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Not So Many Happy Returns

Retailers report number of returned products is down slightly this year.

By Yardena Arar, PCWorld   

%dquotI told my wife I wanted a new fax-modem for my computer; so she bought me a fax machine,%dquot he said.

Well-meaning but misguided gift giving helps make the post-Christmas period one of the busiest for returns at high-tech emporiums.

%dquotReturns usually run about 50 percent higher than during the year,%dquot said Billy Perlstein, vice president for stores at the Brisbane, California-based Good Guys electronics chain. However, he added, %dquotI am seeing a little bit of a drop in the return rate this year.%dquot

Other retailers also reported a drop in the rate of returns. %dquotIt hasnt been as large as I expected,%dquot said Ryan Chun, manager of Computown in San Franciscos financial district. Added Virgin Megastore spokesman Brian Regan: %dquotTheyve actually been rather minimal.%dquot

Strict Policies
%dquotYou probably get a higher percentage of returns in the Christmas time frame because youre buying things for people who arent you,%dquot said Steve Baker, senior retail channels analyst at Framingham, Massachusetts-based International Data Corporation.

%dquotElectronic products are no different than shirts and ties in that regard. What is different is that return policies are a lot stricter now than they have been in the past, and certainly than in other product categories.%dquot

The restrictions, prompted by growing industry concerns over the high cost of returns, range from shorter time limits to outright refusal to accept products that arent still in shrink wrap. Of course, products that have been used are toughest to return.

%dquotTheres a saying that you dont sell laptops--you rent them,%dquot Baker said. %dquotTheres a lot of consumer abuse out there.%dquot

The overall return rate for computers and related products sold at retail is about 10 percent, Baker said. %dquotIn desktops its probably below that, notebooks probably higher, and software is probably pretty low. Peripherals tend to have a higher return because usually they have to be installed and that presents problems.%dquot

Other reasons for returns include receiving products for the wrong platform, disappointment with performance, or inability to get the product working at all, which happened to a PC World Online reader who reported a nightmarish run-in with a CD-ROM game.

%dquotWe spent most of our time installing and uninstalling everything on our desktop trying to find out where our trouble was,%dquot the reader said.

Gift Buyers Are Savvy
If returns are indeed down, it could be because shoppers are becoming more knowledgeable.

%dquotThis has definitely been a year when shoppers have been much more educated about what to get for the computer-literate people they know,%dquot Computowns Chun said.

Baker advises anybody who wants to return an electronic gift to do so as quickly as possible. The item should be as close to its pristine gift-wrapped condition as possible.

%dquotConsumers have to shop smart. They have to know what the return policies are before they return something,%dquot Baker said.

%dquotSave the receipts, save the box, save all the packing materials. Dont return the registration card until youre sure youre going to keep [the item], because youre going to be charged by the retailer if the packing materials arent all there.%dquot