In-Store Refunds Are Easy and Speedy

The Internet makes the front end of shopping easy--a few clicks and someone drops an order at your door.

But when that order doesn’t fit or someone doesn’t like it, no amount of clicking brings the deliveryman back. Instead, for returns, you usually have to wrap, ship and pay postage. Bye-bye, convenience.

Some Web sites, though, are promoting “easy returns” at their bricks-and-mortar stores. “This is what everyone has been waiting for!” reads a page at Barnesandnoble.com. “Now you can return online purchases for in-store credit at ANY Barnes & Noble store.”

“Easy” for me would mean someone else doing the schlepping. Some e-tailers do send prepaid postage stickers, so all you have to do is hand your parcel to a mail carrier. You are then charged return postage. Still, I wondered how easy this would be. Anyone who has ever stood in a long return line knows it can be painful. Wouldn’t it just be easier to find a mail truck?

I ordered items from three Web sites--Barnesandnoble.com, Bestbuy.com and Oldnavy.com--sites that tout the ease of store returns. I’d been burned before; last year, after some items from Jcrew.com turned out to be the wrong size, I returned them to a store on a busy day. Three months later, the credit still had not appeared on my charge card. I called a customer service representative at the Web site who apologized and promptly refunded the charges. The representative guessed the store must have misplaced the items.

So off I trotted to:

* Best Buy in Pasadena with a $49.99 Microsoft mouse. I headed for a big “returns and exchanges” sign but stopped when I heard someone shouting, “Ma’am!”

Hustling toward me was an employee in a yellow shirt who asked if I had a return (I carried the mouse in a Gap bag). He put a sticker on the mouse package and directed me to the line. Two people worked the registers, and two people were ahead of me. I watched a Sting concert shown on big screens.

At the counter, the clerk didn’t seem one bit phased when I said I had a Web site return and gave her my packing slip. She immediately began ringing it up.

She didn’t need my credit card, and all I had to do was sign a slip. She said it would take about two days to credit my account. (It took one. I also received an e-mail confirming my return.)

I just about fell over when I saw that my refund included the $9.45 shipping charge. I’d not run across any e-tailer that refunds shipping unless the wrong item was sent or an exchange was being made. (According to a customer service representative, this is standard.)

Time spent: 5 minutes.

* Old Navy in Pasadena to return a $12.99 men’s denim shirt and a $16.50 men’s fleece pullover. Immediately in the door, a clerk with one of those Madonna microphone headsets greeted me with a big “hello” and told me I could go to any register. Three were open.

A cheery clerk said hello as well but then looked puzzled when I presented my Web site return and packing slip. She looked over the shirt and pullover, frowned, then called over her manager, saying, “She has a return from online.” The manager quickly glanced at the sheet, told the clerk how to read the packing slip numbers and moved on. The clerk studied the sheet a bit more, apologized, then went to ask the manager another question. She was quickly back to have me sign a receipt she’d printed out, and I was on my way.

Time spent: 5 minutes. Full refund, except for the $14 (rush delivery) shipping charge.

* Barnes & Noble in Glendale to return the $23.99 book “How to Cook Everything.” No line. I told the clerk I’d like to return the book from the Web site. She immediately called her manager. As we waited, she read my packing slip, looked at the book, read the slip, looked at the book. She seemed suspicious. The manager smiled at me, told the clerk to punch some Barnesandnoble.com key, and I was given a receipt to sign in no time.

Time spent: Less than 5 minutes. Full refund minus $16.97 shipping charges (I’d ordered another book and paid for expedited delivery).

The lessons: If you make in-store returns, go at dinner time, when lines seem to be shorter. Have your packing slip, know what you paid, bring the credit card you used and be ready for extra charges should you have opened some items or not have the original packaging. Check the sites’ return policies--some require that you make returns within a specified time.

Bestbuy.com, with its full refund of shipping charges and e-mail acknowledgment, was by far the best place to return items. But the other sites, with their surprisingly prompt service, put in a respectable showing.

Is going to the store better than shipping something back? How many more errands do you want to run?

If you’re near the store or need something else there, yes. But after you’ve wasted money on shipping charges in the first place (unless you shopped Bestbuy.com), what’s a few more bucks?

*

Jennifer Lowe is deputy food editor of The Times.

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Virtual Buying, Real-World Returns

Barnesandnoble.com

(800) 843-2665

Return policy: Returns must be made within 30 days of the shipment date on your slip. Some items, such as out-of-print books, eBooks and posters, are not returnable at store locations. Returns also can be made by mail.

Bottom line: Cashiers still need training for online returns, but returns go quickly once they’re shown how.

Bestbuy.com

(888) 237-8289

Return policy: Will give refunds on most items within 30 days of purchase. Items such as computers, monitors, camcorders and digital cameras must be returned within 14 days. A 15% restocking fee is charged on opened items including computers and digital cameras unless they are defective. Software, video games and music must be unopened to receive credit. Additional fees may be charged if manuals or other accessories are missing. You also can return by mail.

Bottom line: Big-volume stores used to dealing with heavy returns make online returns a cinch. Shipping charges refunded.

Oldnavy.com

(800) 653-6289

Return policy: Returns must be made by the return date listed on the invoice included with the order. Full refund for items with invoice; otherwise, a merchandise credit is issued for whatever the item is selling for at that time. Returns also accepted by mail.

Bottom line: Quick and smooth returns, provided a manager is nearby to help cashiers.