Comments on: Rotten Grapes and New Jeans

By: Venus Doom

Venus Doom — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:07:46 +0000

I think the reason I do not return food produce (even though many times I have wanted to) is because I am not at the store every day. If I wait until I am next there again, then the food would have spoiled even more by then and I wouldnt look believable. I refuse to drive back to the store and waste my own gas and energy to take something back. But I do get cross about it.

By: Barbara W

Barbara W — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:57:18 +0000

I have definitely returned packaged items that were rotten, but I usually don’t return produce. I usually eat a one of the grapes if I’m looking to buy some… but I only buy one or two of other items if I’m not sure about the quality. If the quality is good, I’ll return to buy more. If not, well… it was a gamble that didn’t pay off.

By: Christy

Christy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:14:56 +0000

I recently had my first experience with returning food. I bought some pita bread from the A&P (now Metro I guess). Two days later all the pitas except the one I had eaten had mold on them. I took them back to the customer service counter found a different brand and completed the exchange. I did have my receipt and the lovely cashier never even batted an eye at the request. In fact there were a number of other people lined up behind me also returning items. I shop at this store all the time and I feel even more confident now since I know returns are extremely painless.

By: Taryn

Taryn — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:33:56 +0000

Oh my!

So this summer, I waved goodbye to my old corporate job and have been fortunate to work at a local business that offers my cute little northern town beautiful produce (most especially fruit).

We offer a 100% guarantee on all of our produce (which thankfully is mostly organic, and for the first time there are also a few fair-trade items!). This isn’t just guaranteed not to rot instantly, it is guaranteed to be delicious!! Each and every customer is reminded of this, and on top of that, we work on the honour system.

Even if there is one slightly weird peach in a bunch, we’ll not only replace it, but, we always over-compensate and give you extra.

Sigh.

Can you imagine how awesome it would be if you could walk into any grocery store and taste everything before you purchased it?

I am sure you all can tell that I love my job about now.

I think that it is especially important to return bad items, always. Produce, clothes (I dislike trying them on, go figure right? this has resulted in some ill-fitting items in the past), supplements, etc.

I’ve got to say though, I dislike making life more difficult for others, returning items is certainly apart of that. So, especially with food served in a restaurant I always attempt to choke it down unless it is incredibly sketchy.

Also, just one more thing to add to my novel sized comment.

I actually have lower expectations for produce that I buy in the chain stores. There is no face, or voice behind this produce. All I have to go off of is the smell, touch and the looks of it. I have no idea how long it has been sitting there for, not to mention how long it’s spent in transit, the workers surely have no idea. So I wouldn’t readily return these kinds of items due to the fact that the store is basically (silently) promising me a shit product to start out with.

I can only imagine that the cashier at Pusateri’s had died a little inside. GAAAAASSSSP, our grapes? Rotten? How dare you!! Well I never…

I fully support boycotting when faced with appalling customer service!

All right, I’m done now. I swear.

By: Alisa - Frugal Foodie

Alisa - Frugal Foodie — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:17:50 +0000

I definitely return or tell the manager if I purchased rotten produce (sometimes it isn’t convenient for me to get back to the store for a few days, and I really don’t want to hang onto the rotten food!).

What I do is before I start shopping, I talk to someone in produce and inevitably get the produce manager. They then usually let me get a replacement item and they usualy just say to tell the cashier that item is free per a damaged good; thus far no problems.

By: Meghan at Making Love In The Kitchen

Meghan at Making Love In The Kitchen — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:33:47 +0000

I am now kind of tempted to go to my local store, dig through for something that is off, buy it and return it the next day just to see what their return policy is… I’ll keep you posted!

Thanks for all your great responses.

By: Heather (be well & take care)

Heather (be well & take care) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:05:39 +0000

I have a hard time returning food, regardless of whether it’s bad or because I accidentally bought the wrong thing, because I know it gets thrown out. Most stores can’t even donate shelf stable items to food banks or shelters due to the possibility of contamination, or so I’ve been told by certain stores. When it comes to produce, I can normally make use out of some of it: bruised fruits & vegetables, mostly. There’s not much you can do about wilted or pathetic looking greens/lettuces, sadly.

I have the same issue about returning clothes, too. In fact, I had my mom return a sweater for me a few weeks because I washed it once and it was completely unraveling. I’m 23 years old and still can’t bear to argue with a salesperson!

By: nikki

nikki — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:51:45 +0000

I never have returned food. I don’t know why. My husband worked at a Trader Joe’s and he said people returned stuff all the time. I still can’t bring myself to do it.

My husband told me about this one elderly man who would come in to his store with a half eaten loaf of bread and would complain it was moldy. They’d exchange it for a new loaf. After some time, the cashiers and managers started to recognize him and they caught on that the man was just looking for a free loaf of bread every week. No more free bread for him.

By: Lynne

Lynne — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:57:24 +0000

I tend not to return produce since attempting to return a bag of shelled walnuts to the supermarket once. They smelled distinctly rancid (you know that particular off-walnut smell?). The staff at the supermarket just would not accept that they smelled off. I was made to feel like I was just trying it on, and I have never been back to that supermarket. It also put me off walnuts completely! I use cashews or pecans as a replacement in recipes now – usually works just fine lol

By: Jes

Jes — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:57:40 +0000

Oh man, ripped jeans right after you bought them would be a bummer. I returned a pair of cycling gloves to REI after I’d had them for 1.5 months and they were completely full of holes/shredded from everyday bike commuting. Luckily REI has a crazy good return policy so I didn’t feel too bad about it, but I was pretty annoyed that the gloves were such poor quality (and cost $30 or something like that).