How to Return Virtually Anything… Without a Receipt

Whether you’ve gotten a gift you really don’t like or you’re just prone to losing receipts, returning items without a receipt can sometimes be a minefield. Here are some tips and techniques to make sure you get your money back.

Sadly, there’s no one method for getting your money back every time—your experience is going to vary from store to store, and even from customer service rep to customer service rep. The best thing you can do is prepare yourself before you go, and build up a good case if they ask you for a receipt. Here’s what you’ll want to consider ahead of time.

Return It As Soon As Possible

With a few exceptions, you’re going to get the best results the sooner to the purchase date you try and return the item. This is especially important if the store has a policy about returning items within 90 days, or some other specified period of time. If you’re after this date, however, you can try returning it without a receipt and say it was a gift—if they can’t track the purchase date, then there’s no way for them to know how quickly it was returned. Having it in the original packaging helps as well.

Be Nice and Stay Calm

This is super important. No matter how frustrated you are with the company, it’s rarely the customer service rep’s fault that you had to wait in line, or that your product was defective, or that you don’t have a receipt. In most cases, they want to be there as little as you do, and you’re going to make them want to help you a lot less if you’re rude—and since, in many cases, you’rethe one trying to go against store policy, you want them to be on your side as much as possible. Being honest is also great, but be careful it doesn’t hurt your chances of returning the item—if you knew the item was non-refundable and say so, you’re probably going to have a harder time convincing them. But letting them know you lost the receipt can be okay, if you back it up with other evidence (see below).