what do they know about their stuff
April 29, 2008 12:36 PM   Subscribe

can a typical major retailer tell if you are returning the same exact item that you purchased?

Lets say i have 2 of the same item, and i bought 1 at a store and was given another one. Then, I damage the one i bought at the store. Could I return the one that was given to me with the receipt for the one i bought? I would think that the retailer would individual items...but i just wanted to confirm this so I don't get my bluff called
posted by alkupe to Shopping (18 answers total)
 
Gotta love fraud-filter.

If this item is expensive and electronic, then it probably has a unique serial number stamped on it somewhere. Conceivably, the major retailer has the information needed to uniquely identify it. Do they really verify this, though? Doubtful.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 12:44 PM on April 29, 2008


yeah, i think this is fine. i've done this when i've received 2 of the same thing as a gift, or bought one and received one and don't keep track of which is which.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 12:45 PM on April 29, 2008


Generally, no, unless it is a big ticket item with a serial number. You can confirm for sure by checking that the SKU or barcode is identical between identical items.
posted by randomstriker at 12:45 PM on April 29, 2008


No, unless the store has a special "value pack" that sell exclusively, which has a unique bar code, or the store records serial numbers ( like if you buy a TV at BestBuy).
posted by Mr_Chips at 12:48 PM on April 29, 2008


By the way, the worst thing that can happen is that they refuse your return. So you may as well try.
posted by randomstriker at 12:50 PM on April 29, 2008


I worked at Target for a while and no, skus do not differentiate one exact model from another. For example, all 60gig PS3s have the same sku number, which is generally all the retailer records. When I worked cashier or customer service, we didn't care about your serial or MAC address. Just the sku and that your product number appropriately matched the sku.
And, yea, we had some less than legit returns and we'd just refuse them. Only caused legal issues if infractions occurred from a team member.
posted by jmd82 at 12:55 PM on April 29, 2008


As long as the item is not a laptop or worth over $1000 (commonly stolen/scammed items), serial numbers are not generally recorded. Just make sure that the one that you return has all the parts, manuals cords, packaging etc... there should be no problem.
posted by saradarlin at 1:06 PM on April 29, 2008


Lol, welcome to the "Wal-Mart Turnaround." Only more commonly it's done with things that people buy and break. You simply buy another one, take the broken one back in the box, and return it.

Wal-Mart doesn't care. Their return policy is amazing---and it's because 1) they send stuff back to the manufacturer and 2) they know you're going to keep shopping there because you can bring broken crap back, and most of your crap doesn't break. Therefore, they're ahead to let you defraud them.

Lowes will let you return anything that they sell, regardless of whether or not you bought it there. You can take a lawnmower to lowes with a HomeDepot receipt, and they'll refund you the money. If you don't have a receipt, they'll give you store credit.

Blah blah blah scam fraud whatever. A store like, say, Wal-Mart that does $40,000 a day in sales (that's in a small town on a slow day) really, REALLY, REALLY REALLY REALLY doesn't care about the $50 you're ripping them off for, like I said, because they know you'll come back.
posted by TomMelee at 1:35 PM on April 29, 2008 [1 favorite]


They are much more concerned with non-receipt returns. Like where you buy something from Amazon and then return it to Walmart and make a profit. Those do get tracked (for instance by taking your driver's license number) and they will cut you off if they see excessive big-ticket non-receipt returns.
posted by smackfu at 1:57 PM on April 29, 2008


that's in a small town on a slow day
Right, their average sales per day per store are well over $100,000.
posted by beagle at 1:57 PM on April 29, 2008


Blah, Blah, Blah...

They REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, do care that's why they have return policies and Assets Protection.

If 10 people cheat Wal-Mart for $50 a Day that's $182,500 a year per store. How many stores are there? 6,500 x $182,500 = $1,186,250,000 or about 0.6% off their bottom line right off the bat. Of course they won't "absorb" that loss so they up the price just a little to cushion the loss. Now we all paid for your $50 fraud.

Yes people do it, yes Wal-Mart factors in this cost (just like they do theft), and does that make it right... No.

I think your question is more of an ethical one. If you're looking for someone to say it's OK then you need to think about it. If you're just asking if it’s possible then your answer is yes.

Socialist Capitalism - Some people pay full price, some people don't, and some people are just Cats.
posted by thewalrusispaul at 2:16 PM on April 29, 2008 [1 favorite]


I did this for the last two releases of Harry Potter- Bought it on Amazon for the deep discount, but bought a second copy at Borders so I could start reading RIGHTNOWOMG! I then returned the Amazon copy to borders as soon as I received it. YMMV with anything other than books, as I've never tried that...
posted by blackunicorn at 2:53 PM on April 29, 2008


^fwiw, each Borders books has a unique barcode. Pick up two copies of the same book and you'll see this.
posted by hobbes at 2:58 PM on April 29, 2008


hobbes, That's only for the Borders stickers on the back of the book. Otherwise, the ISBN on the book is the same.

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned, but one of Google's amazing capabilities is to put in any UPC bar code number, ISBN, etc. and it returns back product information. That tells you a lot right there.

With electronics, some manufacturers make things chain-specific with a UPC for each large chain. That's why you'll see Best Buy logos on certain Sony, Creative and other packaging.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 4:25 PM on April 29, 2008


IANAPOF*, but here is your solution. Go to the store from which you have the receipt. Leave your new-in-box item in your car. Go inside and look at the items on the shelf. Take a good long look at the UPC. Memorize the number beneath the bar code. Take a cameraphone picture of it, if you can sneak that. Then, go back out to your car and see if your bar code is the same. If it is, the return will work.

*I am not a perpetrator of fraud.
posted by Dec One at 6:36 PM on April 29, 2008


Gerard, yeah. I dunno if Borders would take a book that didn't have their sticker without a second look.
posted by hobbes at 8:13 PM on April 29, 2008


As long as the item is not a laptop or worth over $1000 (commonly stolen/scammed items), serial numbers are not generally recorded. Just make sure that the one that you return has all the parts, manuals cords, packaging etc... there should be no problem.
posted by saradarlin at 4:06 PM on April 29 [+] [!]


I don't think there is a dollar value associated with tracking the items that commonly get stolen/scammed. When I worked at Target if someone purchased a game console (PS2s were only ~$150 at the time) we scanned the UPC and then the serial barcode. Same goes for cell phones, and possibly some cameras.

I never worked the returns desk, but I don't see why we would be scanning a serial number label if that information were not being recorded somewhere (even if only on the receipt).

---

As long as the UPCs match you shouldn't have a problem returning it. Unless they've been trained to watch for shady transactions involving particular items, there is a 99% chance the person at the returns desk simply won't care enough to make an issue out of it otherwise.
posted by Ziggy Zaga at 8:29 PM on April 29, 2008


I don't see how this is a scam or fraud if they're returning the new, unopened, unused one. It would be different if the poster were returning the damaged one.

Lets say I buy the exact same item at two different stores. I lose the reciept for store B, but I have the receipt for store A.

Without opening or using either one, I put them in a bag and jumble them up. I pull one out and return it to store A.

Since they're identical, it doesn't matter.

Now, somethings do matter when unique ids are involved (such as SIM cards, etc). It would be helpful if we knew what the item was.

If it is a sweater, I say you're all good.
If it is a dog, you're probably out of luck.
If it is expensive electronics, as noted above, you may or may not get away with it.

Leaving theory behind, I've found that if you complain enough about anything to anyone you can generally get what you want.
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:40 PM on April 29, 2008


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