Holiday Shopping Advice From

The Department Of Consumer Protection

HARTFORD — The 2006 holiday shopping season is officially upon us. While the National Retail Federation estimates that more than 137 million people went shopping between Black Friday and Sunday, November 26, National Consumer Sentiment Survey shows that Americans intend to be cautious with their holiday spending this year. The Department of Consumer Protection is offering advice to help wary consumers protect their wallets and their sanity during and after this busy holiday buying season.

“We are all becoming more sophisticated shoppers, but as the industry constantly changes to accommodate new products and trends, we occasionally need to be reminded of the basics, as well as learn new approaches to holiday buying,” said Consumer Protection Commissioner Edwin R. Rodriquez.

The department is offering these tips for shoppers.

éRead sale ads with care.

Watch for low prices on high demand items where the ad says Quantities Limited, No Rain Checks, or Not Available in All Stores. Don’t waste precious time and fuel shopping for a super deal on an item that is just not attainable.

At the minimum, try calling the store early in the day to find out if the item you want is in stock. This may save you a trip and prevent stress.

éAsk for a rain check on sold-out items

In Connecticut, when a store a advertises an item at a specific sale price, it is expected to have that product in stock and available to customers during the sale period advertised. If the sale items sells out or is not available, for most items, the store must provide you with a rain check on request.

The store is also obliged to contact a consumer when the item is back in stock. If the store cannot honor the rain checks with 60 days, the store must offer to sell a similar or comparable merchandise at the advertised sale price — or at a lower price.

éAsk stores to match, or even beat, their competitors’ prices; many stores do this on request.

Bring the competition’s ads with you when shopping, and ask to be given the competitor’s price.

éBefore you purchase an expensive, special item, ask about sale adjustments.

If you buy an item at regular price today and it goes on sale the next week, can you get a credit or a refund for the discounted amount? What documentation will you need?

éResist the urge to buy expensive service agreements.

This holiday season, Consumers Union estimates that shoppers will spend a whopping $1.6 billion on extended warranties for laptops, flat-screen TVs, and other electronics and appliances, in most cases, unnecessarily.

Extended warranties are often a bad deal for consumers because research shows that products seldom break within the extended-warranty window (typically around three years), and when they do break, repairs often cost about the same as the cost of the warranty.

One exception this year might be a rear-projection micro-display TV. Repair costs on rear-projection televisions can be high, and these sets seem to be three times more likely to need repairs than other types of TVs, including the flat panel televisions.

Computers with less than a year of technical support might also be worth an extended warranty. However, the extended warranty typically costs about the same as the average PC repair. While laptops have higher repair rates, typical repairs cost between $100 and $400 and many of the problems occur beyond the warranty term.

éBefore buying always ask about refund and return policies.

Connecticut retailers can set any refund or exchange policies they choose, provided that they post the policy in a conspicuous place for customers to see.

If there is no return/refund notice posted, Connecticut consumers have seven calendar days to return any new, unused item to the store with a proof of purchase, and get a cash refund on a cash sale, or a credit on a credit card sale. Items that are not returnable for cash are food, perishable items including live plants, custom-ordered or custom-made products, items sold “as is” or “final sale,” items with no proof of purchase; used items, mattresses, and other items that cannot be resold for health reasons.

Since most holiday gifts are purchased well before the holidays, it may be well past seven days  when an item needs to be returned. Technically, the store is under no obligation to refund money or exchange the item, although most stores have an extended refund policy during the holiday season.

Find out the policy before you buy. If the holiday return date is not printed on your receipt, ask the sales clerk to mark and initial the return date on your store receipt.

éWatch for “Restocking Fees,” the store’s charge for returning an unwanted item to its warehouse.

These fees are commonly charged on large items like televisions and computers and are legal. If the restocking fee is high, be sure the item is really something that you or the recipient won’t need to return.

éConnecticut’s gift card law now protects consumers against cards that “expire.”

Merchants selling gift certificates or cards in Connecticut can no longer place expiration dates on the certificates, nor can they impose inactivity fees or penalties if the certificates are not used by a certain date.

éOnline shoppers should use only well-established online sellers.

éDon’t send any financial information via email.

When shopping online look for indicators that the site is secure,  like a lock icon on the browser’s status bar or a URL for the website that begins “https:” (the “s” stands for “secure”) before submitting credit or banking information.

éCheck out refund policies and delivery dates.

Can the item be returned for a full refund? If it can be returned, who pay the shipping costs or restocking fees?

Check on when an order should arrive. The law requires sellers to ship items as promised or within 30 days after the order date if no specific date is promised. Can the recipient return the gift? If so, ask that a gift receipt be included in the package.

Some retailers that sell online will allow online purchases to be returned to their local retail locations.

éKeep a paper trail.

Print and save records of online transactions, including the product description and price, the online receipt, and copies of any email exchanged with the seller.

Read credit card statements as they arrive to be on the lookout for unauthorized charges.

More shopping tips are available from the Department of Consumer Protection at ct.gov/dcp.