At this time when most people have been laid off and business owners forced to shut down due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, buying the wrong products and not being able to refund is a waste of money most people cannot afford.
Diversity Magazine got a hint from a member of the community who was refused a refund at a local Edmonton store. We took to the phone to call three stores to see for ourselves if we can refund products we bought from three stores; Shoppers Drug Mart, Real Canadian Superstore, and Optimum Health.
All the stores sang from the same hymn sheet, saying due to the pandemic, they cannot accept refunds but we can call back to check, without giving any time line. The person who picked up the phone at Shoppers Drug Mart said they are waiting for directions from Loblaws, their partner. The gentleman at Canadian Superstore asked of the product as if he was going to accept a refund, before going down the line of the pandemic. The lady at Optimum told one of our colleagues that she could not accept the product because they will have to quarantine the product.
Talking of quarantine, every day, after the touching and moving around of products in the store, every product should be taken to quarantine for 14 days or disinfected, the time needed for the COVID-19 virus to die on surfaces or they could disinfect the surfaces of the products. However, this is not the case in practice, as such, refund should not be a problem as the stores can quarantine all refunded products, since it will not be a lot or they could disinfect.
We contacted Service Alberta, the consumer protection arm of the Alberta Government, and we were told that there are no provincial guidelines with respect to refunds, before, during, or after the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Think before you shop!
