Return Merchandise Authorization

A few months ago, I bought an expensive (for what it was) piece of equipment from a certain nameless computer store on Grandview Highway near Renfrew street in Vancouver, BC. When I discovered a day or two later that I didn't actually need it, I took the merchandise back, in its box, for refund.

15 per cent re-stocking fee.

Fine. Caveat emptor. My bad. I can handle that. What I found infuriating, however, was that when my refund was calculated, it was done so from the total after taxes. I don't need an accounting ticket to know that's wrong.

Here is what I got:

Purchase Subtotal: $98.77
GST, PST: $6.91 * 2 = 13.82
Purchase Total: $112.59
Restocking Fee: $112.59 * -0.15 = -$16.89
Refund: $95.70

Rather than this:

Purchase Subtotal: $98.77
Restocking Fee: $98.77 * -0.15 = -$14.82
GST, PST: -$6.91 * 2 = -$13.82
Refund: $97.77

When I buy merchandise, the vendor collects tax on the government's behalf. If I return it, they no longer have to pay that tax. If they take their agreed-upon cut off the top, they are telling me that I don't get all of that taxed money back.

Now, $2.07 is hardly worth squabbling over endlessly, but they undeniably pocketed that difference. I'd wager that $2.07 that their accounting software has been behaving this way since it was installed, and judging the age of the machine they were doing it from, I'd say that's at least a decade. $2.07 isn't much, but when we take into account every return that has ever occurred since that software has been installed, that turns into a fair chunk of change.

Their excuse? "Sorry, that's how our system works.".