Confident Consumer: Santa do you wrong? Gift return tips
— -- No need to hurry to redeem those gift cards — no matter how many e-mail reminders you get — but think twice before you dawdle this year when returning unwanted gifts.
Retailers have gotten far better about not charging restocking fees and are no longer allowed to slap maintenance fees on unused gift card balances for at least a year under a federal rule enacted last year.
But some, including Target, Best Buy and Walmart, tightened the time frames in which gifts must be returned.
"They give with one hand and take it back with the other," says Edgar Dworsky of advocacy group Consumer World. "It really is a mixed bag this year."
What to consider before you return gifts:
•Call for help. Up to 95% of returns are not related to product defects, says the Consumer Electronics Association. If you got a gadget gift that you can't get to work, call customer service before you return it, says Bridget Trask, senior vice president of retail services at customer service firm Convergys. Many retailers offer customer classes, and some will arrange professional installation of technically challenging products.
•Check the policy. If you got a gift that was purchased online, see if the website offers paid return-shipping labels. If the retailer has bricks-and-mortar stores, see if it allows in-store returns, Trask suggests. Read the policy closely, as some are mind-bogglingly complicated. As Dworsky notes, Amazon.com has 30 different product-specific return policies, including its regular one. Other retailers have much more liberal return policies for clothes than electronics, which can go out of style even faster. If you don't have a receipt and can't get one from the gift giver, call to find out what the store will do for you. It may only be merchandise credit for the lowest price the product has sold for in the last few months.
•Keep the box closed if you can. Although many retailers dropped their restocking fees, some still charge a percentage of the purchase price for restocking and to discourage one-time use of electronics. Like those camera purchases to film weddings. Everything must be returned unused and in the original package.
•Consider donating. Think of it as a charitable regifting, Trask suggests. It will make someone who is less fortunate happy, and you can deduct the donation on your taxes for the year if you donate before year's end.
Even Dworsky, often a retail critic, thinks it's reasonable for stores to require receipts before providing cash back. "It's not unreasonable," Dworsky says. "How does the store know it comes from them? How do they know what price was paid and when it was purchased?"
Stores will be more welcoming of you and your gift card. And they'd love for you to cash it in quickly, even if they largely don't set deadlines.
Retailers sent 35% more e-mails last week than the same week in 2010, says marketing software company Responsys. Many of those e-mails are encouraging shoppers to redeem their gift cards.
Gift card fraud is extraordinarily low, but it does happen . If you try to redeem a gift card and a store tells you it doesn't have money on it, call the phone number on the card. These companies — not the stores you bought the card from — manage the transactions. Once it's confirmed that the card's number was stolen, most retailers "will make you whole," says NRF asset protection senior adviser Joe LaRocca.
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