Am I the only one that avoids Purchase/Return shops like the plague?

@MysVal wrote:

I don't know what it is about these type of shops. I never heard or read anything bad about them. They seem harmless enough, and I have never even done one. However, every time I see one posted I whip out my 10' foot and keep on moving... What has been the experience with these? Maybe Im over reacting.

I don't like them either, I got tricked into one last week I will be more careful in the future.

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More About Purchase and Return Assignments

Two shops for the price of one. That is why I do not do them.

Depends on what is required in terms of post-shop work.

Last time I did one of these, I hated how I had to return the same day. The shoes were $400 and the employee looked like a sad puppy when he saw I came back. I never did that shop for that specific client again because I also think it can give you away as a shopper if the employees are aware of a mystery shop program.

Silver Certified ~ Shopping all of Toronto and beyond

How commissions are paid varies as much as the discussions we have had about tips for delivery people. In my state there are all sorts of state laws regarding who gets paid at least a minimum wage and who does not. Store salespeople fall into the category of employees and as far as I know they all get a wage of some sort here. A friend of mine has a daughter who works for Nordstroms (large dept store). She worked all thru college and happened to be assigned the jewelry counter. She made lots and lots of sales and absolutely loved her salary. But still, like any of us who think we have earned even more $$, we are sad if we find we have not (for us shoppers that would be when a shop is cancelled or invalidated after we have already mentally added that money to our income) In our minds we have that money already whether it is the first dollar we made that day or we have already earned $500 that day. So yes I would be very, very sad if you returned a car after purchasing it but it may or may not mean that I am earning a great income from car sales. My friend with jewelry sales may have earned a negative amt right after a holiday due to returns and she complained bitterly about how much she earned that week but the previous many weeks she earned quite a lot per week.

The toughest P & R I did was a name brand shoe store that carried a style I actually wanted to buy for my trip overseas. I was allowed to purchase an extra item for myself, but had to purchase something to return as well. My plan was to purchase 2 different types of shoes that fit my stated needs, and return one later. No problem.

Except, after doing a beautiful job of open-ended questions to identify my specific needs, the employee happily told me that the store was having a "Buy 2 Shoes for $100" sale on many of their items. Who buys 2 pairs of $80-$90 shoes for $100 and then returns one of them?

So I had to find at least one shoe that fit the style of shoe I had already stated that I wanted but was not included in the sale. Meanwhile the employee was determined to help me get a bargain and kept bringing me sale items to try on. My instructions explicitly stated not to take up more than 20 minutes of her time.

After 15 minutes of excellent customer service I ran her train off the rails, abruptly choosing a non-sale pair for $70 (my keepers) and a second pair for $80 that would have been 2-for-$100....
....And then returned those to the same employee an hour later.

We are all here on earth to help others....What on earth the others are here for I don't know.

--W. H. Auden

Ouch. That would be painful. I was lucky on the return portion of my shop today; the store was empty and the associate was in the middle of eating lunch, so I didn't figure she'd give me any hassle. The return took two minutes and twelve seconds, and I was out of there.

"The future ain't what it used to be." --Yogi Berra

Just saw that a shoe P&R I'd done previously for $18 is now offered at $14.50. That's a 20% cut in pay.

"The future ain't what it used to be." --Yogi Berra

You are not the only one. It doesn't make sense to me to visit a store two times. Not to mention, it might be a hassle to make a return. It's not worth the time and effort. Cheers!

The fee either makes two visits viable or it doesn't. To conclude that the fee can never be high enough to make it worth going back again is just not logical. I used to dislike returning items even when it was my own money before I stated mystery shopping. Now, I just do it. No fuss, no muss. My threshold for going back if it is my own money is lower than the fee I expect to receive when doing a shop because of the required report and often a specific time frame.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

I avoid them, especially after I saw 2 of the P&R stores went out of business. Who orders Purchase and Returns anyway? Do competing stores order them? If a store has been having a lot of purchase and returns for a long time, I'd think it would lower morale. I'd see new employees almost take it to heart when anything was returned. It was awful. When I saw my favorite Purchase and Return lamp store went out of business, I instantly regretted ever doing them at all. They had incredible items that I always wanted to keep!

I used to do them, but gave them up unless the shop fee is worth it. The ones I really despise are those that you have to wait around outside in your car etc for 30 minutes and then you can return the item. Total waste of time!

I actually finally did one, only because I had enough other shops that I could make a good working day out of both the purchase and the return part. Plus, I thought the pay was very good. I'm not tempted to do more. This was a little fluke that happened to work out for me.

@YoungImages wrote:

When I saw my favorite Purchase and Return lamp store went out of business, I instantly regretted ever doing them at all.

I'm sure doing purchase/return shops would not be the cause of a store shutting down if that's what you're suggesting.

I did a purchase/return and it was an upscale store. I had to return something but had to replace it with another. There was a minimal reimbursement. That would have been a total waste of time but I did get something I really wanted. With the reimbursement and fee, I felt good that my purchase was actually discounted.

@YoungImages wrote:

When I saw my favorite Purchase and Return lamp store went out of business, I instantly regretted ever doing them at all. They had incredible items that I always wanted to keep!

I doubt your little p&r made the company go out of business. They're in trouble long before your p&r.

@EileenS wrote:

I used to do them, but gave them up unless the shop fee is worth it. The ones I really despise are those that you have to wait around outside in your car etc for 30 minutes and then you can return the item. Total waste of time!

That's why you schedule other shops in same mall or area. Go do other shop & return for return. Makes total sense to me.

I have one one P & R shop. It was ackward but doable. The pay was good. I'd never do it for less pay or somewhere I didn't enjoy shopping.

Silver certified for 11 years and happily shopping Arizona!

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Am I the only one that avoids Purchase/Return shops like the plague?

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