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In the US here... and I think that the notion of asking for help after a purchase is not evenly distributed here. I am used to figuring things out, but I did t

In the US here... and I think that the notion of asking for help after a purchase is not evenly distributed here. I am used to figuring things out, but I did ten years of corporate tech, I got paid to provide that support for the employees of my employer. It was my responsibility to get their things working. So I got used to calling for vendor support, usually a support contract, and just got used to working the problem with whatever help we needed, within budget limits. This was in the 20th century. But my extended family, they wouldn't dream of such things. They figure if you call for help, it's just going to be more people trying to get money out of you, like everyone is trying to fool everybody else. They just buy the cheapest thing they can get, then if it doesn't work they either take it back to the store for refund or they give it up as a bad job. I will come to Russia some time, buy a cheap laptop and take it home and use it for a week, then bring it back to the store for a refund because it doesn't work. How will that conversation go? We could put the video up on the YouTube. :-)

grishka 5y ago
> I will come to Russia some time, buy a cheap laptop and take it home and use it for a week, then bring it back to the store for a refund because it doesn't work. How will that conversation go? Consumer protection laws aren't as strong in Russia as they are in the US and Europe. But generally electronics come with 1 year warranty from the manufacturer. So if it's legit not working, they'll probably replace it with another that is working. Returns are complicated. IIRC stores are required to take a return if the item is in a condition in which it can be sold again (sealed box, or all tags intact in case of clothing). But anything further than that is their own concession and thus varies. Some places like Ikea have a policy of "return within one year from purchase showing the receipt and your internal passport (ID), you get a refund, no questions asked". Some don't. Some electronics stores would let you test the thing in the store before you take it home, some would say "you have N days to test it at home, bring it back if it doesn't work". I also know a guy who bought a phone to test an app he was making, then tried to return it. Wasn't a painless process, but he did succeed in the end.
- watersb 5y ago
  Ok, wow, actually that sounds like life in the world I live in. Returns will erase retail margin (profit) pretty quickly. Big companies like IKEA can deal with that, I suppose, but it does take work. I managed to get to Russia, in 1990. I didn't shop at Ikea.
  - grishka 5y ago
    It was still USSR in 1990 (and I wasn't born yet). They've allowed private businesses in the late 80s, but the country was still very much in the process of transitioning away from full socialism. It took many more years for international companies to establish presence and for local ones to form through privatization. There was no Ikea, but the first McDonalds opened in Moscow in 1990 and many minds were blown. So yes, these extended return policies are one of the things retailers use to compete.

grishka 5y ago

> I will come to Russia some time, buy a cheap laptop and take it home and use it for a week, then bring it back to the store for a refund because it doesn't work. How will that conversation go? Consumer protection laws aren't as strong in Russia as they are in the US and Europe. But generally electronics come with 1 year warranty from the manufacturer. So if it's legit not working, they'll probably replace it with another that is working. Returns are complicated. IIRC stores are required to take a return if the item is in a condition in which it can be sold again (sealed box, or all tags intact in case of clothing). But anything further than that is their own concession and thus varies. Some places like Ikea have a policy of "return within one year from purchase showing the receipt and your internal passport (ID), you get a refund, no questions asked". Some don't. Some electronics stores would let you test the thing in the store before you take it home, some would say "you have N days to test it at home, bring it back if it doesn't work". I also know a guy who bought a phone to test an app he was making, then tried to return it. Wasn't a painless process, but he did succeed in the end.

watersb 5y ago
Ok, wow, actually that sounds like life in the world I live in. Returns will erase retail margin (profit) pretty quickly. Big companies like IKEA can deal with that, I suppose, but it does take work. I managed to get to Russia, in 1990. I didn't shop at Ikea.
- grishka 5y ago
  It was still USSR in 1990 (and I wasn't born yet). They've allowed private businesses in the late 80s, but the country was still very much in the process of transitioning away from full socialism. It took many more years for international companies to establish presence and for local ones to form through privatization. There was no Ikea, but the first McDonalds opened in Moscow in 1990 and many minds were blown. So yes, these extended return policies are one of the things retailers use to compete.