Oh no, that’s terrible.

I did two exchange trips this week. Once when this younger associate was alone, and she was literally shaking while explaining that 1:1 exchange was over and I’d have to pay, like $3 more for both since candles were $10 off and I bought them for ~$12 each. She took pride in doing her job and said it nicely, so I didn’t question it out loud.

Today I returned an aromatherapy single wick I got for $6.50 and a White Lavender & Eucalyptus that was lit for about 8 mins before my cats gagged and fled the room, along with my husband. This time it was two managers training a new associate. I wanted to clarify what the cost difference would be before checking out, and they pulled out this reference sheet to determine that my products were eligible for 1:1 even exchange. So, as I suspected, the girl who did the first exchange could have completed an even exchange, but it wasn’t worth making her more nervous, my time to bring it up to her managers today, or the $6 it cost me to get the candles I truly enjoy.

Idk what my point is, besides maybe to encourage you to continue to do what you think is right because a reasonable person will not throw a fit. I’m literally on disability for mental illness and would never abuse a stranger over a purchase. Maybe after working retail myself I have that shared experience, so I’d never be that customer. Personally, I would allow customers to exchange just about anything when I worked retail - it puts them in a buying mood, makes them more likely to get into my shop, and “shrink” is an inevitably in retail, so I suppose I compartmentalize these type of bogus hard-to-justify returns into that space and hope it makes for more sales in the end. Lose the battle, win the war attitude maybe?