Milligan wrote:CVS accepted a return of cold medicine that I purchased in error for my child. It was for 6+ but he was younger. The box was opened but the seal was still unopened. I thought it was odd they accepted it but tried since I had to go back anyway to get the new medicine.

You don't know what they did with it though. Most people don't know what happens to items of any sort that they return.

FWIW, some stores accept returns of medicine, but do not resell the drugs. At least in Canada, Costco destroys drug returns (I asked).

My roaster sent me three 2 pounds bags of beans in error -- I had ordered three 12oz bags. I informed them and they said enjoy the extra beans. That seems like a proper response!

Was at Target and wife asked for black tea. I bought a box of teabags and she wanted the tea in Keurig pods. Brought the teabags back and I was surprised when they put a big sticker on the unopened boxes shrink wrap and I asked how are you going to be able to sell it now. She said they don't resell any returned food items, even if still sealed.

jpender wrote:You don't know what they did with it though. Most people don't know what happens to items of any sort that they return.

I don't claim to know what they do with it, just thought it was odd they accepted the return with the box opened. The clerk did say they do not accept a return with the bottle/seal opened though. Not sure what that means for where the returned medicine ends up.

Maybe the clerk was interpreting an unbroken seal as effectively "unopened". Who knows. Or was it a CVS brand product? Their return policy seems to say that they'll take those back and give you a refund if you're not fully satisfied.

This roaster case is pretty weird. Is this a teeny tiny struggling roaster? Or were these $150/lb bags of coffee? It's certainly abnormal.

Ken5 wrote:She said they don't resell any returned food items, even if still sealed.

My son worked at a grocery store chain and said it was the same policy there. He said they also tossed out a lot of perfectly good food from the deli. I assume they didn't want employees to be incentivized to prepare more than they'd sell in hopes of getting free takeout. They also didn't want to give it to local charities because of potential liability due to mishandling once it's left the store.

Back to the OP: The roaster's request is odd. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they weren't going to resell it. If it was a really pricey coffee, I wouldn't blame them for thinking about gifting them to someone (e.g., friend, employee) with the caveat that the receiver would know it'd been returned. I would not be OK with unknowingly receiving returned merchandise.

It's odd, but maybe the roaster just wanted to enjoy the more expensive beans himself?

jpender wrote:Maybe the clerk was interpreting an unbroken seal as effectively "unopened". Who knows.

Maybe the seal has something to do with Judge Judy's famous saying, "you ate the steak, now pay for it." The seal shows the customer did not benefit at all from the return.

Frankly, this "returned" merchandise issue is easily circumvented by simply refusing the shipment in the first place - the OP was given notice while the beans were still in transit.