From a study by those sneaky Dutch, a report that half of all electronic gadgets returned to stores in America work fine.
I’ve never returned a gadget, knowingly, because I couldn’t get it to work. Then again, I run million dollar computers for a living too.
I do resort to the instructions if I’ve spent enough time bashing at something but almost never read the instructions first.
I have odd blind spots, though. I was unable to get an iPod working, that reported epitome of user interfaces, because I didn’t realize that the little disk on the front was touch sensitive. I kept trying to press it like a glorified D-pad on a game controller. It took the instruction manual to set me straight.
So - which half of American (you furriners can pretend) are you?
I can’t imagine returning something out of that kind of frustration until I’d gotten someone competent on the phone to try to walk me through it. If tech support couldn’t get me on the right page, THEN maybe I would consider returning it.
As far as I can recall, this has never happened unless something was actually wrong with the product.
Many chain stores just bundle this stuff up and arrange for it to be auctioned off by the palletload. Place I know of near me sells pallets of assorted returned electronics for $200 or something like that. Go through the pile find 20-30 items that work out of the hundred or so in there and sell them on ebay for $40-50 a piece…you got a hell of a little business.
There’s some space between the above extremes of ‘either it’s broken or the customer can’t figure out how to work it’ I think… I’ve returned electronics items because I didn’t like the way they were designed/too much hassle to set up, (a ‘wireless PDA keyboard’ that you had to carefully arrange a sheet of metal foil on a stand above. so that the IR port on the PDA and on the keyboard would have their signals bounce to each other correctly.
I’ve also returned electonics (usually unopened) because I decided I didn’t really need them - like a wifi card for a laptop. (Then the laptop broke, and I got a replacement laptop at the same electronics store - with built-in wifi. )
I grew up in my family’s TV repair shop. For years, we did a large volume of warranty repair work for various department stores–every piece of consumer electronics returned as “defective” or “broken” came to us. I don’t have hard numbers on hand (although I could, given enough time, probably pull them from store records), but a large percentage of these items were sent back tagged “No Problem Found”. Several of the companies even had a warranty claim category, with its own (lower) labor rate, for items that didn’t actually require service. They accepted that it happened, and that it cost us time to check the machine, so they paid us for it.
I, personally, have never returned something because I couldn’t figure out how to operate it, and I doubt I ever will. It would be admitting defeat. The few occasions when a piece of electronics I bought actually had a problem, I just fixed it and moved on (and filed a warranty claim on it, if applicable). I’ve bought relatively little electronics over the years, though–my habit has been to patch things together from the scrap pile when I wanted something.
I’m surprised it’s only half. I’d have expected better than half of the returns are no problem found, user error, or “I don’t want it after all, so I’ll break it and take it back”
I’ve never returned something for the reason in the OP, but I’ve returned plenty of stuff because I was done with it, and it was still within the return period…
What? Like I’m the only one?
I did a great deal of consulting in the electonics repair industry in 2004-05. The exact figures for NTFs (No Trouble Found) are generally very proprietary but I will confirm that they are suprisingly high.
There are a few reasons:
-The product was returned because the consumer didn’t want it anymore, not because of a problem. For example, buyer’s remorse or the buyer is too stupid to figure out how to use it.
-The problem exists but the product still passes the specification. An example of this would be a slight visual defect that most people wouldn’t even notice.
-The problem is intermittent. These suck.
It’s not worth the OEM’s time to sort through all of the returns so they ship them in bulk to a third party.
Or you get a return from someone like me. Buy new flourescent trouble light at Home Depot, take home and it does not work. Try everything but reading package. Return light, get another, take it home. Same problem. Return second light and employee at return counter decides to check out third light I retrieved from the shelf. He plugs in light, reads back of box, pushes on bulb portion on top of light and ta da, we have light. I take second light and receipt and quietly slink out of store hoping nobody recognizes me.
If I can’t get something to work in 20 minutes (and yes, I do read directions) why the hell should I keep trying? Either the user interface is incredibly awkward, the directions are incomprehensible or it requires some physical or mental capability that I don’t possess.
Whichever reason it is, it’s clear this gadget is not for me.
I am apalled at the number of people I know that “rent” an item for a few days by buying it, using it, then returning it for a full refund. Without meaning to Pit Gabe directly, to me that’s about par with shoplifting.
If that technique is becoming widespread, that will certainly increase the number of returns that are non-defective.
I’d also expect that most folks who did something like that would give some excuse about “too hard to use”, or “just didn’t work”, so any survey or analysis of return reasons would never detect the category “just wanted to rent for a week for free.”
I do not overly blame consumers. Most electronic stuff just has too many too small buttons to control too many functions. (Even worse, too few buttons each with too many functions.)
Look at an iPod. Simple, direct, works more or less out of the box. I admit the features for recording notes is superfluous, but it does what it does very well. Compare that to most car stereos.
More devices each of which is more simple. Most gadget design is pretty darn poor.
Or, alternately, I am getting to old to keep up with you kids. Take your pick.
I don’t think I’ve returned anything for this reason, but I’d certainly return something if the user interface is sufficiently annoying to me. However, I’ve been able to figure that out before purchasing so far.
The report seems to be blaming the consumer, not the designer, when it could be either or (usually) both.
When I was young I worked at Radio Shack, and there were several types of products that were returned in higher-than-average numbers.
For example, foreign travel adapters. People would buy them, go on their two-week vacation, then return them when they got back. We had a 30 day return policy, so what are you going to do? I thought they were scum for doing that, but some people apparently think that anything technically within the rules is A-OK. And if they claimed that the device was defective, we had no way to test it, not having European power available to us. I’d be surprised if these things were still sold with that return policy. I’ll bet it’s now 10 days or something, to prevent this problem. I’ll bet the same problem exists with portable power generators, camping equipment, stuff that’s useful at parties (boom boxes, etc), and other occasional or one-time use items.
I also remember a guy who was notorious for ‘flipping’ stereo equipment. He’d buy some new gear, use it for 3 weeks, then return it. Then he’d go to another stereo store and buy something else, and return it. He’d make the rounds of all the stores in town, then start over again. Essentially, he was renting stereo equipment for zero interest, and always getting the latest stuff. We finally twigged to this by comparing notes with other stereo stores, and the next time he came in I refused to sell anything to him. He blustered and said I had to, so I pointed to the fine print that said we reserved the right to refuse service for any reason. He threatened to call the Better Business Bureau, so I grabbed the phone and dialed the number for him, at which point he fled the store and we never saw him again.
I blame the manuals, for honest returns of stuff that “doesn’t work.”
My sewing machine – the first time I had to fill the bobbin, it didn’t work – the bobbin didn’t turn to wind the thread. I read the manual. I was doing everything it said. I went to the website, looking for more troubleshooting help. Nothing. Finally called the 800 number, and the tech asked if I had remembered to unplug the pedal. Nothing about unplugging the pedal in the manual.
My carpet cleaner – I used it for a couple of days with no problems and then suddenly the solution wouldn’t disperse. Read the manual, went to the website, called the 800 number. Tried everything they said to do. Took it back to Sears and exchanged it for another one.
As I was using the second one, I noticed that unless a rubber washer/gasket thingie was attached to the solution tank (and not to the place where it shoots out), it didn’t disperse. It kept solution from leaking.
If there had been something in the manual about checking to make sure the washer was in the right place, Sears could have saved themselves a return.
But I felt bad anyway.
Products need to be tested and manuals need to be reviewed by users, rather than manufacturers or quality control people who are familiar with the product.
I will volunteer to test any big screen TV they want to send me.
When I used to work the returns desk at a local home center, you could always tell when seasons were changing: fans and lawn mowers come back in September, space heaters come back in April. :rolleyes:
Ok, I’ll admit, I’ve been one of the people in the OP. :o
Last November I went to Target to buy an FM transmitter for my iPod. I bought batteries in the store, too. I hooked it up in the parking lot, and could not get the thing to work – I couldn’t get the power indicator to light up. I tried for (yes) about 20 minutes, just dumbfounded that something so simple and seemingly straightforward wouldn’t work out of the box.
I walked back into the store, said that it didn’t work, and exchanged it for another of the same model.
I got back to my car, couldn’t get that one to turn on, either, and then decided to read the instructions a little more closely. Turns out that the iPod had to be playing before the transmitter would power up. It worked just fine, and I realized that I’d just returned a functioning item. :smack:
That’s the only time I’ve ever returned anything electronic, though. I don’t think I’ve ever purchased something that didn’t work or that I couldn’t figure out (yet I get stumped by a $20 radio transmitter!).
Oh! I just remembered one that I returned as defective without reading the instructions. A Black & Decker iron, which had to be turned on in two places before it would work – there was a dial for the heat setting and a button to turn it On.
This was a new feature (late 60’s – they’re all like that now.) Used to be you plugged the iron in and set the dial and that was it. But still :smack: me for not reading the manual the first time.
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