The refund policies of some companies go to extraordinary lengths to keep customers happy. L.L. Bean and Land's End , for instance, welcome back any product that doesn't meet your expectations, whether it's a sweater that feels itchy against your skin or a pair of hiking boots with 1,500 trail miles on their soles. Both chains will accept any item, for any reason, no matter how long you've owned it. Yet, even if the basic rules of the returns game haven't changed much, merchants have been tweaking their refund policies in important ways. That is, they are imposing stricter conditions on what can and cannot be brought back.
Some companies now refuse to take back big-ticket luxury goods such as fine jewelry and furs.
Marshall Field's, Dayton's, and Hudson's won't take back any wedding gown or prom dress if you've removed its highly visible tag. Many often refuse to take back these gadgets if they've been removed from their original packaging. Such steps are necessary, industry insiders insist, to discourage fraud. Other shoppers will buy an item on sale and seek a full refund, or bring back discounted merchandise from a manufacturer's outlet to a store that charges top dollar for those goods. To make it clear to their customers that a check on cheating is possible, some chains, including Target and Eddie Bauer , require personal identification when you seek a refund.