LL Bean used to have a similar return policy but people started abusing it; now you only have a year.

A number of outdoor sports retailers that used to have no-questions-asked return policies and internal repair departments have dropped them. I have known people who basically had a practice of indefinitely returning worn out clothing for replacement. I did return a jacket to Patagonia a number of years back and they gave me a decent credit but, in my defense it had basically completely delaminated.

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criddell 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

When LL Bean ended their lifetime return policy, their CEO wrote this:

> Increasingly, a small, but growing number of customers has been interpreting our guarantee well beyond its original intent. 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.

People were buying old items on eBay and returning them to the store to get a brand new item.

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Eddy_Viscosity2 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Bad faith actors ruin everything good eventually. From small things like return policies for retail chains, to the political process of an entire country.

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FireBeyond an hour ago | parent [-]

Yup. I've personally known people who, shamelessly, would get a Keurig from Costco, drink all the sample pods, and then exchange for a new one, repeatedly.

	▲	ghaff 15 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		You've always had some proportion of con artists/grifters of course but anecdotally it does seem that there is a higher proportion of people in the US who will, if not flagrantly steal, will do things like this especially against corporations that they mentally categorize as being evil.

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ghaff 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I think that's increasingly true. A lot of people want to game the system and you mostly don't want to place the burden of what's reasonable on a low-paid customer service worker. So you set reasonable and (mostly firm) time limits and let the processes take their course. Should be some wiggle room of course. But it's not reasonable to offer lifetime replacements unless people are willing to pay the 2x to 3x prices that implies--which very few will.

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D13Fd 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I sent an Eagle Creek suitcase in and they honored the warranty even though it's maybe 15 years old. They sent it to a repair place who actually fixed every single issue with it (first a broken wheel, then later a torn pocket, broken buckle, and missing zipper pulls). I honestly can't believe that the repairs are cheaper than just replacing it, but it has worked out really well. It's a shame more places don't do that.