Going to return it?

This morning I was reading an article which was talking about an Airbus A340 crash during a test run, which was owned by Ethihad Airlines. Apparently the person on the wheel (or lever in this case) forgot to put on the parking brake and applied full throttle to the engines. In about 12 seconds the $200 million aircraft had depreciated to about 2 cents. This happened in France. If it was the US, the Ethihad people could have gone back to the Airbus store and asked for a refund since they didn't like the Airbus.

I cringe every time I need to go to the soccer field sized stores here. I end up walking about a million miles before I find what I want (I wish Google could start mapping stores too). The problem doesn't end there, but actually starts. I know for sure that I will be coming back to the store again. Not to buy, but to return it.

As per procedure I do realize that I have to return it and get another instead. Once I get the exchanged product, I realize that the one I bought before was the right one. I go again to get it. Then later I realize that I don't need that product at all and go get a refund. US is a shoppers paradise. Buy what you want. Exchange what you want. Return what you want.

In India, no one knows what a refund means. I happened to ask a guy in a store for a refund and he thought I was talking about some sort of Mutual Fund. Exchanges are pretty strict too. They would deny, even if there was as much as a fingerprint on it. Only same or higher value exchanged are allowed. Its pretty much a one way road where the money goes. It will never ever come back to you.

If they were as flexible as over here, the Indian mentality would kick in. People would use the products and then ask for a refund. Some people over here still do that. Going for a vacation? Go to an electronics store, buy the most expensive handy cam. Use it during the vacation, come back after your vacation and ask the store for a full refund. Thanks to the exploitation, now all the stores charge a 15% fee if the products were opened. 

Some argue that the mark ups on the products usually covers the expense for repacking the returned merchandise. So they don't feel guilty about using and returning the product. Doing that just gets one on par with Russians. In other words, plain pathetic. Its just a legal way of stealing. Why try and abuse a privilege we have? And regret later when it is not valid anymore.

I knew one guy back in School. He never owns a Winter jacket. He just exchanges it every month and return it at the end of winter. My brother does something like that. Plan a road trip, buy a GPS and return it in the end for a full refund. He did that recently too. Unfortunately, it was a clearance (non-returnable) item.