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Two-thirds of consumer electronic products returned to retailers are in working order. Another 27 percent are returned due to buyer's remorse. Only five percent are actually defective. This giant disconnect between expectation and reality emerged in a report by the research firm Accenture, in a study entitled Big Trouble with "No Trouble Found" Returns.

The study makes suggestions on how to prevent returns and how to process them more cost effectively. On the prevention side, it recommends "improvement in design, packaging and documentation," "setting customer expectations and providing proper consumer education," and "providing important after-sales support as well as important accessories which are frequently overlooked." Hey Apple, how about a supplied AC adapter for my iPod? (I just had to work that in there.)

On the returns processing side, Accenture recommends that manufacturers "decouple return and repair processes" to trim waste and redundancies, concentrating on "greater needs-based segmentation." See executive summary (PDF).