Crazy Things People Actually Tried To Return At Walmart

Emily Izsak | April 25, 2024 9:51 pm

Walmart as a company is notorious for its excellent customer service. At Walmart, the customer is always right, even when they try to return something that really shouldn't be returned. Keep reading to hear some stories from former Walmart employees regarding the strangest things they saw at the return counter.

Keep reading to see some half-eaten foods, used underwear, and even a used pregnancy test. Some really wild things go on at the Walmart returns counter.

From Another Store

green shirts on hangers lying down
AnimnL / Reddit
AnimnL / Reddit

A Walmart employee from Tennessee talked about seeing a customer return a product from Kmart. He said, "It was accepted with the Kmart sticker on it."

Talk about a lenient returns policy...

ADVERTISEMENT

Electric Toothbrushes

ADVERTISEMENT
Electric toothbrushes on charging stands
Photo by Oscar Gonzalez/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by Oscar Gonzalez/NurPhoto via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Another former Walmart associate said that they often see a group come in to return expensive electric toothbrushes. Something fishy is going on there.

ADVERTISEMENT

I bet they're getting them somewhere else for cheaper and returning them to Walmart.

ADVERTISEMENT

Spoiled Milk

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Gallons of milk are prepared to be given out at a drive-thru food distribution site
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Another Walmart customer tried to get a refund on a gallon of out-of-date milk from Kroger.

ADVERTISEMENT

It wasn't even originally from Walmart! The customer service representative was able to refuse this return.

ADVERTISEMENT

A Positive Pregnancy Test

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Surface Mode Of The Fetal Face And The Left Hand. Fetus At 24 Weeks
Photo By BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images
Photo By BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Someone actually tried to return a used positive pregnancy test to the returns desk at Walmart.

ADVERTISEMENT

There's no way that that's sanitary (or that it can be used again). I hope they weren't allowed to return it.

ADVERTISEMENT

Keeping Cool

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
air conditioner in window
Photo by Kena Betancur/VIEWpress/Corbis via Getty Images
Photo by Kena Betancur/VIEWpress/Corbis via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

One Walmart associate described seeing numerous air conditioners being returned after the summer months, once people didn't need them anymore.

ADVERTISEMENT

Electric heaters were alo brought back for a refund in the spring.

ADVERTISEMENT

Old Meat

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
A butcher holds a handful of ground meat
Photo by: Mustafa Ciftci / Anadolu Agency
Photo by: Mustafa Ciftci / Anadolu Agency
ADVERTISEMENT

"Oh god..meat claims...the smell from some of the things that come from returns (why are people returning meat anyway) after sitting there all day.

ADVERTISEMENT

Liver was the worst." —Reddit / theaaronsaurus

ADVERTISEMENT

Half-Eaten Food

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
mango taped together
Noromac / Reddit
Noromac / Reddit
ADVERTISEMENT

Reddit user Noromac (who is also a Walmart employee) posted this photo online along with the caption,

ADVERTISEMENT

"A customer wanted to return some produce because 'It was too ripe.' I asked him if he had already tried eating it anyway and he said 'Does it look like I touched it?'"

ADVERTISEMENT

A Box Of Rocks

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
man standing at checkout with TV in cart
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

People often buy expensive electronics from Walmart, take them out of the box, fill the box with rocks, and then return the rock-filled box.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sometimes it actually works and they get a free TV.

ADVERTISEMENT

Extremely Used Vacuum Cleaners

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Dyson vacuum cleaners seen in a Target superstore...
Photo by Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Photo by Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

"I've been at Walmart for almost 10 yrs, worked in almost every department.

ADVERTISEMENT

I've had people return sliced watermelon, steak with grill marks, an empty cake box because they already ate the cake but it had too much icing, extremely used vacuum cleaners, half-empty paint cans. It's insane." — Reddit / Peedrop

ADVERTISEMENT

Post-Valentine's Day Lingerie

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Victoria's Secret Angels Josephine Skriver, Sara Sampaio and Taylor Hill Share Their Hottest Valentine's Day Gift Picks
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret
ADVERTISEMENT

A lot of people try to return lingerie to Walmart in the days after Valentine's Day.

ADVERTISEMENT

I guess their February 14th didn't go the way they expected. Or maybe it did and they just want their money back.

ADVERTISEMENT

Doing What It's Supposed To

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
note that says 'stopped working after 30 min' next to product with detail that says '30-minute auto shut off'
LeoNickle / Reddit
LeoNickle / Reddit
ADVERTISEMENT

Someone returned this toy to Walmart because it stopped working after 30 minutes...

ADVERTISEMENT

Even though it says right on the box that it has an automatic shutoff after half an hour.

ADVERTISEMENT

Old Air Fresheners

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Air Wick Air Freshner plugged into wall
Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

"I was once in a Wal-mart customer service line and the lady in front of me was returning one of those plug-in air fresheners because it had stopped smelling nice. It was day 29 of a 30-day cartridge.

ADVERTISEMENT

She got her $3 back and I lost 15 minutes of my life." —Reddit / alamuki

ADVERTISEMENT

A Very Used Bike

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Florida, Miami, Walmart new bicycles display, with limited supply
Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

"I was behind a guy in the return line. He had a bike that looked like he had used it to cross the country without using a single paved road. It was worn out.

ADVERTISEMENT

He said the brakes had stopped working. No receipt. The lady looked at him like he was crazy, told him she could not return his money but would do a store credit." — Reddit / Ace_on_the_turn

ADVERTISEMENT

Fingernails. Still. Attached

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
nail art
Photo by Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images
Photo by Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

"I was a buggy buster at Wal-Mart long ago, before those robots came along to help make my job easier. A lady once came to the front desk to return some press-on fingernails.

ADVERTISEMENT

They were still attached to her fingers. She was granted a full refund and left with the nails still attached because no one wanted to wait for her to pull those nasty TP cutters off." — Reddit / 123brandon

ADVERTISEMENT

The Cake Doesn't Work

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
cake on counter returned because it didn't 'work'
TheInstigator01 / Reddit
TheInstigator01 / Reddit
ADVERTISEMENT

Someone returned this cake to Walmart. The reason why? Because it didn't work.

ADVERTISEMENT

I don't know what a cake is supposed to do exactly. This one looks like it works just fine.

Follow our brand for more content like this