Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, December 26, 1994 TAG: 9412270043
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Now you face the problem of what to do about that sweater that is too large, the skirt that is too tight and, worst of all, the appliance that doesn't work.
The best advice is to act quickly in correcting these inevitable Christmas mishaps.
A return of your merchandise is "a privilege that a store grants," said Mary Frances Stephanz, executive director of the Better Business Bureau in Roanoke.
A lot of people think it's the law in Virginia that merchandise can be returned, Stephanz said. "They think it's the law that the retailer must take something back."
But the law actually gives the retailer four choices. The store can give a total refund, offer a credit slip for other items during the year or merely exchange your too-tight skirt for one that fits or a comparable item.
There's also a fourth option: to do nothing. "You bought it, it's yours," Stephanz said.
Roanoke area stores, however, generally eschew the last course and provide at least some compensatory course of action. The exceptions, Stephanz said, are a few small specialty stores, where the cash flow and profits may be too small for the operator to be so generous.
Merchants must have a sign somewhere near the cash register that clearly states the store's policy on exchanges. But Stephanz said some shoppers miss the sign in the Christmas rush because it is blocked by people in line or knocked down in the crush.
The legal onus is still on the shopper to investigate the store's return policy at the time of purchase. "You should know when you buy it," Stephanz said.
She advised fast action on returns now that Christmas is over because some stores limit the time customers have to make exchanges. There is usually a time limit, she said, but some deadlines are as early as Jan. 1. Because many retailers close their fiscal year during the first week in February, they're more likely to accept returns before then.
You have to ask the gift-giver for the store receipt if you want to make an exchange. That's because of the amount of fraud that occurs, according to Stephanz. Some people, she said, buy an item a a discount store and try to exchange it at a department store, for example, hoping to make money on the deal. One year, she said, a department store ended up the season with more of an item on hand than it had stocked in its original pre-Christmas inventory.
One store with a Jan. 1 deadline for returns is Leggett Outlet Center, or LOC. The store has made that date clear in all of its Christmas season advertising.
Bentley Duncan, manager of LOC, said its usual deadline for exchanges is 10 days after the date of purchase.
In order to give people the "luxury" of early shopping, Duncan said, the store set the Jan. 1 date as the deadline for exchange of all items bought as Christmas gifts begining on Nov. 18.
The 10-day policy is posted in front of the store at the checkout area, Duncan said. Signs are posted at each cash register and throughout the store.
Most outlet-type stores have policies that set limits on the time an items can be returned, Duncan said. Factory outlets, in fact, have a total no-return policy, he said.
However, Leggett department stores stores, such as those inside New River, Tanglewood and Valley View malls, "have no policy as long as you have a receipt," Duncan said.
The Bonomo's chain of women's apparel shops generally has a 14-day return policy, but the stores sell Christmas gifts with a deadline on the receipt of 14 days after Dec. 25.
Jane Bonomo of Blacksburg, the store's owner, said that, unlike the outlets, she is flexible about enforcing the return policy. "I'm not that hard-nosed," she said, if people had a death in the family or were away visiting the family in Des Moines.
"I would never say I'll stick to this come hell or high water," Bonomo said. "I don't want someone to keep something they don't want, it doesn't fit or it doesn't work."
But, Bonomo said, "I like to have a receipt."
Stephanz said many people are also surprised by warranties, which they erroneously assume cover everything forever. She warned that you can have either a full or a limited warranty, depending on the manufacturer.
But there must be some kind of warranty on every appliance under Virginia law, she said.
She had a friend who, having purchased a defective stereo, was surprised to find that he had the burden of shipping it back to the manufacturer.
That's because the warranty comes from the manufacturer, not from the store. Federal law requires the warranty to be available for reading at the time of purchase, which means it can't be sealed in the box.
People should look at the warranty before they buy, Stephanz said. "Shopping for the warranty is almost as important as shopping for prices," she noted.
But many stores will exchange small appliances and electronics, she said, even though the law doesn't require it.
Stephanz advised anyone with defective merchandise to take it back to the store immediately - along with the store receipt - and ask for an exchange. If you have the receipt and it's right after Christmas, she said, many stores will accept the defective item and undertake the task of settling with the manufacturer.
by CNB