Always looking for time-savers, I’m usually a fan of online shopping. Usually, but not this week. It all started when I ordered a new charger cord for my PDA. It came, but alas, it did not fit. The vendor, optimistically called Pocket Solutions, had sent it to me in a cute little eco-friendly packet with a green tree on the front. Assuming the eco-friendly are also customer friendly, I put the charge back in the packet, taped it up, and sent it back for a credit. Their mistake, after all, not mine.
Imagine my surprise yesterday when the little eco-friendly packet was back in my mailbox nine days after I’d mailed it, unopened with Return to Sender stickers plastered on its eco-friendly face. Seems that the return policy requires applying first for a code, plastering the code on the outside of the packet, then mailing the return. Packages received without it are sent unopened back to the sender. And guess what. By the time my packet got back to me, its time for being returned with the magic code had elapsed.
So fellow online shoppers, beware. Read those return policies before you order and at least before you attempt a return. Some vendors – most, in my experience – take back items easily. At most, you’re out the shipping cost. But others play hardball. I’m just glad this was just the charger cord and not some pricey gizmo it was going to be charging.
Other online returns stories? Advice?
