We recently bought and used 2 duffle bags from LL Bean for a trip. We decided we didn’t like using duffle bags instead of suitcases, didn’t wish to store them, and they cleaned up as tho unused. Having the receipts and tags, my wife thought she’d see if they could be returned. When she took them in, she said that we had used them. The clerk said, “It doesn’t matter, they are well within our return policy. The amount will be credited to your credit card.”
So the store has zero problem with us returning something we admitted we had used. I don’t know if they will resell them, or donate/trash them. Not losing any sleep over it, but something about it strikes me as a little “not quite right.”
Remembering my youth, wearing new shoes only indoors on carpet to see if they fit…
I would absolutely return a thing if it was lightly used, and the seller permitted it. Especially if it was really expensive, as things from LL Bean tend to be. I probably wouldn’t return it if it was torn, destroyed, covered with icky substances, etc. or I might, if the seller would accept it.
It’s one thing to try to return a used item to a small business that won’t be able to eat the cost and move the item on to an outlet. But I wouldn’t worry about LOL being.
I also remember only walking on carpets in my new shoes until we were sure they fit properly.
Are you questioning the morality of returning something that’s used?
Personally? I would only return it after use if I found it to be defective in some way or literally unsuited for my needs (wrong model/size/etc). Just not preferring it wouldn’t be enough for me to bring it back.
That’s not to imply you did anything wrong but just how I operate.
As far as I can remember, I’ve never returned anything I’ve purchased unless it was horribly defective.
I do not like trying on shoes in shoe stores. Maybe I would if they had booths, but sitting on a bench and removing my shoes to try new ones on? No way. I don’t do it. I know my size and just buy them.
More than once I’ve worn shoes that were a bit too big or small until I wore them out.
I don’t know that “morality” is a word I would use in this instance. Personally, I probably would not return the items in this instance. Which is probably stupid on my part. But, doing so is entirely within the store’s policy, so I’m not sure how it would be immoral. I’m sure not thinking my wife immoral for having done this.
Hell, the trip was costly enough that eating the couple hundred $ for these 2 bags would be pretty insignificant, if considered that way… Of course, compared to LL Bean’s daily sales, it is even less significant…
Emphasis added. Yeah, this seems kosher to me. Unlike some of the girls of my acquaintance in my younger days who purchased outfits for a night out with the specific plan of returning them. Bad girls!
But to be honest, I can barely be bothered to return anything, even if defective. It has to be really expensive. It’s probably the same character defect that makes me refuse to deal with coupons.
LL Bean wants to encourage exactly your sort of buyer’s regret to be reversed without penalty. You thought duffel bags would work for you, you tried them, you didn’t like them. If you know there’s hassle free returns, the next time you’re on the fence about an expensive LL Bean purchase, you’re more likely to pull the trigger first. At the end of the day, the belief is that the increase in impulse buys outweighs the cost of processing returns.
What companies like LL Bean try to guard against is intentional gaming of the system, eg: you buy something with the 100% knowledge that you’re going to use it once and then return it. But it speaks to how much the “try first” mindset is valuable to them that they’re willing to support the cost of being gamed just so they can give customers the experience of hassle free testing.
I think you nailed it. If allowed by the seller, I have no problem buying something with a legitimate belief that I will use it or like it and then returning it when that turns out not to be the case. Personally, I would never buy something with the intent aforethought to use it for a particular event or occasion and then return it (and I will judge others for doing so). I understand the effect is the same (i.e. a returned item that will likely be donated or destroyed), but it seems to matter to me.
I know a guy who returns stuff all the time. It’s the way he rolls.
Many years ago I helped him set up scaffolding at his home. He prepped the house for painting.
He went to a Montgomery Wards and bought the best paint spraying device they had, took it home, and painted his house.
Then he returned it, saying he needed something better. They explained it was their best and returned his money!
He also suffered buyers remorse after purchasing a car. He was a collector of older Cadillac models. Since he couldn’t return it he talked to “a guy”, gave him a key he’d had copied, and the car disappeared!
Of course, if you add up all the people who do this: that policy of LLBean’s is one reason their stuff is expensive.
I would only return something that was defective or not as advertised. If something’s got a lifetime warranty, though, I wouldn’t blame anybody for returning it if it was just worn out – though such warranties these days generally either have so much fine print that they’re not real, or are on products that cost $3 and have to be mailed back at a cost in time and shipping of more than that.
This. It’s a good customer service policy that they write off as a cost of doing business & may very well bring them more revenue in the long run.
There’s also a keeping up with the competition as REI has a similar policy. REI’s used to be forever for members but they chopped it back to one year a number of years ago (because some people were abusing it). I know at REI they take returns, & mark them with whatever known issue (if possible) & then resell them. They used to do a quarterly ‘garage sale’ where they would setup all of the returns/closeouts & open the store early one Sat. People would camp out overnight (not at all out of line with what they sell & their customer base) to be first in line. Now it’s a permanent garage sale in one corner of the store where all of the returns are hanging every day.
Some stuff was basically brand new, some stuff was damaged (& sometimes discloses the missing/damaged part, if they were informed of it when it was returned) but I had seen shoes with barely any tread left on them; there’s no way they were in the ‘I tried them & they don’t fit well category’, they were more in the ‘I hiked the AT in them this summer, they’re worn out & I can get my $ back & get a new pair for next year category’
I’ve gotten some great deals at garage sales over the years but one definitely needs to be cautious & look over any potential purchase as it may be missing a part(s) &/or be damaged & garage sale items are sold as-is & cannot be returned. Definitely take your phone & do a little googling as it may help you get a steal - a tent with a missing/broken pole is useless but a tent 50% off with a missing/broken pole when you can buy a replacement for that model for $10 online is a great deal.
I’m a little surprised at the folk commenting on how expensive LL Bean stuff is. We tend to buy a lot of stuff from Bean, REI, Eddie Bauer… (My wife does a lot of our shopping, or directs me to one or the other. I’m pretty sure she has an opinion as to whether one or the other’s quality has slid, but I’m ignorant of that, and do not distinguish between such brands.) Didn’t think one was more/less expensive than the other. I believe they are much cheaper than brands like Arcteryx or even Orvis - both of which we’ve bought from when they had what we wanted. I’d prefer to pay the price for decent quality stuff than pay less for crap.
Others hit on what I was thinking as to “morality.” When younger I also knew folk who would buy dresses/suits for sprcial occasions, job interviews, etc., with no expectation of keeping it. That seems to me to be a different activity entirely.
A cousin of mine manages a sporting goods and outdoors store. The past 5 years of so she has seen a big uptick in what she calls “cheap-ass renters”. They buy stuff to use for a once a year camping trip or vacation then return everything after they are done using it. Store ownership revised their return policy this past year to cut down on that practice, unless the item is truly defective and qualifies for the manufacturers warranty, they can only exchange items for something of equal or greater value. They also will not accept anything for return that has been obviously used. Last week she told me she had one of her best days at work, 2 epic Karen meltdowns in one day.
UCC warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, right? If something isn’t working for you in the way you intended, then it’s not suitable for the purpose you intended, and I’d suggest that a seller of new goods of that kind, lacking a conspicuous disclaimer, is required to accept it back.
I believe that if I’m acting within the spirit of a policy, it’s totally fine to return things after use if they turn out to not quite meet the need the way I expected.
However, I have an emotional reaction that prevents me from acting on it. It just “feels wrong” and I’ve never run into a situation where the cost of keeping the to-me-useless item outweighed the cost of overcoming that feeling.
One of the big box stores used to have an unlimited return policy years ago. A guy I knew did a ton of fishing every year and vacuum-sealed his catch for the freezer. He did so much of it that his vacuum sealer would eventually crap out. He’d take it back to the store, get a refund, and buy another one. He did this for years.
Pretty sure that is not how that works. But not going to get into a lengthy legal discussion. No expert, but I have been a lawyer for nearly 40 years and my wife is a lawyer who teaches business law - including sections on express and implied warranties.