I went to Walmart last weekend and bought some photo frames, a couple of minutes later, I found a better one at Michaels, So I decided to buy the ones at Michaels and return the ones which I bought at Walmat.
On the way back to Walmart, I have discussed with my wife on how to explain the reason for the return. And we had a totally different opinion !
My wife’s prefer to say: I just changed my mind
I prefer to say: I just found a better one,
I think my explanation sounds more polite because it explains the reason in details, it sounds a little bit rude to me simply by saying " I just changed my mind"
My wife think that my explanation sounds rude because it kind of telling Walmart Customer service guy that their stuff is not good.
Wal-mart doesn’t care. They only care whether it can be reshelved or whether it is broken. Whatever you tell them, it will be no more than the 50th percentile of shadiness.
This. The clerk really doesn’t care, unless you are trying to palm off some empty containers, or if you are trying to return some used or damaged frames instead of the ones you bought. I’d go with something like “These are fine, but they really don’t suit my needs as well as I thought they would”, which doesn’t go into detail, but lets the clerk know that the items are fine for resale.
I think it’s nice you want to be as polite as possible. ‘‘I just changed my mind,’’ is pretty polite. Saying you found a better one might be taken as implying that the product was crap.
And IIRC, you can return without a receipt, but they take down your info. Only then do they care, as they only allow a couple of these returns to discourage scammers.
I doubt sincerely that you would be asked if you didn’t offer the reason. A simple “Hi, I’d like to return this please. Here’s the receipt.” is more than sufficient. ETA: therefore, I did not vote, as neither is really “better.”
If they actually ask why you’re returning it, I would just tell them the truth. I found a better one at Michaels. Something tells me the Wal-Mart employee won’t be offended to learn there is better stuff out there. Frankly, I’d be surprised if they even ask for a reason.
They only care if you are returning it because it was defective. I bought a pair of jeans and in two wearings the zipper broke. I also returned some other clothes that I hadn’t worn and hadn’t liked the look of once I got them home and tried them on in better light. They only cared about the broken zipper.
I voted for “changed my mind” but really, you shouldn’t have to tell them anything. They have a return policy which, as long as you’re within it, shouldn’t matter at all other than perhaps some idle curiousity on their part. I think there’s some common thought that a reason needs to be given, but generally unless it’s required, it’s just so much easier not to bother; no lying or bending the truth or making people feel bad or getting pressured into changing your decision.
Edit: I missed the comment on defectiveness. That’s a good point, I would say you should say an item is defective if that’s the reason since it it would just get pawned off on some other poor customer, but if you just don’t want or like an item or found something better, don’t bother.
I like this one too.
BTW, they did asked for the reason, but this is not the point of this poll. It is kind of amazing that every one has his own understanding regarding to politeness:)
It’s not as if the return clerk will think, “Hmm… I wonder if he used it once, then didn’t need it anymore!” It’s not a prom dress. Just say you changed your mind.