Renting GPSr

[+Nighthawk700]

I took a family (my neighbors) out Geocaching this past Sunday for their first time. They were very excited, and the mother asked about renting about 10 GPS receivers, hiding some goodies, and having kids hunt for them for her son's birthday party/event. (goodies would be things like party favors)

 

I can't think of any place to rent, let alone in quantities like that, but figured someone here might know.

 

I'm not sure if this is the best part of the forum to put the topic. If there is a better part, please let me know.

 

Thanks!

 

Nighthawk700

[NordicMan]

Are there any boyscout camps near where you live? it might be a long shot, but if an organization like the boyscouts have GPSr's for their group you might be able to arrange borrowing them for your temporary use(?)

 

Other than that nope I can't think of any other way of getting a batch of rental GPSr's.. good luck!

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

It probably wouldn't be cheap, but Google "GPS rental." That will turn up a number of rental outfits (doubtful any will be local though). I wonder if REI rents them.

[simucal]

Many retail outlets have pretty liberal return policies.

 

I would go to Best Buy (14 day return policy-no questions) and pick up a couple lowend Etrex units. Use them for the party and who knows, you may decide to keep one of them!

 

Kids can certainly share between a couple GPS's!

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

Hmm, looks like the server ate my response...

 

Apart from the ethical issues, don't they charge a restocking fee?

[simucal]

Hmm, looks like the server ate my response...

 

Apart from the ethical issues, don't they charge a restocking fee?

 

No, they don't.

 

I started Geocaching with a friend a few months ago. I wanted to quickly get a handheld GPS unit so I could partake. All they had was the yellow Etrex. I was hesitant to buy it because I hadn't done my homework. The salesguy came over and talked to me and I told him my concern. He said not to worry about it, that they had a 14-day no questions asked return policy and it wasn't a-typical for customers to buy a product to test it out and see if they liked it.

 

While I did like my Etrex, I returned it because I figured I was going to out grow it fast enough to justify upgrading early.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

You got lucky then...

 

"Restocking Fee

A 15% restocking fee will be charged on opened notebook computers, projectors, camcorders, digital cameras, radar detectors, GPS navigation and in-car video systems."

 

Source

[NordicMan]

Hmm, looks like the server ate my response...

 

Apart from the ethical issues, don't they charge a restocking fee?

 

No, they don't.

 

 

Well.. Sears does (now) I work for Sears and they had no choice because it was costing the company so much money when people would buy & return products, especially electronics. It was particularly crazy how in the weeks prior to the Superbowl there would be a flurry of sales of big screen TV's. Good right? Nope,, most got returned within a week after the game

 

Call it what you will,, but deliberately buying something that you know you WILL be returning,, isn't nice

[photomankc]

It's dishonest as it can be. It's one thing to have a satisfaction return policy that allows you to test something out and return it and use that. It's another completely to use the store as a means to borrow goods for a day or two's use and pay nothing knowing full well you never intended to try and be satisfied.

Edited July 15, 2009 by photomankc

[simucal]

It's dishonest as it can be. It's one thing to have a satisfaction return policy that allows you to test something out and return it and use that. It's another completely to use the store as a means to borrow goods for a day or two's use and pay nothing knowing full well you never intended to try and be satisfied.

 

Well, from the above posts it looks like you will be paying something: the restocking fee. If the etrex costs about 105.00 after taxes then you are looking at about a $15.00 per unit fee.

 

I'd say I agree, if you have no intention what-so-ever of keeping the item then it is probably dishonest, even if it is allowed by the return policy.

 

However, if you are unsure on an item I would consider it perfectly acceptable to buy it, use it, make your decision and return or keep based on your experience with it.

[photomankc]

However, if you are unsure on an item I would consider it perfectly acceptable to buy it, use it, make your decision and return or keep based on your experience with it.

 

Agreed.

[+Nighthawk700]

Knowing her, the "buy and return" wouldn't be something she'd do anyway, except maybe one to see if she wanted it. And I'm not aware of any Boy Scout camps in the area. (do Boy Scouts do Geocaching? I did orienteering in the scouts... 25 years ago!)

 

I'll check our local REI and similar type stores. Even if they don't rent, maybe they'll know of someone who does.

 

Thanks.

[+TotemLake]

Many retail outlets have pretty liberal return policies.

 

I would go to Best Buy (14 day return policy-no questions) and pick up a couple lowend Etrex units. Use them for the party and who knows, you may decide to keep one of them!

 

Kids can certainly share between a couple GPS's!

I have serious issues with this suggestion.

 

Stores expect reasonable issues with returns on purchases and not be treated as a rental shop.

[simucal]

Many retail outlets have pretty liberal return policies.

 

I would go to Best Buy (14 day return policy-no questions) and pick up a couple lowend Etrex units. Use them for the party and who knows, you may decide to keep one of them!

 

Kids can certainly share between a couple GPS's!

I have serious issues with this suggestion.

 

Stores expect reasonable issues with returns on purchases and not be treated as a rental shop.

 

While these are your own personal feelings towards this, it doesn't really match reality in terms of their return policy.

 

In legal terms, there is no mention of "expect reasonable issues with returns". It is a 14 day "no questions asked" return policy. There are no provisions or special cases, no hinting at needing the item to be defective or even unhappy with it. They even ask you, "Is the item defective?" during the return process because this effects whether or not the item is returned to the manufacturer or stays inhouse. An acceptable answer to that question is "no, it works fine." One of most large retailers major selling points towards attracting customers is their liberal return policy.

 

So while you, yourself, might have personal qualms about the ethics behind returning a working item their policy doesn't back you up. If they "expected reasonable issues" then all returns would be limited to defective items.

 

The only discouragement towards returning certain items is the 15% restocking fee outlined above.

Edited July 16, 2009 by simucal

[simucal]

With all that said, I agree with you both:

 

Only purchase an item you have at least a reasonable expectation of keeping.

[+TotemLake]

Many retail outlets have pretty liberal return policies.

 

I would go to Best Buy (14 day return policy-no questions) and pick up a couple lowend Etrex units. Use them for the party and who knows, you may decide to keep one of them!

 

Kids can certainly share between a couple GPS's!

I have serious issues with this suggestion.

 

Stores expect reasonable issues with returns on purchases and not be treated as a rental shop.

 

While these are your own personal feelings towards this, it doesn't really match reality in terms of their return policy.

 

In legal terms, there is no mention of "expect reasonable issues with returns". It is a 14 day "no questions asked" return policy. There are no provisions or special cases, no hinting at needing the item to be defective or even unhappy with it. They even ask you, "Is the item defective?" during the return process because this effects whether or not the item is returned to the manufacturer or stays inhouse. An acceptable answer to that question is "no, it works fine." One of most large retailers major selling points towards attracting customers is their liberal return policy.

 

So while you, yourself, might have personal qualms about the ethics behind returning a working item their policy doesn't back you up. If they "expected reasonable issues" then all returns would be limited to defective items.

 

The only discouragement towards returning certain items is the 15% restocking fee outlined above.

Ok, so here is another personal opinion. It says a lot about a person that would do something or encourage the use of return policies for what amounts to an illicit rental and then find ways to justify it because of the no questions asked policy. It brings to bear that person's sense of ethics. I wouldn't trust an alliance with that same person. That's just my opinion. Take it for what it's worth.

[simucal]

Ok, so here is another personal opinion. It says a lot about a person that would do something or encourage the use of return policies for what amounts to an illicit rental and then find ways to justify it because of the no questions asked policy. It brings to bear that person's sense of ethics. I wouldn't trust an alliance with that same person. That's just my opinion. Take it for what it's worth.

 

I'm not sure illicit means what you think it means. Quite on the contrary, it isn't unlawful or even publically discouraged to purchase an item and return it without it being defective or even unsatisfied with it. It is fully within their written return policy to allow such things.

 

It would be a trivial thing to limit returns to defective items only, but they choose not to because there is a business case not to.

 

You are imposing your own moral guidelines into a system that already has a set of clearly defined rules. So don't get upset when someone chooses to operate outside your personal rule set but still within the rules of the company's return policy.

 

I hope we can still have an alliance.

Edited July 16, 2009 by simucal

[+TotemLake]

GPS rentals

Google is your friend

Edited July 16, 2009 by TotemLake

[+TotemLake]

Ok, so here is another personal opinion. It says a lot about a person that would do something or encourage the use of return policies for what amounts to an illicit rental and then find ways to justify it because of the no questions asked policy. It brings to bear that person's sense of ethics. I wouldn't trust an alliance with that same person. That's just my opinion. Take it for what it's worth.

 

I'm not sure illicit means what you think it means. Quite on the contrary, it isn't unlawful or even publically discouraged to purchase an item and return it without it being defective or even unsatisfied with it. It is fully within their written return policy to allow such things.

 

It would be a trivial thing to limit returns to defective items only, but they choose not to because there is a business case not to.

 

You are imposing your own moral guidelines into a system that already has a set of clearly defined rules. So don't get upset when someone chooses to operate outside your personal rule set but still within the rules of the company's return policy.

 

I hope we can still have an alliance.

 

The first two definitions apply

 

Apparently you don't get it or you wouldn't keep digging yourelf a hole justifying it.

 

That's all I'm going to say on this.

[simucal]

GPS rentals

Google is your friend

 

Now that is a useful link.

 

Only $5.95 per day on the etrex model. Which seems pretty reasonable.

 

However, they require a 5 day minimum. That brings the price to $29.75 before shipping. Their cheapest shipping option is the 3 day shipping (and you have to pay for return shipping). It brings the total to $50.10 for a single unit.

 

I'm having difficulty with the site not allowing me to place more than one unit in my cart at a time, but $50.10 seems kind of steep per unit for what will be a one day use. I'm hoping that renting multiple units would decrease your shipping from $20 per unit to something more reasonable, but I can't tell.

 

At these prices I would still strongly consider purchasing a couple $99 etrex models and looking towards keeping them for future geocaching adventures.

Edited July 16, 2009 by simucal

[NordicMan]

The only discouragement towards returning certain items is the 15% restocking fee outlined above.

 

You do realize most stores can't re-sell a returned item as *new* anymore, even if there is nothing wrong with it. They'd have to sell it as "open box" at a reduced cost or possibly stick it in the clearance bin again at a reduced cost. In some cases returned items broken or not needs to be sent back to the manufacturer for them to verify everything is OK with the unit before it can be resold. Also they need to verify everything is still in the box including simple stuff like wrist lanyards & batteries that often go missing, which the next purchaser would be quite upset if they were not there..

 

It also costs the store $$ for employee salaries and overhead to buy-then-return-then-repackage-then-resell an article. Don't think for a moment that the 15% restocking fee is a ripoff "pure profit" for the store.

[simucal]

The only discouragement towards returning certain items is the 15% restocking fee outlined above.

 

You do realize most stores can't re-sell a returned item as *new* anymore, even if there is nothing wrong with it. They'd have to sell it as "open box" at a reduced cost or possibly stick it in the clearance bin again at a reduced cost. In some cases returned items broken or not needs to be sent back to the manufacturer for them to verify everything is OK with the unit before it can be resold. Also they need to verify everything is still in the box including simple stuff like wrist lanyards & batteries that often go missing, which the next purchaser would be quite upset if they were not there..

 

It also costs the store $$ for employee salaries and overhead to buy-then-return-then-repackage-then-resell an article. Don't think for a moment that the 15% restocking fee is a ripoff "pure profit" for the store.

 

I'm not sure what part of my post you think suggests that I think that the 15% restocking fee is a ripoff. I don't say that anywhere.