Copy link Copied Copy link Copied Subscribe to gift this article Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Already a subscriber? Login Once again, my vanity had got the better of me. A pair of “slim fit” beige corduroys ordered from Target, it transpired, could not be fastened without the help of a mechanical winch.
The bigger surprise, however, came when I attempted to return the trousers and was promptly issued a refund along with the following message: “Feel free to keep it, recycle or donate it! If the item was damaged, please dispose of it safely. Thanks for your help!” So your new trousers are too tight..
. you might just end up having to keep them or given them away. Intrigued, I turned to Google, and learnt this practice – dubbed “returnless refunds” by analysts – was being employed by some of America’s largest retailers, including Amazon and Walmart, as well as a host of smaller companies.
The business rationale behind the phenomenon is, at first glance, pretty solid. Online returns are an increasingly vexing problem for retailers in the United States, who collectively lost $US248 billion ($372 billion) from the practice last year, according to research from the National Retail Federation. Often the cost of shipping and processing a return is almost as large, if not larger, as the cost of the item itself.
Occasionally, the product is damaged in transit and can’t be sold on. There’s an environmental cost too, from transpo.
