UnSelling: The New Customer Experience

Chapter 8Our Return Policy Is for You Not to Return

I get why stores have policies. I understand why return policies require customers to have receipts to return merchandise in exchange for cash. I've worked in retail on the floor and on the corporate side. But what happened to me a few years ago at a Zellers is the perfect example of how policy that might prevent a small amount of shrinkage¹ can lose you a lot of customers.

I had purchased a giant jug of water for our dispenser at home at a local Zellers. I didn't usually shop at this location but happened to be in the area and had to grab a few things. Since these jugs are the size of the earth on the shoulders of Atlas, they demand a $10 deposit so you'll barrel-roll it back in when it's empty and presumably grab a new one at the same store, creating a magical water circle of life where you buy from them forever!

Because the customer service staff were the only ones in the store authorized to dispense this level of cash to me, I got in line with my jug at the customer service desk. I waited for about 10 minutes and then approached the desk, eagerly anticipating my newfound wealth. I caber-tossed the jug on top of the counter and mentioned I was returning it for my deposit. The employee asked for a copy of my receipt, which I didn't have on me. Since it had taken us a few months to get through the 9,384 gallons of jug water, I hadn't even thought of keeping it. I wasn't returning it because it was faulty or tasted like Sprite; ...