BBT tips

It happens every year: you get or give one or more gifts that just aren’t quite right.

You can either re-gift the present or you can return or exchange it for something more appropriate.

A survey by The National Retail Federation showed that more than one in three consumers (38 percent) are expected to return at least some portion of their holiday gifts.

The same survey indicated that nearly three in ten (29 percent) consumers don’t carefully read return and exchange policies when making a purchase in a store or online.

“Not every retailer has the same return policy and some businesses even implement separate policies around special sales and holidays,” said BBB President Tom Bartholomy. “We encourage you to carefully read and make sure you understand all policies that come with your purchases.”

The BBB has the following advice for hassle-free returns and exchanges:

• Make sure you keep receipts. If you are giving the purchase as a gift, ask for a gift receipt and enclose it with the present.

• Read the retailer’s return policy before you purchase products. Make sure you understand whether you, or the recipient of your gift, can get a refund, exchange or store credit.

• Monitor the “return clock.” Many retailers may only allow returns within a certain time frame and that time frame usually begins when the item was purchased, not when it was given.

• Understand return policies are for sale merchandise. Return policies for sale or clearance merchandise may be different than merchandise sold at full price.

• Don’t remove electronics from their boxes because the original packaging may be required for a return.

• Ask about “restocking fees.” Some merchants charge a restocking fee for returns of electronics products or large-ticket items.

• Ask about return shipping fees. Be sure to read return policies when buying online or from catalogs to find out if you have to pay a return shipping fee. Sometimes merchandise can be returned to a store instead of the online merchant.

Play smart if buying bowl game tickets

The Better Business Bureau is warning college football fans to be on the lookout for fraudulent sellers when shopping for hard-to-get college bowl game tickets.

The secondary ticket market for sporting and entertainment events, which includes tickets bought and sold by professional brokers, speculators and season-ticket holders, is a $10-billion-a-year industry, with online sales accounting for nearly half of the transactions and growing 15 percent to 20 percent a year, according to StubHub.com.

“The Internet has become the arena of choice for sports fans looking to buy or sell tickets,” said Bartholomy. “Unfortunately, the Internet is also a breeding ground for scammers looking to take advantage of avid sports fans who want tickets to see their favorite teams in action.”

The BBB has a database that includes reputable, secondary-market, ticket firms that provide buyer protections including money-back guarantees on the legitimacy of tickets.

For example, www.TicketsNow.com takes possession of tickets and verifies them in-house before listing them for resale, and www.StubHub.com and www.RazorGator.com require that sellers provide credit-card numbers as a protection to buyers. If the seller’s tickets are fake, the seller’s credit card gets charged for the cost of replacement tickets.

When you buy through eBay and pay with PayPal, you have the extra assurance that you will get your money back if the tickets are fake.

The opportunity for sports fans to be scammed by fake ticket sellers occurs most often when people buy tickets from individuals on the hundreds of online auctions, classifieds and bulletin boards, such as Craigslist. “The most common way sports fans are getting burned is by either paying for counterfeit tickets or paying in advance for tickets that never arrive,” added Bartholomy.

The BBB offers the following advice when searching online for sporting events tickets:

• When buying from an online ticket broker, check the broker out with the BBB so that you know you are dealing with a company that has a good reputation and a secure Website for processing your payment.

• If you buy tickets through eBay, choose a seller with a long history of satisfied customers. Scammers can hijack old accounts, so make sure the seller has recently sold other tickets.

• Ticket buyers should also conduct ticket sales transactions through the online site and not be lured away by a seller who would prefer to conduct the transaction privately.

• Never pay the seller by cash, cashier’s check or wire transfer. You will have no way to get your money back if the tickets do not arrive or are counterfeit. Pay with a credit card or through PayPal, both of which offer some protection to the buyer.

For more information, please visit http://www.bbb. org or call the BBB at 704 927-8611 or call 1-877-317-7236 toll-free in the Carolinas.