Perhaps the worst part of working at a Customer Service desk are the people who try to commit return fraud. For those who might be confused as to what could constitute return fraud, it's when someone tries to return something they shouldn't and they know it. People regularly manipulate return windows and store policies to get their way, but return fraud takes it one step more sinister. Those who commit return fraud know they're doing something wrong, that they're taking advantage of a system or the general good will of a company. They just don't let that stop them from doing it. Sometimes they feel a store or company "deserves" it because they were treated poorly there. Sometimes they feel it doesn't matter so long as no one is actually harmed in the process. As a cashier, trying to deal with these people is an exercise in frustration.
What makes the whole situation worse, however, is that sometimes they succeed and in the process ruin things for the person who helped them. I'm going to tell another story. This time, of a co-worker who fell prey to return fraud. To be completely fair, she should have done a bit more due diligence, but the perpetrator is the one I blame. A customer came in and returned a Swann home security system, and she took it back without looking seriously into the box. She opened it, saw that there was stuff in there, assumed it all was and completed the return.
Later, I came by and saw it sitting on the counter and asked what was going on with it. She told me the guy returned it because the cameras were all blurry. Having a tiny bit of experience in un-boxing these, I wondered if perhaps he'd left on the protective film that the manufacturer puts on the lenses when they ship them out to protect them from dust, dirt and debris. So I grabbed it down, took it over to a work table, and opened up the box.
Immediately I knew we'd been duped, and the level of creativeness this idiot had gone to in order to get a new security system on our dime got worse as I started removing things from the box. I noticed immediately that the cords were missing. Just to be sure, I checked the box and sure enough, there were supposed to be four HDMI cables, one for each camera, included in the box. I looked at the cameras and noticed instantly that they were old, faded and at one point they had been white. The ones included in the box were supposed to be gunmetal black. Once I found a serial number on one, I looked it up online and discovered the cameras were at least four years old. I pulled out the little packet of hardware that is supposed to come with it so customers can mount their cameras. It had been replaced with Christmas light mounting kits. There was a mouse included in the system, and this at least looked like the right thing, though it was so beaten up I guessed a dog had played with it.
That wasn't even the worst thing, however. The worst thing came when I pulled out what was supposed to be the main unit, where the cameras all hook up to a computer or television so you can view what they're seeing in real time or record it. Note that I said it was "supposed" to be the main unit. Instead of finding a DVR system designed for security cameras, I pulled out one of those really cheap, off-brand $20 Insignia DVD players.
What followed was endless hours of watching our own security video, meetings with the department that carried the product, phone calls to various people to see if we could somehow identify the man who'd returned it, and a long, disciplinary conversation with the cashier who'd processed the return. We ended up writing the whole thing off and eating the cost of it, which wasn't exactly a great feeling when it was an $800 home security system.
It's one thing to know your rights as a consumer and exercise them. Stores have return policies for a reason, and it's to protect themselves as much as the customer. And certainly, if a company treats you wrong, you have every right to never shop there again. But don't be someone like the man mentioned in my story. Don't do fraudulent returns, because that just makes things worse. Prices go up. Availability goes down. Companies tighten return policies to try and reduce or eliminate loopholes that people exploit to commit fraud. Worst of all, you add to the burden of the people at the desk, trying to return your stuff for you, because now instead of assuming you're just an unsatisfied customer, they have to assume you're there to do something wrong. It's hurtful, stupid, and 99.9% of the time it's completely unnecessary.
If you're ever trying to return something, and the people at the returns area seem disgruntled, upset or angry, this is one of fifteen reasons why.