digg

Join DiggAbout

The Digg Crew wants to hear your thoughts!
Please take our short survey about Digg and potential feature ideas.

See the original image at engadget.com —

95% Of Returned Gadgets Work, Americans Don't Read Manuals

engadget.com — Blame it on poor usability or just not reading the frickin' manual, but it turns out that 95 percent of all returned gadgets actually work despite what customers may say or think. That's right -- of the $13.8 billion worth of returned products in 2007, only 5 percent were because gadgets were truly broken.

show profanity settings
expand all
  • Guldu, on 06/03/2008, -77/+6America has a trillion dollar defence, has America ever explained that to the world? Yet when China increases its defence budget say from 15 to 20 billion dollars, America demands an explanation. America and its allies have the sole right to spend lavishly on defence, this is what America wants to say. When America arms to its teeth and invades other countries under false pretext that does not destabilize the world, but when other nations take steps to secure their sovereignty, according to the Americans that is a destabilizing step. I just wonder how long the world will tolerate this heinous policy of the America.

    http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-f ...
    • jjustice, on 06/03/2008, -0/+36I just wonder what that has to do with returned gadgets.
    • thatsmyaibo, on 06/03/2008, -0/+21Are you posting in the right section or are you just a complete moron?
    • jordanmerle, on 06/03/2008, -0/+12Read the ***** article and then post a relevant comment.
      • hempydave, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1Cross posting is a way of interrupting the conversation with his ideas. Meh....
    • craven005, on 06/03/2008, -2/+16Wow.
      Is anyone else noticing a huge increase in spam on digg today?
    • slvrbullet87, on 06/03/2008, -2/+7Get a ***** life, i know you think you are a rebel posting stuff like that, but it doesnt make you look cool.
      • Goodanswer, on 06/04/2008, -2/+1Your right, it's not cool to be informed of the corruption that our country inflicts against the world. That would be wrong. Why don't we go back to sticking our heads in the sand like everyone on Yahoo, right? After all just because this is not the specified time to post that kind of comment we are not allowed to read it or accept it, right? The government is good and those who disagree with it are bad, right? In case you haven't noticed yet you are all part of the system of not believing things if it is not presented in the correct context. The truth is the truth no matter when it is presented or how it is. So go back to thinking that is wrong. That is being a sheep. Go ahead and digg me down because you dont know what it is to TRULY think outside the box or accept the truth when it blasts out at you.
    • antipoet, on 06/03/2008, -3/+6I've seen this one on a couple other pages. Looks like our good mate here is just posting it wherever he can get top comment.

      Might be worth reporting.
    • jbenson2, on 06/03/2008, -2/+5Guldu (Edward) sounds like an abo from Australia.
    • skyscape, on 06/03/2008, -3/+4some european nutcase. Buried for being annoying.
      America deserves to police your country because of your inability to distinguish between communism and democracy.
      • GeekyGerge, on 06/03/2008, -0/+4Okay, he is annoying, but don't go blaming it automatically on Europe. If you looked at the user's profile, you would see that he in fact comes from Brisbane, Australia.
    • BoonTobias, on 06/03/2008, -1/+4congrats, you get to suck my *****
    • ShrimpCrackers, on 06/04/2008, -0/+2First, this guy lends credence to the idea that Americans don't read, this guy didn't spend the time to look around and realize that he's not posting in the topic he was aiming at.

      Secondly off, China spends billions on its defense, (not millions), second only to the USA. More credence that this man doesn't read carefully. Furthermore the buck travels much farther in China, a single dollar can feed a Chinese soldier a day, whereas it wont make up half a meal for a US soldier. Again a common topic that he failed to notice.

      If he's this naive then I bet if I gave this man an iPod Touch he'd probably return it before ever noticing the on/off button.
  • Quicksilver4648, on 06/03/2008, -10/+108I believe it. People are idiots when it comes to consumer products. If you need help getting songs on your iPod, then please, just return it. You have no hope.
    • Mpwns, on 06/03/2008, -0/+23what really drives me is people wont tell me music or mp3's they ask "can you help me get itunes on my ipod?" and one time i was asked "how do i get free itunes on my ipod?" it drives me nuts when i hear that.
      • MadHarvey, on 06/04/2008, -0/+0Really. I just install itunes ON their ipod, and watch them struggle for hours with the Chicken-Egg Problem. I need itunes to access my ipod, I need to access my ipod to get to itunes, I need itunes to access my Ipod...

        It never gets old.
    • tendonut, on 06/03/2008, -0/+19I get at least one call like that a week where I have to go to some extremely hot 18 year old girls house and fix their *****.


      Wait a second, am I complaining? It's great having a really hot neighbor with really hot stupid friends...
      • Oea420, on 06/03/2008, -0/+8This type of nerdiness can be well used.

        Loading songs on ipods etc are great vectors to getting laid

        Mix in your computer-savvy talk with how good you are in the sack, boy!
        • thebza451, on 06/03/2008, -1/+12sure, like anyone ever got any from geeking an ipod...
        • Oea420, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3I don't think it's the general act of 'geeking' an ipod that seals the deal

          You have to have some semblence of social skills..

          contrary to popular belief nerds are in
        • tendonut, on 06/03/2008, -0/+5@oea420

          I can vouch for that. Back in high school (98-02), I had absolutely no social skills. Being a nerd was frowned upon and computers were for losers. Now I make 3x as much as those tools who are still flipping burgers, their life revolves around my loser toys, and I can pick up even the hot preppy girls with little or no effort. Whoever said nerds are terrible with women need to wake up and join the 21st century. We are the grease monkey's of the future.
    • absolutroot, on 06/03/2008, -0/+4most products that are returned are usually not because they or broken, or the person is too stupid to use them, alot of people buy stuff and decide they dont want it, so they say it is broken... alot of people even buy multiple items and decide which they like best, then take back the ones they dont.
      • dubloe7, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1yes, but most stores simply put those back on the shelf with a 5% discount or something like that, I don't think this article is referring to that.
      • EmperorAwesome, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1Back when I was selecting an xbox to mod, I repeatedly returned models based on my own definition of broken: one with a non-samsung drive.
    • Qumahlin, on 06/04/2008, -0/+3It's sad to see people with your attitude because it shows how little you understand about the "common consumer". Your "common consumer" for the most part would have no clue how to put songs on their ipod without reading the manual. If you truly believe that the common consumer is tech saavy then your out of touch with this country.

      For many people the iPod is only the 2nd device they've ever had to hook up to their computer to transfer data, and not only do they need to transfer data but they need to use proprietary software to do it which means they need to learn another program on top of it and unless they are buying all of their songs off itunes they also need to be shown the differences between automatically syncing their entire libraries, manually managing their library, etc...if you don't find any of that confusing then you sir, are not the common consumer.

      To further augment your understanding of your "average" joe Let me tell you that I at times must do interviews at my job. It's a tech company. I don't interview anybody whose experience and schooling does not fit that of the position yet on our technical aptitude test I have had ONE candidate score 100%. Please understand our test consists of questions such as "name three web browsers" with the hardest question being "what is a boolean statement". Want to know what the top four answers are for the web browser question? Internet Explorer, Google, Firefox, and Yahoo....keep in mind these are answers coming from people interviewing for TECHNICAL positions.





  • graemee, on 06/03/2008, -4/+9Dugg for "significant other budgetary freak-outs"
    • dygitaljoe, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2That is, " [Insert significant other] wondering why you dropped your weekend vacation money on an Xbox 360."
  • pirlok, on 06/03/2008, -13/+10if everyone would spend about 10 minutes to read the manuals, then this wouldn't be happening.
    • skyscape, on 06/03/2008, -2/+5I'm in the cellphone industry and buy thousands of customer returned phones.
      I find at least 70% are truly broken which of most are software issues. Only when you run it through a special RF machine that becomes evident. A customer returns a phone because it turns off after two hours. A tech testing it might not find any problems because he didn't test it up to two hours. But expensive machine reveals those flaws quickly. Buried for being wrong
    • PabloMac, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3If the manuals were written in a clear and concise manner, they would get read more.
      • zoom1928, on 06/03/2008, -1/+1You mean rather than in Engrish?
      • foofightrs777, on 06/04/2008, -1/+6Step 1. Pay for non-native English speakers to write your product manual.
        Step 2. Route all support calls to ESL or non-english speaking employees.
        Step 3. ?????
        Step 4. Profit!
    • BoonTobias, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2i don't understand why they always include extra parts for the furniture i buy
      • JammoBlammo, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1In case you lose/break parts?
      • dubloe7, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2I don't understand why the furniture I buy never has all of the parts.
    • minorthreat, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3How about 95% of gadgets suck and this corporate America we live on thrives on the consumer impulse buying. Thank god they still allow people to return the items once they get home and realize that $1300 for that laptop is going for $500 used on ebay.
    • Haoie, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1Even just reading the FAQ section of manuals can help.

      They're always towards the end, that might be a reason why people don't read them.
      • foofightrs777, on 06/04/2008, -0/+2Or sometimes because they're written something like: "Insert tab 'A' besides tab 'B' simultaneous making sure if not. Take tab 'c' and apply both 'a' and 'b' humanely.
  • emaredubyou, on 06/03/2008, -5/+65And then they resell the items, and then smart people get working gadgets for cheaper!
    Works for me.
    • Mpwns, on 06/03/2008, -1/+4yea fry's will sell you any go back and you can sometimes even talk down the price they offer.
    • FukUrCouch, on 06/03/2008, -6/+01. People are retards
      2. Buy returned merchandise
      3. ????
      4. Profit...
      • pe5t1lence, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3# 3 is "Kill this old Southpark Joke"
    • cathpah, on 06/03/2008, -0/+5three cheers for refurb!
    • Epik, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3Open-Box items at Newegg have all been new for me. Factory sealed new.
    • cadmiumpaint, on 06/03/2008, -1/+2uless you shop at best buy, then you pay more for open box.
    • KiraDnote, on 06/04/2008, -1/+2Often times they resell defective items until they find a customer who won't bother to return it, and then they conclude it wasn't broken. It's a scam.
      • MtheoryX, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1Who, and just how often? Got a link?
  • xero69, on 06/03/2008, -4/+8This is the exact reason that I always check for returns or "open box" whenever I shop. Open box discounts are great assuming a critical cable or accessory is not missing. Am I surprised about people being too impatient to RTFM? No, no I am not.
  • Namli, on 06/03/2008, -8/+4I think this is not the time to make a joke about the American wisdom :)
  • waymatter, on 06/03/2008, -3/+12People are dumb!
    • PabloMac, on 06/03/2008, -2/+2You're a people, too.
      • gurudrew, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2Nope, I'm just a person. If you think you are people its OK though. Schizophrenia means you will never be alone.
  • dbhalla, on 06/03/2008, -14/+3God its good to be British.
  • Ganja420, on 06/03/2008, -4/+30Well look at the manuals they give us
    http://www.engrish.com/detail.php?imagename=huile- ...
    http://www.engrish.com/detail.php?imagename=mp3-ma ...
    • Foamator, on 06/03/2008, -0/+9First image, part IV.2:

      What the ***** does "Don't dranght in the jeck" mean?
      0.o
      • FlyingSpaghetti, on 06/03/2008, -0/+9Take my word for it. I drangthed in the jeck last week and now my jeck is all ***** up.
  • pantone286, on 06/03/2008, -5/+25Bet it has more to do with buyer's remorse.
    Or apple releasing something better and cheaper 3 days after I bought it.
    • S1ngular1ty1, on 06/04/2008, -1/+2Your fan boy ism makes me want to hurl.
      • pantone286, on 06/04/2008, -2/+0You don't read many of my posts do you?
  • itsgotyou, on 06/03/2008, -2/+14Why am I not surprised? RTFM!
    • Zachariah, on 06/03/2008, -1/+3Indeed. Us smart users have had to pay by being subjected to phone trees and support scripts. Now we know why.
    • bdbr, on 06/04/2008, -0/+2Yeah, then again you're talking to a LOT of Diggers who don't even read the articles they comment on.

      26% was buyer's remorse, and it didn't even separate out the people who couldn't get it to work from the people who decided it didn't meet their needs.
      • itsgotyou, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1Watch it with the Diggers don't read articles remark. You're replying to one of them.
  • acejdt, on 06/03/2008, -6/+1It could have been because they got tired oh the product
  • wunderola, on 06/03/2008, -0/+19sometimes you need to return something because, although it does work, it does not work very well ... namely, it sucks
    • WiseWeasel, on 06/03/2008, -0/+6Exactly, returns aren't just for broken products, they're also for products that suck. I'm not surprised that actually broken products make up a minority of returns given the volume of cheap, poorly designed products on the market.
    • BoonTobias, on 06/03/2008, -3/+1that's what she said
      • NathanielJ, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2That was possibly the worst "that's what she said" ever.
    • curunir, on 06/03/2008, -1/+3They may "work as intended", but that doesn't mean they aren't broken. 95% of audio and video devices have some restriction or other that was implemented because that's the way some 3rd party (MPAA, RIAA, NCTA, CDSA, etc. ect.) wants it to work that way. Call me crazy, but I want a device that will do what *I* want it to do, rather than displaying some absurd message that says "You can't do that". When a device tells me that, it's going back.
  • AmonOden, on 06/03/2008, -5/+2RTFM!!! Number 1 motto in life. People are so dumb...
  • ptFoe, on 06/03/2008, -9/+8FFS we all know most Americans are dumb or incapable.
  • downer06, on 06/03/2008, -3/+3I work as a cellphone tech I see this every day. R.T.F.M.!!!!
  • popolop, on 06/03/2008, -2/+23What about Xbox 360s?
    (Du-dump-shh)
    • BitKid, on 06/03/2008, -1/+9You didn't read in the manual where it says to wrap a towel around your XBox to fix the red ring? Yeesh what a n00b.
    • foofightrs777, on 06/04/2008, -0/+2 No, you're supposed to cover all fan vents with tape so that no dust can get in.
  • DefaultGen, on 06/03/2008, -3/+9I wonder how many of those returns were exchanged for the same product at which point the person realized "Oh ***** I'm an idiot, it does work."
    • ManoWar, on 06/04/2008, -1/+1I got a new 500 GB HD. But my pre-installed vista administrators setting would not plug and play the HD. So I returned it. After the 2nd HD didn't work i figured it was Vista. 3 hours later i a did a refresh install. Hd recognized less than 5 sec.
  • jordanmerle, on 06/03/2008, -2/+10I read that people were taking their iPhones back to the Apple store because the ringer was "broken." Turns out that they had flipped the silent switch on.
    • TeagueSterling, on 06/04/2008, -0/+2I can testify to that. I received a very worried phone call from a client who had to go out of town a few hours later and was in a state of panic because her iPhone was "broken". It was only on silent mode, but I've gotta give her credit -- that is one aspect of the iPhone that's a little too different from other phones to be intuitive.
    • khelp, on 06/04/2008, -0/+0smells like a design flaw to me, but not from apple. never from apple (fanboy++)
  • cheezintern, on 06/03/2008, -3/+6Only girls in their dainty little dresses read manuals.
  • jbenson2, on 06/03/2008, -3/+3Easy solution - charge a restocking fee based on the value of the product. People buy an expensive videocamera and tape a friends wedding, then return the camera the following week with a lame excuse that it did not work. If these people know they will be hit with a restocking fee, they will think twice before trying to scam the store. Some stores do this already and it works. To avoid the restocking charge, they have to prove the product is defective.
    • pantone286, on 06/03/2008, -0/+7Seems to me this method would encourage customers to break their perfectly good merchandise in order to return it without a restocking fee.
      • jbenson2, on 06/03/2008, -2/+3Maybe a small percentage, but not 95% as is being returned now.
        And many stores just scrapped returned items anyways.
        So the name of the game is to cut down on the 95% phony returns.
    • SpartanErik, on 06/03/2008, -1/+2Not my fault Belkin sold me a crummy USB adapter..

      Gotta love the good ol' switcharoo
    • DjArcadian, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3You have never sold electronics have you? When you tell a customer they need to pay a restocking fee they act like you just shot their child. No matter how clear you are before they buy they will complain when returning. Restocking fees are a bitch and really bad PR for companies.
      • jbenson2, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2And who pays when the schmucks return the goods if there is not a restocking fee?
        The good customers!

        It would be very easy to turn the perceived negative PR in positive PR.
        • FairDinkumMate, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1I'm guessing you don't run a business?

          Option 1
          Charge your customer a restocking fee because they couldn't get the product you sold them to work.
          Result
          No immediate financial loss. Customer leaves angry, never returns to your business & tells 7 friends how bad your service is so that they never come to your business either.
          End Result
          Significantly LARGER long term financial loss than taking the return

          Option 2
          When selling the product, take the time to help the customer learn how to use it, or offer professional installation(at a VERY reasonable price) for larger, more complicated products
          Result
          Happy customer, much less likely to return the product. Customer tells 3 friends how GOOD your service is.
          End Result
          Significantly improved long term sales due to repeat & word of mouth business.

          There will ALWAYS be people who only buy at the lowest price they can find. If you own Best Buy, great, compete solely on price. If you don't, then SERVICE will be a huge part of whether you can compete with the big chain stores!
        • DjArcadian, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1I agree that service is a big issue but a significant amount of the population (women) can't be bothered to figure this stuff out or be told how to do it. If it's not immediately intuitive they want to return it. Some people even think it's their right to get a refund.
    • cam0man, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3solution? who said there was a problem?

      Most retailers provide liberal return policies just to make customers more comfortable with their purchases. For every product that was returned, I assure you that there's another one sitting in someone's closet that will never get used.

      I take advantage of these return policies all the time, just because they're offered. CircuitCity even has theirs plastered right behind the service desk. 100% satisfaction guarantee or your money back, no hassles. I've returned a lot of products simply because they aren't worth what I paid. the product could be decent, but not for $100.

      If they didn't want to deal with all the returns they shouldn't offer this type of return policy.
      • jbenson2, on 06/03/2008, -1/+1You are part of the problem. You buy something and return it.
        Who do you think pays for the cost of that return? Not you, but all the good customers.
        • cam0man, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Company sells widgets for $100, they buy them for $50 and make a $50 profit. They sell 10 a month based on their complexity, customers fear their investment will be wasted if they can't operate the widget - the company makes $500 a month. Company now tells buyers thats if they don't like the widget at all, they're receive a 100% refund. Now the company sells 30 widgets a month, 8 widgets are returned a month. Now the company grosses 1500 a month in profit and throws away the 8 returned widgets - eating their purchase cost of $50*8. The company ends up increasing their profits by over 100%.

          There's no problem with actually using the policey's offered by a store. If they didn't want people to use them, they shouldn't have offered them in the first place.

          These are techniques put together by experts in marketing. big box retailers aren't your friends or your buddies, I don't have any remorse for returning a product when they specifically said that I could return it if I wasn't 100% satisfied.

          I know exactly who pays for the cost of that return, the store that sold it to me....if Circuit City and Best Buy found out they could change 1 thing and save themselves millions, who would see that extra money? Guess what - NOT the customers. It'd be the exec's....
        • jbenson2, on 06/04/2008, -1/+1cam0man said: "I know exactly who pays for the cost of that return, the store that sold it to me"

          You need to take a course in economics 101. All costs end up being borne by the customer. Welcome to the real world!
    • cadmiumpaint, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1restocking fees are great ways to loose customers.
      • jbenson2, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Not if the majority of companies did it. The companies that did not would eventually go out of business because of all the schmucks (95% per the article) bringing their stuff back even though it worked fine.
        • illegalcortex, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1People keep telling you, but you keep refusing to believe. Think for a second - why don't most companies have restocking fees? It's because it's better for business NOT to. The market wouldn't ignore a good solution for no reason. Your solution is not a good one.
        • jbenson2, on 06/04/2008, -1/+1illegalcortex said "The market wouldn't ignore a good solution for no reason."

          And guess what their good solution is? To accept the returned goods (95% with no problem) and then pass the costs of these returns on to the customers who don't return the products.

          Good solution? for the Big Box stores sure - they don't eat the costs. You and I do.

        • illegalcortex, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1jbenson2: Big problem with your argument is that you ignore the volume factor. These policies are in place because they increase sales volume more than enough to offset the cost of accepting returned goods. This volume causes prices to go DOWN. Everyone wins (well, from a capitalistic, consumeristic standpoint).

          We already buy a lot of crap we could well do without. The ease of returns helps promote this behavior. I know I have personally purchased many items and kept them because I knew I could return them.
    • eldridgea, on 06/04/2008, -0/+3Before the Super Bowl, many electronics stores give employees training so they can tell who is just buying a large TV to watch the game on, and return it the next week.
      (I've contributed nothing to this thread, but I thought it was interesting.)
      • yacks, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1Definitely, it is those who's first question is "What's your return policy?" and is more important than the actual performance of the unit.
  • tkhan456, on 06/03/2008, -5/+5I think a lot of people buy stuff, use it once, and then return it. I know I have. Also I like to "Rent" things from stores to use for a bit and see if it's worth getting and then return it and get it for half the price online
    • Oea420, on 06/03/2008, -2/+6This is a godsend for sudden camping trips

      hit up walmart for the tents, lanterns, stoves, everything you need

      When you are done, simpy return it for a full refund in cash

      it's odd yet so amazing at the same time...

      (This works for air conditioners too! ha ha)
  • Rewebbed, on 06/03/2008, -7/+0This Digg button isn't working!!
    • Louis11, on 06/03/2008, -0/+5Return it.
    • Rewebbed, on 06/03/2008, -0/+0im waiting for the new one to come out.
    • Louis11, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Looks like its working. I guess you fall into that 95% of consumer idiocy :)
  • petebot, on 06/03/2008, -1/+6Oh, the manual? TL; DR.
  • oMeSSiaHo, on 06/03/2008, -3/+3People return printers so often that HP sent us a device that will print test pages to show people their printer works. I guess people are too busy to RTFM or they expect ***** to magically work.
  • Rewebbed, on 06/03/2008, -7/+5This Digg button isn't working!!
    • Pedobear, on 06/03/2008, -1/+3So you returned it? Works fine for me.
    • Rewebbed, on 06/03/2008, -0/+0no receipt. i took the store credit.
  • sjps220, on 06/03/2008, -2/+4Lots of people are aware of return policies when they shop and use them to test out one or more products to decide if they'd like to own them.
    • Lister169, on 06/03/2008, -1/+2That's right kids, Fraud is fun... and profitable!
      • sjps220, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1How is that fraud, and how is that profitable? If a store advertises that it accepts returns when you're not satisfied with a product, how is it fraudulent to return something that you aren't satisfied with?
    • cam0man, on 06/03/2008, -1/+2fraud? as I posted earlier....lots of stores offer 100% satisfaction guarantees on your purchases or you can return the item for a full refund. I don't know about you, but I'm rarely 100% satisfied. 99% != 100%.
  • xstarsprinklesx, on 06/03/2008, -2/+3I think a lot of people probably say they're returning something because it's broken even when they just don't want it anymore, figuring the place won't give them a refund or exchange otherwise.

    Not to say there aren't a lot of people who probably shouldn't be touching anything made by anyone other than Fisher-Price.
  • YodaJones, on 06/03/2008, -2/+6I think this is also a hallmark of the kids generation today. I know a kid who just buys things, takes them home, tries them for a while and returns them for a different product. He has gotten away with this for years already. The kids working the stores don't care as long as they get paid on Friday. Recently he tried about five motherboards, three televisions and countless video cards just to name a few.
    • sassafras1232, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1I'm sorry but who has the time to "try" motherboards. The $200 a nice new motherboard costs is nothing compared to the 4 hours it takes to put it in and take it out again. And moving TVs in and out? Also a pain in the ass. I guess if he gets a kick out of pulling one over on "the man" then more power to him.
      • Spyder810, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1If you know what your doing you can easily switch out a motherboard in under 20 minutes.
        • yacks, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1yeah but the harder part is installing your os to go with it..
  • Goya, on 06/03/2008, -0/+10Maybe they realize its cheaply made useless crap they dont need...
    • Rally603, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3Yeah, whenever I've returned something it's been because I took it out of the box only to discover that it was made out of matchsticks and bubblegum
  • throwtheROC, on 06/03/2008, -0/+5What is up with the long comments? If we do not read manuals, we are surely not going to read that.
  • Mpwns, on 06/03/2008, -0/+6so the red ring of death is normal? time for some reading.
  • toytoyota, on 06/03/2008, -0/+4You know a lot of people lie about the product... they say it doesn't work just so they don't have to explain that they don't like it or something. Even then, some people will admit they just want to return something. I'm sure the notion that people don't read into their product is true but it's exaggerated.
  • PPCG4, on 06/03/2008, -2/+7You shouldn't have to read the manual.
  • RoadDoggFL, on 06/03/2008, -0/+13Isn't this assuming that 100% of returned gadgets are returned because they don't work?

    I'm sure a good chunk of them are returned because people just didn't really want them.
  • nstern2, on 06/03/2008, -2/+1I work at a retail electronics shop and can say without a doubt that 90% of consumers have no idea how their product works, nor do they care. I have seen countless numbers of people who return a laptop because they decided not to read the manual only to realize that there is a wireless switch on it when they get into the store.
    • FairDinkumMate, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1Then your boss is a fool for not training the staff to make sure to show customers where the wireless switch is when they buy their laptop!
    • yacks, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1I had someone try to return some software.. because it "didn't" work. It worked.. He was just entering the wrong serial number.. At least he was smart enough to take a screenshot of it.. :)
  • locamama, on 06/03/2008, -0/+7Now I don't feel so bad about the guy at Circuit City asking me if I checked the batteries when I returned something.
  • BrainTanned, on 06/03/2008, -1/+6That web page loads funny. Send it back.
  • digitallysick, on 06/03/2008, -0/+10I return products that just suck, for instance the linksys wrt310n router is getting returned, as the worst junk ever.
  • prompel, on 06/03/2008, -5/+395% of the customers are broken. Pity they can't be returned.
  • Taiyoryu, on 06/03/2008, -2/+8Confirmed. Years ago, I returned a fully functioning DVD player in exchange for another brand. Both exhibited the exact same problem. While playing a DVD, the screen would periodically distort or flash a totally blue screen. It wasn't until I read the manual for the second DVD player that I discovered I could not hook up the DVD player to a VCR which had RCA plugs and the TV did not. I ended up having to buy a video switcher instead. DRM sucks even when it's a hardware lock. DRM hurts the consumer and does little to protect the corporation.
    • Katana314, on 06/04/2008, -0/+3The tangent of this topic is 1.73462. Find x.
  • Louis11, on 06/03/2008, -1/+7I've done a ton of trouble shooting on clients computers, friends computers, and family's computers . . . and usually all i get is "It's broken" or "it doesn't work". Then you have to ask (usually slightly irritated . . .) "What doesn't work?". It's typically a user error, incompatible software (Windows software on OSX), or a missing driver . . . Peope just expect things to work, no matter what. I think that's the big problem with Linux (yes, even Ubuntu to a slight degree); many things take a tad of effort to get working, but usually its nothing too difficult that any user couldn't figure out if they had rtfm. In short, people are idiots and a majority of them will never be tech savy.
  • krnldmp, on 06/03/2008, -1/+9They get returned because they suck and the user can't be bothered to explain the manufacturer spent too much money on bogus advertizing.
  • shdwsclan, on 06/03/2008, -4/+0Thats true....i worked for office depot and some guy was returning a router because he claimed it didnt work.
    What really happened was linksys included a windows only disk for his mac. I showed him that all he needed to do is read the instructions. He got pissed, and I showed him as I unfolded the instruction and told him that all he needed to do is type in 192.168.1.1 as it said in the manual......naturally, he left feeling stupid.

    That pretty much proves that mac users are stupid.

    BSD would teach everybody how to use a computer...
    • ophello, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3it proves that some people are stupid, and that some of those people use macs. Your logic really makes no sense. I don't think I'd want you to work for me.
  • pe5t1lence, on 06/03/2008, -2/+3[Citation Needed]
  • YouandWhoseArmy, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3I don't believe this at all. I'm the 5% of people that returns stuff that doesn't work because it actually doesn't work? Yeah right. I'd be willing to bet this stat doesn't include items that are defective or DOA.
  • IWDA4, on 06/03/2008, -0/+4Sometimes people return ***** because they don't want it, not always because it's broken.
  • reddog093, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3That article wasn't even about Americans...
  • kstrong, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1RTFM
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 100 of 110 discussions
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.