Customers frequently use and return merchandise from stores with the goal of getting the most bang for their buck.
Sometimes, customers will even use stand-in merchandise with the tags from the item they originally bought, so they can complete the return while keeping the high-end item from shops like T.J. Maxx and Marshalls.
One cashier says a customer went as far as cutting off labels from holiday decor items only to place them in individual plastic bags, re-labeling them to indicate which pieces of decor the tags belonged to, all in an attempt to return $300 worth of Christmas decorations.
In a video that has drawn over 1.2 million views as of Friday, user @chipsanddip127 says a customer attempted to return $300 worth of garlands and “stems,” or individual false flowers, in addition to some other holiday items. By the way that the labels had been removed, she says she could tell that each item was, in fact, used with the intent of being returned.
“I swear to god there was like 80 things of floral stem and like 30 things of garland,” she says in the video. “It was f*cking insane. Each bag was organized, and inside each bag was a different stem. Inside that bag was a little Ziplock bag. This b*tch took a pair of scissors, and she took off each tag individually off of every floral stem that she had, and she put it in a Ziplock bag and labeled it as to which stem it was, and tucked it away so that she could then return it the day after Christmas.”
She says the customer insisted none of the items had been used, including a tree skirt that was covered in cat fur. Had the customer been more honest about using the items and simply wanting a return, the cashier says she would have worked with her to make it happen with store credit.
“At first I was a little impressed,” she says. “I wanted to hold up the Ziplock bags and be like, ‘best in show.’ If you’re going to do it, this is how you do it. The only problem was you f*cking lied to me. I scanned your receipt, your receipt was expired, so you get to use this sh*t again next year. If you would have come in here and been like, ‘Cindy, I wanted my Christmas to be snatched, but I couldn’t afford it because I’m poor, so I bought all this sh*t, I used it and I made everything easy for you to return the next day, can you please return this?’ Absolutely, b*tch. Here’s some store credit, you can make your house snatched for Valentine’s Day.”
@chipsanddip127 we see you #millennial #foryou #retail #retailmanagerproblems #millennialmanagers #dayafterchristmas #dayafterchristmasshopping #foryou ♬ original sound – chipsanddip127
The Daily Dot has reached out to @chipsanddip127 via TikTok direct message regarding the video.
Several viewers commented on the video that customers like this one are the reason so many home decor stores have instituted non-refundable policies on holiday decor and seasonal items.
“‘No returns on seasonal items’, best thing at the bottom of our receipts this time of year,” one commenter wrote.
“Lowe’s is no return on Christmas decorations after Christmas,” another said. “So she would be taking her neatly organize (stuff) out the door with her!”
“I’ve worked retail before and this is so true,” one user wrote. “This why retail have become strict on their return policy. Because of the bad apples.”
