Monday, November 1, 2010

How To Return An Item to Wal-Mart without a Receipt



Have you ever purchased something from Wal-Mart with the idea "I can just return it if there is a problem" in mind.
Well I know I have and not keeping track of Wal-Mart's rules can get you into hot water at home , if your not careful.
Currently you can return most items within 90 days or less, when in the past there was no time limit.
To get a full refund you must have the item in it's original box and the receipt.
If you do not have either of these you can only trade it for a new item of the same model and make. This can be a pain because I even had one employee at the store in Bolivar Missouri try and tell me that I also needed batteries for a remote.
This was a DVD player that I was returning and this 20 something male employee went onto remove the batteries from remote of the item that I was getting after trading the DVD in.
He took the new batteries and placed them in the box of the old DVD of which I was trading in.
The batteries were also the incorrect size for the item that I returned but this small fact seemed to escape this over zealous employee.

Back to the point> So you need to return an item and you do not have either the receipt or box or both.
Well for this to work you must at least have the original box and here is what you do.
Return the item to the store for the same item. Once you have the new item, do not open it and keep your receipt. Now simply drive to the next nearest store and present the item and receipt for return of your money.
If you live in a city most likely you live within driving distance from a number of stores.
I know personally I've driven as far as 40 miles (round trip) to return something in this manner.
This is very helpful for non-returnable items (according to Wal-Mart) such as DVD's, Electronic Games and various other Electronics.
If you return it in the way instructed above you can return it and get your full money back.

I remember when it first came to me that I could do this :
I was attempting to return a Computer Video Game that after I went home the day before, wasn't compatible with my operating system.
I figured since I had it less than 24 hours returning it might be easier.... Wrong !

After talking with the Store Manager in Nevada Missouri , he told me that I could have copied the game and then tried to return it, so he wouldn't accept it.
He went onto say that I could return it for the same item (but that wouldn't help me very much)
I then went onto ask him about the return rules according to Wal-Mart and he said if the item was still in the package and unopened then I could return it without problem.
So I asked him if I returned it for a new unopened item and then turned around and tried to return it, would that not be the same ?

He gave me a funny look and said, no that I could not do that because it would be against store policy.
Which by the way he had just explained to the contrary of , so I said I would drive to the next Wal-Mart and return it there.
I wasn't very happy with that and started getting loud with me.
I then went onto tell him which store and when I planned on returning it.

After we left and went to the next store and returned it (Lamar Missouri ) the electronics employee told us he received a call from the Nevada Missouri store and they attempted to convince him not accept the return.
Needless to say he said that was not going to happen and since we had conformed to the rules he gave our money back on the returned item.

1 comment:

  1. they are supposed to open the replacement item if the one you are returning is already open, you got lucky.

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