Re: ...and no mention of ugly "cloud" management features...
"It's highly unlikely the manufacturer would ever know about returns to retailers."
I will admit that it's been a decade or so since I've sold products through retailers, and perhaps the standard procedures have changed. But they probably haven't... when I use to to do this, here's how returns worked:
Every item a customer returned would result in a charge-back to me -- in other words, the retailer is not paying for it. Whether or not the item was actually physically returned to me depended on the retailer and their standard procedures. I would usually opt not to get the physical returns if possible. Sometimes, retailers would insist on physically returning the items (at my expense). Going through those returns, I'd say that about 1/3 of them were in perfect condition.
So, at least how it worked in those days, manufacturers are absolutely aware of the number of returns, because -- at best -- they're paying for them. At worst, they're getting trucks that are physically delivering them.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
