Timo F.
Yelp
Welcome to my Cap Hill TJ's Telenovella; unnecessarily dramatic ? Perhaps. Am I living a "Karen" fantasy tonight? You be the judge.
"Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night." Bette Davis
[Prologue] Typically my reviews for Trader Joe's are five stars, (excluding the recent tragic trend of no coffee samples),
but the staff friendliness at this location is frequently off-putting. There are so many sourpusses in happy shirts, including one of the captains.
If it weren't for Captain April and Sophie, (and a few other crew) I'd consider the customer-friendly KAI ZEN culture DEAD at this location.
[If it sounds like I used to work at Trader Joe's it's because I did yeeears ago.]
But my experience tonight was the worst (customer) experience I've ever had at a Trader Joe's, and it just wasn't because my reason for a *potential future return* was denied.
[Scene 1] It was the arrogant sounding SmackDown from Captain Slicked-Back Hair I received for assuming that I might be able to return a few unused, unopened, undamaged bath/ beauty products I no longer needed, bought a week or two ago.
He didn't say "sorry we are no longer accepting returns for items no longer wanted/ needed / overpurchased." That would be understandable.
Instead when I asked what how long I had for a return to be accepted, he said ***"that is not a policy."***
My face clearly looked shocked and incredulous as I responded "What do you mean that is not a policy?" He said it's not Trader Joe's policy to accept returns because you didn't want the item or you bought too many. It has *never* been an acceptable return reason"
"Huh!
I used to work at Trader Joe's, Captains accepted that at our location. Did they change the policy or it's different at other locations? "
" That has never been *any* Trader Joe's policy. That is just not a policy. It's not even a thing.*= Some Captains may have accepted them at their discretion, and Trader Joe's does not do a good job of clearly stating the *real* return policy, but that has never been an official allowed reason for return"
"Interesting , this is the first time in over 20 years of shopping at Trader Joe's and having worked there I've ever heard this."
[In a frustrated publicly audible voice] "Returning items bc they are no longer needed is no one's return policy."
"What are you talking about?" "It's just not, no companies accept returns for that reason!"
I just stood there stunned, feeling like I was in an alternate Trader Jerk's universe, my retail life experience for the last 30 years invalidated... that whole interaction just didn't seem right.
Before I grudgingly left, I said "well I accept that as a challenge to research your alleged universal fact." [End Scene]
[Scene 2]
And here I am sitting in a pizza place 30 mins later, with 7 and counting screenshots of major retailer return policies that contradict Captain Slick, first among them is from Amazon: valid reasons in their standard return menu is "no longer needed" and "purchased in error." And so far most of them state they DO NOT REQUIRE a reason for a return as long as the item is unused, undamaged, in original packaging, and being returned with the receipt (unless exchange for store credit) within their standard return time frame. [End Scene]
[Epilogue]
I shall return to this Trader Joe's soon and hopefully have a face-to-face chat with Cap'n Slick with my screen shots in hand. It will be an interesting Interaction for sure! I hope next time I'm the one who calls the attention of a small audience in full but non yelling voice range.
Times must be tough in DC, finding friendly and TJ - loving workers who are getting paid $15-$20 / hr and $73-160k /yr for Captains ( to do a relatively fun and easy job). I used to work for Trader Joe's and it was a blast, as far as work goes, especially for retail.