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Target asserts abuse of return policy in Update

Sometimes reading between the lines is not enough. More and more, you have to spell it out.

In Target’s case, the days of testing the legal and ethical limits of the company’s return policy may be numbered.

In a recent update to its website, Target now says it “reserves the right to refuse returns, refunds and exchanges, including but not limited to preventing fraud, suspected fraud or abuse.”

Not only is the wording new (Business Insider has covered Target’s return policy closely over the years), but neither the words “fraud” nor “abuse” appear in an archived version of the company’s return policy as of now a month.

A Target spokesperson told BI that while the communication on this point is new, the policy itself has not changed, including the one-year support for all private products.

Still, while the rules may not be new, the clarification sets the company up to potentially apply them more strictly and consistently.

Return fraud is indeed a worrisome issue for retailers in the industry, with the National Retail Federation estimating return losses of $101 billion last year.

But the abuse side of the coin has a more unique Bullseye dimension: the trend of shoppers returning piles of used Cat & Jack baby clothes for cash. As one of Target’s most popular store brands (selling over $3 billion a year), Cat & Jack products are backed by a one-year satisfaction guarantee that some customers push to its conceptual limits.

Users of the r/Target subreddit welcomed the new language, saying it will help service desk employees deal with difficult customers.

Indeed, a popular euphemism for dirty and destroyed clothing is “well-loved,” and grass-stained T-shirts and pants with blown knees from a year on the playground don’t exactly suggest defective merchandise.

“These are people who are admitting on social media that they were actually pretty happy, but they just find a loophole in this return policy,” H Squared Research’s chief retail analyst Hitha Herzog previously told BI. “If the return policy allows you to do that, I think you can. But ethically, should we? I wouldn’t do it.”

Now with this latest update, Target seems to be saying “Please don’t.”

If you are a target worker who wants to share your perspective, please do contact Dominick by email or text/call/signal at 646.768.4750. Responses will be kept confidential, and Business Insider strongly recommends that you use a personal email and non-work device when reaching out.

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