This is actually a fraud-prevention practice to keep one person from returning too much merchandise without receipts.DonFromTexas wrote:if I had a photo ID (I guess that somehow people without a photo ID cannot have coffee pot failures).
If I understand it right (from my retail experience), it works something like this: someone can get an item illegally (steal it, use a stolen credit card, etc.) then return it for a gift card. Then they either (a) sell the gift card or (b) use the gift card to buy other merchandise, which they then return with the receipt and get cash instead of another gift card (some places).
EDIT: I searched after posting and was reminded that it's also sometimes even if you have a receipt to prevent habitual "renting" -- buying an item, using it, and returning it. AND I learned there's a service that businesses use to track this.