I am an unashamed thrift store shopper. In the past, I've found some incredible deals on brand name clothing that looked new! Lately, I've been meaning to get over to Salvation Army and look for white shoes to wear with my bridesmaid dress for my sister-in-law's wedding.
While I was there, I decided to browse the dress pants section (thinking about school dress code already). I had my eye out for gray pants, but I happened to lift a pair of green corduroys off the rack. I noticed right away that there were American Eagle tags dangling on the side. Obviously brand new and never worn! Salvation Army's tag said $5.99, but since it was a pink tag, it was half off.... They weren't exactly my size, but I tried them on anyway. It wasn't until I was in the dressing room and about to step into the pant legs that I realized that American Eagle's price tag was $34.99.
Hmmm. I was forming a plan: Pay three dollars for the green pants (which didn't fit me) at Salvation Army; return them to American Eagle at the mall for whatever I can get for them without a receipt. The thrift store gets their money; AE gets to resell their merchandise; and I would get store credit. Brilliant! It was a risk considering that AE might not take it back without a receipt, but usually they'll give you the sale price when that happens--gotta be more than three bucks, right?
I took the risk.
When I got to AE at the mall and walked up to the counter, I said: "I'd like to return these, but I don't have a receipt". She narrowed her eyes and looked over the pants. "Which AE store did you get these from?". I told her the truth: "I don't really know". She said, "Well, I can only give you the sale price". (Called it!)
She rang up the pants and looked at her computer screen. There was a long pause where I was hopefully thinking to myself... "Ten bucks? Fifteen? How much?" She finally said: "That'll be $37.05 in store credit"
It was all I could do to stop myself from screaming and clapping right there in the middle of the store!
Not Modern Enough to Use Modern Conveniences
8 months ago
3 comments:
I LOVE it!!! (Btw, thanks for blog template reference - worked perfectly!)
Reminds me of my own story! Our comforter was purchased as a result of high end store credit! I returned a thrift store sweater with all tags and ONLY got the sale price of 78$ (instead of the 120$ original price!) The fancier the store, the fewer the questions!! I wouldn't lie about it either, but they weren't asking! Helps to dress nicely, smile, and be confident when doing the return! Now, what did you buy with your credit?? Clothes for hubby, right?? Mom
Is it ethical for a customer to scheme and use a retailer's liberal return policy expressly to make money for the customer?
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