Free returns getting more stringent

Joy

Nordstrom Rack has reduced return time from 90 days to 45. This does affect when and what I buy for gifts as 90 days allowed gift buying before and crowds and still make the return window if something did not fit.

4 years ago

Joyce B

Veteran

Agreed, Joy, we have to time ourselves in order to meet the new return window. The only good point is that is that we make up our minds sooner in some cases and I speak for myself

4 years ago

cjh

(website)

Veteran

It doesn’t seem unreasonable to have a limited window for returning items, but also it seems kind of unreasonable for a company to get an attitude about customers who order a lot and return most of it. In the past two years my town has lost Macy’s, Bergner’s, JCPenney, Sears, KMart, Gap, Coldwater Creek, Gordman’s, and some others. I didn’t shop at all of those, but some. When I did, I tried on clothes and took home only what worked.

We’ve never had Nordstrom, Ann Taylor, or more urban stores like Xara, Uniqlo. I’m not sure how we or others in smaller towns would actually return to the store...

4 years ago

Joyce B

Veteran

Agreed, cjh. They should also consider that they have good customers in areas that are not served by department stores.
Also, the stores do not always have multiple sizes and are less stocked than online. I do not think it is unreasonable to order different sizes online so that one can choose the one that fits better.

4 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Linked to what I’ve recently learned is standard procedure for returned merch, this is reasonable. But the policy that should change is what they do with returned stuff. Turn down that top with sweat stains or the tie with mustard on it; only accept things that are clearly unworn. Then they can go back on the selling floor (which is what the Rack &some other outlets do, but apparently first line stores often don’t).

4 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

The article described me. I often buy things in more than one size and return the wrong size. Sierra Trading Post fired me as a customer a few years ago. They said their size guides were good enough to figure out what size to order. When I go birding, though, I can’t have things that are too tight through my shoulders and back.

4 years ago

Style Fan

Veteran

I wondered if something like this might happen. I don't do a lot of online shopping in Canada. I do occasionally order online from BR or other places and then I order more than one size. The sizes are not consistent and size charts are not that helpful.
Recently, I ordered a coat from Lululemon in two sizes. I kept the size that fit me. There was no way I could tell the best size from their size chart.
I did order a pair of boots from Keens in three sizes. I sent all three back because they didn't work for me. Too wide. How would I know this except to try them on? They were not available in B & M anywhere in Montreal.

4 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Size charts really do assume a standard body shape, with regular increases everywhere at the same rate. I don't think we are all going to have 3D scanners any time soon, but I wonder if there's any way they could do something where you submit front and side view pix of yourself and it gets converted to a (digital!) model of you to try their clothes on, or is just matched directly to the best size. LLBean had something sort of like that, but setting it up was cumbersome. Idk if they still have it.

4 years ago

cindysmith

Veteran

I hate returning things. I prefer to do it in store, especially since I moved out here to the middle of nowhere. All of our postal packages go through the mail distribution center in Coppell TX, and Coppell is the black hole where packages go to evaporate into thin air for several weeks. I've had packages I ordered disappear in Coppell and then 4-6 weeks later they appear at my home with no new shipping notifications to let me know they escaped the gravitational pull of the black hole that is Coppell TX. I mailed my mom a birthday card a week before her birthday; it showed up to her house 2 weeks after her birthday. This is a problem, and one that isn't going to be solved anytime soon; USPS has investigated this distribution center and yet I still have packages disappearing there. I could scream, because I need these things now so I can wrap them for Christmas.

So I hate returns. Hate. Them.

4 years ago

cjh

(website)

Veteran

To add to the rant (), even if you have accurate size charts to look at, that doesn’t mean everyone will prefer their clothes to fit the same as the next person.

Side note: does anyone find the model descriptions at all helpful? For instance, saying the model is 5’8”, wears size 8 shoes, and is wearing a size small doesn’t give me any information. If they said, her waist is 30” and her bra size is 36B and she weighs 135 lbs., I might be able to interpret whether small is my size or not.

4 years ago

Christina F.

Veteran

I live and work in Manhattan and am blessed to have brick and mortar stores for almost everyone I shop near me now that we have a Nordy’s. (All but Boden.) I still have trouble finding the exact items I admire online, in store and in my size. I do try! But the items I like are often online only or out of stock. I don’t order multiple sizes mostly but I’d be justified in doing so. Brick and mortar stores are basically showrooms now.

I am able to return most of what I buy to the actual stores, so I hope most of it ends up back on the rack. Retailers should expect lots returns based on what I said above. That said, from a sustainability standpoint I think shipping both ways shouldn’t be free - but we’ve been spoiled and expect to see it now.

4 years ago

Helena

Veteran

This is a tricky one - on the one hand, yes, I don't agree that people should be able to return things willy-nilly; at the same time, I will not shop online if there's not a really helpful and easy return process and policy - after all, there's an inherent risk in buying online which saves the retailer a lot of money (as they don't need to brick & mortar space to make the sale) - if all that risk is shifted to the consumer, where's the incentive to buy online?

As a data-head, I feel like it should be easy for online retailers to establish some sort of profile which would indicate which customers to take a harder line with (e.g. serial returners, especially where it is debatable whether the merch is truly unworn, vs. frequent purchasers who are mostly keeping items) ... but of course segmenting in that way brings its own problems ...

4 years ago

BrieN

Veteran

If they gave me more information about the items in the online description then I would return fewer purchases.
Agreed with cjh about the model size descriptions. She’s tall and wears the smallest size. I could have told you that.

What about actual measurements of the clothing? The old pit to pit measure for each size blouse or rise on a pair of pants (and “high rise” is not enough information). And I think some retailers “tweak” the contrast on a pattern or the color of garment to make it more attractive. Don’t do that if you don’t want me to return it.

4 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I do a fair amount of online purchasing with in-store returns, and am usually pretty decisive about returns, but sometimes... sometimes it takes me a while to figure out that an item has sat with tags on for a month and needs to go back. I have one such thing in my closet right now (from Anthro and they thankfully have a pretty good return window, and I’m a super loyal customer for them).

I just did an Amazon return to Kohl’s yesterday for the first time. It was the first I’d ever seen that option pop up when I did the online return request and I was going to be right near a Kohl’s so I figured I’d do that — it was a little easier than getting to the UPS store, but at the holidays it meant a little wait in line, whereas I just would have dropped it on the counter at UPS. So a wash in terms of convenience.

4 years ago

Elizabeth P

Veteran

“People shop online knowing they can return stuff however they want and as much as they want,” she said. “Changing that mentality will be difficult.”

Ha... us Canucks won't have that problem!

4 years ago

journey

Active Member

It's no wonder stores are getting more stringent on returns if they're truly doing what this article says they are doing. The journalist discovered that some online retailers are sending brand new, never worn returns directly to the landfill or the incinerator, because they can't be bothered to have someone look the items over and return them to stock. If true, this is insanity. What business would throw away perfectly good, pristine product just because they can't be bothered to deal with it? And then they blame their customers for their own failure to deal with the returns in an acceptable manner? .

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecu.....gering-ret

4 years ago

Joyce B

Veteran

@Janet is Kohl’s affiliated with Amazon? It must be if it shows up as first line option when you start the return process.

I think garment measurements are helpful but are not 100%. There is no way one can know for sure even if the measurements suggest that. I go more by the reviews but even so the best is to try on different sizes, that is the only way to really know.

4 years ago

Joyce B

Veteran

If the time comes when they restrict online sales and returns then it will save me a lot of money.

What I see that they are doing now are variations of renting your wardrobe. Nordstrom and BR have that. You pay a monthly subscription and they send you merch to try on. Keep what you like, return what you don’t. This may just mean that finding pristine brand new garments is going to become rarer when shopping online

4 years ago

Joyce B

Veteran

@journey, agree. Thanks for the link.
There are manufacturers who would rather dispose of their product than donate it to people who desperately need it. And on top of that they add to the damage of the environment.

4 years ago

slim cat

Veteran

I ordered multiple sizes for my daughter and myself before. Nordstrom Rack notified me that they may not take my future returns 18 months ago. So I basically stop ordering from Rack, still do Nordstrom and Macy's. Shoes are the biggest problem since I need insoles in most cases and they lie on description often enough. Frustrating.
Rack in Seattle used to be one of my fav places to shop and my current location just poor in comparison.

4 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Joyce, yes, I’ll save a lot, too! It might be for the best, since I currently have too much stuff. I am donating some less than stellar (for me) jackets to the homeless this weekend.

4 years ago

Meredith

Veteran

Joyce, are you referring to Nordstrom’s Trunk Club service? Because that still involves new merchandise. I actually quite like it because running up a big online shopping bill in order to have multiple size options would cause some tension in my household. With the Nordstrom Trunks you pay the styling fee (get applied to items you keep), then send around 10 items, and then you only pay for the items you want to buy. I’ve used this service several times and have been quite impressed. I usually just let the stylist surprise me with options in a specific category and price point, but you have the option to tell them you want a particular item. I could see this being a middle of the road option for companies in the future.

4 years ago

cjh

(website)

Veteran

It has struck me that all this online ordering and returns becoming somewhat more difficult could be interpreted as a way of pushing the responsibility formerly taken by the shop clerks and customer service staff on to the customer. Does retail want to be depicted that way?

Would you say it’s like the self checkout line at the grocery? I used to hate that, but now I prefer it because I can control how my bags are packed, and take my time. So maybe we will all adapt, and be flexible with the changing shopping environment.

(In the regular lanes, the checkers are under a quota, which they make clear isn’t on the customer; however, it makes me feel pressured. I am fit and able bodied and tall enough, but still baggers begin to unload my cart, and bag groceries willy nilly, as a way to get more people through the checkout lane faster. I don’t know if they are so pushy with disabled or elderly people, or those who are so short they can’t reach to the bottom of the huge cart quickly. All changes for the worse in customer service, IMO.

My grocery chain has announced that in 2121 they will no longer provide plastic bags. Great idea! However, they must realize it will take longer to pack or allow customers to pack their own reusable bags.

My husband’s former company doesn’t send retiree informational snail mail or emails anymore. The retirees are required to use what they’ve termed “self service communication” to find out changes in benefits, deadlines, etc. on the retiree website. Granted, much of the company consists of IT professionals, but even they don’t always have access to top notch technology and internet, especially if retired.)

4 years ago

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

A coworker of mine also works at Kohl’s and says the new partnership with Amazon has brought a lot more people into the store. Not sure how Amazon and Kohl’s worked out how the finances work, but any time you get people back into the store they’re more likely to buy something.

Pleasantness of the return process makes a difference to me - I never hesitate buying anything from Target because I know the return will be easy and quick. And I’ve got a Red Card so I don’t even have to keep my receipts.

4 years ago

Sal

Veteran

I always feel conflicted about these matters because I do think that the businesses are - of course- trying to save money and make profit. That includes getting rid of staff often. When shopping in store is challenging because of lack of availability then we do need to try on at home and that includes returns.

On the converse side the extended return periods seem unsustainable - getting summer stock back at the end of summer, misc items that probably end up being discounted.

I prefer to shop in store but have bought shoes online x2, second hand bag and a dress this year. There were also two returns - not really size related but fit related. I am lucky that there are good local shopping options in my city of 150000 people.

4 years ago

Anonymous

I really prefer to shop b&m when possible, but stick just to a few online retailers. Returns are such a hassle, and I'd rather buy the right thing the first time. Unfortunately, very limited options in my area

4 years ago

Helena

Veteran

That whole issue of items going into landfill is insanity - why can't they, for example, resell as returned merchandise, with a discount? I feel like the fashion retail industry continues to snooker itself with these decisions ... if the clothes have to be made so cheaply that they can afford to literally burn piles of them, where does that end? So frustrating! And just makes me want to opt out of it all, as it sometimes feels no matter what you do, it's the wrong thing!

4 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I sent that CBC link re landfill to Inge's LinkLove earlier this week. I agree, Journey and TG, it's extremely concerning.

I do feel the companies could be doing more to assist here. It's as if they have not fully got their heads around the idea of online shopping. They are onboard insofar as it seemed like a great money-maker for them. But they didn't plan for all the complications and now want to download some on the consumer -- when some better customer service (i.e. fuller descriptions of items, measurements, etc.) might reduce the amount of churn.

I am not sure how I'm going to deal with all of this personally. I've been a huge online shopper up until this year (when my retail options expanded because I moved to a large city). And even now I do a lot of shopping online with in-person returns for the reasons Christina mentioned -- my size is almost never in store in my colour/ style. Stores are more like sample showrooms.

But, as Elizabeth P pointed out, in Canada we've never had the freedom with returns that US shoppers have and our expectations are far different. Still -- that makes the CBC article even more concerning. If it's happening here, where returns often cost the customer and presumably are not as frequent -- what is going on elsewhere?

4 years ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I have never been much of an online shopper. I have done it a little for shoes from Australia ( 4 orders in 3 years, 9 pairs, kept 6 and returned 3). Also for one of our big retailers Ezibuy, but there you can do Click and Collect where there is a store near one of my jobs. I partly do that because in NZ we pay for shipping usually. And if the item is not like the picture or doesn’t fit then I return it there and then because I detest organising return shipping.
The landfill thing is very much making me want to dial purchases back and “opt out of it all” as Helena says. But it will need a lot of changing of habits. When I went to the supermarket at the mall today I still wandered into 3 clothing stores, sigh. No buying, that’s something.

4 years ago

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