Last weekend, I ordered a number of items of clothing from a UK store which does online sales. They haven’t arrived yet, but should arrive any day now.
Today I’ve received a marketing email from them, announcing a three-day sale of 20% off everything.
Is there any reason why I couldn’t put the exact same order through again today, getting the 20% discount, and then, once both packages have arrived, return the original package for a full refund?
I’m in the UK, and here is their returns policy:
Why not call them and tell them your situation and ask for the discount to be applied to your order. Cite Green House Gases, the lousy economy, carbon footprint, etc. Should they say no, go ahead and re-order for the discount and send back the other stuff.
Of course you can return the stuff - the UK is great like that. My wife does that sort of thing all the time - if the changing rooms have a huge queue, she buys the stuff, then returns the clothes that do not fit the following visit.
However, I would ring to try to get the discount on the current order.
Si
I don’t know why you’re asking us - it’s obviously up to the store. I ran into a similar situation once. The item, purchased online, had already shipped when it went on sale. I called and asked if they would just give me the discounted price, and they refused. Fair enough - they didn’t have to. So I asked for instructions on how to return it for a refund, and I’d just pick up the discounted item in the store. They then agreed to just give me the discount.
To get your opinions (e.g. is it an unethical thing to do) and possible experiences you’ve had doing the same thing. It hadn’t occurred to me to ring the store, which I think is a great idea and I will do it this afternoon.
I would not do it. Go ahead and ask them if they’re willing to give you the discount after the fact, but trying to get it anyway if they say no seems like a misuse of their returns policy. You said you were going to buy their product for $X, and shouldn’t go back on that without a reason.
As I noted above - UK stores have incredibly liberal returns policies - so you would have to try much harder than that (ie the OP) to abuse it.
Si
He has a reason. Someone is offering a better deal and he doesn’t want the product anymore. That’s a good enough reason, even if the ‘someone’ is them.
The price was acceptable to you when you ordered.
That said, I can’t see any reason you couldn’t return the items and buy them again. I had a similar situation recently and spoke to the merchant about it, they gave me a gift card that was valued at almost the price difference. Less trouble for me, a little more money for them than if I’d returned the item.
Ditto on that. Most places with save the cost and hassle of making you do a return and will just apply the discount to your current purchase.
I would do this.
Some stores do this as policy. Old Navy, for example, will give you a refund if something you bought goes on sale within 2 weeks. You just bring your receipt to the store, and they refund you the difference between what you paid, and the sale price.
I see no problem in doing this, but agree you should try to call them & get the discount first, just to avoid the hassle. If you do wind up putting your plan into action, make sure you read the fine print on shipping & handling & the like. Many/most online stores won’t refund shipping & handling costs, and won’t reimburse you for your own return shipping costs, unless the product was defective.
I’ve noticed quite a few stores now offer “sale price guarantees”. Essentially, if the item you bought goes on sale in the next X days, they will refund the difference. Curiously, X days is almost always the same as in their return policy. Presumably a lot of people have been playing the return-and-repurchase game, so this way the retailer avoids having to resell an open-box item.
I vote for call first. If they won’t retroactively credit (they might not), then order again, and return. Money’s tight and we all know it.