Retailers charging consumers for holiday returns

Already planning to take back that unwanted present? Think again. Retailers are charging hefty fees on holiday returns.

It's becoming commonplace for retailers to charge fees for returned products, reports a state survey. Even if the product isn't damaged, a consumer can look forward to paying a "restock fee" from 10 to 60 percent if the package is opened.

According to Deirdre Cummings, legislative director at MassPIRG, a consumer advocacy group, 10 years ago only a couple retailers charged fees on returns, in order to cover their expenses. Now, more businesses are hoping to profit off of returns. “They’re making more money off the consumer than they have in the past,’’ she says.

Consumers are very surprised when they return an item with an original cash receipt, only to find they have to pay a restocking fee. Dorchester's Best Buy offers the return policy displayed on cash registers.

However, a recent articlereports that on three registers the signs were covered by gift card displays. The Boston Globe reports that merchants must post return policies, according to state law in Massachusetts. Compared to other states, that charge associated to that return isn't regulated.

A Best Buy spokesman, Scott Morris, says he will follow up to ensure the store policy is visible to customers before they have to cough up a fee.

What do the retailers say? Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, says, One reason businesses charge fees for returns on electronics, rather than merchandise such as clothing is because televisions and computers are big-ticket items that lose value quickly because the technology changes so rapidly.

“The merchant can’t sell it for the full value," he insists. Retailers defend the fees as a way of stopping acts of fraud. They say the charges discourage someone from buying a high-definition television to watch the Super Bowl and returning it the next day, expecting to get all their money back.

Consumers must remain alert, and must ask merchants questions on return policies before each purchase is made. Barbara Anthony, undersecretary of consumer affairs says, “Consumers have to be trained, and they have to ask, ‘Do you have a restocking fee?’’’

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