Is it normal to have to pay to ship a RMA'ed item back to the e-tailer?

While I've been around forever online, I've generally stayed away from smaller online retailers because it's often a better deal to buy retail (but using a hot deal).

A week ago I bought a power supply unit (PSU) from NCIX.com, and it was dead on arrival. Crap. Call them up and they authorize me a RMA, but say that I have to pay the non-refundable shipping fee back to them - which is $15 or so for a $35 item. While I realize due to their terms of sale I have no recourse, I was wondering if this is the case with all of the major mid-sized online retailers? I'll stick to the big retailers if so if that's true.

Boo-urns.

YES


However, with Dell, it's possible to ask them to pay for you

most make you pay for return shipping

if you payed the NCIX membership fee (they would pay for all shipping) which is only worth it if you order alot from them.

yep depends on the company and policy, always be sure to read the policies before buying from online.

*shakes fist* Ahhh! Well that bites, but what can you do. Thanks peeps.

I bought a Samsung 710n LCD monitor from A-Power in Vancouver in January. It arrived with an extremely obvious defect - looked like somebody gouged the side of the screen with their thumb. Anyway, they wanted me to pay for return shipping, but I absolutely refused. If they ship me a product that's obviously been damaged, why should I pay to ship it back to them? They had a policy on their web site that said that customers have to pay return shipping, but they also had a corporate statement that said that they were going to be the best comp store in Vancouver or something of the sort.

Anyway, they finally agreed to not only pay for my shipping, but to cross-ship it. Turns out that, instead of paying for UPS Expedited, they shipped it UPS Ground both ways (which cost as much for the round trip as one way UPS Expedited). I was extremely happy with their service & willingness to work with me, and it didn't even cost them a penny.

I'm facing a similar problem now - bought a video card from them that might be defective (still testing and benchmarking), but this time I'm happy to pay the shipping to them b/c their customer service is so good.

The way I see it now, it's much cheaper to get it online than local, right? The system I just bought would have cost hundreds more if I had bought it locally (Sask); heck, driving home today I saw a store advertising a 40GB OEM 7200RPG HD for $80. $80?!? I paid that much for an 80GB HD a year ago! Sorry, sidetracked... anyway, since it's so much cheaper online than local, I figure that if I have to pay for return shipping for RMA, well, it's still cheaper than if I had bought it here. It sucks, but it could be worse.

yep ... for a lot of returns, you have to pay shipping.

The best analogy that I have heard of was ... if you buy something at a brick and mortar store and, after you get it home, it doesn't work ... who pays for the gas/transit back to the store for a exchange/return? ... same thing online.

Originally Posted by CheapScotsman

The best analogy that I have heard of was ... if you buy something at a brick and mortar store and, after you get it home, it doesn't work ... who pays for the gas/transit back to the store for a exchange/return? ... same thing online.

The cost of gasoline is negligible compared to the cost of shipping a defective product back to a retailer.

but the distance between you and the B&m store is negligable when compared to the distance to the e-tailer.

and if the local retailer has it for a good deal with the "chance" that you are going to have to return it anyways to the online guy ... why bother, just purchase it locally ... its all in the luck of the draw and thems the breaks

Originally Posted by CheapScotsman

and if the local retailer has it for a good deal

I'll stop you right there. Sometimes there's little to no chance that a local retailer has it for a good deal. Besides, if you buy out of province, you save on PST.

Some companies do pay for shipping both ways. When you call them, they'll send you an account number to charge it to, but these cases are rare.

Use Canada Post Xpresspost when you can, it's a lot cheaper. I RMA'ed a Linksys router a year ago, used Xpresspost and it was only $9. Then a few months ago I RMA'ed a Maxtor harddrive and it only cost $10. Unfortunately, most online retailers can't afford to pay shipping but shipping costs are usually not too high.

Just sign up for the NCIX newsletter, wait 20 weeks (or do other stuff to get points quicker), and get the free VIP membership (free RMA shipping).

Yup, if you collect 500 NCIX Reward points you can get VIP membership and thus get free RMA shipping for a year. It's actually pretty easy to do... 25 points for each newsletter, 50 points for each review you write for a product you've purchased from them.