Sunday, June 22, 2014

Legal Shoplifting?


So, I'm sure by my blog title it's fairly obvious that I'm someone who loves a great deal on clothing. For those that are reading, I'm going to assume you love a great deal too, but just in case you haven't heard, there's a store that lets you take the clothes without paying, so long as you return them by the end of the day.

Yes, you read correctly, a store in Japan called Gu, under the Uniqlo brand, is in the trial phases of allowing customers to try their clothes out in the real world for the day. According to the article from The Wall Street Journal, you don't have to leave any I.D. or credit card information, you just bring the clothes to the register, let them know what you're taking, and then they simply trust that you'll bring them back by the end of the day to either purchase or return.

While I applaud Gu for the amount of trust they're placing in customers, a few worries come to mind. Like, forgetfulness for example. I am someone who would genuinely forget to go back to the store until they were already closed. Then I would be wanted for shoplifting, which wouldn't be fun. Some people might shoplift on purpose, or some people might have the worst day in the world and the clothing gets destroyed in a freak coffee spill from a third-story window while walking to their car. No word yet though on whether the company is going to make this permanent, but if they do, I would recommend taking down credit card information, just in case. Sometimes, you just never know what might happen when you walk out the door. Slobbery dog, slippery coffee cup, or even a torrential downpour.

What do you think about this? Would you participate in this trial period, or do you think it's too risky for the store/consumers?


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