Worst thing returned at your store?

[I_Hate_SCs]

I never worked at Guest Services with returns, but one time when I was there getting my reshop items, I encountered a cat litter box that was returned with pieces of litter stuck everywhere inside. It was returned AFTER the cat **** in it! I wonder why the person returned the litter box, as it was obvious the cat didn't mind it. Even more importantly, I wonder why the guest services employee accepted the return without seeing the clumps and mountains of litter inside of it. Thankfully it didn't smell.

This brings me to this question: those who work at a returns department or have been around one, what was the worst thing (or things) you have seen returned while being there?

[Aethian]

shrimp left in a car all day in the middle of summer. why the manager allowed it I still don't know.

[Hobbs]

A shirt cut from bottom to neck. the employee who returned it (a friend of mine) said he didn't notice it. S, one of our ASs, said she saw it from outside the customer service island.

sigh...

[MiddleofNowhere]

Worst return???

Many, many moons ago, in one of my first retail jobs, I worked for a small juniors/women's dress shop.

One day, a woman attempts to return a dress that had been worn, perhaps numerous times, but the tags were still attached?

How did I know?

Clue Number One: the inside of the dress around the collar and arms, was, for lack of a better term, BLACK. But it was a bright green dress. I mean, someone either had so much FUNK on them that it rubbed off nearly black or someone wore it multiple times until it wore off black.

Clue Number Two: the tags inside the dress (still attached) were basically 'melted'. All the ink for the data of the dress (SKU, style, price) had worn off but the tag still hung there like a wilted flower.

When I asked the customer about it, she claimed the dress was purchased like that.

Yeah, right.

[Dave1982]

Postage scales that smell like marijuana (not witnessed by me; I'd have refused the return).

[Mara-chan]

A laptop that was over a year old (we have a 14 day return policy), missing keys, cracked screen and was apparently left in a garage since it was full of dirt and bugs.

That's what happens when you have a butt-munch electronics lead who lies to customers and tells them we'll fix their computer 'no matter what happens to it.'

[I_Hate_SCs]

Clue Number One: the inside of the dress around the collar and arms, was, for lack of a better term, BLACK. But it was a bright green dress. I mean, someone either had so much FUNK on them that it rubbed off nearly black or someone wore it multiple times until it wore off black.

That is disgusting! I could understand a white 'buildup' under the armpits for deodorant being on it, but black? What could it be? Maybe I don't want to know!

[blas]

I didn't see many returns at the grocery store because I never worked the service desk, but at the Deb shop right after homecoming, a girl tried to return a dress that wreeked like pot and cigarettes. Too bad that the girl forgot to read the tag and heed the associate's warning when she bought the dress that special occasion dresses were NON returnable!

[Firecracker]

Oh Lord. Where do I begin? When we reopened right after Katrina one of my team members returned a mini fridge that wasn't ours but in the box of one of ours..it had clearly gone through katrina. It stunk to high heavens..it was rusted..you could see the water line...it was just so, so, so, so, disgusting. I discovered it. I went to tape the box up and it just fell on out. I was like and asked "who in the world returned this b/c it sure wasn't me!!!".

This was me doing this return. A guest was returning a box of chocolates b/c they were melted. I looked at her receipt and saw they were bought in another state which made me suspicious. So I questioned her on it...she said that she bought them there..packed them in her suitcase and drove through all the states between us w/ the candy in her suitcase..in that heat (it was summertime..and summertime in my state is like entering hell..it gets that hot..not to mention the humidity)..and the suitcase never left the car..so that box of candy sat in there in the heat. Hence it being melted. So I rejected her return. She asked for a manager b/c she said she bought it that way. Right. So a manager came and she told him that she bought it that way and I added the rest of the story. The manager told her there was no way we could return that and she'd have to return it to the store she got it from b/c it would be up to them. only they would know if they got a shipment of melted candy. but i'm betting it's her fault.

since that day our policy has changed that now we have to return food no matter what. So I have had guests return milk that they drank most of but now it's expired..even though they bought it long before it expired and drank most of it..but now it's bad. it's bullshit.

Then there are the guests who've tried to return used blenders that weren't even ours. But in the boxes of ones we sell. Claiming it was like that when they bought it. my ass.

I still think the Katrina mini fridge was the worst. considering what was in that flood water. probably every disease known to man. i felt i needed a mask to deal w/ that thing. and in fact i got one to deal w/ that thing. i would have felt better in a body suit.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Probably the Xbox 360 with the roaches inside...

Manager told dude to get the crap out our store with his infestation.

[BethB]

A "laptop" that contained inside the box a gallon jug of hersheys and 2 large cans of Spaghetti-O's. I didn't do the return but I totally laughed my butt off. Sadly I was the only one who thought it was funny. C'est la vie.

Several dropped, broken, and soda coated cameras from one guy. I wrote about said stupid guy a while back. Yeah he tried to return yet another camera he claimed stopped working(all soda coated...wonder why it didn't work) and claimed he could return the camera "no questions asked" within 30 days. Uh....no. We have basically told him it is at our discretion if we take his returns and that this will be the LAST camera we will take back from him. Thank goodness. It was getting annoying tellling this guy one thing but he hears something different. It was like he was making up his own return policies regardless of how many times we said "no, it's like this..." Selective hearing at its best.

[SG15Z]

packeged noodles with bugs crawling around inside. it hadn't even been open yet!

[fireheart]

Worst thing returned....a tub of cream that had clearly gone off big-time. How do I know?
Because I had to do stock duty later and it got in EVERYTHING! We had to dump a few things due to it being covered in the off-cream and the entire trolley stank.

[KabeRinnaul]

packeged noodles with bugs crawling around inside. it hadn't even been open yet!

Similar story, but I was the one returning it. Got a loaf of bread a few years ago at a pharmacy chain, took it back to the dorms, and noticed there were these black specks inside. I figured they were just burnt crumbs off of a machine or something and let it go. Had a couple sandwiches.

Then saw a couple ants on the floor. Mashed them with a bottle of soda but didn't give it too much thought, aside from thinking it was odd since I was on the 10th floor of the dorms and we rarely had bug problems. Then I noticed the little black specks in the bag moving around.

Turns out ants got inside at some point in the process, then went unconscious from oxygen deprivation after the bags were sealed. After I took it back, the manager went to the back with me and looked through the loaves of bread, and about half of that particular variety had the ants inside.

But all the ones with ants were white bread, so I just traded the one I had for a loaf of wheat and went back to campus.

[PossJB]

Vacuum cleaner purchased six months prior and well used. Returned because it stopped working.

Pair of children's shoes that had been well-worn and were falling apart. "Should have lasted longer."

Clothing with stains and pet fur.

Clothing with various scents such as smoke, dog, cat, cologne, and perfume. Most unusual scent was a bag of clothes that smelled of pickles.

Worn undergarments (mostly women's). To ease your minds, we damage undergarments out if we even think of suspecting they were worn.

.5 carat diamond solitaire exchanged for a ring of equal original value one week short of one year after the original purchase. Diamond contained an inclusion she had not noticed for the previous eleven months, and the setting was becoming loose. Ring was tarnished and did not look well cared for. One of the few transactions I refused to perform (and had my decision backed up by LP and one of our managers). Store manager had exchange done the next day.

In case you're curious, my store's motto is, "Yes, we can!" I tend to translate this to, "Sure, why the hell not?" in my mind.