All of us have probably shopped in big stores more than once, and are, unfortunately, perfectly familiar with these incredibly confusing rules. Especially when it comes to refunds. Well, you know – ‘you have every right to return the goods that did not fit, but only at the last minute of every fourth day of the month in a leap year, and the Moon must be in the constellation of Aquarius…’ Otherwise, alas, you will not receive a refund…

Sounds a tad familiar? Probably yes. Perhaps that is why we love these stories so much about how a resourceful customer still managed to figure out the complex policies of the store, find a loophole and achieve their full-size refund. In other words, everything is as it was in this post by user u/dubilendar.

The author of the post once bought lots of goods at a big store somewhere in Europe

Image credits: Allan So (not the actual photo)

When the guy then tried to get a refund for some of them, he found he could only get a redeemable voucher due to the store’s refund policy

Image credits: dubilendar

Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)

Image credits: dubilendar

The customer maliciously complied and discovered that bought goods are refundable only when they don’t leave the store

Image credits: Sam Lion (not the actual photo)

Image credits: dubilendar

So the inventive guy just bought something with that voucher and then, with a pure soul, demanded his deserved refund in cash

So, according to the Original Poster (OP), this story once happened in a large store in one of the European countries. The man went to the store with a whole list of purchases and bought everything – but when he returned home, it turned out that some of the purchased goods were already at home, so his wife asked him to return them in the store.

But there the customer had to face a problem. According to the store policy, as the manager said, since he left the store with the goods, he now had no right to receive money for them. Only the store’s redeemable voucher, with which he could buy something else there. But our hero didn’t need any voucher – he needed his money!

Anyone else in the author’s position would have given up or started a useless altercation with the store staff, but to the credit of the original poster, he did differently. He took the offered voucher, after which he went and used it to buy some other product for the same amount. And only then, without leaving the store – since this is critical for compliance with the rules – he went straight to the return department.

To the shocked employee in the returns department, the OP stated that he wanted to immediately return the newly purchased product. And since he did not leave the store with it, then the rules had been fully observed, and they were obliged to return the entire amount to him in cash. When the same manager approached, our hero was already smiling victoriously in his face – and he was forced to confirm everything was okay. So ordinary human ingenuity once again defeated the soulless corporate machine.

Image credits: Aranami (not the actual photo)

In this situation, there are actually two different points of view. On the one hand, stores do often introduce complex and confusing refund policies aimed at encouraging us, the customers, to buy more and in the same place. On the other hand, there are situations when people try to game the system, and that’s where problems crop up.

“To stave off refund abuse, you should have enough authority to decline money-back requests. And an incredibly detailed return and refund policy or a separate clause in your terms and conditions agreement is just what the doctor ordered,” Tranzzo payment system recommends on its official website. “Even though none of these documents is required by law, they are your shield against dishonest consumers. By displaying the rules on the website, you’ll be able to restrict refunds legally and save your business from monetary losses.”

Unfortunately, systems that are aimed at countering scammers often hit absolutely conscientious customers who simply want to return unwanted goods and take their money. In any case, we must remember that the law is on our side in this case. Or simply act on your own – and in this case, perhaps such a brilliant tale will turn out.

Truly brilliant – at least, most of the folks in the comments to the original post simply admired the author’s composure and resourcefulness. By the way, judging by the comments, many people have also encountered something similar, but did not come up with such a great idea. “Behold, a master of malicious compliance!” enthusiastic commenters claimed. By the way, if the same has happened to you too, and especially if you came out of this case with pure triumph, please feel free to share your own tale in the comments as well.

Most people in the comments just admired the author’s beautiful mind and even called him “a master of malicious compliance”

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