Lynnette Chang， who immigrated to Canada in the year of 2000， is now living in Toronto. She is running a small business importing and exporting between Canada and China.

　　Her passion and love for writing bring her to you today through Common Talk Weekly. We hope that her column will be a cultural link to Canada and will let you share the laughter and tears of new immigrants.

　　Jonathon came from Beijing as an international student and rented a room in my house. He studied film while he was with us. After he finished college, he got himself enrolled at a school in the United States.

　　We threw him a farewell party one Sunday afternoon before he finished his packing. He asked me if I knew anybody who wanted to buy a TV. He had bought one just two months ago, when it looked unlikely that he would be able to go to the USA. He was planning to travel a bit in the States before school started so he couldn’t take the TV with him. I asked him if he had tried to return it. I thought he could get more money that way - second hand it would be worth a maximum of $100 (RMB 680). He said he doubted very much that Wal-Mart would allow him to return it, since it had been nearly three months since he bought it. But based on my own experience of returning a microwave after a month simply because it was too big for the spot, I suggested that he give it a try.

　　The next time he called, he asked me if I could give him a ride to return the TV. He excitedly told me that he had summoned up all his courage to just check with the customer service representative if he could return the TV. He told the truth about why he wanted to give the TV back, and to his surprise, the representative told him that he could return it. As well as congratulating him on his new life, he told Jonathon that he could get a full refunded of $399 (RMB 2,700).

　　As Jonathon said, as a customer in Canada you really are always right. It makes you feel so good when you do the shopping since you know that if something doesn't fit, you can always return it. This is particularly true of the "big box" stores like Wal-Mart. They have an almost unconditional returns policy: you can return something for any reason within a certain time. We all believe this is one of the most important reasons for their rocketing sales figures all over the world.

　　The returns policy is one of the most important areas of management for a retailer. Big or small, all companies have their own policies. Some may have a time limit; some may charge a restocking fee. Personally, what I really like about the retailers in Canada is not only the return policy, it is the after-sale customer services. This gives you confidence when buying something like a computer because you know that there will always be somebody there who will answer the phone and offer technical support.