In a viral video, TikTokers Mason and Mai (@savingforboba), a couple known for sharing hacks with their 12,000 Followers, unveiled their latest Christmas Hack.
In the five-second video, Mai picks up an artificial Christmas Tree at a store and walking away, with a tree in hand. Text over the video reads: “Picking up my free Christmas tree thanks to the 30-day policy.”
Mason and Mai are implying that by purchasing an artificial Christmas Tree, using it, and returning it within the 30-day window of buying it, they get a free tree. By returning it within 30 days, they get their money back, thus making the tree free.
This video has 225,000 views and a hundred comments.
@savingforboba getting into the Christmas spirit 🎅 #christmas #xmas #christmastree #lifehack ♬ It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas – Michael Bublé
This hack has sparked a lot of discourse and criticism; some viewers pointed out holes within the hack.
Many questioned if the store would accept the return as the tree would be used. “You need to be able to return it in original condition though,” one shared. Others agreed, as one viewer commented, “can’t refund the tree without the original packaging or the tree in the original condition and need the receipt.”
Even folks with experience working in the stores like the one in the video shared their point of view. “As someone who works there, we can tell when people do this. Just depends on which worker u get, some will care others won’t lol.”
Other viewers expressed that many stores make Christmas items final sale. “Most places don’t allow these types of items to be returned after Christmas,” one viewer shared. Another chimed in, “Most holiday stuff is final sale, to begin with. guess it depends on the store but the ones I worked out there were no returns.”
Some viewers found the hack unnecessary, confused as to why Mason and Mai felt the need to do this every year. “Maybe buy it so you don’t have to do it again next year and u can use it for years?” one asked.
Retail workers on TikTok have backed up the notion that workers can tell when a customer returns a used item and shared stories of how they caught customers unashamedly trying to make such returns. A TikToker, Kaelin (@whatsinthekoolaid), recently shared the story of how a customer tried to return a frying pan with “food still on it,” describing it as “completely encrusted.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Mason and Mai via email.