Ask For a Refund: Tip-of-the-Day #174

IT DOESN'T HURT TO ASK FOR A REFUND IF YOU'RE UNHAPPY

A friend of mine had purchased a pair of fairly expensive shoes some months ago and had only worn them twice when she realized that they were a. incredibly uncomfortable and b. ruining her stockings because the color was rubbing off on her feet!

She was fairly resigned to the fact that it was "too late" to return them because she'd worn them already and she was outside of the window within which this company accepts returns. Not always true!

I advised my friend to send a letter to the company (in this case she used email though I tend to send a hard copy on bigger ticket items like airline tickets) explaining the situation. She did and within 24 hours she had been sent a personal response and was told that if she were to bring the shoes and her original receipt (or credit card statement!) back to the store where she purchased them, they would happily refund her money. She was shocked! But this store did the right thing. Even though stores won't always advertise this in their return policy, a lot of retailers are flexible when you are unhappy with a purchase. They want to retain your business and simultaneously don't want you to spread the word that you're unhappy.

Whether it's shoes, an article of clothing, a package of spoiled olives (happened to me a few weeks ago) or a bad airline experience, it ALWAYS pays to write a letter/contact customer support. The worst thing that will happen is that you don't get your money back. The best thing that will happen is you do! (Or you may get a store credit which is better than nothing!).