I think I should have just opted for almond milk instead...

[wshaffer]

So, I went to Safeway today with a coupon for a free half-gallon of Silk non-dairy beverage. (A few weeks ago I bought a couple containers of unsweetened soy milk that had apparently been treated unkindly in transit and had coagulated. I contacted the manufacturer and they sent me some coupons. So far, so good.)

The store was out of unsweetened soy milk, so I grabbed what I thought was a container of Silk unsweetened coconut milk. The cashier rang it up with the rest of my groceries, processed the coupon with some difficulty, and I went on my merry way.

Only to realize, as I was putting the groceries away at home, that I'd grabbed a container of So Delicious coconut milk, which is not at all the same brand as Silk coconut milk, and had probably caused an inconvenient bookkeeping error for somebody at the store.

So, I phoned the store's customer service, and they told me I could come in today or tomorrow and exchange the coconut milk for the correct item. Except that the customer service person seemed to be approaching the problem from the assumption that I was upset about getting the wrong item and *wanted* to exchange it. The truth is, I could not care less. The difference between one brand or another of non-dairy beverage is not worth the time and inconvenience to go back to the store and exchange it. I just don't want the cashier to get in trouble for an error that was at least partially my fault.

So, what do you think? Have I fulfilled my obligation by calling the store and trying to explain the situation, or do I need to go do coconut milk penance to ensure that the cashier doesn't suffer negative consequences?

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I think you're good. Really.

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

Yeah, on reflection, if it really were a big deal, they'd have treated it like a big deal when I called. And they really didn't.

Besides, if I really thought that Safeway were going to seriously punish a cashier for a minor mistake like that, I'd have to seriously think about shopping somewhere else.

[brooksmoses]

I should think that if they were going to seriously punish the cashier for something like that, they wouldn't have given them the ability to do it in the first place. There's an awful lot of stuff that requires supervisor overrides, so if this doesn't then....

I would be deeply surprised if this actually even caused a bookkeeping hassle for anyone (or, for that matter, if your returning it would even get attached to the record of the transaction where you bought it). They've certainly sold at least one carton without the coupon, so in the really bizarre case of them getting audited they've sold as many cartons as they've redeemed coupons, which is probably as much tracking as gets done.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yeah. That.

[alecaustin.livejournal.com]

You've done what you can, as well as what you ought.