2008 Woodie Awards
Staff Editorial: Bookstore return policy unacceptable
Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: Opinion
Kirkwood Community College students may be in for a surprise if they attempt to return a textbook purchased at the Kirkwood bookstore at this point in the semester. The bookstore enforces a policy that is not only extreme but would be unacceptable at any similar retail business.
The bookstore has a policy that doesn't allow students to return books after a certain date, which makes sense at the beginning of the semester simply because the bookstore cannot alow students to return books for classes they dropped.
However, if students purchase books beyond the proverbial "point of no return" they cannot bring them back under any circumstances because the no return policy still rings true.
Even if a student went into Kirkwood's bookstore today to purchase a textbook to replace one they lost, they are taking a financial gamble. If they find said textbook the following day they will not be able to return their newly purchased replacement book even if it is still in the bag with the receipt.
Currently, the only state and federal legislation to help protect consumers from unwise purchases is the Cool Down Rule which is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and the state level equivalent which is almost a carbon copy known as the Door to Door law.
Both pieces of legislation give consumers the ability to return items sold to them if the location where the item was purchased was a non-permanent store front or it was sold at an individual work, home or dorm.
With the absence of any legal alternatives students are simply going to have to stick with whatever purchases they make from Kirkwood's bookstore unless the needed change to the return policy takes place.
Textbooks are already one of the biggest costs to post-secondary education. The increasing price of tuition and the decreasing mobility of textbooks for resale due to the new trend of customizable textbooks only add to it. Students should not have to worry about whether they should wait for their lost books to resurface.
The Kirkwood bookstore is a business and as a business it should have a return policy comparable to other businesses. The policy needs to be changed because students should be allowed to return a textbook one day after purchase if it is unused and accompanied with a receipt.
The bookstore has a policy that doesn't allow students to return books after a certain date, which makes sense at the beginning of the semester simply because the bookstore cannot alow students to return books for classes they dropped.
However, if students purchase books beyond the proverbial "point of no return" they cannot bring them back under any circumstances because the no return policy still rings true.
Even if a student went into Kirkwood's bookstore today to purchase a textbook to replace one they lost, they are taking a financial gamble. If they find said textbook the following day they will not be able to return their newly purchased replacement book even if it is still in the bag with the receipt.
Currently, the only state and federal legislation to help protect consumers from unwise purchases is the Cool Down Rule which is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and the state level equivalent which is almost a carbon copy known as the Door to Door law.
Both pieces of legislation give consumers the ability to return items sold to them if the location where the item was purchased was a non-permanent store front or it was sold at an individual work, home or dorm.
With the absence of any legal alternatives students are simply going to have to stick with whatever purchases they make from Kirkwood's bookstore unless the needed change to the return policy takes place.
Textbooks are already one of the biggest costs to post-secondary education. The increasing price of tuition and the decreasing mobility of textbooks for resale due to the new trend of customizable textbooks only add to it. Students should not have to worry about whether they should wait for their lost books to resurface.
The Kirkwood bookstore is a business and as a business it should have a return policy comparable to other businesses. The policy needs to be changed because students should be allowed to return a textbook one day after purchase if it is unused and accompanied with a receipt.
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