L.L. Bean Changes 100-Year-Old Return Policy To Combat Abuse Of It
If you’ve been abusing L.L. Bean’s generous return policy, well, this is on you: The Maine-based company is revoking its 100 percent satisfaction guarantee and imposing a one-year limit on most returns.
In a letter to customers issued on Friday, L.L. Bean Chairman Shawn Gorman announced the change and what prompted it.
“Increasingly, a small, but growing number of customers has been interpreting our guarantee well beyond its original intent,” he said. “Some view it as a lifetime product replacement program, expecting refunds for heavily worn products used over many years. Others seek refunds for products that have been purchased through third parties, such as at yard sales.”
A Letter to Our Customers.....https://t.co/JuBXC9NaLx pic.twitter.com/zLFXyLNJm6
— L.L.Bean (@LLBean) February 9, 2018
Gorman says later in the letter that this change to the policy “will only affect a small percentage of returns” and that should a customer have a defective product after the year mark, the company will work with that customer to “reach a fair solution.”
The previous legendary return policy allowed customers to exchange items they had worn out or purchased secondhand ― regardless of how many years before the item was purchased.
The policy has already been updated on the L.L. Bean website, which reads: “If you are not 100% satisfied with one of our products, you may return it within one year of purchase for a refund. After one year, we will consider any items for return that are defective due to materials or craftsmanship.”
Additionally, the site notes that the company will not accept a return or exchange (even within one year of purchase) in certain situations. Specifically, those situations include items damaged by “abuse, improper care or negligence” and products that “have been soiled,” but also customers with “past habitual abuse” of the returns agreement.
What does that mean? Well, the 106-year-old company is not messing around, and it’s done with people returning things from a decade ago.
L.L. Bean spokeswoman Carolyn Beem told the Boston Globe that “the amount of so-called ‘third quality’ returns has more than doubled over the last five years, resulting in annual losses ‘equal to the amount of revenue generated from Bean boot sales.’”
This behavior, according to Beem, came from people who purchased items secondhand with the sole intention of returning them.
Many on social media have remarked on the change:
I am 100 percent #TeamBean. When your stuff wears out, buy new stuff.
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) February 9, 2018
LL Bean: “We’re not liable for frayed social fabric.” https://t.co/TrLKPfzq4M
— Michael Brendan Dougherty (@michaelbd) February 9, 2018
I don't know who ruined LL Bean's return/repair policy but I'm gonna preemptively blame it on the Baby Boomers.
— Ted actually in NJ (@TedInPittsburgh) February 9, 2018
Seems completely fair to me. @LLBean still has amazing policies and the best customer service around. https://t.co/Z7iWbdvuCp
— Patrick J. McGinnis (@pjmcginnis) February 9, 2018
I applaud LL Bean for taking action on this issue. Anyone who is upset by their new policy would implement the same thing if it was their company. People are taking advantage of it. Why should someone be allowed to return a well worn 10 year old jacket they scooped at Goodwill?
— Lorraine (@Lemon_Lorraine) February 9, 2018
Sad to see this. Major reason I've used @LLBean is because of return policy. Companies standing by their products 100% is rare. Customers abusing good faith efforts is a big problem, but foreign production likely doesn't help. Not an unreasonable change, but still disappointing. https://t.co/2wsNm5bTaB
— Leslie Taylor (@lestaylorphoto) February 9, 2018
Good for L.L. Bean. Freeloaders are awful. https://t.co/er4dHC0nCS
— Jon Fortt (@jonfortt) February 9, 2018
what is even the point of LL bean if i can't buy a backpack, wait seven years, and then return it???
— cale g weissman (@caleweissman) February 9, 2018
The centenarian L.L. Bean is proof that these times, they are a-changin’.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.