Moldy enough to return, but good enough to use...

[Dreamstalker]

So a lady comes in at 10:55 last night to try to return a 1-pound box of strawberries.

She claims they were moldy. No receipt, and there are two strawberry tops in the box with bite marks in them. I suspect she used them for whatever and then figured she'd try to get a freebie.

SC: "These strawberries were bad!"
Manager L: "Ma'am, I can't let you return this. It's empty."
SC: "But they were all moldy!"
L: "We still need to see the product. There are two tops in here that clearly have been eaten."
SC: "Those were the only good ones!"
L: "Where are the rest of them?"
SC: "They were moldy! I threw them out!"
L: "You know you have to bring us the product, not just the box." So she's done this before...

Shockingly, ASM lets her take a good package He probably just wanted to get her the hell out, but still...she was validated again.

[XCashier]

Shockingly, ASM lets her take a good package He probably just wanted to get her the hell out, but still...she was validated again.

This is why the SCs do this again and again. It's like rewarding a puppy for peeing on the carpet. They're being trained wrong!!!

[eltf177]

This is why the SCs do this again and again. It's like rewarding a puppy for peeing on the carpet. They're being trained wrong!!!

That and they learn their whines are rewarded. Thanks for raising prices for the rest of us honest folks, scammer!

[starsinthesky]

That reminds me of an article I read on the Daily Mail of people who are seriel returners.
One lady detailed plans on how she is going to return a dress from 7 years ago.

[Dreamstalker]

Thanks for raising prices for the rest of us honest folks, scammer!

And people scream about the prices going up...how I wish we were able to tell them the real reason. I once found two boxes of cereal in the service-desk returns (I had watched someone process the return) with a sell-by date of over a year ago. I showed them to Grocery Manager and he was livid that someone allowed it...we both think the SC found them in her pantry, bought two new boxes and returned the old stuff with the new receipt.

I think that barcodes should incorporate the sell date somehow; if it's more than 7 days out, no dice and only the department manager can override it.

[raudf]

Am I the only one that got squicked at the idea of that many strawberries being moldy and she still ATE the two that were "good?" I could understand it if only one or two berries were moldy, but all but two?!

So, yeah... scammer is scammy and I'd love to say that it surprised a manager gave them a new package, but I've witnessed that happening all too often. All in the name of "Get them out of my hair!"

[Dreamstalker]

Knowing that she's a 'frequent flier', I suspect that one had a brown/unripe spot that she saw as mold, she used/ate the rest and thought popping two perfectly good stems back in the box would prove her case.

Perfect example why my store needs to start actually banning people.

[Silent-Hunter]

I think that barcodes should incorporate the sell date somehow; if it's more than 7 days out, no dice and only the department manager can override it.

That's quite possible and a very good idea! All that would have to be done is add 6 (8 if you're worried about it working at the turn of next century) digits to the barcode. They might not be able to use the UPC code standard though. Maybe CODE39 would work.

I think I'll look into this.

EDIT:

Code 128 would be better.

Code 39 is low data denstiy, smaller goods would not be able to have one.

UPC is too short to have a date as well as product code.

Or a stacked barcode like PDF417 or Codeablock.

[bbbr]

I always liked being forced to take back packages of hotdogs that were inflated from being left in the trunk of a car for two weeks in the summer (admitted to by the sc) or the frozen solid poinsettias (also admitted to...) by managers who had some burning need to keep said sc's happy at all costs. I was able to refuse the giant bag of dog food though- still had the competitors sticker in it.

[Silent-Hunter]

Yeah, it really would be nice if they didn't cave.

[Dreamstalker]

How about deli meat with a purchase date (on the sticker) of over a month ago? Three slices left out of a quarter-pound package, so they obviously ate most of it, forgot about the rest and then said 'hey I can get my money back for this' (why didn't anyone check the weight?). That one wasn't even in another bag, so not fun to find in the returns cart...I swear some days I need to ask for hazmat-duty pay. No idea who processed that return, but the deli manager was pissed. I don't even know why we accept returns on to-order items.

That's quite possible and a very good idea! All that would have to be done is add 6 (8 if you're worried about it working at the turn of next century) digits to the barcode. They might not be able to use the UPC code standard though. Maybe CODE39 would work.

I don't know if certain packaging types are made in bulk and kept around though (say boxes that would only need to be folded). If that's the case, then printing templates would have to be altered to omit the barcode/UPC, and it would have to be added at the very end of the manufacturing/filling process.

[emax4]

Stores need to create a rule that they can take back any item past the 30-, 60-, or 90-day return policy, but that the customer won't get their money back for said item. The store would simply be providing a disposal service for the customer.

[cinema guy]

Stores need to create a rule that they can take back any item past the 30-, 60-, or 90-day return policy,

I foresee two problems:
1. SCs won't read the signs that explain the rule.
2. Managers will cave-in and refund them anyway.

[emax4]

I foresee two problems:
1. SCs won't read the signs that explain the rule.
2. Managers will cave-in and refund them anyway.

But that would prove that the managers can't read signs either. That being the case, the managers wouldn't have a job much longer. If manager's can't read properly, then they can't do their job properly. If the higher-ups approached the low-level staff, an appropriate response would be, "would YOU hire someone (that can't read) to a manager status? Me neither.."

[Silent-Hunter]

I don't know if certain packaging types are made in bulk and kept around though (say boxes that would only need to be folded). If that's the case, then printing templates would have to be altered to omit the barcode/UPC, and it would have to be added at the very end of the manufacturing/filling process.

That could be automated though. At the end of the day, a program would run that would incremement the date on the template. They would have the template, with a white rectangle where the barcode would go, and it would change what barcode is actually in that spot at midnight each day, automatically. With a computer it should be fairly straightforward.