Best Buy isn't the only store that punishes shoppers for too many returns — these are all the companies that are tracking everything you return
Best Buy, Home Depot, Victoria's Secret, and other stores are tracking shoppers' returns dating back several years and, in some cases, punishing people who are suspected of abusing their return policies.
Many shoppers are unaware their returns are being tracked.
Home Depot engages in the practice to combat return fraud, which "is believed to be feeding the opioid epidemic," a Home Depot spokesman told Business Insider.
Sephora says only customers with "excessive returns" are targeted.
At least a dozen major retailers are discreetly tracking shoppers' returns and punishing people who are suspected of abusing their return policies.
Best Buy, Home Depot, and Victoria's Secret are among the many retailers engaging in this practice.
Most of these companies have hired a third-party firm, called The Retail Equation, to mine their sales data and keep a database of customers' returns to flag potentially problematic shoppers. Customers who are flagged are often barred from making future returns.
Retailers say they use the service to combat return fraud. Some critics say its raises privacy concerns, however, and dozens of shoppers have complained online about being unfairly punished by the system.
Business Insider compiled a list of all the companies that use The Retail Equation, based on information from the companies as well as recent customer complaints on social media.
Here's the full list:
*If stores that track returns are missing from this list, email hpeterson@businessinsider.com.
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