You’ve just arrived home from a Walmart shopping trip, only to discover that an item you bought is already expired.
Some customers have found themselves in this position. You may be asking yourself what, if anything, you can do.
Keep reading to find out!
What Happens if You Buy an Expired Product From Walmart?
If you bought an expired product from Walmart, take it back to the store for a refund or exchange. In some situations, you might even get a gift card to apologize for the mistake. Walmart tries hard to always ensure they take expired products off their shelves, but mistakes happen.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- If you bought an expired product from Walmart, immediately take it back to the store with your receipt for a full refund or exchange.
- Walmart may compensate you for the mistake, such as by also giving you a gift card, though this doesn’t always happen.
- Legal action against Walmart in this situation would be incredibly hard.
In this article below, we explain more about what you should do if you bought expired food from Walmart!
What Should You Do if You Bought Expired Food From Walmart?
Sometimes, people don’t realize they bought out-of-date food from Walmart until after they return home. They’ve already purchased the product. Only when they’re home do they realize the food is expired!
While this isn’t necessarily a common issue, some customers have bought expired food from Walmart without noticing until later. Walmart works hard to keep this from happening. They try to take off expired food from the shelves as soon as possible.
However, mistakes have also been known to happen.
If you bought expired food from Walmart, you should:
- Return to Walmart as soon as possible with your expired item and your receipt
- Head to Customer Service
- Explain your situation
- Receive either a full refund or exchange the product for another, not expired product
Can I Sue Walmart for Selling Expired Food?
It would be incredibly hard and incredibly costly to sue Walmart for selling expired food. Technically, there is no major law that would lead you to easily sue the store.
In the United States, only baby food must have an expiration date on it, according to the law. So, other items don’t necessarily have this legal requirement, though most companies still enforce expiration dates to be printed on the product.
So, it would take a lot of money and effort to try to sue Walmart for selling expired food. If you have an extreme case where you can prove that the expired food has put you in great harm, or had you hospitalized, then you might have a case. But this is obviously quite rare.
Does Walmart Refund You if You Bought Expired Food?
Yes, Walmart does fully refund you if you bought expired food. You often have to have your receipt to show them that you bought the item when it was already expired.
However, some leniency may occur if you don’t have your receipt. In this case, the situation (and whether or not you get a full refund) may vary depending on the manager and the store.
For the most part, you should get a full refund with no issues if you have a receipt!
Does Walmart Compensate You for Selling Expired Food?
Occasionally, Walmart may compensate you even more for selling you expired food by accident. Often, this compensation will only come about in certain situations — such as if you complain enough to the manager.
If this happens, the manager may give you a gift card for compensation on top of your refund or exchange.
Now, this doesn’t always happen. This often only occurs in some situations when the customer feels very upset about the whole thing.
Conclusion
Walmart tries to keep expired food and products off their shelves. But accidents do occur.
If you bought expired food from Walmart, you can easily get a full refund or exchange from the store. Head to Customer Service with your receipt and let them know the situation at hand!