HELOISE: Should returns have own areas?

Dear Heloise: Recently, I was shopping in a major department store and decided to buy some jeans that I liked (I tried them on, and they fit perfectly). I came to realize later that the pants had been purchased previously and returned, and then the store put them out for sale again. The store has a sticker system requiring that a special sticker be put on the garment for it to be returnable.

They were on sale already, but if I had noticed that they had been returned, I would have asked for an additional discount. I don’t blame the store for selling the returned pants — they were clean and in good condition. But maybe it could have a designated area for returned items — just a suggestion. The store should be upfront about what it is selling and not try to “put one over” on the consumer.

I generally am pleased with the service I receive from this store.

A Reader in Texas

Dear Heloise: Here are some handy hints for binder clips you may not be using:

Keep chip, bread and other food bags closed (my favorite use).

Secure a pair of work gloves together and place on a hook in a handy spot.

Stick a corner of a dish towel in a large clip and hang over a hook in the kitchen near the sink.

Clip bunches of paper together or a picture or postcard, and hang from a pushpin on a bulletin board.

Clip to resealable plastic bags you are going to reuse and hang on a bulletin board pushpin to air out or dry.

Emergency hair clip.

Judi, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: Hello. I enjoy your column in The Batesville (Ark.) Daily Guard.

I love the family bathroom that many retailers have added to their stores. It’s great to be able to take both of my small children into one large bathroom, instead of trying to squeeze all three of us into a stall.

What I don’t love is that they have push-button locks in the knob. There have been several times, when taking my turn on the potty that I’ve been left squawking desperately at my kids: “No! Don’t open the door! Come back over here now!”

How wonderful if these stores would also install bolt-type locks as well, up higher where busy little hands could not reach up and leave us mommies with our pants down!

A. Sutherland, via e-mail

Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate