Customer returns 2 boxes of Trader Joe’s Mini Chicken Tacos

Jack Alban

IRL

Posted February 9, 2023 Updated February 9, 2023 5:32 PM CST

It’s happened to many customers: they try a new item from a grocery store, only to bring it home, eat it, and be blown away by the experience.

While some see it as a learning experience and simply swear never to buy the product again, other people bring the items back to the store for a refund.

One customer has gone viral on TikTok for saying she made the latter with two boxes of Trader Joe’s mini chicken tacos. After purchasing the tacos, Sydney Adams Yi, a baker who posts at @sydneyyi3, wasn’t exactly thrilled with their taste and found the picture on the box to be very different from the actual tacos she received.

@sydneyyi3 Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Thank you T Swift. #traderjoes #traderjoesfoodreviews #haul #food #traderjoesfinds #fyp #foryoupage #k18results ♬ Original sound – Sydney Adams Yi

Yi uploaded a video detailing why she wasn’t a fan of the mini tacos and urged other Trader Joe shoppers to stay away from them.

In a follow-up video, she documented her process of returning the items to Trader Joe’s. The video received over 39,000 likes and hundreds of comments on the platform.

“OK, today is the day these babies go back,” Yi said to start the video. Then, with her receipt and chicken tacos in hand, she walked into Trader Joe’s. When Yi entered the store, she immediately told a clerk that she had a return. After confirming that Yi intended to buy more items during her visit, the staff member told her what to do when she returned.

“Okay, just let your cashier know and we’ll deduct this from your bill,” the clerk said.

“Oh ok you don’t need that?” Yi asked, seeming to refer to her receipt.

“No, I don’t need that,” the worker replied. “Just tell them you have a return and they’ll call us.”

@sydneyyi3 I had to do the right thing. #return #traderjoes #traderjoesfoodreviews #haul #lifestyle #fyp #foryoupage #tacos #food #grocery shopping #grocery transport ♬ Spinning Monkeys – Okasansan08

Yi thanked the worker before leaving to start shopping. The clip then switched to her standing over boxes of mini beef tacos in the freezer department. “Nope, no way,” she said.

When she finished shopping, Yi went to a checkout counter and informed her cashier that she had a return. The camera then cuts to the worker ringing a bell above the cash register signaling that he needs help.

“It was very easy. I just returned these two miserable boxes to Trader Joe’s. All done!” Yi said as she exited the store.

In her car, she smiled and said she “stopped a woman from buying the exact same box of mini chicken tacos.”

“I said, ‘See that picture on the box? How does it look so full and delicious? Yeah, the chicken is about that big in there, so don’t get it,'” Yi said. As she spoke, she demonstrated the meager amount of protein with her fingers.

“She thanks me for telling her and she put them right back in the cooler,” the TikToker continued. “All the stuff I bought today was cheaper than returning it, so it’s a good day I think.”

In the comments, many viewers agreed that they aren’t fans of Trader Joe’s mini chicken tacos. Some also praised the store for its generous return policy.

“I just told the cashier I didn’t like something I bought last trip and they gave me a credit for it,” wrote one user.

Others said they were intimidated when trying to return something because they didn’t want everyone in the store to look at them after an employee rang the bell.

“Now I will never give anything back [there] because I don’t want them to ring that bell lol,” one viewer commented.

There were also some who noted that returning groceries at a grocery store had never crossed their minds.

According to Club Trader Joe’s, the store has a “generous return policy” for customers who are not satisfied with the items they have purchased.

“Trader Joe’s has a generous returns policy – you can bring almost any item back to the store for a full refund, with or without a receipt. This includes food you’ve opened and even eaten, as well as inedible products that didn’t meet your expectations,” the blog reads.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Yi via Instagram direct message and Trader Joe via email for further comment.

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