nordstrom. Thoughts?

To be clear I mean mainly people that know that if they buy a pair of shoes that causes them pain after wearing them that they can return them or the person that buys a sweater, wears it and notices it sheds all over their black pants. Situations like that.

Thanks and I do not mean to stir up anything I am just super curious to your thoughts.

I am just curious after reading all these comments.
 
I think there is a difference between an ostensibly defective product, e.g., something that falls apart immediately, and something that "doesn't work out," e.g., shoes that are painful. This whole shoe thing I don't get. It's not the store's fault that you bought shoes that end up hurting you. Do you not know your size? Or whether a particular brand is not for you, like LBs that are notoriously uncomfortable for many women? I don't see that as a valid reason to return a worn shoe. With that line of thinking, one could return a dress that, after wearing it, they decide doesn't look as flattering as they thought in the store?

You talk about a fine line. I don't think it's so fine. If something is legitimately defective, it should be returnable. Things you decide you don't like, or "don't work out" for whatever reason, should not be returned. At some point the buyer has to take some responsibility for his or her buying decisions. Make a bad decision, then suck it up, learn a lesson -- don't make the store take a loss because you made a mistake.
 
I am shocked by this thread. I randomly stumbled upon it and I am speechless. Returns years after the purchase date? Used items? Nordstorm might think these policies build loyalty but I personally will never shop there again knowing I could be getting a VERY, VERY used item.
 
I think there is a difference between an ostensibly defective product, e.g., something that falls apart immediately, and something that "doesn't work out," e.g., shoes that are painful. This whole shoe thing I don't get. It's not the store's fault that you bought shoes that end up hurting you. Do you not know your size? Or whether a particular brand is not for you, like LBs that are notoriously uncomfortable for many women? I don't see that as a valid reason to return a worn shoe. With that line of thinking, one could return a dress that, after wearing it, they decide doesn't look as flattering as they thought in the store?

You talk about a fine line. I don't think it's so fine. If something is legitimately defective, it should be returnable. Things you decide you don't like, or "don't work out" for whatever reason, should not be returned. At some point the buyer has to take some responsibility for his or her buying decisions. Make a bad decision, then suck it up, learn a lesson -- don't make the store take a loss because you made a mistake.

Yikes again I was only asking as a question for getting thoughts and not to make anyone angry. I am sorry if I made you angry as that was not my intent.
 
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