In a letter to customers Friday morning, the company said it has updated its return policy to give customers one year to return purchases, with a receipt. The previous lifetime guarantee, which enabled customers to return products years — or even decades — after purchase, has long been a selling point for the company.
"Increasingly, a small, but growing number of customers has been interpreting our guarantee well beyond its original intent. Some view it as a lifetime product replacement program, expecting refunds for heavily worn products used over many years. Others seek refunds for products that have been purchased through third parties, such as at yard sales."'
L.L. Bean says the policy update will only affect a "small percentage" of returns and pledged to keep its mission of selling "high quality products that inspire and enable people to enjoy the outdoors."
The return policy on the site now reads:
"If you are not 100% satisfied with one of our products, you may return it within one year of purchase for a refund. After one year, we will consider any items for return that are defective due to materials or craftsmanship."
Oh man, this makes me kind of sad. I bought some $60 LL Bean slippers a few years ago. I love them so much. But I bought them because I thought they would be my slippers for life. LOL. I guess I can still try to take them back for defects. They're still fine, but starting to wear a little bit inside.
Oh man, this makes me kind of sad. I bought some $60 LL Bean slippers a few years ago. I love them so much. But I bought them because I thought they would be my slippers for life. LOL. I guess I can still try to take them back for defects. They're still fine, but starting to wear a little bit inside.
Post by cattledogkisses on Feb 9, 2018 11:02:48 GMT -5
I get why they changed it. Unfortunately I know of people who abuse the return policy, and will look for old LL Bean merchandise at yard sales or thrift stores and bring it in for return.
Oh man, this makes me kind of sad. I bought some $60 LL Bean slippers a few years ago. I love them so much. But I bought them because I thought they would be my slippers for life. LOL. I guess I can still try to take them back for defects. They're still fine, but starting to wear a little bit inside.
Wait, are you serious?
I probably won't take them back. But yes I bought the slippers because of LL Bean's generous return policy and I got sick of my slippers wearing out every other year.
Oh man, this makes me kind of sad. I bought some $60 LL Bean slippers a few years ago. I love them so much. But I bought them because I thought they would be my slippers for life. LOL. I guess I can still try to take them back for defects. They're still fine, but starting to wear a little bit inside.
I get why they changed it. Unfortunately I know of people who abuse the return policy, and will look for old LL Bean merchandise at yard sales or thrift stores and bring it in for return.
Someone always has to ruin nice things. Sigh.
This yard sale nonsense officially makes these people shitty people. I can't imagine doing that.
I probably won't take them back. But yes I bought the slippers because of LL Bean's generous return policy and I got sick of my slippers wearing out every other year.
but this is exactly why they are changing the policy, because people "view it as a lifetime product replacement program." Returning slippers after a few years wear that aren't defective is exactly the kind of thing they are trying to prevent.
Oh man, this makes me kind of sad. I bought some $60 LL Bean slippers a few years ago. I love them so much. But I bought them because I thought they would be my slippers for life. LOL. I guess I can still try to take them back for defects. They're still fine, but starting to wear a little bit inside.
You are the reason the policy was changed.
Ok, not JUST you, but ykwim.
LOL really? Because I planned to take advantage of their return policy?
I'm not shopping at yard sales for stuff to take back. It's not even really like you use slippers more than 3-4 months out of a year where I live. So yeah, it would take 4 years for me to use my slippers for one year total, which is their new return policy.
FWIW I've never returned anything to LL Bean except something that didn't fit after we got it. So nope not part of the problem.
I probably won't take them back. But yes I bought the slippers because of LL Bean's generous return policy and I got sick of my slippers wearing out every other year.
Interesting. I would say that is normal wear and tear. I am all for returns for things that are defective or wear out prematurely and support people doing that. But I think this is why they changed the policy.
I get why they changed it. Unfortunately I know of people who abuse the return policy, and will look for old LL Bean merchandise at yard sales or thrift stores and bring it in for return.
Someone always has to ruin nice things. Sigh.
This yard sale nonsense officially makes these people shitty people. I can't imagine doing that.
I really want to know where these people live that they're finding LL Bean stuff at yard sales. At every yard sale I've ever been to, it's nothing but junk.
(Then again, I'm not getting there until I stumble across them later in the day, so the early birds might be beating me to the good stuff.)
LOL really? Because I planned to take advantage of their return policy?
Precisely the point.
this board is such a cesspool. wtf.
I think cesspool is a bit strong in this case, but it certainly shows how privileged we are that there isn't a second of, "huh, they're just wearing out regularly, but the store says I can bring them back whenever so I'm going to take advantage of that."
The next argument is going to be, "well they shouldn't have had that policy if they weren't going to honor it."
This yard sale nonsense officially makes these people shitty people. I can't imagine doing that.
I really want to know where these people live that they're finding LL Bean stuff at yard sales. At every yard sale I've ever been to, it's nothing but junk.
(Then again, I'm not getting there until I stumble across them later in the day, so the early birds might be beating me to the good stuff.)
So the funny part about this, is that some companies apparently encourage this with their lifetime guaranty. So I can kind of understand the confusion. But I listened to the How I Built This podcast with the founder of Patagonia and he touched on this a bit and actually seemed to support people doing it. But I believe their policy is repair/replacement, not refund. So perhaps that is a difference?
I think cesspool is a bit strong in this case, but it certainly shows how privileged we are that there isn't a second of, "huh, they're just wearing out regularly, but the store says I can bring them back whenever so I'm going to take advantage of that."
The next argument is going to be, "well they shouldn't have had that policy if they weren't going to honor it."
I'm quoting myself, because I thought of a better way of explaining it - Instead of being honorable and taking the policy as an intent of goodwill (aka taking back an item if it catastrophically fails through no fault of the owner), people started taking the policy at face value (aka I'm going to return slippers that I've worn for years because they said I could) and pushed that boundary as far as they could. There's really no honor code anymore between companies and consumers, nor consumers and companies. (Note, I'm not waxing poetic for the good ol' days, it's just a culture shift.)
Oh man, this makes me kind of sad. I bought some $60 LL Bean slippers a few years ago. I love them so much. But I bought them because I thought they would be my slippers for life. LOL. I guess I can still try to take them back for defects. They're still fine, but starting to wear a little bit inside.
That's literally spelling out that you were planning on taking advantage of the company's policy before you even bought them.
I love my LL Bean slippers, and wear them hard. I also have no illusions of them lasting more than a year, and it would never even cross my mind to try to return them. At the end of the day, they cost me like $1/week, and I'm fine with that.
Oh man, this makes me kind of sad. I bought some $60 LL Bean slippers a few years ago. I love them so much. But I bought them because I thought they would be my slippers for life. LOL. I guess I can still try to take them back for defects. They're still fine, but starting to wear a little bit inside.
Their customer service really is extraordinary, IME, whether in store, on the phone or chatting online with someone. We buy a lot from Bean. I don't fault them altering their return policy, though it was nice to be able to exchange stuff whenever without a receipt. Who keeps receipts around for a year?
It wasn't generally refunds, either, like someone mentioned, but usually exchanges or store credits for a similar product, in the event the didn't make the same thing again. A couple of years ago, I traded in Bean hiking boots that I had for a few years, but didn't use all that often, and they were literally falling apart on the bottoms. If I used them all the time, then maybe, but this was well beyond usual wear and tear, and the top part of the boots were still in pretty good shape. They didn't make that exact style anymore, but they gave me a reasonable credit to pick out a new pair.
Another was a winter coat I bought early season one winter, where the hood pull broke the first time I wore it, but I couldn't get to a store for a while to exchange it and wore it that way all winter. I finally brought it back the following summer and they traded it out and shipped me a new one, since they obviously didn't have winter puffy coats in store in July.
. It's not even really like you use slippers more than 3-4 months out of a year where I live. So yeah, it would take 4 years for me to use my slippers for one year total, which is their new return policy.
Their customer service really is extraordinary, IME, whether in store, on the phone or chatting online with someone. We buy a lot from Bean. I don't fault them altering their return policy, though it was nice to be able to exchange stuff whenever without a receipt. Who keeps receipts around for a year?
It wasn't generally refunds, either, like someone mentioned, but usually exchanges or store credits for a similar product, in the event the didn't make the same thing again. A couple of years ago, I traded in Bean hiking boots that I had for a few years, but didn't use all that often, and they were literally falling apart on the bottoms. If I used them all the time, then maybe, but this was well beyond usual wear and tear, and the top part of the boots were still in pretty good shape. They didn't make that exact style anymore, but they gave me a reasonable credit to pick out a new pair.
Another was a winter coat I bought early season one winter, where the hood pull broke the first time I wore it, but I couldn't get to a store for a while to exchange it and wore it that way all winter. I finally brought it back the following summer and they traded it out and shipped me a new one, since they obviously didn't have winter puffy coats in store in July.
Post by jillybean222 on Feb 9, 2018 12:04:04 GMT -5
I buy all my kids coats from LL Bean (and I also have the slippers - no intention or returning them after I wear them out!).
I have coats that have been through all 3 of my daughters and they still have a lot of life left in them. I try to hand them down or donate them but I cross out the label in black sharpie to make sure nothing gets returned. I started doing that when I read it the suggestion on the on the LL Bean website bc fraudulent returns were a big problem. They tried another solution first but, unfortunately, people can't be trusted, I think that's sad.