Keeping Returns Happy
You probably can exchange or return that less-than-perfect tech gift--here are the secrets to success.Frank Thorsberg, special to PCWorld.com
What do you do with those less-than-perfect gifts that don't quite fit your style, your tastes, or your needs? To keep your job, you might have to wear that hideous tie you got from your boss; but you don't have to keep unneeded or unwanted consumer electronics gear.
You could donate merchandise to a local charity or give it to someone else on your gift list. The most likely option, however, is to return it for cash or credit. If you're like me, you'll take unwanted gifts back to the store to swap for a piece of gear you really need or covet.
Easier Returns
Special holiday return policies are offered by major national retailers to make exchanges and returns easier on their customers. Best Buy, Circuit City, and Radio Shack all stretch their usual deadlines for returned merchandise around the holidays.
For example, items bought at Circuit City during the holiday season can be returned for a full refund as late as January 31 with no restocking fees charged and no receipt required.
"We have actually extended our return policy through the holidays. It's one less thing for somebody to worry about," says Bill Cimino, director of public relations for Circuit City.
At Best Buy, during the holidays notebooks and PCs can be returned up to 14 days from the original purchase date. Customers have until January 8 to return or exchange monitors, printers, camcorders, radar detectors, and digital cameras. The cut-off date for returning all other products is January 24.
Radio Shack usually offers a 30-day return policy, but it has been stretched a bit during the holidays.
"If anyone purchased an item from the Friday after Thanksgiving until Christmas, they will have until January 24 to return the product, if they need to," said Charles Hodges, manager of media relations for Radio Shack. "We've extended the grace period to account for the presents people get that they might want to return or exchange."
Opened software, video games, CDs, and DVDs cannot be returned--at Circuit City, Best Buy, Radio Shack, or just about any other retailer--unless they are defective. And most stores will only allow an exchange for the same software or music title.
Online and Offline
Return policies for items purchased from those retailers' Web sites differ somewhat. Merchandise from both BestBuy.com and CircuitCity.com can be returned via mail (the customer pays the shipping charges), or taken into one of the retail stores.
However, merchandise purchased from GoodGuys.com can't be returned to a Good Guys store. Items must be mailed back to the GoodGuys.com warehouse, and buyers must call for authorization beforehand (888-937-7004). In addition, if the product isn't defective, returnees get dinged with a 10 to 15 percent restocking fee.
The Good Guys stores, on the other hand, feature one of the simplest and most straightforward return policies: If you aren't satisfied for any reason, you can return your purchase within 30 days for an exchange or a full refund. There's one exception: Cameras and camcorders must be returned within 14 days.
Looking at Limits
At CompUSA, the limit for product returns is 14 days from the date of purchase. The company requires an original receipt or invoice, which makes it tough on people who didn't get a gift receipt when they opened up their holiday presents.
Most stores will issue a gift receipt to anyone purchasing merchandise as a present. No price is included on the gift receipt, which serves as a proof of purchase if the recipient wants to return or exchange the item for something else.