I think returning defective merchandise is different than just returning something because you decide you don’t like it six months later. Some defects don’t show up quickly.
Many years go, I bought a dress at Cohoes…which had a strict no return policy…period. Well…the first time I put the dress on, it ripped right across the torso…and not on a seam. Clearly a fabric defect. I had purchased it several months earlier for the event I put it on for. I decided to take it back…never expecting they would accept it. Well…they took one look and said “defect”… and very nicely refunded my purchase price. It was NOT a cheap dress.
I personally am not a big returner as far as quality issues. If I’ve worn a shirt once or twice and it has obvious quality issues but if I think I’ve got a life use out of an item, then no
I can only think of 2 times I’ve returned something for quality issues within the last 10 years. I can’t remember before that.
But I’ve worked a lot of retail and I have a bit of issue with quality returns so I’m not the right person to ask
I was very sad that the $200 cashmere was pilling so badly that oblivious S asked me why I was wearing such a pilling sweater. That was what helped me decide I needed to stop wearing it, after only wearing it about a dozen times. It’s sad to have to return things due to low quality and made me much more cautious about quality thereafter, especially pilling. Ugh!
@Bromfield2 LLBean has changed their return policy. They no longer have lifetime guarantees on things. But. Do think they would have exchanged the pilled sweater for a new one.
Yes, it’s too late, as I gave S the sweater to return before the policy changed but didn’t have a receipt. I am not sure a new sweater would be any less likely to pill than the one I had purchased. It looked fine when it was purchased, it just didn’t hold up AT ALL.
I think I’ve almost given up on cashmere. It’s more expensive than wool and unless you can buy really expensive cashmere, it wears terribly. I suspect that if I bought a $500 sweater, maybe it would hold up better.
Cashmere feels nice. But you have to baby it when you wash it, it pills. And half the time, when I pull it out the next season, it has holes.
Some stores that use to have liberal return policies have stopped because people were abusing the policy. You would be surprised at the number of people that try to return worn clothing. Nothing wrong with the item, they just needed it for one occasion wore it and wanted their money back. In some cases you can see where they have rolled up the price tag to hide it when they wore it, if the store only takes tagged returns. Clothes that are returned out of season are a total loss for the store since they cannot sell it. I rarely buy clothes online because there is no standard sizing. Even in the stores you can take 5 pairs of identical pants and try them on and all 5 will fit differently depending on where they were in the stack when the material was cut. A couple of years ago dd ordered some XS sweaters from Target since they have fit her in the past. She tried them on and you could fit two of her in them. I tried them on and they fit me. I haven’t worn an extra small in 30 years. Clothing sizes keep changing. DD is a 000 which you cannot find but she can wear 3’s and 5’s from the 70’s. Pattern sizing has never changed and she is a size 6 in patterns. As for shoes, most stores start at a 6 so that rules out all the girls in my family. I found one store online that only carries small sizes. At least dd can get shoes there.
Decades ago my younger sister was trying to become famous in LA. She bought clothes for pictures and shoots, hiding the tags, and then returned them. I was appalled.
Years ago I ended up practically staging a sit-in at Bloomingdales when I came in to return a dress that had fallen apart in the wash after the first wearing… I was told that I’d have to have it DRY CLEANED before they could take it back since it had been worn and they needed proof it was clean!! I told them that they couldn’t re-sell a defective garment, so why did it even matter if it had been worn? They could just throw it back in the bag to protect themselves from my cooties. I got the “it’s our policy” argument, and when I asked to escalate to a higher authority, I was told that every conceivable manager was unavailable to discuss the matter. So I announced I wasn’t picking up the bag from the counter and wasn’t leaving until my account was credited, and since it was a few minutes before closing time, the exasperated clerk finally snatched the bag and wrote up the credit. I guess they didn’t want to hang around waiting for the police to arrive to drag me out!
In general, I’ve found that the cheaper the store, the easier the returns. But then I’ve never held onto anything more than a few days before returning it unless the item proved defective. And when it comes to my own clothing, the final decision is made in the fitting room. Who has the time and mental energy to agonize over a purchase for weeks and then shlep back to the store to return it? Perhaps my standards for being satisfied with a purchase just aren’t that high.
@BunsenBurner Even the best cashmere can pill. My husband has a few Loro Piana sweaters that were very pricey and they still pill a bit under the arms. I have a little electric sweater shaver that I use on them once a year.
For myself, I don’t want to spend $1000+ on a sweater. However great the quality, they eventually look shot after a couple of years. I’d rather buy something that is more moderately priced - to me $200 is a moderately priced cashmere - then wear it for one or two seasons and give it away.
@Gourmetmom - certainly, all cashmere pills, but cheap stuff pills so badly, like it was meant to be single use. IMO, above certain threshold, about $200-$300, the quality does not rise proportionally with the price. I also noticed that textured cashmere items tend to pill less than smooth ones. I have a cable knit cashmere dress that is almost 10 years old and still looks brand new, and it is my go to cold weather dress. Granted, I only wear it 10-15 times a year because our winter weather is usually mild.
I have a gorgeous cable knit cashmere scarf from LLBean. Years old, and no pills.
My husband has a couple of Brooks Brothers cashmere sweaters that get a lot of winter wear, and have no pills on them…at all. I honestly don’t know the cost!
Something new happened to me last fall…I kept trying to buy my DS some Sperrys from Famous Footwear, and none of them were fitting (I would buy or order, he would try on at home, I would return and get a different size). After our third return, it said on my receipt that I was basically banned from returning! It was some sort of consumer-general language, it didn’t even spell out a Famous Footwear policy. So I just gave up on the Sperrys.
I forgot all about this until last week when I had a return there (again, I bought online, they didn’t fit, I took back to store) but apparently my “ban” has ended! I have never known such a thing existed. Be warned!
My little suburb has many very cute boutiques, and I hate to say that I very rarely buy from them. They are quite expensive. I love having them and window shopping. Someone must be supporting them! I’m too much of a bargain hunter or too little of a shopper. As for returns, I find 30 days enough time except after Christmas with kids off and travel, by the time I am back to my routine, it’s often late Jan.
Target limits the no receipt return to a total of $70 within one year. Part of this is because customers abuse the policies. Several years ago, Walmart had an expensive toy on after Christmas clearance. People were grabbing them up and returning them to Target without receipt claiming it was a gift. The same toy was full price at Target so they were using the toy to make money.
I wash my Loro Piana in washer and they still look very nice. When I told sales people in the store they were shocked (probably appalled). Yes, they still do pill just a bit, but not from the wash.
so @MomofWildChild , was it legal to tell me I couldn’t do any more returns at FamousFootwear when I was following their policy? (Receipts, within a week)? I was really surprised and off-put. Now yes, my “ban” is over but were they really allowed to do that in the first place without having that in their return policy anywhere, that there was a limit to returns?
Yes, they still do pill just a bit, but not from the wash.