According to the National Retail Federation, around one in every five Christmas gifts will either be returned or exchanged; and on Tuesday, families in Santa Maria got started with their returns.
“We have a large family, so sometimes there are duplicates, sometimes we just didn’t hit the mark, sometimes it is just not what they wanted,” said Orcutt resident Edin Kelley-Oman.
Throughout the morning, we spoke with several merchants at the Santa Maria Town Center who said all sales are final at their stores.
And while a “No Cash Refunds” sign can be seen at the register of World 1-1 Games, manager Brayden Ruiz says his team typically tries to find a compromise.
“We do exchanges and store credit that applies to both the arcade and the store for any product, and the store credit does cover the taxes, so you are not paying an additional fee,” Ruiz explained.
Kenneth Guge of Leisure Time Games says while his store does accept returns, he wants people in the community to be aware of varying policies.
“Come in with the receipt and we will go from there,” Guge told KSBY. “A lot of people will pay with a credit card, and if it is a gift, my credit card company only allows you to use the same card, the one that was used for purchase. In that case, I would just give you store credit.”
Meanwhile, if you are still debating whether to keep or exchange that new video game you got for Christmas, Ruiz says you should hold off on removing the packaging.
“Especially if the product is open and used, it is a little difficult to process a return fully. Usually though, if a product is unopened, we are pretty lenient on it but we are going to try everything before a refund,” Ruiz said.
“It was really, really easy," Kelley-Oman said about her returns. "You just got to plan and know what you are going to do before you buy.”
If you need to make returns through Amazon this year, most items purchased between November 1 and December 31 must be sent back by the end of January.
