The second shopping rush begins Tuesday with holiday returns, gift-card purchases and sales shoppers.
But taking back gifts could be tougher this year.
CBS News reports that many stores have strengthened return policies to fight increased incidents of return fraud.
As I told you last month, The National Retail Federation
expects return fraud to cost retailers $3.5 billion this holiday season.
The CBS story says:
"In some cases they are petty thieves, but this has turned into an organized retail criminal enterprise," National Retail Federation Vice President of Loss Prevention, Joe LaRocca, said.
[...] LaRocca sees thousands of return fraud cases every year, and many are caught on tape. In one example, a woman tried to return an area rug at a department store. The clerk didn't realize that minutes earlier, security cameras caught her stealing the same rug right off the shelf. The woman disappeared as soon as she got her refund.
"These people are going from store to store, mall to mall, stealing merchandise thousands of dollars at a time, and then coming back and returning it to the store," LaRocca said. "They can make millions if they're very good at it."
To make the returns easier, some crooks are even using counterfeit receipts. [
The Early Show consumer correspondent Susan] Koeppen found they're readily available online for many high-end retailers and boutiques. Just pay a fee, and the site will send you a custom store receipt printed with your name and any item and price you want.
"Unfortunately, in some cases, those counterfeit receipts do work," LaRocca said. "We know that they're being used to return stolen merchandise to stores, which costs retailers billions of dollars every year."
Retailers aren't the only ones paying for this crime. Consumers now face tougher return policies and higher prices.
"You and I as consumers are paying a little extra at the register, almost a hidden crime tax, to cover those losses committed by people stealing merchandise and taking advantage of retail return policies," LaRocca said.
The
NRF survey of retailers [PDF] found:
According to the survey, the most popular form of return fraud is the return of stolen merchandise, which 95.2 percent of retailers have experienced in the past year. Retailers say they have also been plagued by returns of merchandise that was originally purchased with fraudulent or counterfeit tender (69.1 percent) and returns using counterfeit receipts (52.4 percent).
Additionally, stores commonly find consumers attempting to return merchandise that has been used but is not defective. This practice, called "wardrobing," has affected more than half of companies (56.0 percent) in the past year and can include returns of everything from special occasion dresses to laptop computers. Retailers often cannot resell this merchandise at face value and are forced to either heavily discount or discard the used merchandise. Also, the unethical practice of wardrobing frequently makes merchandise in the most popular sizes, colors and models unavailable to other customers who would like to purchase the product.
Return fraud has become so rampant in the industry that more than two-thirds of retailers (69.1 percent) said their companies' return policies have been changed to specifically address the issue.
Though companies acknowledge changing their policies in the past, most retailers (70.2 percent) surveyed said that their return policies will remain the same this holiday season as last. Some retailers will be tightening their policies this year (25 percent) while others will loosen return policies (4.8 percent), giving customers extra time to return merchandise or being more lenient on returns without a receipt.
The Washington Post says some retailers are fighting back against "frequent exchangers" by using new technology:
Some retailers are also using the services of
the Return Exchange of Irvine, Calif., to monitor returns and catch thieves. The company provides fraud and abuse detection products to track excessive or illegal merchandise returns.
Stores that use the Return Exchange will ask a customer for a driver's license or some other government-issued identification when he or she returns an item. The ID is used to track the customer's returns. A return may be refused if the database detects possible fraud or the consumer has exceeded the store's limit on returns. If you are denied a return because of a report from the Return Exchange, you can ask for a free "return activity report." That's a history of your return transactions, including the date and time you brought back an item, whether you had a receipt and the dollar amount of the return. The Return Exchange says it does not share data between retailers.
According to the NRF, about 9 percent of purchases will be returned after the holiday season, up from an average of about 7 percent the rest of the year. It surprised me to learn that while the number of purchases rises, the percent of returns doesn't rise that much.
Recycling Christmas TreesGo to this Web site to find a location near you, anywhere in the U.S., to "treecycle" -- that is, to recycle your Christmas tree.
The University of Wisconsin-Extension came up with a bunch of ways to recycle a Christmas tree:
People can put their Christmas tree in their back yard where birds and small animals can use it for shelter," explains Steve Brachman, University of Wisconsin-Extension waste reduction and management specialist.
"They can add strings of popcorn, cranberries, suet and other treats that birds and small animals like," he adds.
Homeowners with private fish ponds may want to consider sinking their tree to make a refuge and feeding area for fish. Another option for people is to check whether their local municipality collects Christmas trees and chips them for use in composting piles or as mulch materials, Brachman suggests.
People can save the Christmas tree and chip it themselves in the spring to use for mulch around trees and shrubs. If they don't want to chip the tree, they can remove the branches and place them on planting beds. Mulches help keep the ground moist and reduce weed growth.
"If people are saving their tree for mulch or turning it over to a municipality's mulching program, they should remove all tinsel, wire hangers and decorations," Brachman adds.
A creative use for Christmas trees is to save the needles to create potpourri. Dry the branches, then remove and crumble the needles. Mix the needles with cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and Christmas scent. Place in jars to store.
To create a pleasant Christmas scent, add one cup of water to one-fourth cup potpourri and heat it on a stovetop or in a potpourri heater. The potpourri makes a great gift for next Christmas.
[...] Painted, flocked or otherwise treated trees should not be burned because they can affect air quality.
How Do Malls Figure Out Which Stores Go Where?Here is a story that unravels the mystery of how mall managers figure out the ideal locations for stores. Ice cream stores should not be next to clothing stores.
The Home Depot does not like to be near movie theaters.
Robotripping Follow-upYou might remember
a couple of weeks ago that I told you there is a growing consensus that kids are using common cough syrup to get high. It is called
Robotripping, named after
Robitussin cough medicine.
A new federal study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse confirms the growing problem.
The study says:
In the first national survey on non-medical use of cold or cough medicine, the data show that 4.2 percent of eighth graders, 5.3 percent of 10th graders, and 6.9 percent of 12th graders reported taking cold or cough medicines with dextromethorphan (DXM) during the past year to get high. Dextromethorphan is a cough suppressant found in many over-the-counter cough and cold remedies, and is generally safe when taken in recommended doses but in large amounts can cause dangerous side effects.
At the same time, the study found fewer teens drinking and smoking pot. Methamphetamine
use is down, and the use of inhalants has leveled off.
The annual study, conducted by the University of Michigan, found a small but growing number were popping prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin. The study found that one in 10 high school seniors questioned used Vicodin in the last year.
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Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
