Why did I have to threaten to sue Wal-Mart to get a refund?

[tim]

I bought a $50 pair of headphones at Wal-Mart last week. They broke after one day. I took them back and exchanged them for another pair. The replacement pair broke in the exact same way after 3 days. I took them back and told them I just wanted my money back. They said "No we can't do that. We can only do an even exchange for an opened item" Once upon a time that was the law, but that law has changed. The law now states that a consumer may return any product to the location it was purchased for a full refund within 7 days if they're dissatisfied with the product. The lady at the service desk said she was not aware of it. So I asked to speak with the manager. After arguing with him for several minutes, he consented to it. The clerk at the service desk then comes back and starts ringing in a gift card. I said "I hope that isn't my refund" she said "it is. We only do refunds for opened items in store credit". Before she tried to tell me they didn't do refunds for opened items period. I left with my gift card, but didn't spend a dime of it. I called my uncle who is a lawyer the next day, and he told me that's BS and I'm entitled to a cash refund. He called the manager and spoke to him, and called me and told me to bring the unused gift card back to the service desk for a full cash refund. I finally got my money back, but not until after a huge hassle that required the intervention of a lawyer. I'm never shopping at Wal-Mart again.

[doran]

Include the specific law because I don't believe it exists either.
There are times when can return something just because you change your mind. I can't imagine this being one of them.