people underappreciate how much big-box stores are willing to take returns. if you bought a TV at wal-mart and years later it started showing ads, you can take it back.
smaller retailers might not have the same terms with their vendors, but for the big ones they can and will pass that through to the original vendor, and that stuff is all tracked. return rates are a big metric that vendors use to measure customer satisfaction and figure out what they can get away with.
> people underappreciate how much big-box stores are willing to take returns. if you bought a TV at wal-mart and years later it started showing ads, you can take it back.
source? walmart's return policy explicitly says the return period is 90 days.
source is working at various big-box stores, as well as returning things to them. the official return policy has little bearing on what the employees are empowered to do.
policy is the least they can do. if you're being a jerk and the want to get rid of you, they can quote policy. if they want to help, they can.
> the official return policy has little bearing on what the employees are empowered to do.
Employees may be empowered but that doesn't mean they'll help. It's a lot of trouble to take your TV off the wall, get all the accessories together, and cart it in to the store. If the employee on duty doesn't feel like helping, you're out of luck.
And naturally, if they are offended or upset at the product too (ads?! after you bought it?!), they may become your advocate... and go well beyond just being nice and helpful.
Alternatively Walmart just could threaten Vizio that they’ll stop stocking Vizio TVs if they don’t stop doing shit like this. Cheap TVs are a commodity it’s not like Walmart couldn’t easily replace them with some other supplier. And it’s not like Walmart directly benefits from these ads.
yeah, this is why it works. wal-mart has more power than you do. when you return a TV to wal-mart, they aren't taking the hit. they're turning around and requesting credit from vizio.
and then when they make their next round of stocking decisions, they're looking at vizio return rates and negotiating accordingly - either ordering less product, or requesting lower prices.
I know someone who kept “updating” their TV every year by taking advantage of Costco’s generous return policy. After the 4th time, they let him know they won’t be doing it anymore — I don’t know if that was a whole-store change or it applied specifically to him.
Costco was saying they wouldn't do it for that person any more. It's still very much their policy to take back returns for products you don't like or that broke.
You just can't abuse the policy. It may take them years to detect that abuse, but they'll stop you when they do.
smaller retailers might not have the same terms with their vendors, but for the big ones they can and will pass that through to the original vendor, and that stuff is all tracked. return rates are a big metric that vendors use to measure customer satisfaction and figure out what they can get away with.