Do you return produce/groceries if they're bad?

markrichtsspraytan
markrichtsspraytan Posts: 89 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I bought a pack of deli meat from Target yesterday and just opened it today... only to see the Use By date (not Sell By even!) was October 4th, 2014. I also bought grapes from Kroger that were just disgusting... they tasted unripe or something. Rather sour and made my mouth dry. I tried several and they were all like this. Gave them a few days to ripen up but they still taste horrible and are inedible, while parts of the bunch are getting soft/rotten now.

Do you return food when this type of thing happens, or just shrug off the few dollars and throw it away?

I think I have the Target receipt but not Kroger...

Replies

  • onefortyone
    onefortyone Posts: 531 Member
    Deli, meat counter, grocery aisles and dairy, I definitely would return. The quality is supposed to be guaranteed, consistently produced, and safe.

    Produce, you inspect it yourself and determine whether it is okay to take home, and because it's a natural product, it's impossible for anyone to guarantee quality, so it's basically hit or miss at all levels - from the farm to the warehouse to the store to your house.

    I worked at a grocery store and we did provide refunds on produce. No receipt just means you'll likely get the money back as store credit. But it was kind of a pet peeve of mine.
  • VegasFit
    VegasFit Posts: 1,232 Member
    I would return for sure. I returned a package of prepared meat to Sam's once. I wouldn't even have given it to my dogs. Now, the watermelon I bought a couple weeks ago at Walmart that I cut into and was mush just had to chalk it up to a loss. That's the chance you take with fruits like that and on top of that should have stuck to Costco like I usually do!
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    No. I toss it then seethe silently in anger.
  • blytheandbonnie
    blytheandbonnie Posts: 3,275 Member
    I do. Our one store in town has notoriously crappy and expensive produce. If I threw it all away I would soon go broke. I tell everybody to bring theirs back in hopes that the store will quit buying pig slop to sell us.
  • FitOldMomma
    FitOldMomma Posts: 790 Member
    Absolutely! You have every right to expect FRESH food when you're buying it. The only exception would be buying things that are discounted because they are 'close dated' and are sold 'as is'. I've returned avocados, cantaloupe, and even russet potatoes (they were all green after I washed away the dirt). I shop mostly at Kroger's, but most stores have guarantees on all their products.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    If it's convenient, but frankly I tend to shop at different places and it's out of the way so often it's not.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    As someone who used to work at a customer service desk, and has seen basically every return, I would go ahead. And with the meat, I would probably ask for a manager so he/she is aware of the outdated product.
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
    I always return bad produce and anything else that I need to and always get a full refund with my receipt.
  • markrichtsspraytan
    markrichtsspraytan Posts: 89 Member
    Great, thanks for the answers, I'll definitely return the turkey and possibly the grapes too
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,302 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    If it's convenient, but frankly I tend to shop at different places and it's out of the way so often it's not.

    Yes, me too.
    and depending on cost.

    If the item was 1 tub of yogurt and it cost more in petrol to return to shop than what the refund would be, then I let it go.

    If it was, say, an expensive leg of lamb, I would go back and report it.


  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    if it's flat out rotten? I might return it- but I rarely return produce- it's a crap shoot- and you can inspect it before you take it home.

    Now- when I hoped my pizza dough crust and found it moldy? I returned that *kitten* immediately... and by immediately I mean- if I remember to bring it with me the next time I got to the store.
  • markrichtsspraytan
    markrichtsspraytan Posts: 89 Member
    JoRocka wrote: »
    if it's flat out rotten? I might return it- but I rarely return produce- it's a crap shoot- and you can inspect it before you take it home.

    The grapes actually looked good, they just tasted terrible

  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    I used to work at a pharmacy in a grocery store, and when I started, we had to go through the same overall store training. It was at a Randalls/Tom Thumb, and most people don't know, but you could ask to sample the produce before buying it. If you wanted to know if the apples are good, they'd slice one open for you. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

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