SYSTEM AND/OR METHOD FOR HANDLING RECALLED PRODUCT PURCHASES AND/OR RETURN/WARRANTY REQUESTS
First Claim
1. A method of processing an item return or warranty request at a point-of-sale (POS) location, the method comprising:
- receiving at least first identifying information for the item from the point-of-sale location;
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; and
when it is determined that the item does not qualify 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, andwhen it is determined that the item is subject to the recall, sending an override instruction to the POS location.
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0 Petitions
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
36 Claims
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1. A method of processing an item return or warranty request at a point-of-sale (POS) location, the method comprising:
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receiving at least first identifying information for the item from the point-of-sale location; 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; and when it is determined that the item does not qualify 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 when it is determined that the item is subject to the recall, sending an override instruction to the POS location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of processing an item presented for purchase at a point-of-sale (POS) location, the method comprising:
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receiving at least first identifying information for the item from the point-of-sale location; providing a recall watch system including a recall watch database storing information regarding a plurality of items subject to recall; determining, using at least one processor of the recall watch system, whether the item is likely subject to a recall; when it is determined that the item is subject to recall, sending an instruction to the POS location; and when it is determined that the item is not subject to recall, allowing the purchase. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An electronic registration (ER) system for processing an item return or warranty request made 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; 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; 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, 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. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. 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; 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, 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. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification