Reading Funny About Money's budget-busting travails with her vacuum-cleaner made me think about guarantees, of the unconditional sort. Funny bought a vacuum from Fry's, which she hates, and replaced it with a vacuum from Costco. I breathed a sigh of relief, because I know that Costco has an unconditional guarantee: if Funny hates THIS vacuum, she will be able to return it. Sadly, Costco does not have a branch in my state.
It occurs to me that perhaps I should try to limit my buying--aside from thrift store purchases, of course--to such stores. It might be worth the extra cost--if there is an extra cost. My late father, an astute consumer and analyzer of marketing and consumer behavior, used to say: You pay a lot for an unconditional guarantee, so you should use it. (Of course, he wasn't talking about ABUSING* it, which some people do.)
I don't buy that much in the regular retail market: my own vacuum, for instance, was a purchased from Goodwill; we bought it as a stopgap when our previous vacuum broke. That was more than 10 years ago. And, unlike Funny, I will never be annoyed with this vacuum, because I NEVER VACUUM. (Mr. FS does this task.) But I have spent a fair bit of time in enraged conversation with stores over defective products: a former car repair shop, Virgin Mobile, and others I will not dredge up from my memory.
Perhaps it's worth buying appliances and the like from Costco (and I think I can do that, even though there is not one in my state), and the various goods from LL Bean, and Lands End simply to reduce future stress. Here are the guarantees of those stores.
Lands End: Guaranteed. Period.
LL Bean: Guaranteed. You have our word.
Costco: We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell with a full refund. The following must be returned within 90 days of purchase for a refund: televisions, projectors, computers, cameras, camcorders, iPOD / MP3 players and cellular phones.
*Example of abuse: I saw a woman pick up an LL Bean item at a thrift store and exclaim to her companion, "I can return this and make some money!"
Do you know of any other stores that offer good guarantees? Do you think they are worth the extra cost?
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5 comments:
Hi,
I would've contacted you via email, but there wasn't a link in your profile.
I really enjoy your blog and I'd like to keep up on it.
I prefer to keep up on new blog posts via email. Using the dashboard or an RSS feeder just doesn't work for me.
If you have the widget to sign up via email, could you reply and let me know so I can sign up for your new blog posts via email.
If you don't, may I suggest you add it. I just learned how to do this by going to the Google Help Forums, so I'll just pass on to you what I learned.
1. Just go to Feed Burner at http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/emailsyndication?id=gkmi3qft2e9rnpa1hav8nif8kc&divToShow=subscriptionMgmt
2. Your blog is likely already on Feed Burner without having to do anything. I didn't have to sign up. Mine was there. The link above is the direct link to the email part.
3. Instead of copying code and creating a new widget manually, I just selected the widget for blogger and clicked Go. It input the widget for me. I just had to move it to where I wanted it on my blog. (I did note that I couldn't move it from that link. I did have to go to my dashboard-layout and move it from there.)
That was it. Super simple.
If you add the email subscription widget, could you please let me know. I'm Ozarks Crescent Mural here on BlogSpot. I know it would help me and maybe your other readers too! Thank you and take care.
I was really surprised when I bought a new hair dryer last winter. It cost under 40€, which is a small sum over here, where a cup of simple black coffee is 4€. The Remington blower has a 5 year guarantee!!
Hudson's Bay, the iconic Canadian company: "Satisfaction guaranteed."
When I asked about returning a dress at a local shop I was told, "You can bring it back anytime for a full refund if the tags are on."
So I am not impressed by any time limits or limits on returning specific items.
Hey! I just posted a piece on this very issue! Great minds in the same path, no?
Never heard of a person returning a thrift-store find to the maker for a refund. But I do know women who will go into a store, buy an evening dress, wear it to an event, and then return it the next day. Some people have just gotta take advantage, I guess.
@ozarks--Thanks for the tip. You have no idea how clueless I am about such things. I will try to get my son to help me...pathetic. Love your blog. I want to move!
@metscan--In the USA, guarantees are common, but getting a company to HONOR a guarantee is often difficult, if not impossible.
@Duchesse--The three stores I mention take things back AFTER they are used--if you are not "satisfied." I guess most fpeople are honorable.
@Funny--That evening gown story--even worse!
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