Posted store policies

Jewelry Discussion
1

Are there any store policies that you have posted for your clients
to see? How close do you abide by them?

Thanks for you input.

Angela Hampton
Hampton House Jewelry

2

I was thinking about making a sign that says “we accept US 100$
bills”… no not really i’m just joking… otherwise i think it’s
probably a distraction and perhaps a bit off-putting. If your store
policies are a source of misunderstandings or lengthy explanations to
your customers maybe you could make a little card explaining all the
details to give them when needed, but a sign that says anything that
makes the customer hesitate is probably not going to be good for
sales. just my thoughts… dd

3

Warning: Retail Rant

I have a sign that is extremely clear to anyone who understands
English. The reason for the sign is that the public has been spoiled
by department stores policies. I believe that the dept. stores build
returns into their pricing. I cannot.

Someone spends 20 minutes to pick out a $28 pair of earrings. You
babysit them trying on different styles. You have to clean anything
that they tried on, put the others back where they belong, clean the
pair they bought, ring it up, and gift wrap. If they return it,
bookkeeping, clean, re-tag, display.

Our sign says :

OUR RETURN POLICY
RETURNS MUST BE MADE IN 30 DAYS
YOU MUST HAVE YOUR RECEIPT
RETURNS WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR INSTORE CREDIT ONLY
NO CASH REFUNDS
ALL SALES FINAL
THANK YOU

It is a small sign on the wall behind the cash register. First,
fifth and last line are in red.

We have only had 2 people in 21 years who thought they were special
and our policy did not apply. When I did have someone who had an
issue with the store policy, I asked they why they thought I should
change my policy for them, and they always had an answer.

I am, like, (friendly and calm) read your receipt, read your credit
card receipt, read the sign on the wall, do you want to pick out
something now or come back and use the credit at another time? We
started doing this because some people have unrealistic expectation
as customer of what their rights are.

We actually are fairly lenient, most people are reasonable, it is
just the ones that are going to be trouble with unreasonable demands
get sorted out fairly early.

Our policy is on the wall, on their printed receipt, and on the
credit card receipt. If you do not have it on the credit card
receipt, credit card company will side with the customer regardless
of any facts. I had a customer who wanted to return something her
husband bought, she said our prices were too high and she would never
shop at our store. I asked her, if she was insulting me, and not
going to shop here again, my motivation is…what?

Richard Hart G.G.
Denver, Co.

4 
Someone spends 20 minutes to pick out a $28 pair of earrings. You
babysit them trying on different styles. You have to clean
anything that they tried on, put the others back where they belong,
clean the pair they bought, ring it up, and gift wrap. If they
return it, bookkeeping, clean, re-tag, display.

You just listed many of the reasons I’m wholesale to the trade.

We have only had 2 people in 21 years who thought they were
special and our policy did not apply.

Since your policies are adhered to by the vast majority of your
customers, I would suggest bending the rules for the few who want to
be A.H.'s. Better to take back your art (less a small restocking fee)
and not get all the bad word-of-mouth advertising people like that
always spread.

5

We currently do not have any signs up. I was just wandering if there
were any learning curves or bumps that others have had that I could
learn from early on.

Thanks for your answers.
Angela Hampton