Planting The Seeds Of Refund Expectations

(Our garden centre’s return policy for live plants is already generous, and unofficially, we’re encouraged to allow most returns just to avoid customer temper tantrums.)

Customer: “I need to return these shrubs.”

(He gestures to three completely brown, bone dry, entirely dead potted cedars on his cart.)

Cashier: *sigh* “Do you have your receipt?”

Customer: “No. I bought them a little while back. I didn’t expect them to turn out so terrible, so I didn’t keep the receipt.”

Cashier: “All right. If you gave us your information, I can look you up in the system.”

(The cashier finds the record of his purchase.)

Cashier: “Sir, you bought these trees almost two years ago. That’s way outside of our return policy unless there was something wrong with them.”

Customer: “Well, they look pretty wrong to me!”

Cashier: “How long did they last? Did you water and feed them? Did they get enough sun?”

Customer: “Well, I mean, I probably watered them. I don’t know. I put them in the garage after I bought them, and I don’t know what did or didn’t happen after that.”

Cashier: “Did you keep live plants inside your garage for two years without any sun or water?”

Customer: “Yeah. So, can I get a refund?”

(Yes, he did get a refund.)