Uniform Stores....A Vent

caliotter3 · Jan 10, 2015

Thanks for the heads up. I hate it when brick and mortar stores refuse to make good on exchanges/returns for online purchases. I typically only go to these stores to window shop because of the high prices. They would get more of my business in general if they were a little more customer oriented.

dishes, BSN, RN · Jan 10, 2015

Requiring items still have tags on, is a common return policy where I am.

roser13, ASN, RN · Jan 10, 2015

If I have removed the tag, I don't even try to return the item. Too many folks are out to scam stores that way.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Jan 11, 2015

I only go to brick and mortar scrub stores to try on scrubs for size, then I go and order them online. The brick and mortar stores are not very male-friendly!

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jan 12, 2015

While it's a common policy to require tags to still be in place on items, since the OP just purchased the shirt a matter of a few days' prior, I don't think it'd be earth-shattering if they took it back. The likelihood that the OP was planning on scamming the store because she really just wanted to wear the t-shirt once, wash it and return it....? Pretty darned slim. It's not like it's a haute couture ballgown!

I find that brick-and-mortar stores are frequently complaining that they are being ruined by online shopping, no one wants to "buy local", etc. Thing is, in order to cultivate the desire in a shopper to become a patron of any store, the store must go the extra mile. And in this day and age of SO many purchasing options, it might very well mean allowing a stupid t-shirt return even if it isn't done to the letter of the policy.

Had the clerk been pleasant and accomodating, I have every reason to believe the OP would go back to that store again, as well as tell people about what a nice store it was. But now? Fuhgettaboutit!

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jan 12, 2015

I had a terrible experience with a nationwide chain, just want to get the word out to my fellow nurses. I bought a scrub set and a tshirt for under the uniform. Well, I bought the wrong size tshirt on 1/06/15, I went today to exchange it for the correct size....they would not d/t the fact I had removed the tag.But I did have the original receipt and bag from the store. What a poor exchange policy the UNIFORM OUTLET has.They were very rude also.
Just getting word out, thanks all.

And I'll get one more thought out: In recent years, a couple national chains closed a couple of stores in my area. People were all up in arms about it: loss of jobs (no doubt a problem), loss of walk-in purchasing options, etc.

However, I had stopped shopping at those stores LONG before they closed (and I'd think it's pretty clear I wasn't alone!). And why? Because the shopping experience was unpleasant: rude or clueless clerks, desired items unavailable in the store, dirty shop, like that. So....I bought from those same retailers, online!

Yes, same prices, same sales, same everything, but without the rude clerk, without the clueless "customer service" person! IMHO, the failings of the local store to compete with their OWN online counterparts is in the delivery of service. When something can be sent to your door quickly, accurately, and in the event of a problem handled professionally, it sure does leave the local store looking like a very poor option indeed.

I'd LOVE to buy locally, support local retail growth! But my dollars are precious to me, and I choose to make the most of them :)

dishes, BSN, RN · Jan 12, 2015

Friends who are salesclerks tell me it is not easy to sell new clothing once the tags have been removed, I think that is the main reason for the policy. If an item is ordered online and returned by mail, you would still need to meet the same return policy of having the tags on, in order to obtain the refund.

Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN · Jan 13, 2015

That doesn't sound unreasonable, to me. If I purchase the wrong item and pull the tags off it, I don't expect someone else to take the loss... it's my mistake :)