On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 23:28:50 GMT, Lordy
wrote:

On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 15:38:16 +0100, bigbrian wrote:

I know many dozens of successful businesses who happily give refunds
without proof of purchase

SVP will unsually know your name and have your account details so they
know you've bought what you said you've bought. They still have enough
'proof' to safeguard against me 'cold-calling' them and saying a batch of
imaginary discs I've never bought before dont work.
Ie they simply check the order from their end.

Other people might remember you buying something in person, and happily
take that as proof But obviously that doesnt scale well!

I recently had to contact them and tell them that the spindle of 100
DVD-Rs I'd bought had arrived with the spindle damaged (the discs were
OK). Sure, they knew I'd ordered it from them, and I'll agree that a
spindle isn't a high value item, but they sent me a replacement,
packaged fantastically to prevent a repeat, without requesting the
return of the damaged item, or even any proof of the damage.

Back in the days when I used to buy from Tekheads (not since they were
taken over and moved) I bought the wrong length IDE cable for a build
I was doing (urgent job). Tekheads sent me a replacement cable,
without charge, on the understanding that they would get the original
back within a few days.

Most enlightened companies these days accept that the cost of getting
ripped off by a few customers trying it on is far outweighed by the
benefits of happier customers and PR

Brian