I don't think I'd return it to the store unless it was spoiled. But I would definitely write to the company and let them know.

I agree, I only return spoiled items to the store, or things that are quality issues like stale items or things with bugs like flour, etc.

I don't return things that I just don't like because I think everyone's taste is different, someone might just love that ravioli or whatever, just not me.

I would definitely write to the company, though, and I sure wouldn't buy any more of the stuff. We speak through our purchases in such matters.

Annie

Unless there was actually something wrong with the product, I don't think it's right to return it to the store. Why should the store have to take a loss because something is not to your taste? However, if it was spoiled, freezer-burnt, damaged or something that's a different story.

I would definitely write a letter to the manufacturer if it was really that bad...of course, they'll probably just send you a form letter and a coupon for another package! But a letter to the store stating that you aren't looking for anything from them, but just wanted to let them know it is a bum product might be effective. Stores have many products they can choose to stock, and in deciding between company A's ravioli and company B's, a letter of complaint might just make the difference.

Trader Joe's encourages returns if you plain don't like it. I never have but I guess I might if I thought something was really awful tasting.

Trader Joe owns Aldi, and they both want to hear about it, will double your money back just for not liking something. Good policy.

No, I would not return it. Don't see it as much different than when I make a recipe that we end up not liking. Just one of the chances you take when you venture outside your food comfort zone. You get some winners & you get some duds.

What I usually do in a situation like this is think of the book I read about the starving Jews in the Warsaw ghettos and hold my nose & go ahead and eat it. It's nutrition. Or, salvage the food value & feed it to our yellow lab--the Sheltie is a notoriously picky eater. And, if it's soooo bad that the lab won't eat it (not sure that has ever happened!), it goes to the compost.

And chalk it up to the price of education.

TJ's (and Whole Foods) LOVES that info. If enough people don't like it, it eventually gets pulled. That's what happened with the TJ Wasabi mayonnaise. BUT then there was such an outcry from everyone who loves that stuff that they brought it back ;)

That said, I always return stuff to TJ's although it's a very rare occurrence.

And I take stuff back if it has spoiled, like the chicken from Sam's that stank something awful. The lady at the returns desk said I must have not stored it properly, which I had done in my fridge the entire time after coming home in an ice chest in winter, but the truth is when I went to get another package I saw they fill their open refrigerators above the safety line. Now I WON'T buy any chicken at any of the Sam's clubs.

Otherwise I agree with Ci_lantro and I just chalk it up to bad experience.

When I discover something like that, I take it back and ask to see the manager. Explain that I am not asking for my money back and I will write the company and express my displeasure....but I thought they might want to know what a lousy product their suppliers are putting out...and then say.."Here...YOU taste it!"
If they have enough complaints they won't waste shelf space on that item anymore.
Linda C

I'd probably eat it anyway... I tried making pumpkin ravioli from scratch once (was dating a vegetarian and there wasn't much I could cook that he would eat).... it was so tedious and it turned out bland... I'll never make it again! After all the work of stuffing and pressing the pieces together they stuck together when I boiled them and ripped to pieces when I tried to peel them apart and they really had no flavor, I think it was a bad recipe, but a ton of work and clean up none the less. I got some bad tahini once, but just threw it away. I bought a chocolate bundt cake once that had a chunk missing out of it... I took that sucker back immediately. The chunk was right under the sticker on the plastic dome so I didn't see it when I bought it... and I'd spent the whole day moving so I wasn't in the mood to play around. I got some ketchup once, and it tasted off so I tossed it too. Usually with food, I'll just throw it away, because it doesn't happen often and it's pretty cheap stuff when it does happen. Not worth the hassle. Now electric things or housewares are another story... if they don't work right or live up to my expectations, they go right back.

Thing is, I love pumpkin. Almost obsessively so. There was no pumpkin taste at all. Just this sick sweet taste that was almost cherry-like. Truthfully, it was the worst prepared dish I ever tried. I am probably more disappointed over lack of pumpkin. I will write a letter saying "hey, where's the pumpkin taste" but that is all. My first words after eating it was "Eww, who okayed this". I am tempted to get more now for others to try now to see if it's as bad as thought, sick, isn't it! To each their own as the saying goes.

As many have said before, if it just doesn't taste good to me then no I would not return it. But if it is damaged in any way then yes. I would also add that if it is a low priced item then I probably would not return it. A few dollars amount is not worth my time to go back to the store. I may give the store a call to let them know about the damaged item. NancyLouise

I once accidentally got Morningstar Farms maple flavored sausage instead of the regular. I didn't realize it was a "new flavor" and thought they had changed the recipe for the regular kind, which I LOVE. I wrote the company to complain vigorously and I got a letter back and a coupon. I highly recommend the regular ones, but as I told the company in the letter, if I want maple flavor with my sausage I'll put some syrup on it, how hard it that, sheesh!

Lpink I love maple sausage... I buy and then add syrup to it! LOL I have also gotten ice cream with Splenda in it before and I try to avoid artificial sugars (though I don't have any qualms about eating high fructose corn syrup LOL)... they always have a nasty aftertaste and who knows what they are going to find out about Spelnda in a few years... it makes me itchy after I eat it, but it's in A LOT of ice cream products, and it's not always obvious from the carton if it's sweetened with Splenda or not. I just throw it away and am more careful next time.... it was my fault for not looking more carefully. Buying the wrong product is not really what this thread is about, I strayed a bit, but similar to Lpinks sausage thing.

If I bought something that didn't measure up to my taste I wouldn't return it. I've never heard of any "taste good or money back" guarantee here in Canada. They probably would just laugh in my face. Spoiled & expired food, that's a different story.

Al

I'm more likely to tell them if there's something they can do about it directly, but don't have time to take things back before I don't want them in my house. During my kitchen remodel I bought a lot of prepared foods from Whole Foods and let them know when the hummus was too food processored and they actually changed it and improved the texture. Unfortunately, someone else decided that the blintz pancakes should be like crepes and now they're way too thin. Most of all, though, I regularly tell them that I won't buy their cooked chickens because they're undercooked (then give in some months later, hoping), especially since the point of buying them was to not have to cook them!

Luckily, I just about have my kitchen back and don't have to worry about it. :)

I only return food to the store that is spoiled , damage or stale and to tell you the truth I don;t do that often enough!

Not that I encounter it that much but when I do I tend to just move on. I shouldn't though. Stores should be accountable for the freshness and basic quality of what they sell.

I would not complain unless it was a product actually prepared/cooked in the store such as deli items.

If it's bad, I'm right there (usually on the phone) to tell them, "Hey, those pumpkin ravs were disgustingly horrible!"

But, if it's good, I'm also quick to compliment. There's a small Italian restaurant about 2 blocks from our home. They make the yummiest rice pudding. When I had my broken jaw & massive dental work being done I ate a lot of that pudding. When the 3rd order was as good as the first two had been...I sent a card to the chef (also the owner) thanking him. I have also been known to send a batch of my killer CCCs to a restaurant that's provided great service & food with a "Thanks" note attached. I called Whole Foods just this week to thank a butcher who had taken the time to figure out my DH's poor explanation of my request for a butterflied & deboned chicken. DH was solo in WF & he's still in his learning curve in the kitchen. He had zero idea of what a butterflied chix was & told the butcher I wanted a chix that looked like a bug 'cause he didn't remember "butterfly". Oh, the poor man...

If a restaurant meal is poor...we call the manager or chef after we're home...we don't make a fuss while in the dining room. I do the same thing if I get something bad at a grocery store...call rather than stomp in & potentially draw attention detrimental to the store.

I don't say anything if I just don't like the food for personal reasons. It's got to be really awful for me to lodge a formal complaint.

/tricia

Sigh. I'm not talking the new box matzah meal back. I don't have the time to bother. But I just opened it and it has moths, so I guess I'm getting dressed for out and going shopping...

Actually, TJ's doesn't own Aldi's, they are "sister" companies with the parent corporate link. But, yes, both stores will accept something back if you don't like it. As the manager of out loval TJ's said, "We WANT it back if you don't like it."

If it's spoiled or damaged, I contact the store. If it's just not good or the problem is in the manufacture, I contact the company. Most have been receptive to making it right. One even sent me a refund check when I declined a replacement. (If I hated it the first time, why would the second time be any better?)

I usually write to the company via the internet.

Last thing I did that about was Oreo Cakesters. I got them out of the vending machine at the office.

Holy crap. The ONLY thing I have ever tasted that is fouler than an Oreo Cakester is a Twinkee, and it's not by much.

Nabisco sent me a bunch of coupons.

Write to the address that is on the packaging, or ring the phone number that is usually there, too. Enclose a copy of the barcode or receipt as proof of purchase. Ask for a refund after explaining why their product was unacceptable.

In the case of foods which are infested with wildlife, or contaminated in some other way, make a complaint to your local food-safety agency AND to the supermarket you bought it from.

In the case of aging or rotting fruit and vegetables, a complaint directly to the supermarket manager is in order. Similarly if food is being sold beyond its Use By date.

You know, if nobody complains, no improvements will ever be made!

I have sent letters to companies when I have found foreign
objects in their products. I have returned spoiled foods on occasion but often just toss them.

regarding aldi's and trader joes i was recently told that Aldis isn't owned by the same company that there are two Aldi firms in Germany One owns the aldi's here in the us and the other owns TJ

I always thought they were one company

Well, turns out it's me. I googled it and found a fresh one very similar that is PC frozen brand. It got 6.2/7. I checked over the ingredients and the taste that I'm sure is turning me off is the ameretti biscuits giving it that overly sweet taste. I do have a friend that returns everything the family turns their nose up at. My nose is probably out of joint because they covered up my favourite pumpkin flavour.

Not to belabor, it was just bugging me because I knew we'd read it.

From Forbes:
Theo Albrecht, the German entrepreneur, owns and operates Trader Joe's specialty grocery store. The ownership of grocery stores is a family interest. Theo and his brother Karl were once partners in the business, founding the Aldi stores, but now Karl is vested solely in the Aldi brand grocery store while Theo operated Trader Joe's exclusively.

Before I retired I usually just let things go -- unless it was sour/spoiled. Now -- I take it back AND notify the company -- here is why.

If I purchase something that taste bad, is sour, past its prime or I simply do not like - I return it. If the food item is perishable I call the store within 24/48 hours and get the name of the person with whom I spoke. I write the name on my receipt and the day and time of day I spoke to the person. I explain to the store employee that I may not be returning to the store for several days or weeks and ask if they want me to bring the item back or just the receipt. Usually they ask for the item and the receipt. If it is sour - I bag it and freeze it. When next I go to that store I take the item from the freezer and go get my refund. Most of the stores in my area have a double money refund policy if the item is a store brand - but you have to ask for it.

Next........
I call the manufacturer. I give the lot number and the bar code number. I have received $$$$$$ of coupons for free product from companies. The B*U*S*H bean company sent me 5 coupons for 5 free cans of baked beans - at $1.78 per can that is a huge savings. The problem?? The can said field peas and inside was black eyed peas. My original purchase was only 2 cans.

Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have a no questions asked return policy!

If it is not right TAKE IT BACK!!

Restaurants?? Talk to the manager. Talk very very calmly to the manager. You will catch more bees with honey than with salt. Some restaurants simply will not do anything!! Some will comp part of the meal. Some will give you a free meal on your next visit. Go online and fill out those surveys with the code printed on your receipt -AND- if you were not satisfied with the meal ask to be called by corporate headquarters. Last year we ate free at one national Italian restaurant TWICE because the food was really poor. The manager called and offered us 2 free meals and corporate called with another offer of 2 free meals - we told corporate we had already accepted the offer from the manager and they said they wanted us to have another set of free meal certificates - soup to nuts!! And yes we ordered the most expensive things on the menu!! The service was top notch and the food was top notch on our return visits. Both times we left an appropriate tip for our waitstaff.

IMHO

DL

"The can said field peas and inside was black eyed peas."

????

Black eyed peas ARE field peas. There are many varieties of field peas. Black eyed peas are one kind.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Field Peas

Thank you, Jim, for posting that!

I'm sitting here simmering over some of these posts.

No wonder grocery prices are sky rocketing!

Take something back because you don't like it? ?

That is absolutely ridiculous and extremely selfish.

It's like saying "My tastes are the only ones that count in this world".

We all know (hopefully) that one man's trash is another man's treasure.

The same with tastes.

Thank God we don't all like the same things!

Life would be boring beyond belief!

Rusty

Rusty, to be fair, out of 27 posts, 16 or17 of those said they wouldn't take something back unless it was spoiled/damaged in some way. Several more discussed Aldi/Trader Joe's connections in business.

That means only a couple would return it just because they didn't like it.

Heck, if that worked I'd have a stack of pizza coupons from here to the ceiling from trying to learn to like them! Of course, I'd never use them because I finally figured out that I just don't like pizza, LOL.

I did write to the Country Fresh people once when I found metal shavings in the ice cream, though. I got a nice apology, and that's all. No free coupons, no replacement of the item, just "we're sorry, it's not our fault, it must have been in the cookies that we added to the ice cream and we buy them from someplace else". Yeah...

Oh, and I did get refunds for the peanut butter that I bought that was subject to recall.

Annie

Wow, I am late to this party. I've a slight track record here. I've never returned a product to the store, but I have called companies on several occasions. One was for those mini phyllo dough cups. They were overwhelmingly plastic (packaging) tasting. Toldl them not to send free coupons. Also oncem, about 18 yrs ago, I complained to gerbers because I bought those meat sticks (and I use the term "meat" with some trepidation). They were flavorless, rubbery, and inedible.This was around the time of colored water for apple juice, too. I talked to the rep at Gerbers and she acted shocked that I didn't like them She said all the adults love them and they keep them in their break room to snack on. Oh, yuck. Even if something has spoiled, I am more likely to tell the company in an email than bother bringing it back to the store.
If I buy something that I simply hate, I will not return it, but rather chalk it up to a carpy product which I will not buy again.
Jo

I wonder if there are some regional expectations here? Like Rusty, I would never take something back over flavor, except if there were an egregious problem like the OP's pumpkin not tasting like pumpkin, and tasting really bad. That sounds like there was an error in manufacture more than just a recipe that wasn't tasty.

So I wonder if the customs are different in our expectations of the service provided by a store and how one should avail oneself of them. Just because Trader Joe's will cheerfully accept returns doesn't mean one should return any old item, at least where I come from. I just had an allergic reaction to one of their items that didn't list anything I knew to avoid on the label. I probably should investigate that (I lack time) and make sure there isn't hidden coconut or something. That would be useful to other patrons and to their labelling practices. On the other hand, I bought some chocolate covered something that was really foul. It was exactly what it purported to be, and while it didn't taste like we imagined it would, it tasted like what it was supposed to be. That's the kind of thing one chalks up to experience and doesn't buy again. If no one buys it anymore they'll stop making it. If it sells, there must be repeat buyers who actually like it.

Most of the time it's just not worth it to me to take the time to go all the way back to the store to return something. Except that one time, I bought a quarter of a watermelon wrapped in cellophane...... as I unwrapped it, there was a bandaid on it. Still in a circle because it had slipped off someone's finger.

Now THAT grossed me out enough that I woulda walked up to the store!

I've opened milk brand new with an expiration date way off in the distance, that was rancid. Bought stale items. Bought things that the expiration date been and gone. I dont bother to take them back.

I have to be really agitated to go back.

BUT I did hear that the stores dont suffer, the company who makes the product gets it back. Not sure how true that is but it makes me feel better that the store itself isnt being penalized or losing money.

I'm not going to take something back because it's too sweet, too salty, or mildly not to my taste. That would be silly. I did take something back to Aldi's once because it was beyond awful and I'd stupidly bought four of them. I just wanted refund for the three we hadn't opened. They refunded me for all four. As for TJ's, I asked the manager where I might comment about one of their products that I felt was far below their standards, and he said, "Bring it back." I didn't. I just emailed the comapany about it.

Shaun, it depends on the size of the account/store. Large or chain stores can easily return for credit. Mom and Pops, eh, not so easy to get that credit or replacement.

Restaurants are a whole other matter. No one should have to eat or pay for a poorly prepared or spoiled meal, but neither should they eat the whole thing before complaining. You know within a bite or two whether something is right or not. People who habitually (I'm talking once a month or so) came in and eat everything on their plates, then loudly complained and demanded it free used to blister my hide.

Okay - if I found a bandaid in a food product I would either pass out or throw up immediately. OMG! I am gagging quietly at the very thought of it!

I pretty much fall into the category of everyone else here... I would return spoiled or off products, but I don't think I would return something just because I didn't like it.

Alexa

I have returned grocery items, notably frozen deep fried shrimp to Coscto because it was horrible & horribly expensive.
Maybe it had been refrozen? I know I took back some expensive fruit once too.
There's lots of restaurant food I'd like to return but don't.
I think it's reasonable to return something that is as disappointing as the ravioli, it shouldn't have to be spoiled to warrant a return, there should be some level of expectation met.

When a company launches a product, they put in extraordinary efforts in conceptualization, research and development, design, redesign, testing, focus group, test market, redesign-------- until they have a final product to present to the public.

When I donÂt like certain product, I know I am in the very small minority, and it is no oneÂs fault but my own idiosyncratic preference and I should not make other to pay for it.

dcarch

I've never returned anything to the grocery store and I probably never will, only because it's not worth the trip in most cases. I have only complained directly to the manufacturer once or twice. For example: I found a piece of plastic in a frozen pizza, it looked like it had come off a conveyor belt on the manufacturing line. The company rep couldn't apologize fast enough and sent me a bunch of coupons etc.

My local store has a sign up that says,"please feel free to return items that are no good".

I have taken many items back. Milk,Mold on bread,Hair spray that would'nt spray, a not full can (leaked) of things..They always said sorry.

However when I returned two powerball lottery tickets.....they refused!!

jimster,

I knew I should have clarified that "field pea" comment. That particular can of Bush**Field Peas had a photo on the label which looked exactly like what we here in Central Virginia call 'field peas'. The pea is very small, completely medium dark reddish brown in color and has a real nutty taste and firm texture. The cans had this particular pea on the label photo. When I opened the cans inside were black-eyed peas which around here are creamy white with a black eye. In this neck of the woods the dark reddish brown field peas are prefered and when someone says 'field peas' they mean these. (I really should have explained that.) Sea Island Red Peas are the closest I can come to describing what photo was on the label. I explained to the Bush*s folks and they now have "black-eyed" photo on their cans of field peas sold in our local markets. Sometimes I get to typing and get ahead of my thoughts.

Thanks for that link - it was a good read!

DL

I have returned only a few things and they were blatantly spoiled or an error on the store's part.
Moldy bread. Spoiled milk. Rancid corn chips. And (twice), ham I had sliced in the deli and they didn't remove the plastic wrapping so I had tiny little slices of plastic all mixed in with $20 worth of ham. The deli manager was more than happy to make it right by slicing another ham correctly that was larger than what I had purchased originally. She also asked if I could describe the person who did the cutting so they could be retrained.
I thought that was an appropriate response.

I would never return something just because I didn't like it. It has to truly be defective in some way. I would probably try to find some way to "fix" it so we could eat it! Worst case, the chickens or compost pile get it and I never buy again. In some cases, I would avoid the entire brand. Thankfully, I don't buy hardly any prepared stuff and I can usually tell if fruits/veggies are spoiled! I believe the defects are pretty rare and items just not to our taste even rarer in my case!

Deanna

This thread reminds me of the time that my notoriously cheap friend attempted to return a gallon of spoiled milk to Sam's Club. On her way to the store the entire gallon of spoiled milk spilled on the floor of her back seat. It was summer time in the deep South and she was never able to get the smell out of her car. She ended up having to buy a new car! We joke that she would have been better off wasting the $3 and just dumping the milk down the sink.

deee, I've had kids spill milk in the backseat of a vehicle, even here in Michigan the smell never quite goes away, or at least not for a long time.

I also spilled an entire pan of that infamous green bean casserole all over the front seat carpet of a van once, and that smell lingered too, LOL. And I hate the stuff, it was a basketball team pot luck and the girls specifically asked for it!

Annie

One time I ordered a veggie tray from a grocery store that was supposed to serve something like 15 - 20. I had DH go pick it up as I was busy with preparations for whatever party it was. The tray was horrible. It didn't have anywhere near enough for that many people. It had something like 10 celery sticks. How are 10 celery sticks going to divide among 15-20 people??

I interrupted my prep and marched back to the store myself to return the tray. They didn't give a hoot why I was returning it, just took it back. I tried to tell them what I thought but they didn't care at all.

Another time we ordered to-go food from chili's. I ordered nachos. BIG mistake. When (poor) DH got home, I opened my styro container to see six small chips with a smattering of cheese. I think the dish was somewhere in the neighborhood of $10. WHAT!

Again, I marched back to the store and showed it to the manager. He mumbled something about it not being a good idea to order nachos to go. UMMMmmm.... well, then why do you have it on your menu?? That location closed up about four months later. Uh huh.

One time a LONG time ago my mother bought some sour cream that was bad. She took it back to the store, they took her name and address. A few days later, the Schepp's rep knocked on our door to deliver an ice chest full of free Schepp's products. Oh yeah, now THAT'S customer service. I gotta add though, it was probably something like 1968!