by Stewart Rutledge

Your stuff breaks, wears out, loses pieces, or just disappoints you quite often. What do you do with the pair of glasses you sat on or the electric toothbrush that died a month after its warranty's up? Most likely you throw it away.


Now, you could lie to warranty departments about the way your stuff was damaged. ("Did I drop my phone? Of course not! Craziest thing... I opened it and the screen just started dripping water."). But, barring that method, there is a completely honest way to still get something for your damaged stuff: send it back.

Rather than just sending your broken stuff to a landfill, pack it up and ship it back to the manufacturer with a letter asking for a new one. You will be amazed by the results. There are no guarantees with this method, but you definitely won't get a replacement if you throw the product away. This method gets rid of the product just as much as throwing it away does, but it gives a human being at a real company a chance to demonstrate just how much they stand behind their products. You'd be surprised how many will. A squeaky wheel gets oiled. It works, and the trick is all in the letter.


Tailor your letter to the specific company and situation and give them a reason to help you out. If you want a great primer in persuasive writing, check out Dale Carnegie's famous How to Win Friends and Influence People. Despite its now cheesy title, this book has it right. Write your letter with the company and a human being in mind. In the end, pure, unadulterated honesty with companies can have a huge effect. Oftentimes, all you've got to do is ask.

Say you've got a broken product that's out of warranty that just flat out should not have broken. A great example was a $90 invisible fence collar that both of my dogs wear. These collars are ridiculously expensive for what they are (about the size of George Costanza's wallet), but, without one, my dog will probably be chewing on the tires of the nearest moving vehicle.

So I bought two collars with the system initially, wincing at the total price, but very happy with the performance. Eight months down the road, collar one goes out (six month warranty period). I buy a new one because I'm willing to pay $90 for my dog's safety. Three months later, collar two goes out. Now this is getting old, but I buy yet another collar.

But, this time I don't just throw away the broken collar. I take all that frustration with these expensive, apparently disposable collars and put it in a letter. I take thirty seconds to look up the address of the company on the internet, and I send the collar and the letter back to the company... total cost: $2. In the letter, I told the company that if they didn't want to do anything about their poor products to just throw the collar away for me. I don't want it back.


One week later I get a response from the company apologizing for the inconvenience. Enclosed I find a brand new collar, not just like the one I sent in, but an upgraded model which has worked fine ever since. Rather than just throwing the collar away, I spent ten minutes writing a letter and $2 on shipping. Result: free, upgraded product with the added benefit that I've vented my frustration and been productive in the meantime.

This is one of the easiest situations I've faced, but I've had success with this method even when I was completely at fault. I had a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses, and I sat on a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses. Thus, I now had a pair of broken Ray Ban sunglasses. A friend of mine broke his glasses at the same time, so I asked him if I could have them. In about ten minutes, I wrote Ray Ban a letter and said little more than, "Ray Ban is great. I love your glasses. I sat on these, and I have no excuse. But, will you please do me a favor and replace these at no cost in return for my loyalty?" Two weeks later two brand new pairs of Ray Ban sunglasses arrived in my mailbox with a letter thanking me for my loyalty. Awesome.


Success with this method is not limited to just these two companies. Here's a short list of just a few things that I have sent back and what I've gotten in return:

Two pair of sat-on Ray Bans sent back... two brand new pair returned at no cost

One Cole Haan shoe (I lost the other) sent back... a letter offering me another pair of Cole Haan's at half price in return

One pair of broken Smith sunglasses (I dropped them) sent back... a brand new pair of Smith sunglasses returned at no cost with a thank you note included

Two out-of-warranty dog collars sent back... two brand new, upgraded collars returned at no cost


In addition to sending back products, with a single letter (nothing enclosed), I have received: a $150 credit for American Airlines, a $200 refund on a Lufthansa rebooking fee, a free vacuum cleaner, all sorts of upgraded shipping, a free spindle of DVD-rewritables, and $650 from a construction company when a rock cracked my windshield. Remember, these aren't legal battles. I got all of these with a short, single letter. Thirty nine cents and ten minutes of my time. It's wonderful.

No tricks, no dishonesty, all I did was tell these companies how I felt, and they responded kindly in kind. Now, I have less broken stuff and lots of replaced and free stuff.


It really is that simple, and, no, it won't always work. But, the saved money and, more importantly, personal satisfaction from just one good success makes it all worth while. After a good bit of experience using this method, here's a summary of how I handle my broken, damaged, or lost stuff:

Is it under warranty?



If so, follow the manufacturer's warranty protocol. If not, go on to #2. Is it worth ten minutes of my time?



If not, throw it away. If yes, go on to #3. Write an honest letter to the company.



Vent your frustration if appropriate or simply admit fault, but ask for a replacement at no cost. But, seriously, be honest, even if the damage is all your fault. Companies (and people) are generally so surprised at a plainly stated admission of fault that they will try to help you out of they can. Pack it up and send it off.



Get on the internet and look up the most important address you can find for the manufacturer. Avoid sending it back to the warranty houses. If you can get the CEO's address, send it directly to him. The higher the better. And, if you can't find such an address, add two minutes to your time and email someone for a good address. Let it go.



It might work; it might not. But, you've given it your best and now you can quit worrying about it. If your experience is anything like mine, you'll be getting all sorts of offers and goods in return.


Who knows what you could get? At the very least you can get rid of some stuff and give capitalism a shot, and you can get a pretty good education on the true nature of some major companies. It makes for a good story either way, and, as some very clich man once said, "The only way to ensure failure is to fail to try."

If you've got any experiences or thoughts on this completely non-failsafe method, let us hear about them below in the comments section.


Stewart Rutledge is in his final year of law school at the University of Mississippi. He's taken classes in intellectual property, cyberlaw, and international intellectual property. More of Stewart's articles are available in the Ask the Law Geek archive.