Have you ever returned fruit?

[goldberry]

Okay, sometimes I buy a bowl of precut fruit (like cantaloupe or watermelon) from the produce section.  The last two times I bought canteloupe, it looked good but was hard when I went to eat it, like crunchy hard.  These bowls are $6-7, but no one in my house will eat the fruit like that.

 

Also, for a long time I quit buying the bags of clementines or cuties because I bought several bags that only had a few good fruits in them.  These bags can be $7-8.

 

Have you ever returned fruit?  I get where I don't want to buy it because it is a waste of money if it isn't good.

[goldberry]

Or is this possibly an issue of me sucking at picking fruit??  But when it's in a bowl and it looks the right texture and color, how else are you supposed to tell?

[NorthwestMom]

Yes, I have returned a large container of berries to Costco when it turned out to be moldy inside. Honestly, most of the time it is easier to just throw it away than bring it back. My time has a monetary value too.

 

I am a lot more aggressive about checking fruit before buying. I open the berry boxes now because either I am buying it or it isn't sellable due to mold contamination, so there's no loss to the store. I have had a similar experience as yours with the tiny oranges, but my kids love them, so I look closely at the contents of the bag I am buying. The pre-cut fruit bowls are trickier since they can't checked; I'd stop buying them for awhile if they were regularly inedible.

[goldberry]

Yes, I open berry packages also.

 

Usually I do just throw it out.  But it's getting where I'm not buying fruit because of it.  I like fruit.  Fruit is good!

[JustEm]

Yes. I even stopped buying produce at one local grocery store because of the amount of fruit I ended up returning over a 2 month span. Any produce in bags at that store is never worth my time again

[MercyA]

I wouldn't have qualms about returning it, but I usually don't take the time. 

 

I've been buying frozen fruit for myself and thawing it in the microwave. It works well!

Edited July 27, 2016 by MercyA

[73349]

Yes, I returned a watermelon that neither looked nor tasted like a watermelon on the inside. The store had a double-your-money-back guarantee: they'd rather have stuff returned than have people quit buying produce there.

[heartlikealion]

We planned to return the last batch of strawberries to Sam's. Looked fine til I got a closer look. But we did not get there yet and now I do not know if they will honor it. Since the container is full I guess they would believe me? Lol I do not think we have ever returned fruit. This one batch of bananas stayed hard for weeks. I am not kidding. I threw a couple away that I peeled (or tried to) thinking they were ripe enough. These were ridiculously hard but we do not live anywhere near that store. Had been given to us by MIL.

Edited July 27, 2016 by heartlikealion

[Forget-Me-Not]

Yes, I returned a watermelon to Costco when it was bad inside.

[Heatherwith4]

It didn't work out so well for Kramer.

 

Ignore me if you're not a Seinfeld fan. :lol:

 

:auto:

[Princess5]

Yes, I returned a watermelon to Costco when it was bad inside.

So you took back the spoiled cut watermelon to return? Or other spoiled fruit or vegetables? I got the 2lb beans package at Costco and the pack was moldy and slimy and I just threw away. I only realized after I cut the pack open..

[Debbi in Texas]

I agree that sometimes it isn't worth the effort, but generally managers will make it good. I just took back a package of mushrooms day before yesterday.

[goldberry]

It didn't work out so well for Kramer.

 

Ignore me if you're not a Seinfeld fan. :lol:

 

:auto:

 

I like Seinfeld but don't remember that one.

[Tap]

Yep, I have.

 

I shop at Costco A lot and buy produce there a few times a week. It is one thing to have a couple apples that are bad from another store, but when you are buying large quantities of food at a time, the financial loss is more if they are bad.  I have returned a huge bag of potatoes because out of the first 10 we cut in half, 8 were bad inside. I have returned $7 strawberries for the same reason someone else mentioned, getting it home and having a layer of mold in the middle. I returned a bag of oranges once because they were oddly dry and inedible inside.  And a bag of pears that were rotten inside.  

 

To Safeway.  A bowl of cut fruit like you said that was too hard and unripe to eat.  There is no way the person cutting it didn't know, so that really irritated me.  For that one, I talked to the manager. 

 

I don't think I would go out of my way to return it, but if I am going back the next day or so, yes I will return produce.

 

Edited July 27, 2016 by Tap

[Rachel]

I've returned produce to both Kroger and Walmart. I felt weird but these were Honeycrisp apples which got soft spots within two days of buying them, those things are too pricy to just toss and I knew they were fine when I got them.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Yep, I return sucky fruits and vegetables. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

So you took back the spoiled cut watermelon to return? Or other spoiled fruit or vegetables? I got the 2lb beans package at Costco and the pack was moldy and slimy and I just threw away. I only realized after I cut the pack open..

 

Yes, why not? 

 

Once cut into a cabbage the day I bought it and it was totally rotten on the inside.  I returned it.

[goldberry]

 

To Safeway.  A bowl of cut fruit like you said that was too hard and unripe to eat.  There is no way the person cutting it didn't know, so that really irritated me.  For that one, I talked to the manager. 

 

 

This is Safeway, too!

[TX Native]

Yes, usually from bulk packages and most are bad. I try hard to inspect as well as possible before buying. That isn't always possible in sealed large packages.

[Aura]

Take it back. After working at customer service for a grocery store, I no longer hesitate to return any food item I have an issue with. If it was so bad you had to throw it away, save the packaging and return that with an explanation.

 

I used to think that if you bought food and didn't like it, for whatever reason, you were out of luck. Live and learn. Not anymore. In fact, I will be returning grapes I just bought. Got home, and they were so sour!

[SparklyUnicorn]

Cantaloupe will soften up when you let it sit for days, but hell they charge so much for that cut up stuff I wouldn't feel bad at all about returning it.

[Miss Tick]

Yes. I complained once and was told to bring it back, so now I do. Just set it aside and bring it next time you go - or the wrapper, as pp mentioned.

 

Such a bummer, though. I usually NEED it, I'm not just buying fruit to have around "in case".

[Prairie~Phlox]

Yes, just this summer I called Sam's right away, the melon was so bland. They told me to just bring in the receipt the next time I was in. I wrote down the name if the person that I spoke with & eventually got my money back.

[Daria]

It didn't work out so well for Kramer.

 

Ignore me if you're not a Seinfeld fan. :lol:

 

:auto:

 

 

[Alicia64]

Oh yes! Fresh fruit isn't cheap. I have gotten really tired of spending a fortune on watermelons, berries, whatever and I get home and they're bad.

 

Nope. I take them back.

 

So far the stores have been very understanding.

 

Alley

[Miss Peregrine]

So you took back the spoiled cut watermelon to return? Or other spoiled fruit or vegetables? I got the 2lb beans package at Costco and the pack was moldy and slimy and I just threw away. I only realized after I cut the pack open..

You don't have to return it or lose out. I just tell them at the returns desk that my snap peas or whatever was moldy. Show them the receipt and they refund me.

Edited July 28, 2016 by Miss Peregrine

[goldberry]

Ha, Seinfeld...

 

"A bad peach is an act of God..."  :lol:

[heartlikealion]

You don't have to return it or lose out. I just tell them at the returns desk that my snap peas or whatever was moldy. Show them the receipt and they refund me.

 

Another idea I had was to take a photo of the bad fruit next to the receipt lol and then just show the picture on your phone

 

[marbel]

Someone who worked at a grocery store told me they will refund money for bad food but not to take it back, because then they have to deal with the nasty food.  I figured they dealt with nasty food all day long but she said just take the receipt and tell them the problem.  I really like the idea of taking a photo of it. 

 

I am still not sure I'd take back a whole fruit I cut into that was bad inside.  Cut up fruit, or containers of fruit with mold on the outside, yes, I would.  But, cutting into a melon  with no visible problems and finding it rotten - how would anyone along the supply chain know that?     But I haven't had a lot of experience with bad whole fruit.  (And I don't have cause to buy huge expensive watermelons.)

[heartlikealion]

Someone who worked at a grocery store told me they will refund money for bad food but not to take it back, because then they have to deal with the nasty food.  I figured they dealt with nasty food all day long but she said just take the receipt and tell them the problem.  I really like the idea of taking a photo of it. 

 

I am still not sure I'd take back a whole fruit I cut into that was bad inside.  Cut up fruit, or containers of fruit with mold on the outside, yes, I would.  But, cutting into a melon  with no visible problems and finding it rotten - how would anyone along the supply chain know that?     But I haven't had a lot of experience with bad whole fruit.  (And I don't have cause to buy huge expensive watermelons.)

 

The fruit didn't look that bad til you got really close (strawberries, all with soft mushy spots) and I didn't think to take a picture when I first notice. Now if I take a pic it won't be an honest representation of what I first saw. Before we go to the store I think I will just call and see what they want.

 

[Farrar]

I have when something has turned out to be moldy. If it's just a small thing, I usually don't bother, but once I bought a whole box of peaches from Trader Joe's - it had that little plastic thing on top and I didn't look. They were nearly all mushy underneath.

 

The whole reason for the store selling the precut fruit (other than to basically price gouge) is to use up the fruit that's about to go off and try to move it faster. It's completely bizarre to me that they would cut up an unripe melon. Seems like a very legit reason for a return.

Edited July 28, 2016 by Farrar

[4kidlets4me]

I work at a grocery store. The produce this year has just been bad all the way around. I think the weather issues in California are a big part of it. We get strawberries everyday that are just crap, nothing we can do about it. I've just stopped buying most of my produce at the store. I've been getting awesome local produce at the farmer's market for better prices than we have it for at the store.

[Reefgazer]

Yes,, I have returned raspberries to Harris Teeter a few times.  I buy them in 1/2 pint packages and occasionally the center one, buried where I can't inspect them, are moldy.  I return those because they are expensive and I feel I couldn't have avoided the mold because it was impossible to see without opening the package.

[J-rap]

I haven't, but my MIL has done it many times!