What’s That About Making Your Bed And Lying In It?

My best friend and I were working in customer service and returns one summer, and a man walked in who had purchased a mattress topper. You know, the foamy thing that goes over the top of the mattress. The bag had been ripped opened, and we could visibly see hair on the thing, so we knew it had been used. We had a no-questions-asked return or exchange policy as long as the item was returned with a receipt.

The policy stated that an employee must open the package and inspect it to see if it could hit the shelves again or if it should be disposed of (meaning it would go to auction or clearance or be donated to charity). I was the unfortunate one to have to open this bag.

Upon pulling out the foam, the guy turned around so as not to make eye contact with us while inspecting it. There were bed bugs crawling out of the centre, and there was a large amount of what smelled like ammonia, possibly cat urine, and fecal matter.

I called my manager and explained what had just happened, and in minutes, she was there to rush the refund through.

I was pulled into the office and fired for pushing back against the store’s return policy. I wasn’t trying to argue. I thought it was disgusting that people would even try to get their money back and return something in that condition.

This is why I stopped shopping there. To this day, I cringe and get itchy when I think of the fact that they just threw that mattress topper into a donation bin and didn’t burn it.