LL Bean changes return policy

[LJSquishy]

Thanks to some of you who abuse return policies, merchandise must now be returned within one year.

https://lifehacker.com/if-you-have-something-to-return-to-ll-bean-do-it-now-1822875662/amp

 

[Wubar]

Like the idiotic woman who returned her dead dried out Christmas tree to Costco after the holidays?

 

[Ensusieasm]

Some people actually go to thrift stores and buy old LLBean merchandise, then send it back and expect a new item. I don't blame LLBean at all for changing this policy. It's a different world than when the company was founded and began this policy.

 

[Dakota731]

My mother in law worked at a department store and every fall a family would return their gas grill and then buy a new one in the spring. They did this year after year until the store finally went out of business. The sad part was they weren’t the only scammers. They had people who would buy a tent and sleeping bags for a one time camping trip then return everything. Women buying formal dresses then returning them after the special occasion with food spilled on then and sweat stains under the arms. She had stories for us every week!

 

[clh2]

I am not surprised.

 

[Jimsig]

Thanks to some of you who abuse return policies, merchandise must now be returned within one year.

https://lifehacker.com/if-you-have-something-to-return-to-ll-bean-do-it-now-1822875662/amp

Some people actually go to thrift stores and buy old LLBean merchandise, then send it back and expect a new item. I don't blame LLBean at all for changing this policy. It's a different world than when the company was founded and began this policy.

No one was really abusing LL Bean's return policy if it stated it was a 100% lifetime satisfaction guarantee, their policy is what it is or now was. You can't really abuse something when they allow you to do it, no matter if they say people are abusing the original intent of the policy. If that's the case it's their fault for not making the original intent clearer by spelling it out better. For example if my policy is that if you give me a dollar and I will give you 2 dollars and I don't spell out it's a one per person offer I shouldn't be saying you are abusing the original intent if you do it 5 times as you never knew the original intent was for one per person. Now if their policy stated it was for the original owner and people were returning thrift store bought merchandise that would be abuse.

Now that said I can't blame them either for changing their policy I am surprised they hadn't changed it much sooner.

PS, as I type this I am wearing an LL Bean shirt

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

No one was really abusing LL Bean's return policy if it stated it was a 100% lifetime satisfaction guarantee, their policy is what it is or now was. You can't really abuse something when they allow you to do it, no matter if they say people are abusing the original intent of the policy. If that's the case it's their fault for not making the original intent clearer by spelling it out better. For example if my policy is that if you give me a dollar and I will give you 2 dollars and I don't spell out it's a one per person offer I shouldn't be saying you are abusing the original intent if you do it 5 times as you never knew the original intent was for one per person. Now if their policy stated it was for the original owner and people were returning thrift store bought merchandise that would be abuse.

Now that said I can't blame them either for changing their policy I am surprised they hadn't changed it much sooner.

PS, as I type this I am wearing an LL Bean shirt

If people couldn't understand their warranty, they didn't want to.
And unfortunately those of us that didn't abuse the policy now have to deal with a much lesser warranty because of those that abused it.

 

[Dakota731]

One year seems pretty generous to me to see if an item is defective or washes well. Not many places will let you return something you wore for ten months.

 

[Judique]

One year seems pretty generous to me to see if an item is defective or washes well. Not many places will let you return something you wore for ten months.

I'm with you, @Dakota731!

I just purchased a waterhog mat and a few other things last month. They are what they are and I don't see that I will have any reason to return them. The mat may wear down, but by the time it does, I'll be ready to change the style anyway and move on. That may be 6 months or a year or even two years.

I'm quite happy with one year on an LL Bean item, in general.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm with you, @Dakota731!

I just purchased a waterhog mat and a few other things last month. They are what they are and I don't see that I will have any reason to return them. The mat may wear down, but by the time it does, I'll be ready to change the style anyway and move on. That may be 6 months or a year or even two years.

I'm quite happy with one year on an LL Bean item, in general.

FWIW, our mat on our front porch is several years old and still holding up well.
There are always going to be people who push the boundaries of any rule. If they didn't want it to get out of hand, they could have put a squash on it years ago. I knew someone who would do similar things with coats from Lands End. Every year return her winter coat and buy new in the fall. It's hard to call it abuse if the customer is following the store's policy precisely. This is why most stores don't offer such a lenient policy.
Kohls will be next.

 

[North of Mouse]

I say it's their own fault for allowing things that were clearly an abuse, to continue for this long. One year is a very reasonable length of time for returns. You don't have policies in effect that 'call' for abuse, unless you are willing to back them up. Some people basically make a living doing that - maybe they'll be getting fewer these days - hopefully.

 

[bpesch]

I used to work at a bath & body retailer who had a "no questions asked" return policy. We had one woman who would come in once or twice a year with the company's bottles that had been refilled with dollar store product and return them for new product. It happened over and over again and there was nothing we could do about it. I don't think those kind of liberal return policies are a good thing overall. They encourage fraud and it's made up by raising prices that affect honest consumers.

 

[Deb & Bill]

My uncle worked at a high dollar store in downtown Chicago years ago. He worked in the furniture department. People would "buy" a whole room of furniture and have it delivered on Friday. On Monday it would be returned. On Tuesday, the furniture would be in photos on the Society pages of the Tribune when they had a big shindig at their home over the weekend. The first couple that tried to return the furniture after the photos were in the paper were told no refunds.

 

[DizMe]

I think Patagonia has a similar policy to LL Bean's now defunct one. It's nice for those who aren't attempting a scam; occasionally, something wears out too soon or what-have-you. My daughter has used that a couple of times to return items a few years after purchase. They weren't worn out, just had a flaw or something that didn't show up right away. I was amazed when she told me you could do that, and impressed that a company would offer it. I'm also not surprised that people took advantage and ruined it for the LL Bean customers; there is pretty significant number of individuals who have low ethical standards and work every angle they can.

I don't fault the companies for being generous. I fault the greed of the individuals that abused it. Nevertheless, I can see why a company would decide it wasn't worth it to trust consumers.

 

[asumom]

I used to work at a national drug store chain that had a no questions asked return policy on make-up. There were the regulars who would never be "satisfied", constantly using up some, then returning face makeup, nail polish, whatever. So weird...I would never think to bring back something, even if I didn't like the color, whatever. At pharmacy, the manager let somebody return a half opened bottle of cough medicine, because she "didn't need it anymore". This is why we all pay more. Then, when I, as an employee, tried to return a pair of headphones, with receipt, within 30 days, unopened, I had to argue to get a refund. SMH

 

[usnuzuloose]

I have never bought LL Bean, but I think that is still a good time to return something. I keep all receipts in case of anything. Just learn to keep receipts in an envelope.
I have had things I returned to get new pieces or to replace and that was tuperware. But not much. And the only other item was from craftsman when a tool actually broke.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

And now, LL Bean is free to have its quality fall far below shoddy standards without customer outrage.

I hear it's gotten worse in the last 5 years - now that they have stepped away from any kind of marketing speak about their quality, all loyal LL Bean shoppers will likely find equivalent merchandise in Walmart now!

 

[pigletto]

And now, LL Bean is free to have its quality fall far below shoddy standards without customer outrage.

I hear it's gotten worse in the last 5 years - now that they have stepped away from any kind of marketing speak about their quality, all loyal LL Bean shoppers will likely find equivalent merchandise in Walmart now!

You know, you make an interesting point. I mean we’re all just believing right away that greedy horrible people are the reason for the policy change... but is that the truth, or just the story that will get the public to accept the change?Greedy horrible people aren’t a new thing.
It makes just as much sense to me that in this Amazon world, companies are having to change their entire model to stay alive. And in this case, maybe it makes more sense for L.L Bean to switch to poor quality, cheaper to make products and drop the lifetime guarantees. I think a year is sufficient for some things.. but how many of us are going to be happy with a winter coat that the zipper or seams fall apart on after one season of use? Or a tent? L.L. Bean isn’t cheap for these things. If I go to put my coat on the following winter and it’s junk, I’m out of the warranty, and I wouldn’t find that acceptable.

 

[havaneselover]

I do believe there was a lot of abuse and do think people are more entitled now than ever before. I will say it's kind of annoying because one of the reasons I bought DS an LL Bean backpack was because of this policy. And of course the zipper is all screwed up. So is one year enough? Should be in most cases, but when I bought his backpack a few years ago, that wasn't the agreement we had. I pay a premium for certain brands (like North Face) in part because of their warranty. Decrease the value of the warranty, then I'm not willing to pay as much.

 

[richkaryn]

I always buy my son an LL Bean backpack when they go on sale right before school starts back. Then I make him carry it for 2 years....and yes, I could have said "oh, we will just trade this one in" after the 2 years, but honestly, I am ok with paying $27-30 for a backpack once every 2 years. the first one did have the bottom of the water bottle holder on the side rip apart-- but I still didn't return it. And he still carries that backpack on airplanes, etc when we travel bc it is still in good shape beyond that. Sad to know that the policy won't exist anymore, but I had a hard time taking advantage of it even when it was lifetime. I always felt I had gotten my money's worth out of the products.