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Most companies have return policies that allow you to bring back a purchase for either an exchange or your cash back. Sometimes that dress does make you look fat, and you want to swap it for a size 14. Woolies won’t judge you for putting on a few inches over the holidays, and there’s a system for that.

Unfortunately, where there is a system, people will abuse it.

In 2023 alone, people returned an estimated $816 billion (R15 trillion) worth of merchandise for various reasons. Some of the shoppers were legitimate, while some returned their goods as frequently as they bought them, also known as “Return grift”.

Some retailers are now issuing lifetime shopping bans to longtime customers who they believe have returned too frequently. What defines “too much, too often” can be ambiguous. These companies still offer a free return policy, but set a specific cash amount or frequency that would result in a lifetime ban. Terms like “unusual and unreasonable” and “patterns of ordering and returning items” are used as reasons for deactivating accounts and restricting or cancelling orders.

When you’re playing high-volume-returns roulette, you never know when a request will be the last straw.

This comes as bad news for ‘fashion stylists’ and most of the influencers on social media. It has become common practice for people to order large amounts of clothing, take some photographs next to their landlord’s Ferrari, and then simply return the items. Barring any mishaps, you can be #Blessed without spending your hard-earned money. Influencers would know this as ‘Wardrobing’.

Some of these people have been known to get away with making up to $15,000 (R283,000) in order-and-returns monthly for over a year before they were banned. It’s the scoundrel’s version of fast fashion, and until now it has been easy.

 

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Several shoppers who have been banned do however admit that it is a grey area. The US National Retail Federation reckons that nearly one in five purchases will result in a return. Taking products back is a natural part of doing business but when it’s abused it can become criminal.

‘Return fraud’ refers to the ‘act of returning merchandise to a retailer for a refund in violation of the merchant’s stated return policy’. Violations include a photo shoot in the driveway. It may not seem like much harm is committed by ‘scamming’ a returns policy, but it destroyed the career of the Assistant to the President of the United States, George W. Bush.

In 2006, Claude Alexander Allen Jr. took items from more than 25 stores and then ‘returned them’ for more than $5,000 (R94 000) credit to his card. Classic return fraud and it cost him his license to practice law on top of Bush commenting that he was “deeply disappointed.” Never heard of him again, have we?

Disappointing Bush is the consequence of just one extreme example of return fraud, but most policy-abiding shoppers will not be affected by any of the changes to some retailers’ return policies, so relax. The option of returning goods gives us a little more peace of mind when buying something. Sometimes pants do look better on you in a fitting room than they do at home.

[source:vanityfair]