CNN 2009-12-25

Ok, so get past the credit card, interest rates and all that. First comes shopping then comes the gift opening, then comes the mad rush to return what you don't want. Here's advice on how to make that return process easier this year if at all? We welcome back consumer reports, Tod Marks, also known as Tighwad Tod, good to see you?

Good to hear you again.

Ok, so you know apparently¹ this time around, this year's a little tougher to make those returns. Why?

Well, you know, 17% of retailers³ and national retail² federation⁴ survey actually reported that they tightened⁵ their policies this year versus⁶ last's. 80% of retailers said that they are not changing their policy versus last holiday season. And so it's getting a little tighter and the reason is simple. It's unfortunately bad apples you know, people that are crocks and you know fortunately returns are expected to cost retailers something in the neighborhood of 3 billion dollars this holiday season alone. You know the innocent pay for it…

When we said they're making it tighter it's more difficult, meaning the window of opportunity has narrowed, meaning you've got to have a certain, you know, looked up about your receipt or your gift receipt what do you mean breakdown⁷ for them?

It really comes down to following the letter of the law, that is they are not making it, making you return things any sooner and in fact most places are pretty generous. We did a study recently. We found that return periods are mostly in the 90 to 180-day range, (Really?) not just the standard 30 days. You know it depends, every chain is different and they have different terms in conditions for different product classes, jewelry⁸ might be different than clothing, then might be different than furniture, you got to look carefully.

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

3 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

4 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

5 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

6 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

7 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

8 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。