All Christmas shopping can be done in the Chevron Town Pantry on Dec. 24.
This you explained to her one year as she unwrapped the jug of windshield wiper fluid on Christmas morning.
“You didn’t need to spend all that time in the mall,” you said. “You only did so because you’re slow and inefficient. But I forgive you.”
Your magnanimity was not welcomed as wholeheartedly as you hoped, so for your next relationship you turned to the last refuge of the desperate: 7-Eleven and its wide range of gift cards.
Still not personal enough, which is why the next year (and next relationship) brought you to an actual retail store. Alas, while you passed the practical test, you still failed the oral exam. (Q: Do these pants make my butt look big? A: It ain’t the pants.)
That’s why you, along with the rest of the cast of The Walking Dead, will be doing the Shuffle Of Shame back to the store today, wondering if its return policy is broad enough to accept a garment that has been used to stanch a gory chest wound.
Many happy returns, Victoria. This is the time of year when consumers learn that while it’s the thought that counts, it counts a little more if you keep a gift receipt.
At least you’re not alone. The U.S. National Retail Federation estimates that Canadians (yes, Canadians) return $26 billion worth of purchases — almost nine per cent of the total amount they spend — each year.
When they do, they find retailer reaction varies widely. Merchants must fix, replace or refund an item that is defective or damaged, but otherwise get to write their own rules.
Some allow returns within 10 days of purchase, others stretch the period into the new year. Don’t expect any store to take back software that could have been downloaded or clothes that have been worn to a party (and really, would you buy underwear that had been test-driven by someone else?). In a bid to thwart shoplifters who try to return stolen products for cash, some chains red-flag customers who make a lot of returns or fail to provide receipts. (“Annual merchandise return fraud and abuse in the Canadian retail market is estimated between $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion,” says the retail federation.)
Basically, there are no laws governing retailers’ return policies, so best to ask before opening your wallet.
The same isn’t true of gift cards, which are strictly regulated. “The laws are clear,” says Manjit Bains, vice-president of corporate relations for Consumer Protection B.C. Since 2008, the provincial government has barred retailers from putting an expiry date on the cards they sell. Once you have bought one, it is good forever.
There are a few exceptions. Certificates for a specific service whose price might change — a hair cut or a boat rental, say — can still expire. Ditto for cards issued for charitable or promotional purposes, which is why the gift certificates you buy at a silent auction can still turn into a pumpkin at midnight (a vendor who received no money for a card isn’t obliged to carry it as a liability indefinitely).
Nor do the rules apply to phone cards or prepaid credit cards, which fall under the federal government’s jurisdiction. Ottawa has, however, introduced changes that will, as of May, ban expiry dates on prepaid credit cards and prevent financial institutions from charging fees within the first year of their activation.
Similarly, B.C.’s consumer law prevents individual retailers from adding a maintenance fee or otherwise deducting value from a prepaid gift card. Exempted are so-called “mall cards” that can be redeemed at a variety of merchants; because there are extra administration costs associated with them, the law allows fees to be charged. But even then, the vendor is required to make that clear when the card is purchased. “The disclosure has to be up front,” Bains said.
Of the 15,000 calls that Consumer Protection B.C. fields each year, only one per cent involve gift cards, with almost all of the complaints relating to expiry dates or unexpected fees. Statistics on windshield washer fluid were unavailable.
