UPDATE September 22: I’ve been getting some mad hits on this post. I’ve gone back through and read it a few time and realized some clarifications needed to be made. You’ll see my clarifications and additions in bold.
DISCLAIMER: All opinions contained in this post are property of me, Kate, and not of Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouses. However, there are also some facts in this post, and they are the property of whomever.
STARTING OFF–Return Preperations
The return process actually starts off while you are making your purchase. If you’re paying in cash, the cashier will ask you for your phone number. If there is ANY chance, no matter how small the percentage, that you will be returning this item, GIVE IT TO THEM. The SOLE REASON we ask for the phone number is so that we have a way to track your receipt in case you make a return and have lost the paper receipt. It’s not for telemarketing or sales calls.
If you decline to give us a phone number while making a cash purchase and don’t have your receipt for the return…you’re not getting your cash back. Sorry, but it’s not our fault…it’s yours.
Granted, there have been cases where the cashier has not asked for your phone number and while unfortunate, we still can’t give you cash. Our managers and head cashiers do make it a point to make sure that the cashiers are asking.
I CAN’T FIND MY RECEIPT (non-cash purchases)
If you paid with a debit or credit card (including any of the various Lowe’s cards, including the project card or your LAR account), we can swipe the card and pull up the receipt that way, even if you made the purchase at another Lowe’s. Please note, though, that we can only look receipts that are about 3 months old or so. Don’t come back a year later and ask us to look up the receipt; the records have been purged by then.
*We can look up receipts that go 3-4 weeks back, but only receipts from our store. Also, we have no way of just putting in your name, phone number, or credit card number to see what you’ve purchased. [update 9/22] Only certain employees have access to this particular feature. Most of the people who work on the return desk (and registers, customer service desk) don’t have access to this feature. Don’t count on using this.
NOTE ON DEBIT CARDS: If you ran your debit card and chose the debit option (by putting in the PIN number), you can either get the money back in cash or have it put back on the card. However, it can take up to 15 days to get put back on there, and no, I don’t know why it takes that long. If you ran your debit card as the Credit option (and signed for the purchase), you CANNOT get cash back. It will either have to go back to the card or on a merchandise credit.
Non-Receipted Returns that we can’t find the receipt for:
We’ll need a valid government-issued ID, and we’ll give you a merchandise credit.
[update 9/22] Returns made with checks. All checks have a 15 day waiting period to get cash back on your return. Again, me nor the managers have a magic button we can push to give you cash. I’ve had it argued to me that our check clearing system guarantees the checks; but no, it doesn’t. All it does is make sure that your account is actually open and valid.
[update 9/22] Merchandise credits. Merch credits are little blue cards that we sometimes give refunds on. They look like gift cards, and are basically used the same way. Once a refund is put on a merchandise credit THERE IS NO WAY OF CHANGING INTO CASH (this also applies to gift cards). Once it’s on the card, it stays on the card. You can use them right away, and they’re good at all Lowe’s locations and don’t expire.
[update 9/22] Refunds on paid off credit cards. If you made a return with a credit card that you have paid off, the money still has to go to that card, or a merchandise credit. Yes, you paid the card with cash, but you didn’t use that cash to pay Lowe’s, and as I’ve mentioned, we can only refund the specfic card you used to pay with. If you have paid off your card, the refund will show up as a credit to you account. If you absolutely have to have cash for the refund, you, not Lowe’s, will have to contact the credit card company, which can then send you a check. Yes, it may take you 3-4 weeks to get the check, but you’ll be getting your cash back.
Returning Merchandise:
The merchandise should be returned to us in a condition that would allow us to resell it (obviously, if it’s defective don’t worry about the condition). If it’s muddy, dusty, or doesn’t look right, we won’t take it back because we can’t sell it that way. If you’re returning some PVC pipes that are a bit dirty, take 10 minutes with a wet rag to clean them up. Now, if you had opened a pipe fitting and found that it didn’t fit, we can take that back. That’s actually pretty common, and we’ll just tape the bag shut. The item you’re returning must also actually be physically in the store. You can’t just point to your truck and tell me that the lumber you’re returning is there, either I or another Lowe’s employee has to see it and check it in. If you take a load to lumber or the garden center, that’s ok, again, an employee has to see it and confirm it with me.
Stuff We Can’t Take Back:
-Mixed paint (the only exception is that you asked for blue, and the paint inside is red)
-Cut carpet
-Cut wire. They’re incredibly picky about this one.
-Lumber, insulation, and concrete mixes that have been wet.
Other weird return policies:
-Plants: Most of our trees and shrubs have a one year guarantee on them. Let me repeat that: A ONE YEAR GUARANTEE. If you buy a tree with the guarantee on May 1st, 2008, you can’t return it on May 18th, 2009. We HAVE to have the receipt and/or the tags from the plants in question. You can’t just bring in a random dead tree.
-Annual Plants: We go by the 90 day guarantee policy on this. If you bought impatients in May, of course they’re going to die in the fall. Don’t try to return them once the weather turns cold, even with the receipt. The return desk folk are aware of what plants are annuals and what are perennials…don’t try to trick us. However, if you had bought them within the 90 days, we will refund you for them.
-Outside Powered Equipment and Other Large and Expensive Tools: Please note that these items have a special 30 return policy. Within the first 30 days, you can return them for any reason. After than 30 days, we have to send them out for repair first before you could return them. If they’re unrepairable, or still don’t work, we can refund them. However, if you bought a weedeater and never opened it, we’ll still take it back in the 90 day period.
Rejected returns:
Every so often, returns get rejected. There are a variety of reasons why, typically due to the fact that the system recognizes that the item has already been returned. Example: you are doing a plumbing job. On Monday, you purchased a coupling, and then repurchased it again on Tuesday. You returned the one you bought on Monday, and later on when you tried to return the one you bought Tuesday with Monday’s receipt, the system will tell me that it’s already been returned. When the system rejects a return, there is no way to override it. A manager cannot swipe a card, or press a magic button to make it accept the return.
Rejected returns without receipts: A lot of people come in without bothering to bring in the receipts to return stuff. When this happens, we have to enter your VALID driver’s license into our system, and we give you a merchandise credit. However, after a certain number of returns without receipts, our system will reject your driver’s license information and tell us that a valid receipt is required. I’m not sure how many unreceipted returns it takes to kick you out of the system, but I do know that’s when you’re kicked out, you’re out for good. I also know there is no one you can appeal to. If you’re building a house/remodeling/whatever and don’t want to try to deal with a 5 inch stack of receipts…bring them anyways. We don’t mind scanning them to find everything.
[update 9/22] The following is totally my opinion, and not the official one of Lowe’s: These are the return policies in a nutshell. We have our return policies listed on the back of the receipt, on our website, in our stores by the return desk, and you can call in to any store and ask. You have NO REASON to be ignorant of our policies and then to get violent and hostile with us when something doesn’t go your way.
