System and/or method for handling recalled product purchases and/or return/warranty requests
First Claim
1. A method of processing return and/or warranty requests at a point-of-sale (POS) location, the method comprising:
- receiving, from the POS location, at least first identifying information for an item presented in connection with a return or warranty request from a consumer who previously purchased the item;
determining, using at least one processor of an electronic registration (ER) system, whether the item qualifies for the return or warranty request based on data stored in an ER database;
when it is determined that the item does not qualify for the return or warranty request based on data stored in an ER database including the item'"'"'s original sales date;
determining, using at least one processor, whether the item is likely subject to a recall, comprising;
first using the first identifying information, comprising a non-unique but narrowing identification mark to determine if it the item is likely subject to a recall,then using a unique identifier of the item, the unique identifier comprising a combination of UPS and serial number, or an EPC of the item, andwhen it is determined that the item is subject to the recall, sending an override instruction to the POS location; and
,when it is determined that the item qualifies for the return or warranty request based on data stored in an ER database;
determining, using at least one processor, whether the item is likely subject to a recall; and
sending to the POS location modified terms and/or conditions to be used to determine if the return or warranty request is permitted.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Certain exemplary embodiments described herein relate to the field of electronic registration (ER) of purchased products and, more particularly, to improved electronic registration techniques purchase-side and/or return-side handling of recalled items. Certain exemplary embodiments on the purchase-side may help to filter-out products that have recalled been before they are purchased. Certain exemplary embodiments on the return-side may help enable recall return overrides, thus facilitating the acceptance of recalled products even though they might not qualify under an original return/warranty policy. Advantageously, more and more recalled products may be filtered out of circulation through the use of purchase-side and/or return-side recall watch list checking techniques of certain exemplary embodiments. Such purchase-side and/or return-side recall watch list checking may be performed together with or separate from electronic registration techniques in different exemplary embodiments.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of processing return and/or warranty requests at a point-of-sale (POS) location, the method comprising:
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receiving, from the POS location, at least first identifying information for an item presented in connection with a return or warranty request from a consumer who previously purchased the item; determining, using at least one processor of an electronic registration (ER) system, whether the item qualifies for the return or warranty request based on data stored in an ER database; when it is determined that the item does not qualify for the return or warranty request based on data stored in an ER database including the item'"'"'s original sales date; determining, using at least one processor, whether the item is likely subject to a recall, comprising; first using the first identifying information, comprising a non-unique but narrowing identification mark to determine if it the item is likely subject to a recall, then using a unique identifier of the item, the unique identifier comprising a combination of UPS and serial number, or an EPC of the item, and when it is determined that the item is subject to the recall, sending an override instruction to the POS location; and
,when it is determined that the item qualifies for the return or warranty request based on data stored in an ER database; determining, using at least one processor, whether the item is likely subject to a recall; and sending to the POS location modified terms and/or conditions to be used to determine if the return or warranty request is permitted. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An electronic registration (ER), comprising:
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an interface configured to receive at least first identifying information for an item presented by a consumer in connection with a return or warranty request at a from the point-of-sale (POS) location; an ER database storing information concerning return and/or warranty information for a plurality of products; and at least one processor configured to; determine whether the item presented in connection with the return or warranty request qualifies for the return or warranty request based on data stored in the ER database including the item'"'"'s original sales date; when it is determined that the item does not qualify for the return or warranty request based on data stored in an ER database; (a) determine whether the item is likely subject to a recall after consulting a recall watch database storing information identifying products subject to recall, wherein such determination comprises; first using the first identifying information, comprising a non-unique but narrowing identification mark comprising a master serial number or a serial number mask to determine if it the item is likely subject to a recall, then using a unique identifier of the item, the unique identifier comprising a combination of UPS and serial number, or an EPC of the item, and and (b) cause an override instruction to be sent to the POS location when it is determined that the item is subject to the recall; and when it is determined that the item qualifies for the return or warranty request based on data stored in an ER database;
(a) determine, using at least one processor, whether the item is likely subject to a recall, and (b) send to the POS location modified terms and/or conditions to be used to determine if the return or warranty request is permitted. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A recall watch system for processing an item presented for purchase at a point-of-sale (POS) location, comprising:
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an interface configured to receive at least first identifying information for the item from the point-of-sale location; a recall watch database storing information regarding a plurality of items subject to recall; an electronic registration (ER) database storing information concerning return and/or warranty information for a plurality of products; and at least one processor configured to; determine whether the item is likely subject to a recall based on the information stored in the recall watch database, wherein such determination comprises; first using the first identifying information, comprising a non-unique but narrowing identification mark comprising a master serial number or a serial number mask to determine if it the item is likely subject to a recall, then using a unique identifier of the item, the unique identifier comprising a combination of UPC and serial number, or an EPC of the item, cause an instruction to be sent to the POS location when it is determined that the item is subject to recall, and allow the purchase when it is determined that the item is not subject to recall, wherein the instruction indicates that return and/or warranty terms and/or conditions of the item are to be altered upon the purchase of the item compared to a situation in which the item were not subject to recall and updating the ER database with the altered return and/or warranty terms and/or conditions for the item. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification