My wife got a pair of shoes for my daughter’s birthday in a local store and a pair for herself. They were too large; although they were labeled as the correct size. So a few weeks ago, she took them back to the store she purchased them from. It took her about 45 minutes to return them. Only one employee is present, being one person at the checkout line (backed up quite a way), etc.
She finally got the return done with the stressed out, overworked, and under-manned employee at the register. Not a pleasant trip, to say the least. But it was a necessity and not the best experience.
So a week or two later, I had a $7 purchase from Amazon.com. Not that I recommend online purchases over our local brick and mortar stores. But let me tell you how the return went.
I told Amazon.com that I wanted to return a “cheap” item. I hit the return option, for that item, under my orders. It immediately asked me why. I said it was not what I wanted, and that I wanted to get my money back. Within a couple of clicks they gave me me the instructions for a full refund/return. They even gave me other options for a replacement. I printed the return page out. You can just download it to your phone for the store to scan but I have been told by others that a paper copy is easier.
It told me I could take it to a local store to return it. In this case, and all others in the past, it was Kohl’s. Our local store in Harrisonburg. They have been doing this at least since Christmas of last year. I t could have been longer, but that was my experience .
So, I took it to Kohl’s. I did not have to repackage it, package it, or do anything special. I just handed the product to the clerk at the Amazon return area. We stood behind one other person in line. When they were finished, I handed it to the person at the counter, told them what I wanted to do. They were nice, had one or two simple questions. Asked for my Amazon documentation. I handed it to them and they said, “OK thanks”. That was it!
When I got home (10-15 minutes later) I got a message saying that they had processed my return and my money would be back in my account in up to two days. They fully refunded it to my account the next morning. Your speed may vary but that is the usual process for me.
What could be easier? By-the-way, Kohl’s gave us a discount of 25% on most anything in the store if used before a specific time. I believe it was one month, but we did it before we left the store. I would guess this is also the standard at this time. That is what we have received at the Doyle household on a couple of returns. But that may vary from time-to-time.
That has been what we found have so far. This may change, but I hope not. The brick and mortars may what to observe this procedure to keep more business in their store. They need more people to lighten the load and ease to keep people buying and occasionally returning stock.
What have you experienced with local stores or Amazon’s tech and service? Score one for Amazon in the Doyle household.