"I Have My Receipt!" Will NOT Help You In This Case.

[ralerin]

...but whining will!

(As a side note...not quite sure if this fits here or in Morons in Management. Mods, feel free to move if you wish).

Woman comes up to my register with a bag full of Easter candy and says, "I want to return this. I have my receipt." Several problems with this.

1. It's AFTER Easter. Any product returns should be for the clearance price only.

2. We're not supposed to return food according to the new policy. EVER. Don't know why. I'm thinking that it's because people can open up the bag or box, eat all except for a couple pieces and then return it for a refund because it didn't taste good or whatever.

3. She paid with a check. No returns accepted for any item paid with a check if less than 10 days have passed. (She was just barely in the 10 day limit, btw).

4. The receipt is for another Aid of Rite down the road from us, making me go "Hmm...wonder if she got rejected from there first..."

I mentally eyeroll. "Ma'am, because it's after Easter, I believe we're going to have you the clearance price for your items."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I paid FULL PRICE for those items and I expect you to refund them for the full price. I have my receipt!"

"I will double check with a manager but because these are seasonal items we will have to give you the clearance items."

Manager who comes up backs me up on this. "We cannot accept this return."

"WHY?"

"We cannot accept food returns, and any return you will get will be for the clearance price. It's part of our new policy."

"UNACCEPTABLE. I paid for these items the full price and I EXPECT full price. So what will you do about it?"

"I will double check with the assistant store manager to see what he says. Give me a moment."

In the end? Assistant Manager who is normally a decent guy bends like a pile of Jello and allows her to put the candy at the full price back on a gift card. =/

[Aethian]

Did she then decide she needed that candy at clearance price?

[Amina516]

Did she then decide she needed that candy at clearance price?

LMAO!!

Diabolical mind you have.

[Aethian]

LMAO!!

Diabolical mind you have.

I've been learning from the best.

[Kogarashi]

I can kind of understand her complaint, as with everything else that I've heard of that's gone on sale, as long as you have the receipt showing you paid the pre-sale price you get the pre-sale price as your refund.

However, after voicing my displeasure (calmly) and getting the first double-check with the manager, I would leave it at that. Fair enough, stores don't have to accept returns at all. Shame on the customer (and on the manager for caving when the whining started).

[PepperElf]

yeah but her receipt was for Rite Aid wasn't it?

[ralerin]

Pepperelf: Yes, and I work at "Aid of Rite". So she could, in theory, go into any of the many ones around here and return her candy.

[PepperElf]

Oh my bad. I thought she'd taken the product to an entirely different chain. ... which now explains why you even considered taking the item in the first place. (that had confused me a little lol)

[mdog]

...but whining will!

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1. It's AFTER Easter. Any product returns should be for the clearance price only.

2. We're not supposed to return food according to the new policy. EVER. Don't know why. I'm thinking that it's because people can open up the bag or box, eat all except for a couple pieces and then return it for a refund because it didn't taste good or whatever.

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=/

I think I agree with another reply not included in this one that the original price should be refunded with original receipt and within the limited refund time limit, but as far as returning food, I would think the reason to not allow it would be safety/health reasons more than anything else. The food item could've been tampered with or purposely poisoned before being returned. Even with something that looks sealed, somone could still poke a needle/syringe in it and contaminate it. I at least don't want to eat food I know was returned, and that is the reason why we don't accept food returns (where I work), unless the product was bad or spoiled to start with. In any case, we'd have to destroy the returned item.

[PhotoChick]

I'm kinda think the OPs company is right not to return seasonal merch for full price. I think what Kogarashi was saying about sale stuff is different. If it goes on sale, sure you can get full price back. But unless something is defective about it, get your butt down to the store before Easter, or Christmas, or whatever holiday. Why should the company lose money cause you couldn't get to the store? Because after the holiday the only way they can sell it is at a discount.

[SG15Z]

Pepperelf: Yes, and I work at "Aid of Rite". So she could, in theory, go into any of the many ones around here and return her candy.

We don't allow returns if someone bought it from another store. They have to return it to the store in which it was bought from. Why? I don't know, I just nod my head and obey like a good peon.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

We don't allow returns if someone bought it from another store. They have to return it to the store in which it was bought from. Why? I don't know, I just nod my head and obey like a good peon.

I'm thinking the reasoning there may have to do with inventory issues. If your company's inventory system is set up to keep track of items by individual SKU (or GTIN aka UPC code) then it would be like this:

Customer buys Item X at Store Y, location B. Customer (for whatever reason) decides they don't want item X and instead of returning to location B, they go to location C.

If location C accepts the return, then the item is added to the inventory of location C. If item wasn't received from warehouse by location C, then that puts the UPC number for the item as one plus whatever they should have on hand.

Another scenario: Location B and Location C don't carry all the same UPC's. Customer purchases an item at Location C that Location B doesn't carry on their shelves. Customer returns item to Location B rather than C.

This in turn will add a UPC to the inventory count of Location B that they don't have on the shelf and probably by the time of store inventory nobody will be able to account for, so again this throws off the numbers.

So it's really for the best that any item sold at that particular location be returned to the same location. Throw off the numbers for any one location too much and not only could you have a rotten inventory, but perhaps a visit from area LP to investigate.

[SG15Z]

I figured that was it, but since I had never been told the reasoning I didn't assume. For all I know there could be an entirely different reason all together. I learned a long time ago to not ask why we do things a certain way no matter how stupid.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

What's really teh suxxorZ at the swamp is when somebody returns a furniture item to our store that we don't even carry. Then we have to try and figure out how to put it out. (do we just toss the boxed item on the floor in front of furniture? Do we build it first? Do we try to make room on the carpet and then build the item?)

A couple years ago, we discontinued a particular grouping of furniture and a customer came in looking for it. We sent them to a nearby store that was still carrying it. They purchased whatever items they wanted there, and then decided they didn't want them after all. So they returned the items to my store.

If it were up to me, I'd open up the boxes, and then, when nobody was looking, cut a nice gash into them with my knife. But then again there are several things wrong with me.

[Kogarashi]

I'm kinda think the OPs company is right not to return seasonal merch for full price. I think what Kogarashi was saying about sale stuff is different. If it goes on sale, sure you can get full price back. But unless something is defective about it, get your butt down to the store before Easter, or Christmas, or whatever holiday. Why should the company lose money cause you couldn't get to the store? Because after the holiday the only way they can sell it is at a discount.

Fair enough. As I said, the customer should still be able to get the full refund if they have the receipt and it's within the return window, but I'd accept a "we can't do that, sorry" the first time it was said and not throw a fit. Especially if it was explained that seasonal merchandise was an exception. And that's where the OP's customer became an SC: when they complained until they got their way.