Service personnel must trust the customer and believe they are telling the truth. If the above scenarios are typically greeted with employee skepticism followed by an interrogation of the customer, then you may as well have no refund policy. The first rule of customer satisfaction is to always assume your customers are telling the truth. With that basic assumption, interrogation is eliminated, the refund process is simplified, and your customer goes away satisfied. This policy also eliminates both management and employee stress caused by confrontation.
Interrogation assumes the opposite and always achieves the opposite results.
It has been proven time and again that when companies are successful in establishing a reputation of no-hassle returns, their customers respond with loyalty and steadily increasing sales. That award translated into customer loyalty. It's surprising how many employees simply do not understand the whys of a liberal refund policy. It is essential that it is explained to them until they fully understand and buy into it. Don't just give a meeting on attitude or customer kindness and expect attitudes to change.