If it is after the 15 day electronic return policy, Sears won’t take it back unless you invested in a protection plan. On things like MP3 players, those things can be a godsend. They cost 15% of the purchase price and you have coverage for three years which means that if your unit dies during that time, you either get a new unit or the money to buy a replacement. Considering that the price keeps dropping on MP3 players, you could be getting a free 80 GB unit in two years.
Shopping at Sears hasn’t been as “in vogue” as when I was a kid, but they’ve been a good store, and they are apparently decent to their employees. That 3-year deal sounds interesting.
For any purchasers of SanDisk products at Sears, remember that SanDisk covers these devices beyond the initial sales period too. Be sure to register your new Sansa via the handy SanDisk logo in the upper left of this screen, then click on “support”.
I will always be fond of the smells of Sears from childhood, the popcorn, chocolates, and the smoky smell of brand new car tires in the automotive section, all mixed with ladies’ perfume…ah, civility.
Bob 
I don’t think that is completely accurate. On the receipt I have for a couple 4 GB Clips, I recently purchased at Sears, it says I have 30 days to return them. But, here’s the kicker, it also says there may be a 15% restocking fee. Now, I’m not sure if there would be a 15% fee on an unopened mp3 player, but I would think it would most likely apply to an opened one. Which really doesn’t seem fair to me. And I doubt I will make another purchase there again after noticing this. What if there is a defect on the player? Would I still be charged a 15% fee for returning it? I hope not, or that would be a complete rip-off in my opinion. Sears does seem to have gone down hill as of late with hidden fees like this.
Like any face to face transaction, success is all in the attitude. I am sure that, in the possibility of a problem, if you’re couteous, there should be no problems. Sears has been around for quite some time.
It’s the “new breed” of warehouses and “big box” stores that concerns me the most. Sears has been doing things the old fashioned way, and deserves credit for that. You can only go so far with being cheaper. Taking care of the customer has to be a priority.
Bob 
Sears more than likely will not charge any restocking fee. I purchased an electric shaver at my local Sears store here in NJ last week, but when I opened the package found that the shaver was defective. Sears let me exchange it for another, which is what I wanted to do, and did not charge any restocking or other fees. In fact, they gave me a coupon for a discount on my next purchase!
@tall_cool1 wrote:
I don’t think that is completely accurate. On the receipt I have for a couple 4 GB Clips, I recently purchased at Sears, it says I have 30 days to return them. But, here’s the kicker, it also says there may be a 15% restocking fee. Now, I’m not sure if there would be a 15% fee on an unopened mp3 player, but I would think it would most likely apply to an opened one. Which really doesn’t seem fair to me. And I doubt I will make another purchase there again after noticing this. What if there is a defect on the player? Would I still be charged a 15% fee for returning it? I hope not, or that would be a complete rip-off in my opinion. Sears does seem to have gone down hill as of late with hidden fees like this.
The 15% re-stocking fee is to discourage and cut down on ‘buyer’s remorse’ costing the company money by having to mark-down opened packages, but ‘nothing-wrong-with-it’ units. It does not pertain to un-opened merchandise nor defective products.
If an item is defective, of course they will take it back (with no fee). But with such an ‘open’ return policy, they (and other retailers) get taken advantage of A LOT. So in self-defense, they have instituted their ‘re-stocking fee’ policy on certain items.
I used to work for Sears and their intention is not to screw people, but to avoid (or at least minimize) the screwing they get from some customers.
Different products have different peak selling seasons. Here are a few of the products and the times the stores where I worked would put into place certain ‘revised’ return policies.
TV’s (especially big screens) - 2 weeks prior to SuperBowl Sunday. NO returns, except defective. Defective status to be verified by Service dept. before any refund given (could take up to a month).
Portable Generators - The entire month of December prior to Jan. 1, 2000. (Everybody was paranoid over the Y2K thing and thinking there would be no electricity and we would all fall off the edge of the world or something). Also revised return policies immediately after any very large storm (snow, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, etc.) where power is cut off for days. 40% re-stocking fee.
Air Conditioners/Swamp Coolers - Anytime during and after a really long hot spell. 40% re-stocking fee unless defective (also has to be verified by Service Dept. before refund)
It’s a shame that some people would think nothing about charging a big ticket item like this and then return it after they use it for a particular purpose, essentially ‘borrowing’ it and leaving the retailer stuck with something they cannot re-sell w/o taking massive mark-downs on it. But it happens. A LOT! I used to sell furniture at another retailer and we’d have people buy a compete living room set just because they had family coming for the holidays and they wanted to impress them. After the holidays, here they’d come wanting it to be picked up because “it just didn’t fit right”. Uh-huh, sure!
Retailers have a difficult row to hoe when it comes to return policies. On one hand, they want to be fair to their customers and have a generous policy to encourage further shopping and loyalty, but on the other hand they have to protect themselves against those to cost them (and ultimately all the rest of their customers) money and take advantage of them. They are not in the rental or loaning business. They are only doing what is necessary to minimize costs and try to stay competetive in a extremely difficult market.
And despite what Sears would do (which I agree with many others, most likely would be the right thing), you still have SanDisk’s 1-year warranty.
And pay with a credit card with warranty extension coverage, and make that 2.
I’m not going to diss on Sears, I have my nostalgia too :wink: , but I will say: I was in there about a week ago and went by the MP3 players to see what they had to offer, and the 4gb Clip was about $70 – which is $10-$30 more than anyone else that sells it such as Target. That is all.
Even worse than regular buyer remourse is when someone would for example buy 3 digital cameras or 3 mp3 players, each in a different store, with the intention in advance of using them, then return all but one. Restocking fees are the only way a retailer has of discouraging this. In reality, an opened returned item probably costs the retailer much more than the 15% fee. Defective items would be exchanged without a fee for another of the same model, as the store needs to avoid having comsumers intentionally make a product become defective just to get a refund. I very rarely return an item that is not defective. One of my friends often returns many things he buys. I feel like myself and other consumers who rarely return anything are paying higher prices due to those who habitually return items. Some stores that don’t charge a restocking fee sell returned, opened items as new. I once bought a shaver and found that not only was it used and then returned, but the store didn’t even bother to try to clean it out and sterilize it first. I didn’t return it, but did carefully disinfect it before using it. I guess I should have returned it. Part of the blame for selling opened returned products as new should be on the manufacturers who don’t properly seal the product packages(plain shrinkwrap is not enough, as many retailers have a shrinkwrap machine. Shrinkwrap with the manufacturer’s name and product name is good though). Another one of my peeves is retailers who have a price sign on the shelf that says sale or clearance, but doesn’t say demo model only. If the price is just for the demo model, then the sign next to item should say that.
Message Edited by JK98 on 12-23-2008 10:35 AM
In defense of consumers: oftentimes, you can only try a product out, and even actually see it, by buying it, and returning it if it doesn’t meet your needs. I was in a Best Buy yesterday and a manager got upset with me for opening up a computer keyboard box, to see what the key typing feel was, the store not having a sample available to try. Really, what else was I supposed to do–buy it feel unfelt?
"In defense of consumers: oftentimes, you can only try a product out, and even actually see it, by buying it, and returning it if it doesn’t meet your needs. I was in a Best Buy yesterday and a manager got upset with me for opening up a computer keyboard box, to see what the key typing feel was, the store not having a sample available to try. Really, what else was I supposed to do–buy it feel unfelt? "
Theoretically you should be able to get a product demo, however for mp3 players most stores won’t provide one. For more expensive items like cars, people are urged to rent one for a few days to try it out. The 15%restocking fee for opened returns that are not defective(and exchanging a defective item for another of the same model) is in effect a rental of an item for 15% of its cost.
Sorry, I just can’t agree. A 15% charge to press the keys on a keyboard, to see if it feels right to justify a $70 charge? And even with cars, one gets a test drive.
I said there should be demos. Unfortunately most stores either don’t have a display model, or it is locked up, and one can’t use it. Some stores have mp3 players in a case, but uncharged, so there are no demos. Even if a keyboard is out on display and you can touch it, you still won’t get an idea of how it functions unless you can use it with a pc(how hard you need to press the keys before they register). One store i went to while browsing for a pc tried to sell me an HP computer built to order. I told them that if I wanted an HP computer built to order that would be shipped to me from HP I would buy it from HP directly, not from the store. The purpose of a retail store is see and try out the item I am interested in, then if I like it, buy it then and leave the store with it. It is not good when retailers refuse to have a demo model, or if a store tries to sell a demo model as new.
