It’s that time of year. Every time we’ve been to Costco (one of our favorite stores) this past month, the return lines reach the exit. But returns can also provide an endless source of amusement… especially if you’re not the store that is accepting the returns.
Here goes FRS: Funny (?) Return Stories:
- We saw this one firsthand: a person standing in front of us returned a clock to CostCo. And not just any clock. The dials of the clock had fallen and were resting on the bottom of the clock. The clock looked like it was hung outdoors and it was worn from MANY seasons of rain and sun. It looked like it had a long and happy life. it was time to replace it. But no. This person returned it to Costco. The Costco employee couldn’t find a similar clock to it ever being sold at Costco, and politely asked this person if they’d be willing to accept a refund in the amount a similar clock was being sold for today. This person took the refund!
- Chad Thomas returned a backpack to REI in 2013 because it “was getting old and dirty, and I didn’t like it anymore” … after buying it in 2004. REI accepted the return (9 years later!) and even gave him an extra $17 to match the backpack’s current price. You can find references to this story all over (originally in The Wall Street Journal) since REI ended its essentially unlimited return policy in 2013.
- A woman returned a Christmas tree to Costco on January 4th because it “dead”. And what’s truly amazing about this (beyond the actual act of trying to return the tree after she was done using it) is that Costco accepted the return and refunded the woman the money. While you can find photos of the tree online, if it we didn’t see something like this happen with our own eyes, we’d be wondering, too.
Have you seen a “funny” return before? Do share!
Interesting Trivia: what parts of the human body never stops growing?
Answer to last post’s trivia: the crown does… Why? It turns out that in the 18th century pigeon manure was used in the making of gunpowder, so George I who was king at the time decreed that all pigeon droppings would be property of the crown…
Hilarious. I’ve always heard of return stories from Nordstrom, which used to take ANYTHING back in any condition…your examples are hilarious
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Thank you very much! So what I hear you saying is that corollary to “truth is stranger than fiction” is “reality is funnier than fiction” 😉 Agreed! 🙂
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I really hate when people take advantage of generous return policies… not only do we, the consumers, pay for them but the policies reward liars and cheats. I once saw a man try to return old garage door opener spring (they don’t make them that way anymore) to Home Depot that was obviously well-used. Fortunately, they didn’t take it back.
I think I read somewhere that our ears never stop growing… not sure if true.
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I agree with Janis about people taking advantage of return policies, but that being said I can’t remember ever seeing anyone try to do that. I guess I dislike it in theory.
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I agree with both of you, and, like I said, I’ve seen it firsthand, so I have no reason to disbelieve the other stories. I’ll one up you… I dislike shopping in general (Costco excluded, especially on a weekdays, since while we’re on our Endless Weekend, not everyone is 🙂 )
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I feel the same way, that’s a great example with the old garage opener! AND you’re raising an extremely thought provoking question: how many of our policies are (negatively) impacted by a few “rotten apples” that spoil it for everyone else? Not just return policies, how many of the policies in general were/are in place because of these few liars and cheats? I’m going to do some serious thinking on this one. Thank you very bringing that up!
And a (growing) gold star, human ears never stop growing, you are correct! There’s another part of the body for which this holds true as well…
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Fun post, but I hate return lines. so have no stories to add. 😉
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Thank you, Cindy, that is much appreciated! On my way out of Costco today I noticed that the lines are still extra-long, and some people have carts full of returns! (You’re not missing much on the return lines 🙂 )
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funny stories. my favorite is when my mom returned our ouija board because it didn’t work..
I’m going with Janis; I think I’ve also heard that our ears never stop growing (neither does my belly, but that’s another story…) 🙂
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Thank you, Jim!
Your Ouija board story is The Ultimate (and that’s why it’s capitalized!) return story! Had me literally laughing out loud!
And you get a gold star: you are correct (about the ears 😉 ). But there’s another gold star to be gotten for the second part of the body that never stops growing…
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Glad you enjoyed the ouija board story 😀
Not sure about the other body part but I have heard that our eyes never grow.
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Hi Endless Weekend, A funny and a good story. Amazing the gall of some people. I have a label coming off my favourite backpack. Hmmmm, I wonder? Re: your question: I thought I heard the nose keeps growing after death. Likely an answer of google, although more fun to guess. Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Thank you so much, Erica! I so agree with you: it looks like common sense is tightly bound, but people’s gall knows NO bounds…
Big gold star to you: our noses are the second body part that never stops growing during our lives 🙂 (don’t know about death 😜)
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Thanks. I didn’t even Google the answer. Scary about the death part. Although, I likely will not care. Thanks for my smile tonight. 🙂
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