My little rant for to-day - Returns

We have a very flexible attitude to returns and understand that buying online, or by mail order you need to know you can return an item if not suitable. In our returns policy we simply ask that returns are accompanied by the original invoice and sent back in the same condition they where received within 7 days of you receiving the order. We don't have this policy to be awkward or to put people off returning orders, we have very good reasons for all three of these requirements as detailed below.

Firstly lets look at condition, any item returned must be resold and as such absolutely has to be in perfect condition, we will not and can not sell any item which is not perfect and as such we strictly enforce this policy.

Secondly is the time frame, 7 days should we think be ample time to look at the jewellery and decide if it's suitable. We re-order stock as it sells and to accept items for return outside the 7 days would totally compromise our stock control system, which is in place to ensure we have the goods in stock that our customers need.

Thirdly and finally is the invoice issue, this is the one policy that is most often ignored. I've lost count of the number of times we've receive a box with a couple of necklaces or a tiara in it and nothing else. On average we dispatch between 3 and 4 hundred items of jewellery every week. When we receive an un-accompanied return we have to search through 2-3 weeks worth of sales to attempt to isolate all customers who purchased the particular product returned, and then try to figure out who sent it back.
Even when we receive a return with a customer name on the outside of the package we still have to try to trace how payment was made and when the order was delivered.
It may well be the wish to have an easy life, but we do now insist on the invoice being returned with the order. All packages returned without the invoice are simple set to one side and not refunded, we can not make exceptions to this, however if the customer sends the invoice separately we will then sort out the return.

Well that's the end of my rant for to-day, with less than 1% of the orders we dispatch returned, it's not really a big problem, but if we can make the process simpler and more efficient it can only benefit every one.