Walmart’s Baby Food Return Policy Explained

You should have no problem returning baby food and formula to Walmart as long as you have your receipt and return it within the allotted return window.

Baby food and formula is covered under Walmart’s standard 90-day return policy. During this time, you can return your item for a full refund.

If you purchased your baby food using WIC benefits, you will not be able to return your item for a refund. Instead, you can exchange your item for a WIC-approved alternative.

How Strict Is Walmart’s Return Policy?

Walmart’s return policy isn’t particularly strict, especially when it comes to food. As long as you request your refund within 90 days, you’re more or less guaranteed to get your money back.

Some sources online claim that you can only return baby food if it is unopened. However, this is not true. As long as you have your original purchase receipt and it’s been less than 90 days since your transaction, you can request a full refund for your baby food at Walmart.

How To Return Baby Formula To Walmart

The best way to return unwanted baby formula to Walmart is by visiting a Walmart location in person.

To request a return in person, follow these steps:

1. Gather your unwanted food item along with your original purchase receipt and head to your nearest Walmart location
2. Find the customer service desk and let an employee know you would like to request a refund
3. The employee will ask to see your purchase receipt to verify that you are within the allotted return window (the employee might also ask you why you are returning your item)
4. Once your return has been approved, your refund will be processed to your original form of payment (if the total cost of your item is less than $10, you can request to receive your refund in cash even if you did not pay with cash originally)

To return baby food through the mail, follow these steps:

1. First, be sure not to return opened baby food through the mail (if your baby food has been opened, try returning it in person at a Walmart location instead or initiating an online return by simply sending in your purchase receipt in lieu of the food item)
2. Initiate a return by logging into your Walmart.com account
3. Go to your account page and click on “Orders”
4. Find the order that contains the item you would like to return
5. Click “Return” and follow the prompts to initiate the returns process
6. You will be issued a shipping label that you can use to package and ship your unwanted item
7. Your refund will be processed once Walmart receives your shipped item (this can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks)

Returning Without A Receipt

Unfortunately, returning items to Walmart without a receipt isn’t so simple.

However, if you cannot find your original purchase receipt, you might still be able to return your item for a refund if you are willing and able to provide a valid, government-issued photo ID at the time of your return.

Walmart’s store management has the power to decide whether or not to grant you your refund based on your ability to provide identification. If you do provide an ID and they grant you your refund, your ID will be copied and saved by Walmart and your history of non-receipt returns will be tracked. If Walmart’s management ever determines that you are abusing their non-receipt returns policy, you could be banned from requesting returns of any kind.

Refunds

If your item is accepted for return, you will be granted a full refund.

How you receive your refund will depend on the price of your item and how you paid originally. In most cases, you will receive your refund to your original form of payment. However, if the amount of your transaction was $10 or less, then you may be able to receive this as in cash even if you did not pay in cash originally. Cash refunds are issued immediately.

If you are being refunded to a debit or credit card, you may have to wait several days for your refund to be processed. When returning something through the mail, it can take up to several weeks to receive your refund when factoring in shipping and processing times. 

What Does Walmart Do With the Returned Baby Formula?

If you return baby formula to Walmart, it will be thrown out. Due to public health and safety concerns, Walmart does not re-shelve food items that have previously been purchased and returned.

There’s a chance an employee might claim the baby food to take home, but the greater likelihood is that it will be marked out and thrown in the dumpster. In fact, many sources state that Walmart destroys all returned food items before disposing of them to ensure that no one else will eat them.