Returns

I love to purchase but HATE to make returns... funny how is seems so much more fun to haul things home!

Recently we were gifted a Little Tikes sand box! (I have been collecting sand toys since I found out I was pregnant... we are soooooooooo stocked!!!) Thanks for sharing Jackson!!!

Anyways, just before I headed out to purchase sand (how do you even guess the quantity of bags needed?) I read an article on the web to watch out for crushed rock imitation sand. Yes, my husband did remind me that all sand is actually crushed rock (and shells too), but I was looking NOT to purchase sand with chunks of rock. The site where I had been reading warned that the dust created by the crushing was downright horrible for kids to inhale- especially over time.

The weekend that we bought our patio set at Meijer, I also earned a 20% off all lawn and garden items made in a single transaction. Later in the week I returned to Meijer to use my coupon to purchase our sand, but Meijer closes their lawn and garden section at 8pm. I was so bummed.

I decided to stop at Home Depot (which shares the same parking lot with Meijer) to ask of they would accept this competitors coupon, and allow me to purchase their sand. Yep!

So just before dark I picked out 10 bags that were labeled "washed play sand." Pity had been taken on me by a kind store employee to lift my bags, push my cart and load them into my car. Then, the next morning Dave dumped 5 bags of sand into our sand box and he tossed the bags into the trash since it was trash day.

Later that afternoon, I opened the lid of our favorite frog sand box to get nice and sandy with my son- and I realized that I had purchased the wrong sand. I was so bummed.

I called Home Depot's corporate number and asked if I could return the open sand- without their bags, or if I could only return the unopened 5. Corporate got me in touch with the store who allowed me to return the 5 unopened bags and receive my money back for all 10 bags!

When I returned my sand I asked the cashier if I could still use my 20% off coupon in the store since I was repurchasing "real sand" that day. She said "No" because she didn't have a coupon to give to me.

I asked to discuss my situation with a manager. My cashier called the Lead Cashier, and the Lead Cashier also said "no". I felt like the cashier who had made my returns was no relaying my thoughts to the Lead Cashier so I asked to have the Lead Cashier come over and talk with me.

When I expressed that I didn't need a coupon, and that I was hoping 20% off could just be keyed into the cash register at my check out she happily agreed. She then understood what I was asking for, and I did indeed get another 20% off.

I'm sharing this story to encourage you to speak up and ask for what you think is fair.

I was happy to return the sand to the store in plastic grocery bags- or to just only be able to return the 5 unopened bags. I did however feel like the packaging on my initial bags of sand was misleading by calling the chunky crushed rock "sand." And since I needed to repurchase exactly what I had originally purchased, I felt that it was OK to ask to receive my initial discount.