“If you don’t like it, you can always return it,” they say. “My feelings won’t be hurt.”
You may have heard this more than once this holiday season from well-meaning relatives as they handed over beautifully wrapped boxes containing–oops–the wrong size sweater or a book you already have.
Well, ha! That’s easy for them to say. They might as well tell you to complete the Iditarod naked or count butterfly ballots with your teeth.
Exchanging unwanted holiday gifts always has been a harrowing experience, rife with long lines and Byzantine return policies.
But this year could be even worse for many of us. More Americans than ever will be attempting to return gifts purchased over the Internet. And that is not a good thing.
Although online companies have worked hard this year to get gifts delivered on time (under threat from the federal government, no less), they haven’t paid nearly as much attention to the whole process of taking them back.
“The online retailers have had revenues, not returns, on their mind,” said David Hybels, program manager for Extraprise, a business consulting firm in Boston. “Online retailers are still missing it when it comes to customer service.”
Extraprise just issued a study on the return policies of the top 50 Internet retailers and found most of them woefully lacking.
“Returning a gift bought online is probably going to cost you,” said John Roynon, market adviser for Extraprise. “Even with the online retailers we consider strong on service, shipping fees can add up.”
Extraprise found that nearly 70 percent of the Internet retailers do not have a provision for shoppers to return goods to a brick-and-mortar location, and almost half do not explicitly assign responsibility for the cost of returning defective goods or inaccurate shipments. That means you’re probably the one to pay.
About three-quarters of all the top online retailers neglected to put a link to the company’s return policy on their home page, and 53 percent do not provide a phone number on the returns page for shoppers’ return-related questions.
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Roseanne Campbell of Akron, Ohio, has experienced the confusion firsthand. Last Christmas, she ended up spending $18 to return some pajamas and a necklace to an online retailer.
“I couldn’t figure out what to do, and I couldn’t get anyone on the phone to help me,” said Campbell, who did all her shopping at area malls this year. “I was so frustrated. Never again.”