These voluntary practices have become widespread among retailers wishing to make shopping in their stores as attractive as possible to customers. However, the BBB warns consumers never to assume that merchandise can be returned unless the policy is specifically stated in the store. Since refund and exchange privileges vary from store to store, customers should understand each store's policy before making a purchase. This policy is often printed on the sales receipt, however, a lot of the stores do not have it printed on their sales receipt. The BBB emphasizes that consumers should not confuse return and exchange policies with product warranties.
Products often come with a stated or implied warranty from their manufacturers.
It is important to read the warranty before retuning a defective product to the retailer. Some merchants will return the product to the manufacturer as a customer service.