Re: Costco

"AllEmailDeletedImmediately" <derjda@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Excerpts from interview with Jim Sinegal, Costco CEO
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118817408686609229.html
WSJ: Why did you decide to initiate a 90-day time limit on returns of
flat-panel TVs?

Mr. Sinegal: We were spending an enormous amount of dollars by taking
these things back and selling them to a salvage company for 30 to 40
cents on the dollar. Most of the reason for the TVs coming back were
that customers couldn't understand what to do with them. We said,
"We're going to help you get this thing hooked up. We're going to give
you two years of warranty. We're going to make sure, even if we have
to send somebody out to your house, that it works." We think we came
up with a great solution.

people SAID they didn't know what to do with them in order to return them
and get a better one for the same price. if costco is offering to help
them set it up, etc, it's because they want to eliminate that return excuse.

Sure, but then they coulda stayed with an unlimited return period.
Obviously, Costco doesn't believe what Sinegal is saying above.

Mr. Sinegal: We try to create an attitude that, if you see it, you
ought to buy it because chances are it ain't going to be there next
time. You're going to come in and find that maybe we have some Lucky
jeans that we're selling. You come in the next time and we don't have
those jeans but we have some Coach handbags. That's the treasure-hunt
aspect. We constantly buy that stuff and intentionally run out of it
from time to time.


Guess this is one reason they need to have an unlimited return policy,
and why nobody should be complaining if stuff is returned many months
later...

because they intentionally run out of stuff?

Because you gotta buy it when they have it, even if you don't need it
at the time. As in a gift for someone's birthday 8 months down the
road...


--

A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to.

....Granville Hicks
.