^^ Contradiction
Well reply 48... that is a big contradiction... which is not even the root of the problem. On one hand you claim appliance quality is higher today, yet one sentence later admit appliances are getting cheaper and cheaper? Hmmm...
Consumers return appliances because they suck at executing their most basic task. Washers don't wash clothes, dishwasher don't wash or dry dishes, dryers don't dry, refrigerators don't preserve food, ovens don't cook, microwaves don't reheat, vacuums don't remove dirt, toaster don't toast, ect.
Of course any reasonable person will demand a refund for a non peforming product regardless of the payed price. Lowes is most likely, like to many institutions in America, responding reflexively. They see a pattern of people returning appliances en mass so clueless managers assume customers are merely to dumb to use return policies responsibly simply apply binaryy logic to detour the problem. Logic along the lines of 'If we prohibit returns, then returns will stop'. Not realizing that the customers' behavior isn't the problem but rather a symptom of manufacturers selling severely deficient appliances that aren't even worth half the selling price.
On the other hand appliances like the Sharp microwave I recently purchased which outperforms every other microwave on the market has a "customer usually keeps this item" tag in its listing. There is no need to return an appliance that actually does its job.
Further the reviews for this oven prove that a well designed no nonsense BOL machine will meet customer satisfaction more often than expansive exotic gimmicks. When built to the laws of physics with the correct math applied an appliance will inherently do everything to perfection in its most basic rudimentary operation than the most complex features supposedly do. Ie, there is no need for turn tables, defrost settings, moisture sensors, microphones, fuzzy logic, magnetron cycling, convection fans, heating elements, LCD displays, inverters, ect, ect when the oven is actually engineered to reheat food.
