The Humor in Making a Holiday Gift Return

                                                                       Author: Lorraine Messina

                                                                           lorrainemessina.com

Tis the season to be jolly and all of that good stuff.  I am sure making a holiday gift return has challenged the best of us.  We get a gift we really don’t want, doesn’t fit, doesn’t work, is the wrong color or is just plain useless.  Now comes the hard part. Do we:

A. Tell the gifter

B.  Regift it

C.  Bury it in the closet

D.  Throw it out

For those of us that have chosen choice A, this guide is for you.  Be sure to set aside a considerable length of time for this process.  Say maybe five days.

To begin, the gifter needs to be informed that you wish to return the gift.  This will take a considerable amount of time because the gifter is busy returning their own gifts.  Make sure you send multiple emails and leave multiple messages on their answering machine.  The first two messages are always ignored or forgotten about.

Once you do contact the gifter politely request the gift receipt.  This can be a very delicate matter which works well when lots of apologies are given.  If your gifter is organized, she or he will produce the receipt for you.  No problem.  Once the receipt is in hand you need to take it to customer service.

How many of us have tried to make a holiday return and have had the good fortune to deal with a clerk that has never made a return before?  Basically, an inexperienced clerk.    Maybe this should be a new Murphy’s Law.  Something like, when returning a gift an inexperienced clerk will make your return experience last twice as long as it should have. 

There are some ways to avoid this situation.  Go early in the morning to customer service to make your return so the half hour to an hour you spend doing it doesn’t matter.  You don’t need to make that New Year’s Party anyway.  Right?

Another tip, be polite in line.  If you notice a clerk that is new to making a return, by all means let the person in back of you go first.  This will increase your chances of getting the experienced clerk and you will look like the polite customer in line.  A definite plus when making a successful return.

After this is all said and done, you can go with choice C.  Bury it in the closet until next year.  Happy Holidays!

Visit my website at: lorrainemessina.com for more funny articles, podcasts, and products.