06 Nov 2003 | Matt "you forgot I also photograph my life" Haughey said...

Heh. Well, I always knew the warranty and rebate stuff was purposely done to decrease returns, and I do think we should still have receipts for purchases (and voting, and other important stuff), but I do see why it should be a requirement. The thought came to me when I was sitting there at Lowes, while someone standing in front of a big computer told me that unless I could show my receipt as proof, I wasn't getting cash back for the freebie sample book I borrowed. It was like "what good is that terminal you're standing in front of? Don't you guys have crazy CRM software that can tell me my favorite color?)

It was at that moment I realized how ridiculous the whole idea of receipt requirements were. Amazon can tell me what I bought in 1996 from them in an instant, I'm sure other retailers can do that and more.

06 Nov 2003 | Don Schenck said...

Our products carry a lifetime warranty -- unheard of in our industry. We've been informed by our corporate attorney that we *must* honor that whether you register or not, no receipt necessary.

(We can easily see when it was manufactured by the serial number.)

That's an interesting piece of information.

06 Nov 2003 | Adam said...

At a big, red department store I work at we do require receipts for returns. (They are your proof of purchase, to prevent false returns and keep your prices low.) But we'll gladly retrieve your purchase off of your credit/debit card or check if you've lost the receipt. But people who love to use their debit card forget that cash purchases can not be tracked. Both cases that Haughey mentioned we're not regular purchases, like buying a book or a CD. They were both unique in that the stores had his personal information because it was for a warranty/it was for a leased book. Would you rather give out your personal information or save a piece of paper to purchase some ink cartridges?

08 Nov 2003 | Adam said...

To clarify I still agree with Haughey that it was silly to require the receipt to get your deposit back when they have a paper record, or any other process where they have means to retrieve your information. (With a warranty, or if you paid with a credit card)