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L.L. Bean just made a drastic cut to its legendary return policy

In a letter to customers, L.L. Bean announced it will change its lifetime "satisfaction guaranteed" warranty to cover one year only.

  • L.L. Bean is scaling back its
  • Previously, customers could bring back items bought at L.L. Bean's stores and online any time they felt it didn't live up to their expectations. The return policy covered the full lifetime of the item.
  • Now, items will only be covered for one year.
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One of customers' favorite things about shopping at L.L. Bean has changed overnight.

The famous "100% satisfaction guaranteed" return policy is no more. It used to be that customers could bring back items bought at L.L. Bean's stores and online any time they felt it didn't live up to their expectations. The guarantee covered the item's full lifetime.

Now, the policy extends for one year only. After that, customers can only return an item if it proves defective. In another change to the policy, customers will also now need to provide a proof of purchase for a return or exchange.

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Customers who purchased items before today can still return items after a year, so long as they can provide a proof or purchase for the item.

L.L. Bean's was one of the most generous return policies of any store in the US. It allowed customers to exchange any item for a replacement if the customer was unhappy with it in any way, with no questions asked, no matter how old the product was.

L.L. Bean relayed the news to customers in the form of an emailed letter from Shawn O. Gorman, the company'sexecutive chairman and

In the letter, Gorman wrote that it was people who took advantage of the generous return policy that forced the company's hand.

"Increasingly, a small, but growing number of customers has been interpreting our guarantee well beyond its original intent. Some view it as a lifetime product replacement program, expecting refunds for heavily worn products used over many years. Others seek refunds for products that have been purchased through third parties, such as at yard sales," Gorman said. "Based on these experiences, we have updated our policy."

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The company did not specify what would qualify as a defective product after the one-year period was up — only that they must be defective due to materials or craftsmanship.

L.L. Bean also outlined a number of rules regarding when it will not accept a product under any circumstances — even within a year. Those are:

The decision has been a long time coming for L.L. Bean, as it first began reviewing its policy a year ago. Business Insider tested the policy and found it lived up to the hype.

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