My big realization came from a lady returning a 4 year old toaster

I work the customer service desk at a big box store. For years I would just process returns without question if they were within our system. One day a woman came in with a crumb-covered toaster from 2019 wanting a refund. I was about to deny it but my manager stepped in and said we take anything back. That's when I realized our no-questions policy was actually costing us thousands a month in refurb fees. I spent the next week going through logs and found we lost about $2,400 in just October from old electronics returns. Has anyone else had a company policy that seemed good on paper but hurt the bottom line?

3 comments

3 Comments

mitchell.lee1mo agoMost Upvoted

Consider looking at this from a tax angle. Stores can write off unsold inventory as a loss, but returned items that get refurbished and resold don't count the same way. Your company might actually be losing less than you think if those returns keep the tax books balanced.

rowanharris1mo ago

Not that I'd know, my business accounting is basically a shoebox full of receipts and prayers.

uma_martinez1mo ago

Got a buddy who processed returns at Target, said they gave a lady cash for a half-dead christmas tree in February.