Home Depot return policy w/out receipt

Anyone know what HD's return policy is if you do not have a receipt? I know they take your drivers license number but is there a cap as to how much stuff ($) you can return without a receipt before they disallow it? I know Walmart puts you on a 'black' list and after a while (not sure how you define 'a while') they disallow you returning items.

Anyway, I purchased a small $ item last year ($13.96 door closer) and didn't need it. I looked far and wide for the receipt and couldn't locate it so I took the item back to HD and got a gift card (which is ok because I'm always in their store). Wouldn't you know it the next day I was cleaning off my desk and came across the receipt! Of course the receipt was 9 months old(!) and the receipt states they would take the receipt items back for 90 days so it is doubtful if I could have used the receipt to return the item. Too bad I can't go back (or call HQ) and give them the receipt and have them take me off their 'list'.

Walter

Reply to
Walter Cohen
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They don't like leeches, after a year! But, I cannot attest to that.

Oren

Reply to
Oren

You are having a major conundrum over $13.95???!!!

Use the gift card and next time put your receipt in a safe place....

Reply to
Dr. Hardcrab

90 days is very generous, I'd expect a 30-day return policy. Anyone stretching that to 9 months deserves to be on a list!
Reply to
Phisherman

It has become common practice among retailers to give in-store credit when an item they sell is returned in SALE-ABLE condition with no receipt.

I expect there is NOT an official dollar limit. Particularly high-dollar returns, especially those without a receipt, will require the approval of the store manager or assistant manager.

How do you KNOW this? I worked for a couple years at our local Wal-Mart and was never informed of such a policy.

I suppose that if the same person repeatedly brings back stuff for store credit they will take serious notice. The only person "blacklisted" that I know of is a convicted shoplifter. They are not allowed into the store.

This is exactly what I plan to do if/when I clean-out my garage. I have perhaps a couple dozen small parts (plumbing & electrical) that were never used and should be cheerfully accepted (for store credit) by my local Lowes without receipt.

And what did you learn from this exercise? NEVER clean-off your desk!

Don't worry about it. Unless you have made a habit of returning items with no receipt (for store credit), you are probably NOT on an actual "list" at all. Even if you return something or other a couple times in the coming year, I doubt they'll even raise an eyebrow.

It's the creeps that (somehow) steal a high-dollar item (i.e. rechargeable drill system) and attempt to return it for CA$H that is the biggest thing they watch for. Honest guys like you don't give them a moment's pause.

Reply to
Jim Redelfs

You sound pretty paranoid. I've returned tons of things with and without a receipt to HD and they don't care. I buy a lot of product there and having a generous return policy is just good business. I don't take advantage of it - I don't buy use and return parts/tools like they're a rental company (that dept is at the far end of the store), but if I don't end up using a bunch of pex or copper fittings, electrical boxes, etc. for a project - they'll gladly take it back and sell it to someone else.

a
Reply to
a

I have noticed sometimes without a receipt the refund can be considerably less than I paid. When this happens I just tell them I'll return in a day or two with the receipt.

Reply to
Pat

I just checked through their web site and you are indeed on the list. If, in the next 12 months, you attempt to return something else the police will be called to check you out first. Oh, one more thing, you should have wiped your fingerprints off it.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I always use my credit card for purchases at the HD. No sales slip is needed when I return stuff for whatever reason. They keep track of each item purchased by credit card number and just credit it back to your card. No need to keep or look for sales slips. Date is never a problem.

Reply to
Walter R.

Why ask here? Why not ask at Home Depot?

Reply to
Doug Miller

They can only credit you the amount the product currently sells for - they don't know when you bought it and how much you paid for it without the receipt.

a
Reply to
a

I don't think they have a "list", or I'd be on there. I have returned a BUNCH of stuff in the last year. However, I've also spent at least $5k at Home Depot in the last year. It was almost all on credit card, so they would have a customer file on me, and not on someone who had spent as much in cash.

I think they are pretty lenient figuring you'll spend the gift card or lose it like you did the receipt, and they'll be that much more ahead. I know when I return stuff, I'm usually on a mission to get more stuff, and use up the gift card plus additional $$$.

I know WalMart and others are cracking down on serial intentional return people. Buy it, wear it once, and return it. I don't think articles of clothing should be returnable at all unless defective. With hardware, if it 's in the original packaging, or saleable, it's just good business for them to take the items. It's different than other more personal items.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

I gave them 2 credit cards to swipe (one was the actual card used 9 months earlier) but they said there was no record of it. Perhaps their system only goes back a few months for data retention.

Reply to
Walter Cohen

Usually w/o receipt, they'll likely credit you not (Necessarily) the current price, but the LOWEST price it has sold for. Because of the reason you gave above.

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

If you don't have a receipt, you ain't getting cash back. period. Store credit up to 90 days Mgr's have some discretion after that.

And yes, they DO keep a black list of habitual returners. It has gotten to be a VERY expensive burden. Too many guys buying extension ladders on Friday and returning them on Monday covered with paint.

Recent HD employee

Reply to
curmudgeon

Makes (business) sense...

a
Reply to
a

You guys are too good. I would have said no dice and risked losing a customer. I overbuy a lot on projects, mainly to save me a trip of 35 miles when I need one or two more widgets to finish. Unopened, or just like they were when I took them home. That's reasonable. Someone bringing back a ladder with paint on it, and a manager taking it back are both VERY UNreasonable.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

If HD had a blacklist, I'd be on it. I always overbuy for projects and return what I don't need. I typically don't even bother with receipts, store credit is fine with me.

I will tell that they do indeed keep track, at least in the short-term and on a inter-store basis.

After cleaning up my shop, I had tons of plumbing fittings from various jobs. I didn't know which were HD's and which were Lowes, so I took them all into HD and they gave me credit for what their computer recognized and handed me back anything it didn't. All smiles, no hassle.

I went back to my van and found a few more HD fittings that had rolled onto the floor. Instead of going back and troubling the nice folks at the same HD, I knew I would pass another one on my way home, so I decided to stop there instead. When I tried to return the items, the cashier said she needed management approval.

When the manager came over, she looked at the screen and then approved the return. I asked "Did it flag the fact that I just returned a bunch of stuff at another HD about 15 minutes ago?" and she said "Yes, but it's no problem."

Big brother is indeed watching!

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I can't count the number of times I have returned stuff to HD without a receipt. I always buy more than I think I'll need, and return the unused stuff after I'm done. I even found a bag of some items over a year old, told them it was that old, and they still took it back. As long as it shows up on their scanner, they'll take it back. They're not going to put you on any list, unless maybe they catch you trying to scam them. They will give you the lowest price that it has sold for. Last time I took things back without a receipt, the Gal was able to look it up on the computer because I used my Debit card.

Reply to
TH

re: As long as it shows up on their scanner

I once took something back to HD, a long, long time (> 1 year?) after I bought it. It didn't scan, so they wouldn't take it back. I was sure I bought it there 'cuz it was in an HD bag with a bunch of other stuff from the same project and they took everything else back. I was so convinced that I bought it there that I went back to the aisle where it should have been and found that the manufacturer had significantly changed the packaging, along with the SKU.

It was a small dollar item, so I didn't push the issue. I think it's still in my shop someplace, although I doubt I'll ever use it.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

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