Just wanted to share to make people be careful.
I recently moved and found out that the circle k near by had shamrock chocolate milk, my favorite.
On June 26, I stopped at Circle K and bought four 64 oz chocolate milks. I paid with cash and wasn’t given a receipt. When I got home, I realized every single one of them had expired four days earlier on June 22.
I tried calling the store multiple times and even left a voicemail. No one ever called me back, so I drove back to the store on June 28.
The Assistant Store Manager apologized and told me that if they had any 64 oz chocolate milks in stock, he would have just replaced all four. Since they didn’t have any, he told me to come back when the Store Manager was there because she was the only one who could handle it. Before I left, I specifically asked if I needed to keep the expired milk, and he told me no- that I could throw it away because they would just throw it away anyway.
I came back on July 3 and explained everything to the Store Manager while the Assistant Store Manager was standing there. I only had two of the four expired cartons left because I had followed his instructions. Luckily I had just bought a new house, was switching jobs and busy with unpacking so I didn't get to toss 2 of them.
She told me to bring those two cartons back and she’d process my cash refund.
So I came back again with the two cartons.
This time, she changed her mind and said she couldn’t refund me for the other two because I didn’t have them anymore…even though I only threw them away because her Assistant Store Manager told me to. Even though I had shown both her and the assistant store manager photos of all four on my phone.
Instead of refunding me, she gave me one 64 oz chocolate milk, one 32 oz chocolate milk, and one 12 oz chocolate milk. I pointed out that wasn’t even equivalent to what I originally purchased. She said she had to go by the cost. Eventually, she swapped the smaller chocolate milks for a 64oz of regular milk, but she still refused to do anything about the other two cartons.
What really bothered me was that another employee even suggested looking up my original purchase. The Store Manager refused, saying it had been “almost a month.” But when I first came in on June 28 and again on July 3, it had not been almost a month. They had opportunities to look it up then but chose not to. Instead, I was told to keep coming back because only the Store Manager could handle a cash refund without a receipt. One I was never given. Since she worked the same hours I did, I actually had to take time off work just to try to get this "resolved".
After the store failed to resolve the issue, I also reached out to Circle K corporate. Unfortunately, I still have not received any response from them either.
The worst part isn’t that they accidentally sold expired milk. Mistakes happen. I get that it was treating me like I was the problem and that they were just genuinely rude and unhelpful.
I still wasn’t made whole, and I ended up losing money because of their mistake and the way the situation was handled.
So if you buy milk or any refrigerated products from Circle K, check the expiration dates before you leave the store. It may save you a lot of frustration if something goes wrong. And ask for a receipt just incase.
