Consider retailers’ satisfaction guarantees when holiday shopping  

Retailers with return policies that include a customer satisfaction guarantee (Nordstrom, L.L. Bean, REI), make holiday shopping less daunting. When merchandise doesn’t meet expectations, what will the store do to address your disatisfaction? How do retailer return policies stack up?

GOBankingRates last month ranked return policies from major retailers based on six key factors that make returns easy and customer-friendly, identifying the top 10 with the best policies and the top five with the worst

If you have a teenage girl, you’ll likely be familiar with Forever 21’s policy, which ranked the worst. Forever 21 only allows 21 days for returns, and purchases can only be exchanged for other items or refunded in the form of store credit, not in the original form of payment. Items must also be unworn, unwashed and unused with tags still attached. If you don’t return the item within 21 days, you can count on keeping that “pleather” jacket FOREVER, or at least until it falls apart.

Here are the results:

Best Return Policies:
1.      Nordstrom
2.      L.L.Bean
3.      Bed Bath & Beyond
4.      J.C. Penney
5.      Costco
6.      Staples
7.      Zappos
8.      REI
9.      Macy’s
10.  Kohl’s

Worst Return Policies:
1.      Forever 21
2.      Kmart
3.      Barnes & Noble
4.      GameStop
5.      Sears