return policies around the world

[elle]

my feeling has been that the us has some of the most lenient return policies anywhere.

what are return policies like in other countries? do they even allow returns? what restrictions are applied?

[Superdutch]

Here in Australia the standard is that you must produce a receipt as proof of purchase. Usually most places give you a certain amount of time (say 3 weeks) that you can return something and get your money back - however, usually original ticketing has to remain on the garment and no visible washing or wearing must be visible.

However, major department stores seem to be very lenient. Sometimes no receipt is even necessary and if you get a slack employee processing your return, some people have even been able to 'return' things that were not even purchased in the store!

Donahue once did a show on this topic in the US, featuring people who made a living by stealing/returning/exchanging all sorts of shit due to very lenient policies.

Obviously it is late afternoon, i am bored and this day is dragging way to long for me to post so much on this topic!!!

[elle]

it's similar in the US. reinforces the argument that the people who most often return goods are the wealthy.