ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 1997 TAG: 9701290082
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Marketplace
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL
Somewhere there's a Murphy's Law, I am convinced, that says whatever you buy at full price will go on sale in just a couple of weeks.
And even if you are lucky enough to buy something at a discount, the rule still holds true. Within weeks, the store will slash the price still further.
About 14 days ago, I bought a dress, priced at 25 percent off, at Hecht's. When I went back this weekend, placards reading "Take an additional 331/3 percent off already discounted prices" were scattered liberally through the store, including, of course, on the rack on which my dress had hung.
Unless you have a background in retail psychology, you'll never be able to second-guess stores' discounting policies. But that doesn't mean you should be stuck paying full price. Many stores will refund you the difference in prices if new markdowns are taken soon after you buy an item.
So I asked the Hecht's saleswoman if I could get reimbursed for the difference - about $20 - between what I forked over two weeks ago and what I would have paid if I had waited for the new price cuts.
She was unsympathetic. If I hadn't bought it within the last seven days, she said, too bad.
While some stores are more generous with their price-adjustment policies, none likes to leave the time frame open-ended. As a sales associate at Heironimus said, "Everything in our store goes on sale eventually."
Some stores say they don't have official company policies about refunding money. At Leggett - now Belk - you may run into different policies at different stores, said Jack Dickerson, assistant manager at the chain's Tanglewood Mall location. But the stores are usually willing to consider requests on a case-by-case basis, he said.
"You need to be fair with your customers," he said. "We do work with people." The key, he said, is to save your receipt and not expect that you'll automatically get your money back.
And don't presume you're out of luck if you've missed the store's stated deadline. Some sales associates are willing to bend the rules a little. And I discovered that salespeople in different departments of the same store sometimes have varying definitions of the policy. So you don't have anything to lose by asking.
But also remember that stores aren't obligated to give you any money back. There's no law that requires retailers to offer refunds of any kind, whether full or partial. Each store has its own rules, so if you suspect you may have to return your purchase at some point, ask what the store's policy is before you buy it.
And always bring your receipt with you when requesting refunds. Stores that will bend over backward to help you if you have proof of purchase may refuse any kind of exchange or refund if you don't have the receipt.
Here are the price-adjustment policies at some Roanoke-area stores:
*Hecht's: You can get a price adjustment if something goes on sale within seven days after you make your purchase. If that seems shorter than it used to be, you're right. When the Valley View Mall store operated as Thalhimers, customers had two weeks to claim extra discounts.
* Heironimus: 10 days.
* Kmart: 7 days.
* Lane Bryant: 30 days.
* The Limited: 14 days.
* J.C. Penney Co.: 7 days.
* Sears, Roebuck & Co.: 10 days.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 linesby CNB