Slightly OT - I saw one of the most disgusting things ever in a Grocery Store

[Tinknalli]

Lady I know bought a coffee maker at Walmart as a Christmas gift for her neighbors. She was horrified to find that when the neighbors opened the cafefully sealed box there was an old, dirty, used coffee maker inside.

 

[Sagginit]

think they returned the balloons and pinata? i used to work in retail and people are shameless. many think that anything is a negotiation/ trade in. i bet ya if they had noticed the person would have said well they are only 1/5 used, can i have 4/5 back?

 

[CarrieR]

I work at a clothing store and am compulsive about picking up garments that are knocked on the floor throughout the day. I was walking along the perimeter one day and noticed a shirt on the floor -- so I scooped it up as I quickly walked by. Unfortunately, I did not notice until after it was in my hands that it was *coated* in dried vomit.

I took it to my manager and then made no apologies about stepping off the floor to wash (read: scrub) my hands. I couldn't believe that someone just left it! (Nor do I know how long it had been there to be all dried... )

 

[tasha99]

I think that had to be the result of a dare or prank. No way would someone go to that trouble for so little money.

 

[cats mom]

Lady I know bought a coffee maker at Walmart as a Christmas gift for her neighbors. She was horrified to find that when the neighbors opened the cafefully sealed box there was an old, dirty, used coffee maker inside.

I went to a baby shower recently, and the lady hosting told everyone she had just bought a brand new Kitchenaid Pro stand mixer, so was trying to sell her old Artisan. She admitted she had owned it for years, but said it was still in great shape.

She did such a good job talking up the mixers, I decided to take a look at them when I stopped at BB&B a few days later. The one Pro series on the shelf was the exact mixer the party host had, except when I looked closely I could tell the box had been opened, so I checked inside.

HMMM, the mixer in the Pro box was actually an Artisan, and in the exact same color the party host was trying to sell. What are the odds?

 

[Tistal]

You'd be shocked at what people will return. I used to work at a store that has a very liberal return policy (I'll let you guess who; it's a big chain). They'll take it back as long as you have the receipt even if it's been used. I only worked there over a summer (so, about 3 months) while I was an undergrad. Tie for two grossest things people returned: used toilet seat (I put my arms in two plastic bags to handle that one) and pillows that were from 1994 (and yes, they had probably been slept on every night and looked it, but at least the guy brought them in in a bag). They didn't get put back on the floor, but we still had to process the returns because they had the receipt.

 

[aleask]

Used birthday candles reminds me about a birthday party I had about 30 years ago. Went to this restaurant for a party and the restaurant supplied the cake and the candles. They lit the candles, brought out the cake. I blew out the candles. Started licking the bottoms and shortly after the waiter came over and asked if he could have the candles for the next party as they ran out.

How many parties were before me ???

 

[kydisneyfans]

We were buying a new shower head at Walmart a couple of weeks ago, picked one out and noticed while we were walking to the register the package had been taped. I took it out for inspection and found old hair/soap scum etc in the connector. Nasty.

Needless to say we threw it down and went to Lowe's.

 

[DawnM]

I bought a fully wrapped and sealed dog/pet grooming kit. When I opened it, there were huge clumps of dog hair in the box, on the clippers, in the comb. That was Walmart.

Target sold some rat traps.....rat hotels I think they were called. I bought one and got it home and opened the box to set it out and the "hotel" started rattling when I shook it. It was NOT a dead mouse, thankfully, but someone had definitely put food in it and used it and put it back in the box to return it.

Dawn

 

[eeyorethegreat]

I'm thinking that it wasn't just the candles these folks returned. I had a friend back in the day that if a product got broken and the store was still selling the same product she would buy a new one and return the old one in the new box to get the refund. (If it had gone beyond the return date)

 

[kim929]

Is anyone else wondering about the underwear that you have bought in the past?

omg...ewwww I'm never going to be able to buy new undies without wondering whose dooda has been in them

 

[bpesch]

I used to work at Bath & Body Works part time years ago. They have a no questions asked return policy. We had an elderly woman who would come in every few months with a bunch of returns. Didn't take us long to figure out that she would use the lotions and then fill them with cheap dollar store lotion and return them to get more. And there wasn't a thing we could do about it because of their liberal return policy.

 

[LovinPooh]

they definetly were licked.
Just when you thought you had seen it all lol

 

[PebblesMom]

I will only buy makeup that has a saftey seal. I have seen way to many people use makeup and return it and then it finds its way back to the shelf.

 

[Stitch76]

Lady I know bought a coffee maker at Walmart as a Christmas gift for her neighbors. She was horrified to find that when the neighbors opened the cafefully sealed box there was an old, dirty, used coffee maker inside.

A similar thing happened to us. DH and I bought a really nice stainless croc-pot type cooker for his mother a few Christmases ago. Imagine my horror when she opens the box all excited (she had really been wanting one), and the thing was used and had dried food all in it.
We still haven't lived that down. Every Christmas now, she will ask us if we used her gift before wrapping it.

 

[Kellydelly]

That's not the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in a grocery store, but it sure is odd. What did you do when you found that package (besides take a photo of it)?

 

[mrodgers]

I'm thinking that the employee who accepted them as a return didn't look closely. But, WHO would ever even think to do something like that??

I find it offensive that the thoughts (more than this one) are that it is the ethics of the employee to accept the return or as another post said, the employee did it themselves. My wife is an employee in retail and she comes home with whopper of stories of returns just like this. Very well used items, even years old where the customer screams and swears the whole time my wife denies the return. Then the manager comes along, glances at the item, and says, "return it." Nasty 10 year old shop vacs, tools and other items the store doesn't even carry any more, even items that this particular company doesn't sell and the item is obviously the competitor's item. And the funny part is....

We were buying a new shower head at Walmart a couple of weeks ago, picked one out and noticed while we were walking to the register the package had been taped. I took it out for inspection and found old hair/soap scum etc in the connector. Nasty.

Needless to say we threw it down and went to Lowe's.

... Lowes is exactly the store. And yes.....

Tie for two grossest things people returned: used toilet seat

... an item that came to her for return was a used toilet seat. My wife said, "no way" when the manager said "return it." She refused and the manager had to do the return.

The worthless of town have a great scam going with Lowes. They steal $40 electrical circuits and return them, nightly. Everyone knows they are stolen. The items are marked and the same items are returned nightly or close to it. The management knows they are stolen. My wife will call the manager over, explain that these same marked boxes have already been returned to the store without a receipt 3 other times that week. Management responds with, "Yeah, we know. Just return them..." Amazing.

 

[seashoreCM]

How did the clerk know that the liquid now in the perfume bottle was dish soap?

How did the clerk know that the liquid inside the vase was pee?

Don't bring the tainted merchandise to the attention of store personnel. You might be accused of switching the price tag or the contents of the package.

Maybe the birthday candles were returned for some other reason and the clerk reassembled the package to resell.

Maybe you need to open the box and inspect the merchandise after paying but before leaving the store. There is at least one account (now more than 5 years ago) where someone said he found a broken (DVD player) of a different brand in the box and brought it back to return and was accused of switching the merchandise in the box himself.

Shopping hints: http://www.cockam.com/openbox.htm

 

[Alexander]

Well, you know someone from the budget board must have returned those. My money's on the lady who uses the iron in the value rooms to make quesidillas . --Katie

Thank you for the soda I just spit all over my monitor!

My kids are behind me going, "What? What mom? What's so funny?"

 

[Malibustyle23]

No, I probably should have but I was in a rush cause I had to get home pick up my other kids so wasn't thinking about that as I ran thru the store.

Coming from someone who works in retail Fwiw it would of taken a lot less time to just take the candles up to the register with you to hand off to the
cashier while paying for your stuff than it did for you to take out your phone put it on the camera setting, pose the candles, save the pic, and check the price.
Hope if someone does end up accidentally buying this it's not minutes before the party.