Ridiculous things customers have tried to return to Walmart

Walmart’s customer service is well-known for putting the customer first—even when it means accepting returns that seem clearly unacceptable. Keep reading to discover some of the strangest stories former Walmart employees have shared from working the returns counter.

From half-eaten food to worn underwear and even a used pregnancy test, the Walmart returns desk has definitely witnessed some truly unforgettable moments.

Keeping Cool

A Walmart employee mentioned that air conditioners frequently get returned after summer, once customers no longer need them.

Likewise, as spring arrives and temperatures rise, electric heaters often find their way back to the store for refunds.

A Very Used Bike

“I was standing behind a guy in the return line who had a bike that looked like it had been ridden across the country over nothing but rough terrain. It was completely worn out.

He claimed the brakes had failed and didn’t have a receipt. The clerk gave him a skeptical look, saying she couldn’t refund his money but could offer store credit instead.” — Reddit / Ace_on_the_turn

Old Meat

“Oh man… meat returns are the worst. The smell from some of the stuff people bring back—why are they even returning meat?—after it’s been sitting there all day is awful.

Liver takes the crown for the worst smell.” —Reddit / theaaronsaurus

A Positive Pregnancy Test

Believe it or not, someone attempted to return a used positive pregnancy test at Walmart.

That’s obviously unhygienic and completely unusable. Hopefully, the employee refused the return right away.

From Another Store

A Walmart worker from Tennessee recalled a time when a customer brought in an item that still had a Kmart sticker on it. He said, “It was accepted with the Kmart sticker on it.”

Now that’s what you’d call an extremely lenient return policy…

Half-Eaten Food

Reddit user Noromac, who works at Walmart, shared this photo with the caption:

“A customer tried to return some produce because it was ‘too ripe.’ When I asked if he had actually eaten any of it, he replied, ‘Does it look like I touched it?’”

Old Air Fresheners

“I was standing in the Walmart customer service line when the woman ahead of me returned a plug-in air freshener because it stopped smelling good—on day 29 of a 30-day cartridge.

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

Fingernails. Still. Attached

“Back when I worked as a buggy buster at Walmart—before the robots arrived to make things easier—a woman came to the front desk to return some press-on fingernails.

The nails were still glued to her fingers. She got a full refund and walked away with them still on because no one wanted to wait for her to peel those nasty things off.” — Reddit / 123brandon

Doing What It’s Supposed To

A customer brought back this toy to Walmart, claiming it broke after just 30 minutes — despite the box clearly stating it has an automatic shutoff after that exact time.

A Box Of Rocks

Some individuals pull off scams by purchasing pricey electronics from Walmart, removing the item, replacing it with rocks, and returning the box. Shockingly, the trick occasionally works—and they end up with a free TV.

Electric Toothbrushes

Another former Walmart associate mentioned that they frequently saw a group come in to return pricey electric toothbrushes. There’s definitely something suspicious happening there.

It seems like they might be buying them elsewhere at a lower price and then returning them to Walmart.

Spoiled Milk

Another Walmart customer attempted to return a gallon of expired milk from Kroger.

The milk wasn’t even from Walmart! Fortunately, the customer service representative was able to deny the return.

Extremely Used Vacuum Cleaners

“I’ve been at Walmart for almost 10 yrs, worked in almost every department.

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

Post-Valentine’s Day Lingerie

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

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

The Cake Doesn’t Work

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

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