01-04-2004, 09:40 AM
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A strange sight at Home Depot
wrote:
However there are
other routes they could take. In the case of something that has real
value (like a pair of unused shoes) they could easily start donating
these items to the local church.
Often the things that have real salvage value are also things that the
retailer gets credit from the distributor. To get that credit, they have
to ensure the distributor that they have destroyed the items in
question. Donating them to charity means they don't get credit from the
distributor.
Even when that's not the case, it's not usually feasible to keep a list
of which things need to be destroyed, and which don't need to be
destroyed. And even if you do, you're right back to the point where
people are throwing things out just so they can be salvaged.
Another issue that hasn't been brought up is if the retail store has a
customer-friendly, no questions asked policy on returns, they run the
risk of people dumpster diving, and returning the same items over and
over again.
Yes. There is a lot of waste out there. But the things we're talking
about aren't because the retailers are uncaring people who want to waste
the resources of the world. The things we're talking about happen
because there are too many dishonest people in the world looking for
ways to screw the retailers -- especially the big retailers. They
justify it by saying, "who cares if I keep dumpster diving behind the
Home Depot, and keep returning the same merchandise over and over again.
They're a big company."
Figure out a way to eliminate dishonesty, and then retailers can stop
these practices that appear to be wasteful. Shrinkage isn't a small
problem. It's one thing to give away waste, like Starbuck's coffee
grounds, or the barber's piles of hair. It's quite a different story
when you start talking about merchandise that's no longer saleable.
--
Warren H.
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Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug: Spend your Amazon gift certificates he
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/associateshop.html
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