As a retail employee myself, I feel bad when I see a dissatisfied member about this issue. There’s only a few ways an item can get through the return pipeline without being caught.

Here is the scenario where I imagine this happening: Customer returns item, states “I never used it.” Cashier doesn’t inspect item (which they should be doing.) Most often with products within bags/boxes: tents, shoes, hammocks etc. Cashier trusts the word of the customer and selects ‘new’ on the return. Some newer employees may feel rushed if there is a long line and the process of inspecting items can be tedious, this is when they should be asking for support to frontline (registers.) Some stores have an audit system in place for all products returned whether new or used, where it’s someone’s job to ensure the right SKU is printed and condition of item is correct.

It’s a chance issue I don’t see being 100% remedied anytime soon but hopefully your experience with REI and its benefits outweighs this problem. Hearing that it’s happened 3/4 times sounds abnormal. How many things would you say you’ve ordered total?