By Christine Frandsen

It was Bekah Larsen's first semester at BYU. Her friend wasn't able to sell back her American Heritage book from a previous semester, and although Larsen had already purchased the same one from the BYU Bookstore for her class, she could now use her friend's copy, or so she thought.

She made her way through the long line to return her purchase. The cashier greeted her with the question "Why are you returning this book?" Larsen gave her answer, that she could use her friend's copy, and found out she was stuck with the book due to a policy many BYU students are frustrated with.

The Bookstore's refund policy states no refunds are available for text books replaced with materials obtained from another source.

This policy, detailed and stapled to each receipt and hanging on a big yellow sign in the Bookstore and on their Web site, has been the frustration of many students since it was applied more than three years ago.

"The reason why we needed to implement that and make that a formal policy is because we found that students were using what we consider to be university resources as a crutch or lending library of sorts," said Tom Hirtzel, textbook manager for the BYU Bookstore.

Hirtzel said the policy is a direct result of the increase in Internet textbook sales. With the rise of Web sites like Half.com and eBay, the Bookstore saw an increase in the number of returns.

"In other words, students wanted to make sure they had a book, but then they wanted to go shopping for the best price," Hirtzel said. "That was causing problems for the Bookstore. We know you can find peer-to-peer sales online, and we as a Bookstore have no way to compete with peer-to-peer sales. It's like an online garage sale."

BYU's policy is unique to other colleges and universities in the state of Utah and around the country.

The University of Utah, Utah State, Southern Utah University and Salt Lake Community College have textbook return policies that are similar to one another. They require students to have a receipt and picture ID and to return the book within a designated time period.

"We don't have that policy because we don't operate under the Honor Code like they do," said Hollie Fletcher, University of Utah textbook manager. "Because we don't have the Honor Code, we wouldn't be able to enforce it."

BYU's Honor Code calls on students, faculty and staff to be honest and obey the law and all campus policies.

"I really think it's a matter of being honest in whatever you do - in our interactions with the Bookstore or anyone else," said Steven Baker, Honor Code office director.

Economics professor Mark Showalter said the Bookstore relies on the word of the student for verification of the purchase, which puts the student in an interesting situation.

"The policy acts as a tax on honesty," Showalter said. "If a student is honest and purchases a replacement product elsewhere, no refund is available. However, if the student fudges the truth a bit, the student can get a refund. Honesty is punished."

Students like Bekah Larsen, looking to save some money and maintain their integrity, are frustrated.

"In theory it is a good policy, but when you're putting it into practice it doesn't work," Larsen said. "The Honor Code is fine in backing up University policies, but when these policies are infringing on the benefits of basic economic competition, they should change the policy."

Many students are upset because they compare the policy with other retail stores, said Hirtzel.

"If their only basis for comparison is Wal-Mart or Target or Macy's, they don't understand the unique differences or understand how the university works to get the books here," Hirtzel said. "The faculty has more to do with the costs of textbooks than we do; they pick them. All we do is have a margin on books that cover our expenses."

Showalter agrees the Bookstore is different than most other stores, but in another way.

"Most stores compete for consumers not just by the prices they charge, but by the service they give, with a refund policy being an important aspect of service," Showalter said. "A more typical policy is to match a competitor's price, or to offer a money-back guarantee if a consumer finds a similar product for a cheaper price. But the Bookstore has a lot of market power given their location; they can act like a monopoly so perhaps they don't need to compete as hard as the typical retailer."

According to Hirtzel, the policy was implemented so that the Bookstore didn't have to cover the charges for ordering in a new book for a student if the one they need was in the hands of another student who was shopping around.

"I'm a university employee, and if we were ripping people off, I wouldn't be here," Hirtzel said. "We report right up through the administrative channels just like any other department. We're audited by the church auditors just like anyone else."

Josh Klein, a politics major from Centerville is another student who has run into problems with the policy.

"It's a private university through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and yet it's economically stealing from its own students," Klein said.

Hirtzel said after expenses are paid, the profit for the Bookstore per dollar is less than a nickel.

"At 3-4 percent, it doesn't take too much of an increase of additional overhead costs," Hirtzel said. "Then we're not in the black anymore. We're running a red. ... We have to cover costs, so everything we do is to lower costs as much as we can."

Hirtzel said the two biggest sources of pain at the BYU Bookstore involve two pieces of paper - a student's receipt and the refund policy.

"If a student reads their refund policy and keeps their receipt, it's virtually impossible for them to have a bad experience at the Bookstore," he said.



Copyright Brigham Young University 6 Jan 2009