rosen@gypsy.UUCP (07/12/85)
I have a general question about make purchases that has been bothering me
for some time. Suppose I go into a store to buy some item. What I want to
know is if there is writing on my receipt and/or a sign in the store which
says "NO REFUNDS/NO EXCHANGES", can the merchant really enforce this?
Suppose I take the item home and it is a total piece of trash or it just
doesn't work, can the merchant really keep me from getting my money back or
gettting a replacement or even credit? This seems to be a fairly common
practice in many small stores.
I would tend to think that there is some implied warranty or law that says
that I have the right to return something for any reason within a small
period of time. Is there really such as law in most states? I would be
interested to know what other people think about this.
Steve Rosen
Siemens Research and Technology Laboratories
Princeton, NJ
USENET: {ihnp4|princeton|adrvax}!siemens!rosen
ARPA: princeton!siemens!rosen@TOPAZbccarty@whuts.UUCP (Brian C. Carty) (07/15/85)
> > > > I have a general question about make purchases that has been bothering me > for some time. Suppose I go into a store to buy some item. What I want to > know is if there is writing on my receipt and/or a sign in the store which > says "NO REFUNDS/NO EXCHANGES", can the merchant really enforce this? > Suppose I take the item home and it is a total piece of trash or it just > doesn't work, can the merchant really keep me from getting my money back or > gettting a replacement or even credit? This seems to be a fairly common > practice in many small stores. > > I would tend to think that there is some implied warranty or law that says > that I have the right to return something for any reason within a small > period of time. Is there really such as law in most states? I would be > interested to know what other people think about this. > Funny, I was always brought up with the philosophy that you shouldn't expect to be able to return something unless you had a written refund/exchange policy in hand. If they at least said "all sales final" somewhere and you had your doubts, you shouldn't have bought the merchandise in the first place. -- Brian C. Carty AT&T Bell Laboratories Piscataway, NJ
jaffe@topaz.ARPA (Saul) (07/15/85)
There is actually a law that is part of the Universal Commercial
Code which all states follow. The pertinent piece is the Implied
Warranty of Merchantability. This means that if you buy something
and it does not work or do what the manufacteror (or salesman)
claimed then you can return it for a full refund. I'm not sure of
the actual specifics but I have used this law myself several times
in NJ to get refunds from stores that say no refunds.
The basic idea of the law is to prevent merchants from selling you
something that does not work for the purpose for which it was
bought. I.E. a device that claimed to do a certain thing and
doesn't or something that just doesn't work.
I have also heard of cases where the stores were forced to give
refunds or exchanges because they did not alert the consumer about
the policy BEFORE the sale was made. The law says that any policy
about no refunds etc, must be posted in a conspicuous place near
the checkout counter.
Of course if you don't get any results from the store when you go
back to argue there is always small claims court.
--
Saul Jaffe
Systems Programmer
Rutgers University
ARPA: Jaffe@Rutgers
UUCP: ...{harvard,seismo,ut-sally,ihnp4!packard}!topaz!jaffestevev@tekchips.UUCP (Steve Vegdahl) (07/16/85)
> I have a general question about make purchases that has been bothering me > for some time. Suppose I go into a store to buy some item. What I want to > know is if there is writing on my receipt and/or a sign in the store which > says "NO REFUNDS/NO EXCHANGES", can the merchant really enforce this? > Suppose I take the item home and it is a total piece of trash or it just > doesn't work, can the merchant really keep me from getting my money back or > gettting a replacement or even credit? This seems to be a fairly common > practice in many small stores. > > I would tend to think that there is some implied warranty or law that says > that I have the right to return something for any reason within a small > period of time. Is there really such as law in most states? I would be > interested to know what other people think about this. This came up once on the People's Court, and Judge Wapner ruled that a NO REFUNDS/NO EXCHANGES policy can be enforced by the merchant, but that it does not apply if the merchandise is defective. Inasmuch as this applies in your state/jurisdiction, if you buy an X from such a merchant, he is required to take it back if it does not work, but he is not required to take it back if you find a better deal elsewhere, or if you decide that you want a different color. Steve Vegdahl Computer Research Lab. Tektronix, Inc. Beaverton, Oregon
dale@wucs.UUCP (Dale Frye) (07/16/85)
In article <42400004@gypsy.UUCP>, rosen@gypsy.UUCP writes: > > > > I have a general question about make purchases that has been bothering me > for some time. Suppose I go into a store to buy some item. What I want to > know is if there is writing on my receipt and/or a sign in the store which > says "NO REFUNDS/NO EXCHANGES", can the merchant really enforce this? > Suppose I take the item home and it is a total piece of trash or it just > doesn't work, can the merchant really keep me from getting my money back or > gettting a replacement or even credit? This seems to be a fairly common > practice in many small stores. > > I would tend to think that there is some implied warranty or law that says > that I have the right to return something for any reason within a small > period of time. Is there really such as law in most states? I would be > interested to know what other people think about this. > > > Steve Rosen NO returns/ no exchanges in on good merchandise only. If its bad they have to take it back however the burden of proof is yours that it is bad (wrong color or wrong size usually dosn't count if you could readily see the color or size when you bought it). The only exception is 'as-is'. This means that the merchant will not take it back period. Some merchants even make you sign the sales slip certifing that you know that the item was sold 'as-is'. Dale Frye @ Washington University in St. Louis