Out in the Cold

OK, so this has nothing to do with technology, but it's a perfect example of just how hard it can be to return faulty goods.

Last weekend a friend of mine went into a thrift shop and bought a pair of gloves. Four hours later, one of the fingers fell off. The gloves only cost £3, but lasting only four hours the cost-per-wear was significantly higher than a £30-£40 pair of leather gloves, which would see you through several seasons.

Rather than wave goodbye to his £3, my friend decided he should go back and swap the gloves. He walked in and said, "Hi! Do you remember me from this morning?" (Wisely he planned to get the shop assistant early so there would be no backing out of this...) Yes, the assistant did recognise him. And we're off the starting blocks....



Customer: "Great - I bought a pair of gloves from you this morning...and the finger has fallen off the left hand" *holds up hand wearing the glove with one finger uncovered*

Shop Assistant: "Oh. That doesn't usually happen."

Customer: "No, I didn't think it did. Could I swap them?"

Shop Assistant: *sounds bemused* "Well...that doesn't usually happen."

Customer: "Quite. So can I swap them?"

*silence*

Customer: "I bought them from you four hours ago and the finger has fallen off...can I swap them?"

Shop Assistant: "Well, not really...that doesn't usually happen."

Customer: "OK, it doesn't usually happen, but that's kind of irrelevant as it has happened. So can I swap them?"

*silence*

Customer: "You sold them to me four hours ago and the finger has fallen off, I'd like to swap them please."

Shop Assistant: "OK, listen...this time, I'll do you a favour..."


Sound familiar? We've all struggled to legitimately return faulty goods. I understand that some folks out there are not that honest and retailers need to protect themselves, but similarly they need to drive repeat business.

You buy a DVD player (for example), set it up, all is dandy, then 3 weeks later it's skipping. Something's gone wrong and you need to return it. It's still within the retailers 28 day refund time, so that should be your first port of call. But it's never that simple; do you have a) the original packaging, b) the receipt, c) own your own home and d) your postal addresses going back 10 years.

On the off chance that you do actually have all of the above, you take it back, only to be met by someone who patronisingly says, "Oh yeah, we get that all the time with this model, you really should have bought this one."

Thanks for the insight.