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Y2K ends with few happy returns Photo by Steve Johnson Medford real estate agent Edie Avdonia stocked up for Y2K emergencies at the Black Bird store last Thursday. Knowing the store had a "no Y2K returns" policy, Avdonia bought only what she could use, regardless of whether the world shut down. You stocked up; now you're stuck, some area stores say By MARK FREEMAN We have met the millennium bug, and he is us. Today -- when the new translation for Y2K is "Why did I spend $2,000 on all this emergency stuff I didn't need?" -- the next question on many minds is, how much of this stuff can I take back to the store? The answer isn't as simple as having kept all your receipts. Just as important as having the receipt is the name of the store on the top. Stores that have spent the past year selling everything from generators and batteries to powdered milk and military food rations all have varying return policies regarding Y2K purchases. Many stores are like Hubbard's Ace Hardware in Medford, whose salesmen have told customers that people will have to pay their own bills for their Y2K fears. "We're not an insurance company," says Don Coleman, a salesman at Hubbard's, on South Pacific Highway in Medford. "For anybody who's buying in a panic, there's not much of a return policy at all," Coleman says. But that's not the case at Swede & Sons Surplus, on Highway 62 in White City. If you've stocked your pantry full of MREs (meals, ready to eat), then you're not SOL (sure outta luck) if you want to return them -- as long as you have a receipt. "With everything we sell, that's not a problem if they have a receipt," owner Swede Hastings says. "If they don't want it, someone else will." That's not the case at the Black Bird Shopping Center, where customers have been told for weeks exactly which Y2K items -- guns, ammo, emergency candles, batteries, etc. -- cannot be returned unless they are defective. And pretending that the new generator and 150-gallon water tank were simply duplicate Christmas presents won't work, either. "Nothing that's related to Y2K can come back," Black Bird's Lisa Edwards says. Those sobering words sunk into Edie Avdonia, a Medford real estate agent who stocked up on lots of extra batteries, candles, lamp oil and even powdered milk at the Black Bird last Thursday. Knowing none of it could be returned, she made sure she bought only what she could use regardless of whether the world shut down. "I have enough for a few days, just in case the power goes out," Avdonia says. "But all these things are things I should keep around the house for emergencies." That's the mentality preferred by Rob Boley, assistant vice president for public relations for the Fred Meyer store chain. "We think it's a good idea for every person to have an emergency plan and be prepared for earthquakes, fires, floods, snow and ice," said Boley, in Portland. "The year is full of emergencies." Still, Fred Meyer plans on keeping the same return policies for Y2K items that it has year-round -- it'll take back virtually anything, as long as it has not been used and you have a receipt. Sears is protecting itself from would-be hoarders by imposing a 20 percent restocking fee to anyone who buys a generator and then tries to return it in January. At Big R in White City, generators are not welcomed back, but unopened lanterns, batteries and other items can be returned with receipts, store manager Steve Hamre says. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA