Toby Howell

speaker

32,096 appearances 337 recordings 5 series first heard Oct 2023 last heard 11 Sep

Toby Howell’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

Trend

recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 196 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 49.

Appearances

newest first · ▶ plays the moment

Morning Brew Daily · Will AI Actually Kill Us All? & It’s True–Online Returns Are Getting Harder · 11 Sep 2026 podcast

2019, it was cut in half to 90, and now it's fallen to just 30 days. voice-verified

The reason for the crackdown, according to retailers, is fraud and abuse. voice-verified

According to a Wall Street Journal article, a small group of customers effectively treat online shopping like a rental service. voice-verified

Typical behavior from this cohort includes wearing an outfit for multiple days, then returning it, or buying holiday decorations for Halloween, then returning them as soon as spooky season is over. voice-verified

Neil, feels like this has been a battle that has been brewing for a while now. voice-verified

Customers treat free returns as a normal part of the online shopping experience, while retailers say they have to charge to avoid drowning in processing fees. voice-verified

That's why I only return things if they are three sizes too small. voice-verified

It is a very catch 22 position retailers find themselves in because yes, they feel like they're drowning in the amount of returns that they have to do. voice-verified

Yes, they feel like they need to pass on some of those uh uh fees to the customer. voice-verified

And yet, Trustpilot has done kind of a look at this and said, if you have bad return policies, it r it uh correlates with a 1.6 star decline in its five-star rating scale. voice-verified

So it is. voice-verified

Is almost existential for a retailer to have a good return policy in place because so many shoppers, it's one of the first things that they look for. voice-verified

Almost 92% say return fees affect how they shop online in some way. voice-verified

So it is absolutely one of those things that you can't just try to skirt under the rug a little bit. voice-verified

You have to be very forthcoming and often offer it for free in order to maintain the trust and the business of your customers. voice-verified

I hate returning stuff. voice-verified

I would rather wear something I hate than just go through the process of finding a box, putting a label on it, going to UPS or wherever. voice-verified

I think I'm an ideal customer for this retailer because I buy once. voice-verified

I'm like, yeah, you know what? voice-verified

I don't even like it, but I'll wear it. voice-verified

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