It is a crime called "wardrobing" and Bloomingdale's is making an attempt to stop it from happening to you in the future.
It is more likely to happen with high price items like prom dresses and formal wear, but it also happens with lower priced clothing. People "buy" the clothing, wear it for whatever function they have coming up and then, once the "dinner with the new parents-in-law" is over....they return the item to the store and get their money back. ....And then you or I buy it, not knowing that it has already been worn (beyond the dressing room).
It is illegal. It is return fraud and it costs the industry an enormous amount of money each year ($8.8 billion. That is billion with a B in 2012).
Bloomingdale's new way to combat this retail crime is to attach a big black tag in a very obvious place on the clothing (in the front, near the hem, for example) which, once removed, makes the clothing ineligible to be returned.
Brilliant? Or not? What are your thoughts on this new practice of reinforcing the return policy?
