If something just isn't to my liking, I toss it.

If it's spoiled or off or defective in some way, I return it.

I agree with abram. I don't think a store or restaurant should be held accountable for a perfectly acceptable product just because I didn't like it. I ordered mussels in a restaurant for the first time and found I did not like them. They were prepared as stated on the menu. Is it the restaurant's fault I was being adventurous and it backfired?

Fair enough if they have a policy like TJ's but if not I chalk it up to the price of adventure.

It would never occur to me to return fresh fruit. I mean really, how is it the store's fault if it's not "up to snuff"?

I bought some brie at TJ's and hated the taste so threw it away. I wish I'd known about their policy. I usually like their brie but in the past I bought their French and was happy and this time I tried their Canadian brie.

I also bought a frozen chile relleno at Costco that I didn't like and threw the leftovers out. I love chile rellenos but making them at home seemed like too much work.

I once bought Chinese takeout at the Safeway near me and it was terrible. I like the town I live in (Salem, OR) but I've yet to find a chinese restaurant that I like. But Panda Express would have been preferable to Safeway's.

That's a shame - I recall that the Archer Farm roasted tomatillo salsa verda was delicious.

I haven't been buying much packaged stuff lately, but have thrown out the leftovers of a few things that I knew from the initial reaction that no one was ever likely to revisit in the fridge. No sense knowingly initiating next week's mould cultures. More often, it's been my own recipe that was.. "eh" and hit the dumpster early. (been torturing the family lately)

I don't drive so I'm at the Mercy of Star Market and a COOP.
When the baggers do squash my figs or other soft things I do return them. Sometimes I'm charged for the wrong item.
My latest is I was charged for cilantro (I'm allergic to it)
what I bought was watercress, The cashiers are usually young and foreign. The lat time this happened with another food item, I suggested to that manager (they have too many, different shifts) that they review items to these cashiers and ask which ones they don't know what they look like.

Ahh...all these people and their dreamed-up allergies, gotta love 'em!

I would never return food to a grocery store. Especially if it's frozen, pre-made or filled with preservatives. I figure all that is a gamble. It's not the store's fault if you don't like something.

clark, since cigale is the only person to have mentioned an allergy, is there some reason you think she doesn't have one? Somehow familiar with her symptoms, are you? Or been having a peek at her medical records?

So maybe it's not an allergy and the symptoms were misaccredited to exactly the wrong word (depending on who you ask). More people report a taste deviation to coriander (cilantro) than any other herb. It's often reported as tasting like soap so there IS said to be a chemical reaction to it that varies by individual.

All else I know, unfortunately, is what little I can read. Which in this case seems to discuss known cases, up to and including anaphylaxis, to various herbs and spices. Coriander in this case. Or rather, this is one of many educational sites discussing this "dreamed up" allergy, so.. cases.

http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~syarlag.../coriander.pdf

But I'm always impressed with anyone knows everything about anything after seeing a few words on a screen. You'll have to tell us how you do it sometime.

Clark gets some kind of high from posting tacky remarks.

Fast forward over him.

I seldom return groceries but have if molded or out of date on rare occasion.

I toss inedible items, but we have a resident Mikey so that seldom occurs.

We call our Mikey the goat -- he'll eat anything!

Siracha sauce: way too hot!

I bought kitchen hand soap from Myers. Yikes I'm allergic. Tried again with TJ handsoap. It took about a week but I'm allergic to that too.

I think you've got "Mikey" confused with somebody else. Mikey hated everything, that's why the siblings were surprised when he liked Life cereal.

Sriracha sauce hot? It's way on the mild scale in our house. I always have to supplement it with some real hotness. Tastes ultra-bland to me on its own. We all have our hotness triggers, I guess - bring on the habaneros! I think a lot of people would double over if they ate what we normally eat here.

Tonight we tossed a quarter of an avocado that we forgot about and that was just about black and oozy - never going to make it into anything we eat.

Cilantro is an acquired taste and it took me a long time to be able to actually enjoy it. It still isn't my favorite herb.