Recently, I posed the following issue / question to my LinkedIn "No Fault Found" Think Tank:

In 2008, retailers saw an almost 35% return rate on certain consumer electronics. Most of the returned products were deemed "no fault found" by their manufacturers. Question: Why so many returns?

For those of you who don't know what "no fault found" is, click HERE to read my prior posts on the topic.

My friend and esteemed colleague, Scott Storm (owner of Storm Computer) had some great thoughts on the issue.  He offered the following:
———————————————————-
"There could be several reasons. The obvious are:

1. The product could not perform the tasks that it was being asked but passed manufacturer qc..
2. Price drop on product not being handled by the retailer.
3. How many times have we gone to return something and they say just go get another one.
4. Product improvement by manufacturer. Dvd vs dvd with Blueray.
5. Inept triage from technical service.
6. Customer ignorance of the product.
7. It is easier for a retailer to "defect" a unit than to handle it as a regular return. The retailer will get 100% credit on a defect whereas he will get a percentage if he resells it as customer return. There is less labor cost for a defect than there is in a return.
8. 'The customer is always right' comes to mind. Then see number 7.
9. Loose return policies."
———————————————————-

Scott was 100% right in everything he said.  But the debate continues. 

CLICK HERE AND JOIN US as we continue to tackle the issue....