Our store takes anything back. Members return cans of food, boxes of chips, cases of pop, water, or other food items because they bought too much for their game, wedding, family reunion, or whatever. There is nothing wrong with the stuff, the member will even tell you that. We are not allowed to put it back on the shelf, so it's out in the trash. Why do we have to take the hit? Why can't we tell the members no to these types of returns? 350.00, the other day, back to one person because they were finished for the season and didn't need the stuff any longer.
9 replies (most recent on top)
Remember, if the member has the receipt, you cannot force a gift card on them. The return can be back to the credit or debit card used or even cash if they asked for it. Gift card is for no receipt returns. I have had managers turn down refunds of merchants that try to return out of date merchandise in their store because it did not sell.
Thanks everyone for taking your time to give a response. And to @VjZ2j5G-1ydh I know of the policy changes over a year ago with The Member Must Win program, but putting the returned items (with the exceptions listed in the program) back on the shelf didn't last long. Our manager handed us the paperwork off the wire.
Policy changed a year ago! It can go back on the floor to be resold if not opened. Crazy!!
They're not looking to help people. They're looking to get their money back.
I know many won’t care but you could always mention that it is going to be thrown out, so they may want to donate it to a shelter. It doesn’t hurt to let them know.
I think most customers don’t realize that if they bring back , even unopened, food or drinks they get thrown out. If they understood how it really works I’d bet more people would choose to donate than let it go to waste.
the things mentioned about the why of returns are true but there is a deeper more original reason. If a store rarely takes returns that gets into the public mind and make people hesitant to buy from that store but if a store gets the reputation of a true 100 percent guarantee by way of a 100 percent return policy that also gets into the public mind making people trust that store. So in order to secure that type of trust Sam started letting folks who were members of the club have access to this very liberal return policy. Many folks were won over to becoming members in the early going of the club by this policy. It may not be true today but at one time we made far more from this policy than we ever lost.
Liability issue if it is returned then resold. If it caused someone to get sick because it left the club and was tampered with in any way then returned and resold the company would be liable. So it's better to be safe than than sorry. Even though it will be most likely fine, the company can't take that chance.
Just to make the members happy so they will continue to shop there. Walmart and even Costco do it too. But you can give them a gift card instead of cash or putting it back on their card. Just start handing out the gift cards instead. I know, either way we still lose product, but at least that money will still go back towards the company. If it were my store I'd say no way, but it's not.