Sometimes customers have to get a little pushy to get a refund
Q. I received a dress that was bought at Wal-Mart. After about eight weeks, I returned it with all the tags on and with the sales slip. My daughter had bought it for me as a gift. She paid over $30. The store was only willing to give me $5. I donated it instead; $5 seemed totally unreasonable. Should I have tried to go further with it?
Lynda Costello, Dedham
A. Yes.
Being an aggressive advocate for oneself shouldn't be necessary, but unfortunately is. Had you been able to hang around and ask for a supervisor, most likely you would have gotten back the entire purchase price.
Ashley Hardie, a spokeswoman at Wal-Mart's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters, said anyone who brings back an item with a receipt within 90 days of purchase - with few exceptions - will get a full refund. You, she said, should have gotten the full amount.
Hardie said had you not donated the item, she would have arranged for you to get the proper refund. "We do apologize for the inconvenience," she said.
Q. I bought a computer from Best Buy and was surprised to find a sticker on the box saying opening this box subjects you to a 15 percent open-box surcharge. Is this legal?
I opened the box and found it did not have what I wanted. I had asked the salesperson if it had a TV tuner in it and the salesperson said that it did. And, the shift key was not operating correctly. They accepted the return but insisted on charging the open-box 15 percent surcharge. Why am I paying $105 for a deficient product?
Pauline Quinn, Norwood
A. The policy is intended to discourage people from opening boxes and having buyer's remorse, leaving the store with an opened item that may no longer be sold at full price. As long as a store conspicuously posts its return policies, those are the rules you are agreeing to.
Best Buy's policy reads: "A restocking fee of 15 percent will be charged on opened notebook computers, projectors, camcorders, digital cameras, radar detectors, GPS navigation and in-car video systems, unless defective or prohibited by law," according to Damon Gammon from Best Buy's corporate office.
Given that you were misled into buying the wrong product and it was defective, the store should have waived this legal, but unpleasant fee.
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