WalMart Canada Return policy - grocery items

[linaka54]

OK...I have no idea where this should be posted...I did a search and returned no items dealing with the subject I need to talk about.

I bought a box of baby cereal two days ago at Walmart in Queensborough in New Westminster, BC. I bought the wrong kind so today I took the box back in (with my original cash register receipt) and was told they have changed their return policy for grocery items and they no longer do returns on any grocery items. They state it is a board of health policy. The box was in its original condition. It was Nestle and requires stuff to be torn off to open it. It was still sealed from the manufacturer. However they say they will not do a return on anything in grocery. Not soup in a can, anything in sealed boxes, nothing edible. I told them all the other grocery stores do returns, I have never had an issue with Safeway, Superstore, Save On foods or any other store that sells food products in BC and they said it is a Health Board rule. I told them I would no longer be buying food items from them then because if I make a mistake and take the wrong soup can off of the shelf they won't take it back. They agreed, they won't. After much discussion a manager did allow me to return the cereal but not for the cash I paid, onto a gift card and told me they would never do it again and then they afixed a label to the cereal saying it could not go back onto the shelf. Does anyone know if this is really a law or is it something they are making up themselves? And how come none of the other stores are following this law? I would appreciate anyone's opinions on this new policy and warn everyone of this change to the return policy... I also want to warn other Smart Canucks to beware if you shop for anything edible at Walmart...if you make an error in what you are buying, it is yours anyways!!!

[DH666]

Hmm, I did a little bit of research and found nothing in Wal-Mart's return policies. I think the return policy posted online is incomplete. I looked on the BC web site and I could not find anything there about "Board of Health" related documents. I would email Wal-Mart Canada and ask for an explanation and request info as to what board of health policy they are basing their policy on.

Sounds a little strange to me, but then, I have never returned a food item. In a way I can undertand the policy in the sense that you took the food item out of the store and anyone can "add" something to it much like the Tylenol thing that happened in the US in the "80's I think. Now we have tamper proof drug containers. I think that if someone returned a food item that was "tampered" and they put it back on the shelf and they sold it to an unsuspecting customer, they could be liable for damages if the customer gets sick or dies.

I guess in the end they are just covering their butts.

[Natalka]

I've never had that happen, but then I don't shop at WM.
Now, I haven't returned many things - just several over the years.
I've only returned/exchanged food items at our local Co-op and Safeway, but more times at Safeway - and I know at Safeway (it freaked me out when I saw her do this...), it doesn't matter what the product is, or if it's opened or not, it goes straight in the garbage right behind her at Customer Service. When I asked her about it, she said it was their policy - that things don't go back out for sale once returned.
So I suppose at WM, they just don't want to take the loss...

[Patty Smyth]

I agree that it is probably due to the fear of tampering with the product, no matter what the container is like.

[travelgeek]

that things don't go back out for sale once returned.

it's the same a store I worked at before. once an item leaves the store, it never gets returned to shelf.

[linaka54]

I can certainly understand not accepting returns on dairy, refrigerated, or frozen items but shelf items with original seals on them seems like over kill to me. And cans, sealed packages, and things with the safety packaging intact really doesn't make sense to me. You know they will take a return on medicines such as cough, cold, tylenol etc so I am having problems understanding this policy. I have never returned this other stuff but have been at customer service when others have. I did email Walmart Canada to ask what exactly this policy is and why isn't it on their return policy posted on the wall behind customer service. I see no referance to this policy on the policy on the wall there. And Walmart did used to return stuff to the shelves..I remember at Christmas, Halloween and Easter them having baskets full of returned candy and chocolates etc and seeing with my own eyes the staff push the basket back to seasonal and restock it onto the shelves... And our local Costco returns stuff that is sealed to the shelves except for parishables. Unless they too have changed but I have been there and observed an employee asking a supervisor if an item should be restocked or dumped... Now I am not in the habit of returning a lot of grocery items however on occasion something will come on sale a day or two later at Zellers or Superstore for half what I paid at Walmart and I will return the Walmart product. Not often but it does happen on occasion.

[April07]

Their return policy here in MB is not the same as you. They return foods but foods that are returned are tossed out and do not make it back to the shelf for fear of tampering.

[lekate]

At my store (Loblaws) pretty much anything perishable gets thrown out! I hate it when people buy cuts of meat or fish, then return it complaining that they got the wrong one! It's sooo upsetting because that's a huge waste in my eyes, especially with fish because there are so many problems with fisheries and populations....I always want to say no, just freeze it for another day! All frozen foods get chucked, because there's no way to know whether it was thawed out and then frozen again or what not...right? Produce is normally just damaged when it gets returned, same with cheese, other dairy or bakery, so that's not a huge deal to me...

[freeplease]

The same thing happened to me, They said it was just going to go into the garbage.

[travelgeek]

I know we're talking about grocery items here, but I just wanted to mention that if you thought that was wasteful, wait till you hear about what happens to damaged/defective items that are returned by a customer. it doesn't even have to be defective, just that the customer 'said' it was defective. or cereal boxes with a minor dent or even shipments of bottled water in the stockroom where only one bottle is damaged/missing....

[April07]

I know we're talking about grocery items here, but I just wanted to mention that if you thought that was wasteful, wait till you hear about what happens to damaged/defective items that are returned by a customer. it doesn't even have to be defective, just that the customer 'said' it was defective. or cereal boxes with a minor dent or even shipments of bottled water in the stockroom where only one bottle is damaged/missing....

Yep, that's right.

[Insane]

It seems to me the Walmarts in Ottawa had a tamper problem with powdered formula a couple of years back. The formula was taken out and replaced with powdered milk or something and put back on the shelf. Babies got sick. They did catch the person though. If I remember correctly, you couldn't tell from the outside it had been tampered with. So I can see this. It's a liability on their part.

[linaka54]

news flash...I think I have discovered why the sudden policy change at this Walmart...this is borrowed from CBC news (I hope it is OK to borrow as it is a public safety issue apparently)

Last Updated: Monday, August 24, 2009 | 10:47 AM PT Comments17Recommend19

CBC News

The RCMP have issued a warning after a New Westminster, B.C., couple reported finding some unidentified capsules inside a box of cereal.
Police say the couple found the capsules containing an unknown white substance in a box of Fibre 1 Raisin Bran Clusters.
The couple said the box was sealed and didn't appear tampered with when they purchased the cereal at Metro Vancouver area Wal-Mart. Police alerted the store, which pulled other boxes of the cereal from its shelves.
The unknown substance in the capsules doesn't appear to be harmful, and there's no reason to believe this is a widespread issue, said police, but they asked the public to use caution until further tests are conducted."

[Justine]

^ Oh wow, the thought of someone tampering with food and then returning it to the store, and them putting it back on the shelf is horrible! That could kill someone, WM would be totally liable. I think if they accept returns on items like this, they should throw them out, it shouldn't be allowed to put stuff back on the shelf, write it off as a loss.

[linaka54]

I have kind of a funny update on this story. I did receive a call from my local Walmart (I wrote to their head office but i guess it was forwarded). they stated it absolutely is NOT their policy to not take food returns if you have their dated receipt and the product is not opened. She said she was sorry for the inconvenience etc and said she would talk her her returns staff and make sure they are clear on the policy. so far so good...right? Well not quite...this was about 3 weeks or so ago. Last week I was at returns to get a rain check and this lady comes up to the returns desk and has a bottle of Nesquick syryp. She thought she was buying the sale one and when she checked her receipt, it was not. She was told NO RETURNS on food items.... Now this poor lady had not even gotten out of the store yet. I told the clerk what I had been told and she said that is not what the staff has been told. She did eventually get a manager and they did let the lady exchange her product for the correct one but had I not been standing there at that moment and spoke up, the lady would have been stuck with the more expensive one despite the fact she had not left the store yet.