Cannabis returns + refunds — what’s allowed, what’s not, what to put on the receipt

• Defective product (lab-fail post-sale, contamination, damaged packaging) — refund + product disposed. The return itself is permitted under WAC 314-55-079(12) provided the original packaging carries a legible lot, batch or inventory ID; WAC 314-55-097 then governs the DISPOSAL, which is why the unit does not go back to shelf even if it looks fine. Track-and-trace inventory adjustment + WSLCB-CCRS waste log + signed disposal record. Operator absorbs the cost (usually claimed against the producer per /guides/cannabis-vendor-diligence-fire-or-keep).
• Customer changed mind, unopened, packaging intact — operator discretion, but NOT back to shelf. WSLCB doesn’t mandate a no-return policy but the unit can’t be resold. We refund + dispose-as-waste. The cost of the refund is the cost of customer goodwill.
• Customer changed mind, opened — no refund. Tamper-seal broken = no traceability chain-of-custody. Sale-was-final position is defensible to the customer + required by audit-log discipline.
• Wrong product rung at register (budtender error) — void the original transaction in the POS, ring the correct product, refund the difference. Activity log captures the error + the correction; no inventory leakage.
• Customer ID expired post-sale, retroactive verification fail — WSLCB rules don’t require a return; the customer was 21+ at sale time. But operator-courtesy + consistency: refund + dispose-as-waste, log the reason, retrain the budtender on the verification flow.

1. 1Customer presents receipt + product. No receipt = manager-on-duty discretion; we look up the loyalty-member purchase history if applicable. No-receipt + no-loyalty = no refund (cash-only policy).
2. 2Visual + tamper-seal check. Is the tamper-seal intact? Original packaging? Within the 7-day return window we publish? Each ‘no’ narrows the path to refund + dispose-only.
3. 3Reason categorized. Defective / changed-mind-unopened / changed-mind-opened / wrong-product-rung / verification-fail. Different reasons trigger different cost-allocation (vendor claim vs. operator cost) + different audit-log entries.
4. 4Refund processed. Original tender method (cash → cash; debit → debit) per WSLCB record-keeping. POS marks the transaction as refunded; activity row stamps reason + budtender + manager-PIN if discount-applicable. Receipt printed showing original sale + refund.
5. 5Inventory adjustment + waste log. WAC 314-55-097 governs the disposal path, so the refunded unit is disposed rather than returned to shelf — it does not govern whether the return may be accepted, which is WAC 314-55-079(12). Track-and-trace inventory adjustment row written; physical disposal logged with manager + witness signatures.

Per /guides/cannabis-dispensary-signage-compliance the policy sign needs to be present + clear. Specific copy we use:

• Posted at the register, framed: ‘Returns within 7 days, with receipt. Defective product: refunded + replaced regardless of date. Opened product must come back in its original packaging with the lot, batch or inventory ID legible (WAC 314-55-079(12)) — it is refunded and disposed of, never returned to the shelf.’
• Receipt-printed footer: ‘Cannabis returns: 7 days, with receipt. Opened product accepted in original packaging with the lot/batch ID legible (WAC 314-55-079(12)); it is refunded and disposed of rather than returned to inventory.’ The distinction is the whole point: -079(12) governs whether you may ACCEPT the return, and -079(13) with WAC 314-55-097 governs what happens to the unit afterwards. Citing -097 for the acceptance question inverts the rule.
• On the website + at /pickup-flow customer email: same language, clearly visible before checkout.
• No fine-print exclusions. A defective product gets refunded regardless of packaging state. The operator-side ‘sale was final’ copy applies only to changed-mind-opened.

• Inconsistent enforcement. Refunding for friend-of-the-shop customers while saying no to walk-ins is the kind of discretion an inspector reads as an uncontrolled process. Same policy for everyone.
• No paper trail. Refund processed without an activity row + manager sign-off = the next inspection asks ‘walk me through your last refund’ + you can’t produce documentation.
• Cash-back larger than original sale. Customer asks for $50 back on a $42 purchase. Tip-extraction fraud pattern + operator-side cite if you allow it.
• Returning to shelf even when sealed. Most cited error in 2024-2025 inspection reports. The unit left the premises; the chain-of-custody broke. Don’t.
• Skipping the inventory-adjustment row. WSLCB-CCRS / METRC doesn’t care about the receipt-side refund; it cares about the inventory delta. If you refund without adjusting inventory, the next reconciliation finds the gap.