Why do stores ask for a reason when you are making a return?

[Date_a_Snob]

[JustinTheGreat]

It’s so the company knows if there’s something wrong with the product.

if there’s 20 people who returned an item for the same reason, then they know what changes need to be made.

Or at least that’s what I’m assuming because I work in the restaurant industry and we do something similar whenever we have to comp food. We have to specify the reason (guest didn’t like, slow service, foreign object found in food, etc.)

If a lot of people return a food because they didn’t like it, corporate is now aware that the item isn’t popular and they’ll take it off the menu.

Or if a lot of people get free meals because of bad service, the company now knows that we need more training or whatever

[razelove]

I'd imagine less to track the product performance and more to track you. Not many people steal, but the ones that do steal a whole hell of a lot, then fish receipts out the trash to return items for cash.

I knew a few people who did that, and the stores banned them when individual x returned the same item y times.

[Paris13]

I Normally Will Jump Right in With My Own. lolxxoo

[Paris13]

Tanks, Gag. xxoo

[NathanDavis]

because it is their business... and they need to know about such reasons, what happened and why, and you need to keep a record of these things so they can improve both the service and the quality control

also, to make sure that it might not be a scam, lol

[Friendlybro79]

Prob because the manufacturer of the product wants to know. It could identify issues with a product potentially. Also, they might want you to admit that you did something that disqualifies a return. For ex. What's the reason for the return?

Oh I flushed it down the toilet by accident and don't want torn anymore (people do this)

Then a cashier will say well we can't return it because that's not a valid reason and so on and so forth.

[Iron_Man]

They don’t ask me they just line up and get the job done. I remember many years ago my former girlfriend was returning my suit I was at an out of town wedding because I went to a wedding with her. She tried to take it back for me even her own father said take it back, She worked for the company and they refused her. I took it in five minutes later, and they accepted my return

[AviatorTom]

They gather data about returns to improve things in the future, and to make sure the return is legitimate. If the return is defective, for example, they can work with the supplier to improve quality.

[BarryLiverstone]

So they can track the feedback and see if there is a pattern

[Date_a_Snob]

but how do you know if people are being honest?

[BarryLiverstone]

You can’t rely on honesty. But the majority will be honest as they believe money is involved and will think if they lie they will not get their refund

[ProbablyClueless]

It impacts the way they process the return. They might need to ship the product off, they might be able to immediately put it back on the shelves.

[ZackBan]

Field data.
Your feedback helps assess the market for a given item

[Likes2drive]

I guess they have to fill that out on the return form and on whether or not they can sell it again

[Date_a_Snob]

its seems pretty obvious - food, personal care items and certain items of clothing (no) and everything else (yes)

[Likes2drive]

Yeah, but they probably still have to find out from you why you’re returning it

[MrCharlie13]

In the end, they want to keep your money, and the manufacturer hates when the store returns opened products. So, the data helps both to do better to keep customers happy and minimize returns

[Fireguy17]

For their database.
To track reasons why and try to change the more common ones.

[Joshydavid25]

So, they can know if you can actually get a refund or store credit for your return..

[exitseven]

They want to know if they are selling crappy merchandise

[LunarEclipse433]

To see if it is defective and returned for their credit or not defective and can be resold

[Guido]

So they know if they can put it back on the shelf to sell or if it is defective.

[Techrescueff]

Documenting purposes for audits. I worked at Godiva for 4 years.

[Date_a_Snob]

but how do you know if people are being honest?

[Techrescueff]

You don't sadly, I used to have a woman who would come into my store almost monthly. Would buy something and then a few days later would come back in and return it. She did it at least 5 times. Sadly our company policy was that as long as they had the receipt and it wasn't opened they could return it. She used to kill our sales numbers and goals when she would return the items.

[helva]

To have a better marketing.