CENTRAL OHIO -- Are you one of the thousands who are heading back to the stores for returns or exchanges? Planning on turning in a rebate?
NBC 4's Tom Brockman got answers Monday on how to make the process go smoothly.
It's inevitable. Gifts that once were under the tree will end up on customer-service counters.
Doug Dupler was at the return desk Monday.
He was returning a DVD set that he bought as a gift. The recipient already had the set.
Robert Steffens also ended up at the desk.
Steffens bought a video game the day after Christmas. Turned out, it was scratched. The store exchanged it for a working game.
The No. 1 rule for returns and exchanges is a receipt. Dupler and Steffens were in the know.
"I always save all my receipts for everything. It makes it easier, and it's easier on the people," Dupler said.
"I hold on to them pretty good. My wallet is pretty full of them right now," Steffens said.
What if you don't have a receipt? Brockman spoke with Joan Coughlin with the Better Business Bureau.
"If you don't have the original receipt, it's important that you keep the original packaging, any tags attached, to make sure the store can identify that the item was actually purchased from their store," Coughlin said.
She said some stores charge a restocking fee or out-of-box fee as high as 15 percent.
And rebates. There's more to it than sending the paperwork in on time and making plenty of copies of documents.
"It's critical that consumers follow the instructions to the T or the rebate request will not be honored," Coughlin said.
Consumers should receive rebates within eight weeks, according to the BBB.
If you don't, it recommended filing a complaint with the BBB or the Attorney General's office.
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