Some grocery stores offer a money-back guarantee if you’re unsatisfied with their products.
The other day, I had some frozen breaded mushrooms from Giant Eagle. They were really watery, had an off flavor, and were just generally yucky.
On the box, it stated I could get double my money back if I had a problem with the product.
At less than $3 for the box, to me, it doesn’t seem worth the hassle.
Now, if there was something actually wrong with the product (maybe insufficient packaging, or a spoiled food) that’s beyond me just not liking it, I would call customer service, since that would be more of a quality-control issue.
Or, if a product costs say, more than $10 and I was unhappy with it, I think in that case I would ask for my money back.
Have you ever asked for your money back on an unsatisfactory product? What would it take for you to do so?
Hello! I frequently ask for my money back. If something is damaged in any way, or just plain gross enough that I cannot eat it, I feel I shouldn’t have paid in the first place. I generally tend to stick to the thought that people get paid to provide a service or do a job. If they don’t complete that job, I shouldn’t have to pay. This may sound a bit harsh, but in reality, if, for example, your babysitter doesn’t show up, you wouldn’t pay them. If you electricity wasn’t working for a couple of days, you wouldn’t have to pay for that. I think that every penny is worth counting and one way to do this is to pay only for what you get :)
I haven’t ever gone to the grocery store to get my money back, but I HAVE called the customer service hotline on the product itself to make complaints.
I once bought a jar of applesauce that look off when I opened the jar. So I called, and they promptly sent me a coupon to get a free jar to replace the one I threw out. I once found a woodchip in a bag of smoked potato chips - after the call to their hotline I got a couple coupons for free bags.
I don’t care about getting my money BACK so much as getting the product I WANTED in the first place. So the free coupons are enough for me.
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Around Thanksgiving I took back a bag of apples to Kroger. I was making a pie, opened the bag, and most of the apples were rotten! I had just purchased the apples the day before, so I knew they were bad to start with. I would have been able to get my money back but I opted to exchange them for a different type of apple bag since I needed to make the pie.
I was out with a relative once, for a meal. She kept complaining throughout the meal that her fish was old, with that “fishy smell”. At the end of the meal, the waitress came round to see if everything was OK, at which point my relative complained about her fish. The waitress replied, “but you’ve eaten it”. And indeed, my relative had eaten it.
So, should she have asked for her money back? I don’t think so. The meal can’t have been so bad if she actually ate the food. It might not have been up to her standards, but she had ample opportunity to say something before consuming the food.
Personally speaking, I find it depends on where the food is from, and how much I paid for it. If I went into my local supermarket, and bought Value washing powder, I wouldn’t expect it to do such a good job as a top-of-the-range washing powder. I find that with most things, you get what you pay for.
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I’ve never asked for a refund simply because I didn’t like a product. I just wouldn’t buy it again.
Now, if there was a defect or if I had just purchased the item and found that the expiration date was bad, I would take it back. (If I actually remember to bring it back, lol.)
This happens to me alot. I’m unlucky like that. I try to pay attention to the dates and such when I’m shopping, but with 2 kids, that isn’t always possible.
I’ve asked for refunds on bagged produce once or twice if I was headed to the store for other things anyway. If it’s that I just don’t care for an item, I just don’t buy it again.
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I’ve never asked for money back because I didn’t like something. If it’s a grocery item that’s gone bad or is damaged, sure (though usually I ask for a replacement). Also, like Jaynee, I’m more likely to contact the manufacturer.
In terms of restaurants, I think if you eat all of your food, you can’t complain about it when the waitress comes back. You can eat half, and then discover that the middle isn’t properly cooked, and that’s fine to complain, but it seems sketchy to finish a meal and then say “It was bad, I want my money back.”
I hardly ask for my money back on food products unless it is something defective in the production or packaging. (Mold, open packaging)
Not so much for poor taste.
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I once bought some fresh salmon fillets from Kroger that turned out to have the scales still on them. I asked for, and got, my money back for that because the fillets weren’t ready to eat, as I had assumed. I scaled them myself (lots of mess and work) and cooked them anyway — Kroger didn’t want them back.
Otherwise, I generally only return products that are spoiled when I buy them — the occasional moldy cheese or rotten meat.
At restaurants, I will complain if the food is really bad, but for the most part, if it’s just “not good” I will not go back to that place.
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I just ran into this problem yesterday. Since I’ll already be making a trip to the bank and the grocery is right there, that gross orange is going right back too!
i returned potatoes to super walmart the other day, because there was mold on them.
As far as prepared foods go, though, it’s “iffy”. i agree with some others that suggest contacting the manufacturer.
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