New Home Depot policy - 10% restocking fee on returned items

[DerbyDad03]

re: "I've seen reports of retailers starting to track customers with higher than usual return numbers."

I return a fair amount of stuff to HD (and Lowes) sometimes with a reciept, sometimes without. I'll buy extra fittings for plumbing or electrical work or extra wood just so I don't have to go back in the middle of a job. Been doing that for as long as I can remember. I recently bought $250 worth of wood, had someone help me load it into my trailer and then an hour later had someone one help me unload it so I could return it!

I've only been flagged on a return once and it was because I returned a bunch of plumbing fittings at one HD and then a couple of hours later found a few more in the van and stopped at a different HD. When I tried to return them, they had to get a manager's approval. When I asked why, they asked me if I had just returned a bunch of stuff at the other HD. I said yes but later found a few more that I didn't need. The manager said "Fine" and processed the return. Bottom line is that they are certainly doing some type of tracking.

My pet peeve is the fact that they always give me cash for returns when I made the purchase with a debit card. I don't see why they can't credit the debit card like just about every other store does. A couple of dollars here and there is no big deal, but I didn't need $250 burning a hole in my pocket when I returned the wood mentioned earlier.

[Phisherman]

Others will follow. Too many customers buy a tool, use it, then return to the store for a full cash refund. I returned a part to HD in exchange for another (of different size) and there was no 10% fee, else I'd be upset too.

[benick]

Pretty much the same at the Homedepot I go to......I have found the guy in the plumbing dept especially helpfull to me several times....Being open when I need something is one of the best things I like about HD....

[benick]

Walmart , Target and pretty much all the big chains do this now....Another reason they do it is thieves steal stuff then return it for cash...They steal it at one Walmart and return it to another...Before they started keeping track of returns some were making a living stealing and returning stuff....

[Tom Horne]

With the abusive returns I've seen they obviously have to do something to slow those down. Maybe you got caught up in some return tracking scheme. I have seen completely unusable items presented for return with parts missing. My favorite is the electrical boxes with half of the knock outs missing. No one is going to buy those.

-- Tom Horne

[blueman]

I disagree - I always buy a little more than I need for a project or multiple sizes so that I can see which fits best on the job. This saves me making multiple trips (I already seem to go to HD about once a day as it is). I once asked the regular guy at the returns desk and he said they ENCOURAGE customers to err on the side of buying too much and returning it. After all, it makes for more sales for them. And if it is in resellable condition, they are only out the extra labor for returns & reshelving while at the same time increasing customer satisfaction and maximizing purchases.

In fact, even though I can often get better quality and cheaper pricing at some of the pro supply houses that I have an account with, I often will go to Home Depot because I can browse the shelves and return the excess. The pro supply houses frown on too many returns and I don't want to look to "lay" to them ;)

Also, I end up going to HD over Lowes even though the local Lowes is bigger and has a nicer atmosphere specifically because HD has an easy return policy without a receipt as long as you have your credit card.

So, as someone who spends several thousand dollars a year at HD, I would say that there flexible return policy is a good investment for them in customer satisfaction and increased purchases.

[Ed Pawlowski]

It would make a catchy line on your advertising. "Inferior material, but a nice selection of it"

[windcrest]

HD takes returns probably easier than any store I've ever dealt with. On commodity items I can see the justification for a re-stocking fee. On special order, I definitely think its justified. On manufactured items HD just goes back to the manufacturer for return adjustments if the item is not re-shelvable.

[DerbyDad03]

re: "they ENCOURAGE customers to err on the side of buying too much and returning it. After all, it makes for more sales for them"

What kind of accounting process do they use where returns don't offset sales?

If they sell a million bucks worth of wood in a week and $500K worth gets returned, do their records still show $1MM in sales?

I want a job like that, especially if it's commissioned!

[mm]

Interesting. AIUI some places' policy, HD's? policey is whatever the receipt says and if no reecipt, the lowest price it has sold for in the last 90? days, or 360? This is supposed to, if anything, work to the disadvantage of someone without a receipt.

>

[mm]

Exactly. I don't think I've ever returned something to a contractor's supply store, because afaik, they don't want it back. Maybe I misjudge them, but I get this impression somewhere.

And LOwe's doesn't have the same poliicy. I though they did.

HD here doesn't require a credit card. If you have no receipt, they note your drivers license number, I assume to keep track conceivably if someone is returning too much stuff he bought, but more likely if one person is shoplifting and returning for cash. I can certainly see that. But I return two or three things, maybe 30 dollars worth a year without a receipt and they say nothing. I don't think the cashier or anyone thinks I've stolen anything, and I haven't. (although once I may have unintentionally returned something from Lowes at HD. A few things have the same wrapper and bar code.)

Absolutely.

[mm]

Maybe his example of, so to speak, buying an extra box or two of ceramic tile, wasn't the best one, but it makes more sales, because people buy things they aren't sure they want, and usually decide to keep what they've bought. Even if it's not usually, even if it's only a quarter of the time, that's still more stuff they've bought and kept.

At least at some companies, salemen lose their commission for things that are returned, but if the policy causes greater total non-returned purchases, they are ahead of the game.

[mm]

Wow. I"m not complaining about the ones here, but they aren't like that. Where are you? Which store?

[salty]

Connecticut. I've been to other HD's in Connecticut and they weren't all like this, although none have been exactly bad. I'm guessing that the manager of the store who does the hiring and makes decisions about how things should be done makes all the difference. They apparently got a great manager for this store. There is a lot of variation in HD's. They all individually select the product mix that seems best for their local customers. Stores also become better stocked as they age. They start out with half empty shelves, and gradually build inventory and selection as they make money to support it.