Ryan Nicol
Trader Joe’s has a message for coronavirus hoarders: If you bought a bunch of supplies in bulk, you’re stuck with them.
According to a post from TMZ, at least one location is dropping its otherwise lenient return policy when it comes to those who hoarded supplies amid the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
The outlet spotted a sign at a Southern California location announcing the change. “Due to the current circumstances we are unable to accept returns on overbought products. Thank you,” the sign reads.
Typically, the company is more than willing to refund previously purchased items. A website called “Club Trader Joe’s,” which is made up of longtime Trader Joe’s shoppers, explained the extent of that leniency in a post pointed out by Fox 13 in Tampa Bay.
“If you are unsatisfied with anything you buy there for whatever reason, they will give you a refund at the cash register no question asked. Period,” the Club Trader Joe’s website reads regarding returns.
“If any employee even gives a moment’s pause about returning something, go straight to the manager. You need your product or a receipt to get money or exchange, but even half eaten food will be fully refunded. In all my years shopping there, I’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff.”
But that now appears to be a no-go in light of customers who opted to hoard supplies, denying others the ability to stock up. If you bought them, you’re keeping them.
The move comes after Costco made a similar call last week. The company posted a message noting it would reject returns of toilet paper, paper towels, sanitizing wipes, water, rice or Lysol.
Many people flocked to purchase those items in bulk, despite supply chains continuing to function even amid the outbreak of the virus. It appears these companies are not willing to reward customers who exhibited that behavior.
5 comments
Thomas Knapp
April 1, 2020 at 10:46 am
Good information on which companies to trust and which companies to not trust.
Marlene
April 1, 2020 at 10:49 am
Good for them! Happy to see that they have
corporate conscience! I, for one, will continue
to patronize all establishments that are similarly
refusing to reward the “me first” behavior in which
so many people engaged. The move also decreases
the chance of restocking contaminated goods.
David
April 1, 2020 at 11:05 am
If Trader Joe’s restocks returned goods and a subsequent buyer gets sick and dies and if that can be traced to Trader Joe’s, guess what? They are liable for damages. Those who bulk buyed and now are stuck with an abundance of unneeded or unwanted goods, can try to sell on eBay. You are a victim of capitalism. Trader Joe’s is not going to bail out your bad greedy decision.
C
April 1, 2020 at 11:47 am
Hoarders or scalpers? The virus is getting worse, not better, so I don’t quite get why anyone would want to return stuff, unless they couldn’t sell it on eBay. You may have a few months of TP, but you may just need it! :/
Thomas Knapp
April 1, 2020 at 12:05 pm
A “no returns right now, period” policy to prevent the spread of disease would be justifiable.
A “no returns of stuff people bought a lot of” policy is just screwing your customers. “Yeah, that returns policy? We were lying. Sucks to be you.”
Not that it SHOULD be a problem. The reason people were rushing the stores in the first place is that they hadn’t kept a few weeks’ worth of stuff around in case of emergency. Hopefully they know better now.
Our household generally buys things like toilet paper in bulk to save trips to the store. We had a couple of weeks’ worth when the panic started, and I bought one more package the next time I saw it available.
We also have a loose policy of “when we buy canned food, buy a little extra — don’t stop unless the pantry gets full. Not because we expect the world to end, but because we know from experience there are going to be times when life gets difficult. There’s a hurricane and the stores are either closed or slammed. We had a financial reverse of some kind and need to pay the rent — guess we’re eating ravioli instead of going out. Since this thing started, we’ve been getting groceries because they’re available and keeping that canned food back (and buying a little extra with each grocery purchase) in case things get worse.
And so on and so forth. We’re not wild-eyed “preppers,” exactly. More like “responsible adults.”
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