an exceptional return policy (lyn)

Three for three.  My friend and I walk another 3.6 miles today.  It’s 70 degrees and sunny, a gorgeous early-summer day.  Today her son, who is on break from college, joins us.  He’s a brilliant kid who will be the next Mark Zuckerberg.  I’m sure of that.  He’s spending the day building and launching web sites.   Last week he launched a site that got 40,000 hits in the first eight hours.  I don’t think this blog has gotten that many hits in the two plus years it’s been up. He’s fascinating to talk to, and the walk is over in seconds.

I come home and there’s a box from MYHABIT, an aptly named Amazon spin-off that offers items at deep discounts.  I had ordered  a little Cosabella night top in a size Medium, marked down from $92 to $40.  I open the box, try it on, and don’t love the way it fits.  It feels a little snug on top.  I wonder if those three to five pounds I want to lose would make a difference?  No, I decide.  It’s small and easy to return.  I’ll just put it in an envelope and mail it back.  But the instructions that come with it tell me to go to MYHABIT’s website.  I do, and am told that the item cannot be returned.  I am willing to accept a credit but no return at all?  This can’t be right.  I call MYHABIT.  I get a very nice salesgirl.  She verifies that the item says it is not returnable.  I go to the site and she is right.  How did I miss that?

While I am planning my strategy, she comes up with one. 

“Well, we can make a one time exception, “ she says.  I’m expecting, “Go ahead and send it back and we’ll give you a credit on your INHABIT account."  But I’m wrong.  Instead she says, “As a one-time exception, we will refund your American Express $40.  Just keep the item and give it to a friend.”  

Wow.  Okay.  I hang up before she can change her mind.