Bucks County Consumer Protection Director Mike Bannon says Pennsylvania law does not require stores to take returned merchandise, and that always takes a few holiday shoppers by surprise when they try to return unwanted gifts.

“It’s kind of a Buyer Beware.  You need to look and see if they have it posted.  If you’re going to purchase something ask if they have a return policy.  We’re going to get complaints from people who did not know they could not return that shirt.  You need to do the homework before you do the purchase.”

Bannon says many states have laws that at least require stores to inform customers of their return policies, and he would like to see some kind of law regulating return policies in Pennsylvania.  He says large companies that do business in many states generally expect regulation.  He appeared Thursday on the WNPV talk program Comment Please by Univest.