Thanks for chiming in! Really enjoyed reading this – pretty damn eye opening.

But hold on, it gets worse. This source says the return that “broke the camel’s back” for her was a grandmother returning a $500-600 purchase she made with her granddaughter one weekend. The woman spent two hours trying on multiple outfits, and the store associates couldn’t figure out why she brought everything back. When they examined the merchandise, they saw tell-tale creases from sitting and bending, make-up smudges, and other signs of usage. It was obvious she had worn the clothing for a period of time and then returned everything. Apparently fraudulent behavior knows no age-limits.

There has always been a small segment of the population who cheat merchants. Whether it is shoplifting or using items, wearing them and then bringing them back to the store, the end result is fraud. I’m not talking about people who occasionally have to return items because they are defective, not the right color, or the wrong size. I’m referring to shoppers who buy things to use or wear once, and then return for credit. This age-old trick has a name, “wardrobing;” which sounds like it would be clothing-related, but is actually used to describe all use-it-and-return-it purchases. Two-thirds of merchants report they had items wardrobed last year, and the numbers continue to rise. The National Retail Federation (NRF) started tracking this trend in 2006, and the numbers of claims rose 56% in the first full year (2007). As the recession lingers, those numbers are increasing.

The NRF blames the economy and a “customer-is-always right” mentality gone too far. A loss-prevention executive for Bealls Department Stores in Florida says that customers are rooting around in their closets and trying to return things they have worn multiple times to make a little money. But the most common abuse is still one-time usage, sort of like “renting” the item for a short period of time. Women will buy an expensive outfit for a wedding, prom, job interview, or other function, wear it, and then return it for full credit.

Technology returns are the newest form of wardrobing, and are more male-dominated. One man purchased a $600 LCD projector, used it for a business presentation, then returned it a few days later. Richard Hollinger, a criminology professor at the University of Florida, says that return fraud cost retailers $10.8 billion in 2007.

Because of this enormous problem, 17% of retailers tightened their return policies in 2009 according to the NRF. This makes shopping more costly and inconvenient for the rest of us because the costs of retail fraud are passed on to the consumer. It also makes the process of returning items more difficult for honest customers. One national electronics store had to shorten up their appliance return policies because people were buying air conditioners, using them all summer, and then returning them in the fall for refunds.

Most retailers now use a computer database to track returns. When a customer makes a return, the cashier swipes their driver’s license. This goes into a national database that helps identify customers whose behavior indicates return fraud, wardrobing, or other abuse. If you’ve been given a hard time trying to make a legitimate return over the last couple of years, blame the abusers, not the store. Some stores are shortening return periods, charging restocking fees, or limiting the number of returns one customer can make.

Bottom line? The “I should be able to have or use whatever I want and the heck with the rest of you” entitlement mentality is self-serving and dishonest. There are many legitimate ways to meet your needs without resorting to stealing someone else’s property for a period of time.

Wowwwww, haha… now THAT is something.

Good!! And awesome strategy too actually. I have the same problem with shirts – they always shrink and I’m screwed after one or two washes :( So getting them at 2nd hand stores is def. smart in that regard! Outside of the great savings too, of course.

Oh jeez, haha…

Ooh, people do THAT? I have lived a tame life!

Haven’t heard of Chess King but I used to work in a jeans store called Jeanster – very nineties name! I don’t remember too many stand-out returners stories, except for the person who got trousers shortened THEN returned them! Tags still on, but legs a few inches shorter than all the other pairs on the rack. Staff didn’t notice till it was too late! I guess the person got them altered, planning to keep them, then had a brazen change of heart!

Total bluff. I wouldn’t drag that stuff back in :).