trekie said:

Just what this site needs another sex offender as a mod 

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Confucian said:

Translation: "I've been to 3 other countries. I was in a couple stores in each country, and even though I didn't actually check their refund policies, I'm going to make up my own facts, and apply it to the entire world."

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trekie said:

Since you mentioned Costco you do realize they are turning out good profits and are paying there employees higher then average wage.  Have a very high retention rate

http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/cost/financials

Nope no economic ruin there just more bull pulled from where the sun dont shine.

Maybe REI is the reason oh wait they had over 2 billion in sales last year.
http://www.rei.com/about-rei/newsroom/2014/rei-sales-top--2-billion-in-2013.html

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Yeah finical ruin for sure . Damn Republicans. 

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Hilarious that you called me a Republican.

D.M.T said:

I'd say the Japanese are more reluctant to take refunds unless it's faulty, but I read something on this about 3 months ago on JapanToday.com like I said which indicated they have the same problem. The people who comment on that site are expatriates living in Japan, and generally critical of Japan, but they do offer a sense of reality on the country.

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Confucian said:

In order to make an opinion on what drives the US economy (largest in the world at $17,000,000,000,000 GDP) you should gather some facts.

I found an article that says return fraud costs retailers $9 billion a year.

So basically zero effect on a $17 trillion economy.

To put in more understandable terms, imagine the US is a $17,000 economy. Return fraud would cost US retailers $90.

This is dumber than people bashing food stamp recipients because it costs $85 billion a year, again, absolutely nothing in a $3.8 trillion government budget.

At the end of the day, retailers price their items based on their balance sheets. So every $1 is taken into account before they slap a price tag on their items. Return policies and return fraud are already priced in.

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U.S. minimum wage workers are in fact, the laziest, and provide the most crappy customer service, because of the fact that they have no incentive and therefore don't give a shit.

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Rather, I believe what is truly destroying the economy is America's ridiculous refund policy.

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This month, the National Retail Federation estimated return fraud's annual cost at $8.9 billion, according to a survey of 60 retail firms. Of that amount, $2.9 billion will come during the holiday season.

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Patlal said:

Every item you return without question will increase your sales in the long run due t customer satisfaction. If it was so damaging, corporations would stop accepting returns.

The rule of thumb is: If a business does something, its because its profitable.

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Crystal G said:

Patlal said:

Every item you return without question will increase your sales in the long run due t customer satisfaction. If it was so damaging, corporations would stop accepting returns.

The rule of thumb is: If a business does something, its because its profitable.

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No it doesn't. Only a certain type of people commit this type of outlandish returns, and these people do not drive the profits up for business in any way.

These American customers will basically just scream and bitch until the manager gets sick and tired of them, and just decides to refund them to get them out of their store. That's usually what happens.

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Patlal said:

Its an incredibly small percentage of people. Its like coupon shoppers. The option is there, but only a very small percetange use the option.

Most people don't have time or motivation to return an item. The trash can is closer.

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Crystal G said:

Patlal said:

Its an incredibly small percentage of people. Its like coupon shoppers. The option is there, but only a very small percetange use the option.

Most people don't have time or motivation to return an item. The trash can is closer.

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You live in Canada. I know people who have worked for Loehmann's at customer service. Some stores get literally dozens, maybe around 100 people each day, demanding returns for clothing that smelled like cigarettes, had cat hair all over it, that they had bought a year ago, etc.

That's why Loehmann's went bankrupt.

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Crystal G said:

Also, that "$9 billion" figure you posted only comes from a survey of 60 retail firms. It does not include the total figure of return fraud that is happening in all retailers nationwide.

Basically, this methodology of survey is about as accurate as the Dow Jones. The Dow Jones only calculates like the top 30-50 companies. The S&P500 at the very least, calculates 500.

Quote:

This month, the National Retail Federation estimated return fraud's annual cost at $8.9 billion, according to a survey of 60 retail firms. Of that amount, $2.9 billion will come during the holiday season.

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Patlal said:

Take a look at Walmart.

You can return anything at walmart without question. You have the reciept? You're good to go.

Hundreds of returns per day.

Tens of thousands of sale per day.

Hell they even match competitor promotions.

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Confucian said:

Last, surveys are accurate. It is science/math. Every single number you get is from a survey. Have you not taken a statistics class yet? (you should, they are really fun.)

Surveys/stats are what auto manufacturers use when they come up with their miles per gallon, insurance companies use them to calculate premiums and make sure they are profiting, GDP/unemployment/payrolls/etc., all come from surveys. It's why when only 2% of the vote is in they can already call the election.

When a tire company has a 50,000 mile warranty (or any warranty in existence for that matter) it is based on a survey. They take a small sample, find out how often the thing breaks, and will create a warranty ensuring only a very tiny percentage (from survey) get the warranty coverage.

Oh, and what do you mean by "this methodology of survey is about as accurate as the Dow Jones"? That doesn't even make sense.

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Here's the thing. I know from having worked in retail, that customers will often tell the customer service manager that the "device doesn't work" or the "clothing didn't fit me," when in reality they want to create a fake excuse to get their money back.

The customer service person will then input into the computer that the "size didn't fit," or the "device is defective" into the computer system, without ever checking first to see if it really works or not. Especially for large corporations such as Target or Walmart, this is how the return policy works.

This type of input system actually skews the real numbers of consumer fraud down a lot more than it really is. That's why I'm saying merely looking at the numbers only, is a flawed analysis.

Of course I've taken statistics classes, every college student has taken statistics classes. I've also taken methodology classes, and I strongly suggest you have a go at those too, to analyze what "statistics" mean and how they can change with different methods of calculation.

Hence why the CPI is a faulty method of analysis, because it doesn't calculate healthcare, rent, or gasoline prices into inflation. Inflation is really actually a lot more than 2-3% if you calculate it in a different way.