I would consider that immoral. I had a friend who bought a pair of L.L. Bean hiking boots that were advertised as “if anything ever goes wrong with them, we’ll replace them.” He wore them for TWELVE YEARS, then returned them when a sole came loose. He received a new pair! That seemed wrong to me, but it was what Bean advertised. A couch is different.

Legally, a merchant is not required to accept any returns unless the product is defective. So, having a return policy must benefit the merchant more than the customers.

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My exact thought :confused:

I know a guy in NC that does the same thing. He buys a new vacuum cleaner every year and returns it at the end of the year claiming it's defective. Moved to Las Vefgas and bought a washer and dryer, used it for a year, decided to move back and returned them. He does this with lots of items!
He mistakenly told me about this and I asked how did it feel to be a common thief. He didn't like that too awful much. Fortunately, he doesn't come around any more.
In the end, it's actions like this that will drive up prices for all the good people.

Claiming a product is defective that is not defective is a crime called fraud. But, returning a product to a merchant using their generous return policy is perfectly legal.

Very true. There is legal and illegal. There is also right and wrong. They don't necessarily match.

We are the ones who pay for those who abuse return policies—not Costco and not insurance companies. That's because ultimately, all the money Costco (or any store) has comes from us.

If you buy a $12,000 ring from Costco, you can return it 10 or 15 years later and get a full refund. If you buy a $12,000 ring from a local jewelry store, you have 2 to 3 weeks to return it for a store credit, no refund. To me, it is a no brainer to buy all of your expensive jewelry from Costco.

The big difference here is that Costco is a membership store and therefore derives a very significant amount of their overall income from memberships. That is their business model. Sears business model was quality goods and services at discount prices - only the one stream of income.

Spoken like someone who knows what they teach at law school.

It might.

Looking at the discussion as a whole, makes one wonder how a right/wrong moral code is developed. If primarily by religion and religious values, then what religion is prevalent in China? If they are a CCP influenced Chinese person (as opposed to a born American of Chinese descent) that moral code may very well be just what is Legal or Illegal. The addition of identifying the person's citizenship may very well be an informative addition to the article and subsequent discourse.

Of course, in today's holier-than-thou virtue-signaling-is-primary culture, the application of common sense and common group practical experience opens one up to tenuous inferences and accusations of racism and other forms of ignorance.

I partially agree. But, the merchant's return policy is entirely developed and enforced by the merchant. So, why blame people who take advantage of it, as long as they are correctly and honestly follow the merchant's policy?

***Does it matter that she was “Chinese”?***

Does it matter that they are “she, he, guy, girl, woman?” You might as well include them all and your own post in your shaming…

A few years ago I rented a home for a client as a Real Estate Broker. The couple who rented the home, the young Lady was a manager at a local Costco. She told a story about one of their customers who was in the Land Scape Business and had a Lawn Service. They had a customer who in the beginning of the season would buy new Lawn Mowers for his business. At the end of the season he would return them then buy new in the Spring. Costco eventually put in a policy change at that location to prevent such an abuse of their return policy. There is always one in the bunch who will push it to far.

Same with Home Depot, Maryland. Years ago during a Hurricane many Generators were purchased and then after power was restored they were returned. After that no more return policy. Many people buy tools and return them after one use.

Montgomery Wards still exists as a catalog order/online company

So, the costs get passed along to normal people who would never dream of doing something so immoral. What a great role model.