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Shoppers Should Know Their Rights Before the Holidays
11/20/09 - 02:15 PM

Associated Press

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Shoppers - know your rights as you head out on your holiday shopping mission. It could save you a lot of money and headaches.

That’s the advice from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, which is offering consumers some helpful tips for the upcoming shopping season.

Always check a store’s refund and exchange policy before you buy. Florida law requires retailers to give you at least a week to return merchandise as long as it’s unused and in the original box. However, the law does not apply if a store posts a sign saying all sales are final, so look for those signs.

Gift cards have become a huge industry. It’s estimated consumers spend up to $100 billion a year on those cards.

State lawmakers passed a law two years ago prohibiting retailers from imposing any fees or expiration dates on gift cards, so a card remains good as long as the store stays open. But that law does not cover the so-called general-purpose gift cards, such as Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express.

“Unfortunately because those are national companies and not affiliated with Florida, the law does not address them and so you might want to find out before you buy one of those whether or not there’s any upfront fees, any expiration dates, any carrying charges and so on and weigh that against the advantage of having an all-purpose card that you can use almost anywhere.”

“If a retailer does not have any posted sign, they are required to take it back within one week provided it’s unused and it’s in its original box, original packaging.”

McElroy also urges you to be careful when shopping online and make sure you know who you’re dealing with before you give out your credit card information, birth date or social security number.

Be a savvy shopper and use competition to your advantage. Sometimes a retailer will match or beat a competitor’s price. and of course, hold on to your receipts. That will save you headaches later if you have to make returns.