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The Sad Demise Of Unlimited Returns At L.L.Bean

By Debbie Hauss, Editor-in-Chief

I’ve always been impressed by the unlimited returns
policy at L.L.Bean
. I think it’s the faith in humanity that the policy
represented that impacted me the most. Personally, I don’t have the kind of
faith that believes most consumers will be honest and forthright when they
return a product. Unfortunately, it looks like the consumer population has
proven me right and L.L.Bean wrong.

I know that the executives at L.L.Bean always anticipated
some level of fraud or misrepresentation from consumers returning a product, but
the overall positive impact on the brand image outweighed the negatives. Industry
research has proven that L.L.Bean is highly regarded by consumers. The company
ranked number three out of 100 as a customer service leader, according to the 20th Annual Mystery Shopping
Study
by Astound Commerce.  

Maybe the relatively
new L.L.Bean President, Stephen Smith
, got fed up with the increasing cost
of returns. Smith, appointed in 2015, is the first CEO selected from outside
the company in the retailer’s 103-year history.

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But the facts for L.L.Bean are hard to ignore. Over the past
five years, the
company has lost $250 million on returned items
that are classified by the
company as “destroy quality,” said L.L.Bean spokeswoman Carolyn Beem
in an article on cnbc.com.

Don’t Forget About
The Nordstrom ‘Tire’ Story

While L.L.Bean may be better known for its historical
returns policy, the Nordstrom
‘Tire’ story
is infamous. For those who don’t know it, a Nordstrom store in
Fairbanks, Alaska is supposed to have given a customer a refund for tires that
he rolled into the store — even though Nordstrom has never sold tires and the
customer did not have a receipt for his purchase. But one client experience executive
has outlined the negative impact this kind of policy can have on overall
business practices.

In a 2017 LinkedIn post, Sean Tygrett, Senior Director of
Client Experience for Cox Automotive, outlined the reasons why an unlimited
returns policy can damage overall customer service
. He asked and answered three
key questions that addressed:

  1. Existing processes and supporting technologies;
  2. Scaling the unlimited returns experience across
    all stores; and
  3. Overall business benefit.

I think Tygrett’s assessment of the unlimited returns policy
hits some key points and most likely addresses the reasons why most retailers
don’t offer this kind of policy. But it’s still a sad day for humanity that
L.L.Bean felt the need to join me in my lack of faith.

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