Kristy
Beverly Hills,#2Consumer Suggestion
Tue, March 21, 2006
just for clarification. when the item was defective.. did you ask for a new unit to be sent out or for a cash refund? If you asked for them to send out another unit and you would send back the old one.. then I would see no reason for a restocking fee.. if you ask for a refund then "red lights" go off.. in any retail or mail order company why did you want a vacuum 2days ago but suddenly no longer want one? - this is a HUGE RED FLAG for any retailer of a potential customer scam - retailers see too many cases of customers claiming a "defect" just because they "changed their mind" and dont want to pay a restock fee.. or buying a new item, and trying to return one they own (same model) that is like 2yrs old as defective.. to anyone reading this, if you ever return something as "defective" to a store be prepared to actually demonstrate the defect - if you can't while in the store.. no defect exists and the 15% restock fee will be charged. - the fair response would be -no restock fee for an exchange of the defective unit for a new one that works ok... yes a 10% restock fee for "changing your mind" and trying to cancel an order based on the fact the first one was defective. your still obligated to fulfill your purchase.. not a full refund of your money. Shipping is a gray area... UPS, Fedex etc. don't care that something was defective.. they want to get paid for shipping the item.. the Reseller sells "factory sealed" boxes it's not their fault the item was defective. - the industry standard response in this area is that company pays to ship out new item... customer pays to ship back defective one.. a 50/50 split.. some great companies like Microsoft (Xbox360) if it's defective cover shipping both ways.. but it's rare. the reason all theese "restocking fees" exist is due to profit margins.. businesses no longer make money selling the actual product.. they make $$ on S&H fees, the extra bags for the VAC, the service plan etc. and I'm not going to pay full price to buy your open box unit.. of the case of an actual defect.. the retailer needs to recoup the cost of shipping it back to electrolux..