Legal Question in Business Law in California

Hi. On 6/2/2009, I purchased a 40" Samsung LN40B610 1080p LCD HDTV at SamsClub.com. I specifically bought this TV at Sam's Club because of their very liberal Returns & Refunds policy in effect at the time (copied & pasted from their website):

"At Sam's Club, Member Satisfaction is 100% guaranteed both on merchandise and Memberships. Our policy is to refund our Member�s purchases in full with a receipt; without a receipt, we will refund in full with a Sam's Club Shopping Card.

Our return / refund policy.

* 100% guarantee on Merchandise and Membership.

* We will refund purchases in full with a receipt.

* Without a receipt, we will refund the purchase(s) at the last selling price with a shopping card.

Online Exceptions:

* Dell computers: return within 30 days of the invoice (ship) date.

* All other brand computers (same exceptions policy as in-Club)

* S/H can only be refunded if return is result of samsclub.com error.

In-Club Exceptions:

* Computers: return within 6 months of the original purchase.

* 200% guarantee on fresh products (meat, bakery or produce).

* This policy does not change the manufacturer�s warranty on any item returned as defective, such as tires or batteries.

* Online orders (except auction orders) returned to the Club with a receipt (order print out) will be refunded in the form of a shopping card, cash or credit to the account charged (if available in the Club of choice). Without a receipt (order print out), you will receive a refund in the form of a shopping card."

Unfortunately, my TV died on me the other night and I now want to return it.

I have documentation (March 2010 email reply from one of SamsClub.com's managers) stating: "If the return is electronic and the purchase was made before Nov 1, 2009 the return will be grandfathered in and you will be covered by the previous return policy on electronics."

I also have a screenshot of the Order Detail which reflects the Returns & Refunds policy in place at the time of purchase: "You can return any item (except jewelry and certain large merchanise) to any of our SAM'S CLUB locations nationwide. Or, if you wish to return merchandise directly, go to ORDER HISTORY in MY ACCOUNT and follow our online return process. You will receive a refund credit to the original account that was charged. Certain restrictions will apply. Please see our RETURNS & REFUNDS section for our complete return policy."

My third piece of documentation is a screenshot of a Walmart news release taken off their website announcing Sam's Club's Returns & Refunds policy change, effective 11/1/2009. Included in the announcement is the statement: "All member electronics purchases made prior to Nov. 1, 2009 will be grandfathered under the existing return policy."

This AM, I spoke to a SamsClub.com Customer Service representative about returning my TV. She called one of the Sam's Club local warehouses to inquire if they would allow me to return the TV there. She was told they would NOT ("We're not accepting returns under the former return policy", she said they told her).

I subsequently spoke with a manager at Sam'sClub.com who told me she would call me back on Monday after she had had a chance to investigate the former policy ("to see if they would honor it" ... "To see if they would allow my return to be grandfathered in under the former policy").

The manager gave me her phone # and email address (ending in "xerox.com", by the way); I emailed her the aforementioned documentation re: their former Returns & Refunds policy.

Given all of the above, is not Sam's Club legally obligated to honor their former Returns & Refund policy in effect at the time of my purchase? What are my legal rights?


Asked on 2/15/14, 5:38 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Sorry, LawGuru attorneys are not permitted to answer questions that identify parties to existing or potential litigation.

Read more
Answered on 2/16/14, 9:03 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Business Law questions and answers in California