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Washington -- Darlene Salerno considers herself a loyal customer of the Express clothing chain, shelling out roughly $2,000 for its trendy outfits each year. On a recent shopping trip, she bought a tank top, a button-down shirt and some khaki pants, but realized when she got home that she had similar items in her closet. So a few days later, she took them back to the store. She presented the items, the receipt and waited for her money. Instead, the saleswoman handed her a slip of paper that said 'RETURN DECLINED' and told her to call the toll-free number at the bottom for more information. She phoned and was informed her account showed 'excessive' returns. As the holiday shopping season gets into full swing, a number of major retailers -- including KB Toys and Sports Authority, according to store personnel -- are rolling out electronic systems that weigh the number of returns and exchanges a person has made, the dollar value of the items, and the dates of the transactions to decide whether a consumer should be granted another. The systems are designed to catch shoplifters and those who 'wardrobe, ' wearing clothes and then returning them for a full refund. But Salerno, a receptionist at a Manhattan financial firm, said she falls under neither category. She returns things often because she buys things often. She said she feels she has done nothing wrong -- the clothes were never worn, and the tags were still attached -- but that she was treated like a criminal. 'I'm embarrassed to go into the store,' said Salerno, 26. 'I love their clothes, but I'm afraid to shop there now.' As more personal information is collected into databases, computers have been handed increasing power to make decisions about our everyday lives. The technological systems intend to solve costly and important business problems, but the proliferation of these so-called electronic blacklists has alarmed consumer and privacy advocacy groups who say many databases have incomplete,
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