In a couple of ways. An article in the WSJ this morning discusses the end of REI’s “lifetime return for any reason” policy on sporting goods sold by the company.
Hundreds of returned items are stacked in bins, hanging on racks and lining shelves. Tags detail the customer complaints: “suddenly not waterproof” on a frayed, blue, men’s rain jacket from a previous decade; “don’t fit well” on a pair of thick, black, women’s clogs so well-worn that their original design has faded.
At another REI store, a customer recently returned a pair of women’s sandals, designed for hiking and wading in rivers.
The problem? According to the tag, “not sexy enough.”
Wait — what? I thought this was something only women did with clothing they bought, wore once, and returned. And even that I think sometimes is a gross exaggeration and unfair characterization.
Some of these people are returning stuff they’ve owned for decades. Then there’s this guy:
Earlier this year, Mr. Thomas, says he returned a backpack he bought in 2004, which he had hauled up the tallest mountain in Yosemite National Park and hundreds of miles across a number of states. But it “was getting old and dirty, and I didn’t like it anymore,” he says.
Mr. Thomas returned the nine-year-old backpack to the REI store near his home in San Ramon, Calif. REI gave him a brand-new backpack plus $17 in cash–the difference between his purchase price and the item’s new low cost. He later returned that one, too, when he realized there was a newer model.
His justification: Since he bought hundreds of REI products over the years, he says, the retailer still has made a healthy overall profit on his purchases.
Huh? That’s like saying I’ve bought thousands of dollars worth of gasoline from Speedway over the last forty years, so I’m entitled to a free drive-away tank once in a while.
What I can’t figure out is why REI didn’t rescind this policy years ago. Crazy. And apparently they aren’t alone in the outfitting biz in having policies like this.