Walmart's "Unwritten" Return Policy

This is exactly what happens to me with Wal-Mart in Secaucus NJ!!!
They will not return the airbed I bought and returned within 7 days of
buying it.
I did check with the sales person before I paid for it and they advise
me that I can return it within days but when I returned it even after
days they will not return it or even give me store credit.

This is exactly what happens to me with Wal-Mart in Secaucus NJ!!!
They will not return the airbed I bought and returned within 7 days of
buying it.
I did check with the sales person before I paid for it and they advise
me that I can return it within days but when I returned it even after
days they will not return it or even give me store credit.

Last night I tried to return the Air Matress which I bought it one day
before and the CSR at Wal Mart said he can't return it because it was
open. I wanna return it because I was looking for an Air Matress
equiped with Air Pump and it wasn't. The faniest thing that after I
open the Air Matress Box I found a paper that discuss the un return
policy for the product after been open.
The return policy for that product was attached to the Cashier table
and it wasn't at the shelf next to the item.

10/03/2009

Today I tried to return a "mainstays" air mattress to walmart only to
get turned away. Now let me explain my situation.

Two weeks ago, I bought the air mattress before going across country
to help take care of my mother who just came out of the hospital. I
knew she did not have a place for me to sleep once I got there.

When I did arrive, My brother let me stay in his room, as he was
working the night shift, and I was always up before he came home from
work.

The mattress was never opened, the tape across the box never even
played with, let alone removed. It was in the bag, But I had lost the
receipt.

I was told there is a 15 day return policy on mattresses, without a
receipt. I explained I bought it 2 weeks ago. She asked if I payed
with a card or cash. Unfortunately I payed cash, to which she said
"yeah we cant accept that". I thanked her and left the store with the
mattress.

Now here is my issue, if the woman felt i stole it, why not call the
police? Nope left me walk out with it. So that is obviously not the
issue. It was never used, not even ever opened, the tape sealing it
not tampered with. And within their "15 day return policy" I dont see
this anywhere.

I just want someone to explain how I cannot return a Walmart brand
Item ,"mainstays" that has not been opened, reciept or not. Thier
greeter welcomed me as I walked in the door, I obviously did not go
back to housewares grab this off the shelf and walk to returns.

As for target, they can only credit you with 1/2 the purchase price ,
and at that you have to take a target gift card. I wont ever shop
there again.

I guess the moral of this story is save your receipts and even if you
do save your receipts according to Wal-mart , Do not plan ahead , Buy
last minute. Because they have a window of time. guess I wont be
purchasing anything for Christmas this year at Wal-mart.

Actually that item is a high theft item and coorporate did put the
smack down on such returns IF the customer does NOT have a receipt.
You should have been given a cash refund as a former CSM of Slavemart
I can tell you not all CSM's are qualified and understand the
importance of Customer satisfaction. the number one reason after 8
years I Quit. Always, Always ask for a member of REAL mangement, NOT
A CSM. I guearentee you no one wants the store manager on their ass
for a unhappy customer, in th estore I worked in I saw a man who had
just called me everything but a white woman because I refused his
cockroach infested can returns. Management not only gave h im the can
money they also handed him a gift card for 30.00. what did I get?
Told to always satisfy the customer even it it meant bending the rules
or guidelines. Hope this helps....

Assuming this is a new policy, the CSM isn't being "lazy" by
not allowing the return. He/she is just doing their job, and if that
job states that something cannot be returned then something cannot be
returned.
Don't take your frustrations out on the CSM who is just doing their
job; worry about maturely addressing your complaint to Wal-Mart, since
they're the ones at fault for not printing new return policies.

People like to believe that employees have control over what corporate
does, when in reality it's quite the opposite.
A CSM has NO control over return policies, and is likely unwilling to
put their job in jeopardy for you.
Yeah it sucks, but that's the reality of it.
Unless the CSM was being a right pain, you have no reason to assume
that they were being lazy by not bending to your will, had corporate
decided they are no longer able to perform such refunds.

And you're going to contact your attorney? For the FRAUD Wal-Mart
committed?
Good luck with that one.
So you're willing to spend hundreds of dollars on attorney's fees and
wrap yourself up in a minor legal battle (minor to Wal-Mart, but
likely significant to you) all over this $70 mattress?
I can't be the only one who sees how ridiculous this is.

Oh, but it's "the principle of the thing!"

I had the same exact problem!My fiance and I were moving and after
getting our things from storage we noticed that our mattress was
soaked with rainwater and smelly.So we went to buy an air mattress
from wal-mart.Before deciding to go to walmart,Id spoken with my mom
and told her about our ruined mattress.So,later that night she shows
up with the same air mattress as we had purchased.So,the next day I
went to return one unopened air mattress.The customer service employee
refused even though the box was unopened.She gave me the same garbage
about it being a new policy.Ridiculous!!!

when I lost all of my stuff in the hurricanes of 2004 I had to go to
air mattress temporarily, they were raised and with a good serta
mattress pad, and nice sheets, pillows and comforters they can be
dressed up really nice and with the thick pad comfortable. next time
there is a natural disaster donate the bed to the red cross and deduct
if off of your taxes, I am sure it would be appreciated by someone who
has lost everything, the raised air beds are by far more comfortable
than a cot any day,

I'm just now discovering their amazing new policy myself that was
unannounced to any of it's customers. I purchased an xbox little over
two months ago. Since I've purchased it, my fiance and i have moved
for her to go to school, so i stored the box with the receipt in it at
my parents. About two weeks after i moved, my parents sold their
house and while moving they threw away the box. I thought they still
had it, so i sent the xbox and all accessories back to them, only to
find out what happened. I thought it would be alright because wal
mart scans serial numbers, so i had them take it to exchange it
anyways. According to the wal mart they took it too, in order to do
an exchange, you have to have the receipt or the exact date you
purchased the item for them to look it up. They said the serial
number will not bring the item up in there system, if that is true,
why even scan the serial number when you sell the item. One of the
things that always made me believe wal mart was ok, just went away,
without notice to anyone. So now i will take my business elsewhere,
best buy or target. I know wal mart used to have the big slogan of
customer service, but since Sam Walton passed away, they are turning
into, "give us your money and go away"

I am in full agreement with you on what you say. I for one will not be
buying any more items from wal-mart because they always give me a
hardtime when I return items into the store. They are lazy and don't
want to be bothered about promoting good customer service.

I think that Wal-mart should have taken the mattress back if they
could not provide you with a written policy. I can totally see why
they would not want to take back a used mattress, but what if it was
defective. You obviously would have to open the box before you would
know.

Wow, there are really some nasty wal-mart loving trolls out there. For
those of you that aren't able to read the whole letter, the mattress
was never "USED", no one ever slept on it, it was blown up
and that was it.

The mattress we purchased stated on the box:

Queen Inflated size: 80" L x 74" W x 21" H .

Which is close to a king size which is why we purchased it, not
because we were lazy, didn't want to measure,etc. etc., we found that
what was IN the box was NOT what the box stated, so of course it would
not meet our needs and we would not have known this WITHOUT OPENING
AND INFLATING IT.

After we blew it up, the dimensions were more like 60" x 60"
x 21". Can you do the math or are you too busy correcting peoples
grammar?

I obviously wrote this letter in the heat of the moment, and didn't
proof read it, I was upset and irritated. If their policy would have
been clear and I would have known that there was a chance that the
dimensions were misleading I would have never purchased it.

Folks! Wel-Mart has a specific policy on mattresses. It includes
them taking them back.

Like most of you, it gives me the creeps to think that Wal-mart might
be reselling used mattresses.

But as long as their policy states that they take 'em back, shouldn't
they?

Do you really need a return policy to guide you in realizing that
returning a used blow up air mattress is inappropriate? That's
amazing.

"If we had known, we would have never made the purchase in the
first place until we were certain what size we really needed."

Why don't you take the money you'd spend on your lawyer and buy a tape
measure?

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but ew...The OP takes an inflatable
mattress to their home, and then tries to return the obviously opened
package the next day. I would NEVER purchase a mattress that had been
opened already. As others have mentioned, the dimensions are provided
on the box for a reason. Who's to say that this person didn't take
the mattress home, use it for the night, and then return it? (Not to
say that this particular person did, but who knows) It would be very
easy for people to do this when they have company for instance and
then return the product once the visitors have left. I do agree that
the new return policy should have been printed on the receipts and/or
in the customer service area. Did you ask the customer service rep to
show you this policy? Maybe it's possible they have it written down
in a brochure etc. behind the CS desk? Either way though, I stand by
the fact that I think it's tacky and gross to return a used mattress.

"and I know own a worthless 70.00 blow up mattress that is
worthless to me."

I think that's my favorite line.

First of all, I absolutely think you should have been able to return
the mattress. A company with as many resources as Wal-Mart should be
able to time their printed material to coincide with any major policy
changes. I know that in my time working in retail we got new signage,
register paper, and brochures well in advance of any policy change
that affected customers and just waited on the date of the change to
put it out.

Considering that this new policy is not on the receipt (which
functions kind of like an agreement between seller and buyer), they
should have taken back the mattress in my opinion. Similarly, if the
receipt HAD said no returns on opened packaging, I'd have said you
were out of luck.

If there were in reality no changes to the return policy, then I agree
that you were treated unprofessionally by the employee(s) you spoke
with.

So I'm with you to that point.

Here's the thing, though. When you write a letter like this to a
business, you are asking them to take some time and review your issue
individually. They may or may not be willing to take that time, and
they are made less likely to do so by wording like you use in your
last paragraph. It's a shame, because I was totally with you until
then. Being insulting to someone you are trying to persuade is never
a good idea (even if you really are right), even leaving aside
questions of rudeness. I understand that you are angry, but emotional
language and threats should always be left out of a business letter.


Good luck!

While I agree that you should have recieved a refund for the mattress,
it is not fraud if they do not. walmart is within thier rights to
restrict refunds in any way that they deem needed, up to, and
including refusing to do refunds for any reason.

"I want wal-mart to honor it's "WRITTEN" public return
policy, not some crap that the CSM decides to make up because they are
too lazy to do the return."

Unwarranted accusation. It may be easier to do the return rather than
debate the customer over the return. Therefore, laziness probably has
nothing to do with it.

It is more likely that the return policy changed without notice or the
employee was not clear on the return policy.

In addition, did the OP speak to a manager? The second paragraph
states it was a CSR, but the fourth paragraph uses CSM terminology.
Which was it? I would have tried someone higher up if it was the
former.

The return probably should have been accepted. I would rewrite the
letter leaving out the accusations of fraud, laziness and threats to
get an attorney.

I checked Walmart's return policy and I can't seem to find anything
that would say that this (air) mattress can't be returned.

She has the receipt, so I can't find a reason why should wouldn't be
able to make the return.

I appreciate the arguments that she should have checked sizes before
buying. But, since Walmart's policy is what it is, they need to allow
the return.

"If we had known, we would have never made the purchase in the
first place until we were certain what size we really needed."

So, your belief is that you can go around buying stuff, take it home
and open it up, and then decide if it meets your needs. If not, you
can simply package it up and return it. It sounds like you are too
"lazy" to determine what you need before you buy it.

It is heartwarming to know that even WalMart refuses to be treated
this way. If you bought something that you used and found out it
didn't meet your needs, it is useless to you. You might consider
donating it to a homeless shelter.

It is laughable that you would contact an attorney over an attempt to
return a used $70 blow up mattress

Colette C.,

If you needed one I don't see why a store crdit would not have worked
but that is really none of my business.

I looked at the Walmart site and each mattress they have listed sports
the inflated dimenions ie:
Approximate inflated dimensions Twin: 74" L x 39" W x
9" H, Queen: 78" L x 60" W x 9" H .

The cost of an attorney would probably exceed the costs of the
mattress as the other person stated.
Infact if you were to take them to court and not win the case you
might have to pay court costs.

Take a picture of it, create a write-up and sell it on ebay or better
yet donate it to an organaization that could use a "worthless
70.00 blow up mattress".

BillR.

I agree, they should have accepted the return. But didn't you end up
needing it, since there wasn't a larger inflatable mattress to buy?

FYI, you'll spend more money on your attorney's fees than on the cost
of the mattress.