Why Does L.L. Bean, The Old US Outdoors Shoe, Give Up For A Hundred Years Of Service?

L.L. Bean

According to the world clothing and shoe net, in recent years, retro products are becoming more and more popular, coupled with the millennial generation's pursuit of practicality and cost-effective.

L.L. Bean is unusually hot.

Bean Boot (duck hunting boots), known as L.L. Bean, has a special return clause. Once the product is sold, L.L. Bean will provide life-long protection for it, which means consumers can return the goods at any time and for any reason.

However, since its establishment, it has adhered to lifelong security.

More and more unreasonable refund applications have been encountered.

Recently, L.L. Bean has decided to make an adjustment to the policy of refund: from now on, all products can be returned within one year after purchase, and the original purchase voucher is required.

Dennis Green, a columnist on the US website Bussiness Insider, tested her lifelong warranty terms with a pair of Blucher Mocs outdoor shoes that he had been wearing for four years and produced a pair of new Blucher Mocs without providing any basis for purchase.

In Green's view, as part of the 100% satisfaction guarantee, L.L. Bean is fully allowing customers to decide for themselves whether they are satisfied with the shoes they buy.

However, the loopholes in this clause are also very obvious, which can easily be abused by some undesirable consumers, resulting in large unnecessary losses to the company.

Some people buy goods from old goods stores, then they take the L.L. Bean store, ask for a refund, or bring their old shoes for many years to the store, claiming that they have not achieved their expectations.

L.L. Bean spokesman Mac McKeever once said: "our guarantee is not an obligation, but a kind of customer service assets - an informal agreement between us and our customers. We always put our customers first and rely on the credibility of our customers to fulfill their guarantee."

Shawn Gorman, the founder and executive chairman of the company's founder, wrote in a statement: "since 1912, our task is to sell high-quality products and make people enjoy outdoor activities.

Our commitment to customers and our product protection clauses have helped us win the trust and respect of consumers.

However, a small number of consumers' abuse of our product protection has exceeded the intention of our terms, and more and more similar behaviors.

Some people equate lifetime warranty terms to life changing product terms, apply for refund for products that have been used for many years, and even apply for refund, which is sold by third parties at a discount price.

Gorman added: "based on these, we have updated the refund policy.

Customers can return products within one year after purchase.

A year later, if the product has any defects, we will negotiate with the client to get a fair solution. "

According to the company's website, even within one year's guarantee time, misuse, abuse, improper care or return due to negligence, accident and other reasons will not be accepted.

Other cases that are not accepted include products damaged or lost due to fire, floods or natural disasters. Products returned for personal reasons need to be kept clean and tidy.

As to whether L.L. Bean products purchased before the policy update can enjoy returns after a year's expiration date, Mac McKeever said that if consumers can provide purchase vouchers and do not have the misuse and abuse mentioned above, they can still return the goods.

Is it wise to cancel lifelong protection?

Scott Duke Kominers, a Bloomberg columnist, thinks that L.L. Bean is somewhat short-sighted in a sense because Gorman confuses two different types of customers.

A loyal customer called Lifer, who really buys and uses their products until worn out, and the other is fraudsters.

Lifer is the disseminator of brand.

They bought L.L. Bean products many years ago, and it is very likely that they will continue to purchase L.L. Bean products for their children and grandchildren. These repeated purchases will be enough to cover the cost of replacing products.

On the contrary, fraudsters are the biggest problem.

They do not use L.L. Bean products themselves, nor do they buy them for family members.

They sometimes even return more than 20 pairs of shoes, which can lead to considerable cost, and they will not generate new purchases, which will not help the company to make profits.

What L.L. Bean really needs is a return policy that separates Lifer from fraudsters.

This is not particularly difficult.

The company can introduce the product registration system, and only promise to repair or replace the goods returned by the owner when the product is registered, or to take the original receipt as the evidence when returning the goods.

Registration system is not difficult to implement, especially because L.L. Bean already has electronic sales records, and even is testing product tracking methods based on block chain.

Moreover, leisure consumers are unlikely to hold receipts in order to replace L.L. Bean products.

However, in any case, the purchase period before the implementation of the policy needs to be relaxed.

From a long-term perspective, consumers will only be required to return services if they use many years of products.

In addition to L.L. Bean, other outdoor products companies including REI have announced similar return policies before.

A spokesman for REI said: "if the product we sell has any manufacturing defects in performance, material or technology, in this case, the product can still be refunded at any time.

In other cases, consumers or members can only return products within a year or replace the products they are not satisfied with.

But there are exceptions, Patagonia said that the company has no plans to change its policy and will continue to provide the so-called "strict return protection". It wrote on the website: "if your goods are not suitable for you, you can send them back or repair at any time, and the damage caused by wear will be charged at a reasonable cost."

Patagonia has established a good reputation for sustainable development and fair trade. Last year, the brand launched the official online store dedicated to selling second-hand clothing.

If customers decide not to wear a Patagonia garment, they can choose to sell it and get a voucher of different face value for buying second-hand or brand new Patagonia products.

Lands End, a veteran clothing retailer in the US, has also maintained a generous return policy.

The official website of Lands End said: "if you are not satisfied with any product, you can return it to us any time. If we return the goods, we will return the purchase money to you."

More interesting reports, please pay attention to the world clothing shoes and hats net.