Tis The Season for Returns

By now, many folks have taken back to the malls to return those holiday gifts that were just not right. While the country celebrated a great shopping season, overall returns were higher than average for this time of year. Obviously, the more shopping one does, the more likely there will be a return. I wonder though if stores have also made it easier to do returns and especially when the customer does not have a receipt. I admit, I am not good at keeping my receipts so this has always been interesting to me. Typically, the experience I will get is that I can return the item for the amount it is currently selling in the stores. Usually this is not a problem but after the holiday season, prices are immediately marked down so I bear a bit of risk if I want to return an item without the receipt.


So last Friday, I tested out this policy at different well known retailers; Target, Pier 1 Imports, and Lord and Taylor. 


Target
visited East Hanover, NJ location


I am a huge Target shopper and a fan of their store for many reasons. One of the key reasons happens to be their customer friendly return policy. I have never had an issue returning anything, whether it was a product I purchased online, 3 months prior, no receipt, not carrying the original form of payment on me, open packages  ... you name it. The representative behind the counter could be a little friendlier, but, I am never waiting for more than 5 minutes and the entire process takes less than 2 minutes. Friday was no exception to this rule. I did return a gift without the receipt and recieved the current store price in the form of a Target Gift Card. They met my expectations and off I went to the next stop on my adventure.


Rating: A


Lessons Learned: Keep it easy and customer friendly. Give customers a reason to want to come back. Target does need to work on their service manners however. Service with smile!


Pier 1 Imports
visited East Hanover, NJ location


I received a very lovely gift from my brother and his wife from this store. Unfortunately, I didn't find a good use for it and couldn't see it matching the style in our house so I thought I might attempt to see what else they had. I seldom visit this store and did not know about their return policy. I also did not have a receipt for the gift so I was about to test out my theory on store credit for the current price of the product. The ladies behind the counter did not recognize the item but fortunately there was a tag on the bowl and when they scanned it, they offered the price in the system (I am sure the price was cheaper than was paid but to be expected). I was able to find some nice picture frames, exchanged the item and off I went. 


Rating: A+


Lessons Learned: Keep it easy and customer friendly. Service was pleasant and very comfortable shopping environment.


Lord and Taylor
visited Livingston Mall, Livingston, NJ


After a day of running errands and being met with very easy to do business retailers, I could have used a drink after this last experience. My mother-in-law is a very loyal customer of theirs and frankly, I am not a department store shopper so I usually pay little attention to these stores. That said, I am all over it now and very displeased with their service. I received a  pair of PJ's that were too big so I thought I would just return them and find something else on another day. The woman behind the counter was unfriendly, full of attitude and clearly had no desire to be there. She told me the price of the refund to be $9.60 which I assumed was the current price. Again, no receipt in hand. When I was done, I stumbled upon the table with the same PJ's and they were actually $28.00 (discounted from their current price). So I went to another counter and asked the woman (again, full of that same L&T attitude) that I think a mistake was made. She repeated the store policy which is no receipt returns = lowest price in the system. I said that doesn't make sense and it should be the current selling price which is currently discounted. We went back and forth and I asked for the supervisor. Yet, another indifferent woman, who just read the policy to me again. At this point, I am super disgusted and wanted my PJ's back. 


Honestly, Lord and Taylor, you are offending your customers. Not all customers are bad and have bad intentions. When you have customer policies that assume customers are stealing, then your customers will be annoyed and stop coming back.  You do not  offer anything special and I know I can find the same great products and prices at Macy's or Bloomingdale's. And another thing, spend some money on basic customer service training skills. It appears that your entire staff could use it.

Rating: D


Lessons Learned: Customer policies should be clear and tangible. Assume the best in your customers and not the worst. Get rid of rude customer facing staff. There is no room for that attitude at great companies.


In speaking with some friends, I hear that Home Depot is amazing and Babies R Us / Toys R Us could use some work. If you want to share your stories, please add comments below or visit the Facebook page, the customer experience factory and post your stories there. 


Happy Returning and Happy New Year
Michelle
the customer experience factory