I was thinking about a couple more things last night regarding cultural differences.
1) Gift Receipts
I asked one of my friends if we should include a gift receipt in a gift for a friend the other day and they looked at me as if I had two heads. After I explained what one was, they remarked that that isn’t done here. There is, apparently, a market for gift exchange (somewhere except I have no idea where). Additionally if you get a gift you have the same of or have no desire for, people don’t return it, they might try to regift it or, in rarer cases, tell the gift giver, because it’s the thought that counts. I get that, I do, but I also get that the person, the gift giver, wants to give the gift receiver something they truly want, shouldn’t they want to make sure the person gets that?
2) Returns
To start with, the US has a much more expansive return policy than here. For example, I could return my pair of tights or nail polish bottle or lipstick if, upon returning home, I find I have the exact same by accident. Not the case here, not to mention I have no idea where I would even find a return counter to do this. Perhaps you can return at the normal registers, but I don’t even know because it’s not really done here. For some items, due to hygienic reasons, you cannot really return here and are mostly rejected. But for example, I bought hair styling wax the other day and came home to find it had two gigantic finger holes in it from someone else! If hygiene is a concern, which it should be, there should be assurances to the quality. Such as a seal or sufficient watchfullness of staff to make sure that such a thing doesn’t happen. I think it’s just a cultural thing. In the US the idea, the customer is always right, may just not fly here.