Tired of ordering the same old chow from Panera Bread? Well I got some good news for ya. I went out and found 12 Panera secret menu items that will really spice up your next on-the-go breakfast or lunch. Most Panera employees can whip these up for you on the fly, but in case they can’t, I’ve included the ingredients as best I could. Enjoy.

Power Steak Lettuce Wraps

These steak lettuce wraps sound yummy but a little messy if you’re not careful.

You’ll get a bowl with leaves of romaine lettuce, sirloin steak, basil, tomato, onion, basil, and a lemon wedge.

You then use the lettuce and attempt to build your own wraps without making a mess.

These are a great secret menu meal for those on a low carb diet.

See Also: The Chick-Fil-A Secret Menu: Fun Ways to Spice Up Your Next Meal

Power Breakfast Egg Bowl w/ Steak

The Power Breakfast Egg Bowl w/ Steak is a great meal for those looking for high protein and low carbs.

Order it and you’ll get 2 poached eggs, sliced sirloin steak, tomatoes, and avocado.

Great meal to start your day and will surely fill you up until lunchtime.

Power Mediterranean Chicken Salad

Think of this one like a cobb salad with a yummy twist.

Order the Power Mediterranean Chicken Salad and you’ll get a salad with romaine lettuce, spinach, bacon, chicken, tomatoes, onions, hard boiled eggs, and sliced red onions.

The default dressing is lemon juice and olive oil which comes on the side.

Sounds tasty.

See Also: The Shake Shack Secret Menu Will Make You Drool

The “Chili-Mac”

According to Emma, a Panera employee, the Chili-Mac is a fav with employees at her location in the winter.

Apparently chili often makes it in the restaurant as a soup, so when you see it just have the employee mix it half-and-half with their famous mac n’ chasse and ENJOY the amazing combination.

Feta Mac & Cheese

Also from Emma, ask for Feta cheese to be mixed into the gooey goodness of the regular Panera mac & cheese for a nice little surprise.

I Emma employee might have a mac n’ cheese addiction…if I wasn’t happily married I just might look her up.

BBQ Avocado Flatbread

For a vegetarian secret menu idea try the BBQ Avocado Flatbread.

Just order the BBQ Chicken Flatbread but have them replace the chicken with smeared avocado.

Thanks to Emma for this one too!

See Also: The Subway Secret Menu Is Totally Awesome (and May Even Save You Cash)

Power Mediterranean Roasted Turkey Salad

This one sounds right up my alley as I LOVE Greek olives in my salad.

Order it and you’ll get spinach, lettuce, roasted turkey breast, red onion, tomatoes, and olives with a splash of lemon juice and olive oil.

Tip: Have them also add some Feta cheese and “take it to 100”.

Power Chicken Hummus Bowl

I recently discovered smoked bell pepper hummus and absolutely LOVE it it with crackers.

It’s my current go-to snack so this one really intrigued me and it sounds delicious.

Try the Power Chicken Hummus bowl from the Panera secret menu as a tasty way to spice up your next salad.

It’s comprised of chicken (of course), hummus, spinach, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, lemon, and cilantro.

Power Breakfast Egg White Bowl w/ Turkey

This Panera “secret” concoction is basically a breakfast “protein salad” of sorts.

It comes with sliced roasted turkey breast, lightly fried egg whites, spinach, roasted peppers, topped with basil pesto.

It weighs-in at less than 200 calories but offers a whopping 25 grams of protein to help fuel you throughout the day.

Garlic Herb Spread

Only hardened regulars at Panera know that you can order a side of garlic herb spread.

Then according to Emma try dipping a baguette in it or try it on a sandwich or mix it in with your pasta.

Sounds delicious.

See Also: The Ultimate In-N-Out Secret Menu (Some of Which Will Save You Money)

The Sierra Turkey

Not all Panera employees are aware of the Sierra Turkey.

But if they are versed in this creation you’re in for a mouth watering treat.

Order it and you’ll get a roasted turkey sandwich on “asiago focaccia bread with our chipotle mayonnaise, red onions & smoked chicken & a couple other delicious ingredients.”

Avocado on Anything

If you love avocado you’re now officially aware that you can add avocado on anything.

Sometimes they’ll charge you extra for the avocado and sometimes they’ll add it at no extra charge, kinda depends on the item.

Ask the Reader: Do you know of any Panera Bread secret menu items that I missed? Let me know in the comments and I’ll happily give the item a try.

By Kyle James

Photo credit to Mike Mozart.

I was blown away the other day when Amazon told me to keep a product that I was trying to return. They happily refunded $15 to my credit card and actually told me that I didn’t have to send the item back. If I only had a use for 12″ hose clamps, then I’d be sittin’ in tall cotton. Surprisingly, they are NOT the only store that is known to do this. Here’s how the whole dealio went down and what Amazon told me when I pressed them on this strange phenomena.

Scenario #1

I recently ordered some hose clamps and failed to notice how big they were…turns out they were HUGE and completely unusable for my project I was working on.

So I hit up my Amazon account and started the return process.

As you can imagine I was quite surprised when I was told I would get full refund and NOT have to return the item.

So now I just have to figure out what to do with these ginormous 12″ hose clamps or find someone who can use them.

See Also: Amazon Return Policy: No More Confusion, Here’s EXACTLY How It Works

Scenario #2

As you can see from the screenshot above, it was a horse hoodie that my daughter didn’t like.

She never wore it and it still had the tags on it.

So, much to my surprise I was told to KEEP the item when I initiated the return.

And yes, I got a full refund as well.

PRO TIP: WHAT ITEMS DOES THIS WORK WITH?

Besides the 2 items mentioned above, Amazon is telling many shoppers to keep cheap electronics (under $20), worn clothing priced less than $25, and bulky items that are under $30 (think storage containers, large home decor).

Scenario #3

As I mentioned above, cheap electronics often triggers the “Keep-It” response from Amazon.

This is exactly what happened recently with a small digital clock that my daughter didn’t like in her dorm room as it was too bright.

Amazon told me to keep it and immediately sent me a refund.

Are These Three Scenarios “One-Offs”?

No, I really don’t think so.

To prove this, a while back, Allison Gormly, a consumer investigative reporter with WINK News, tweeted out that the same thing recently happened to her.

Here is her tweet:

I just tried to return an Amazon hat that didn’t fit properly and got this message. Now, I keep the hat…and my money. Has this happened to you?? pic.twitter.com/d4TDYL7b4C

— Allison Gormly (@ChasingAllison) January 2, 2021

Then I started reading through some of the comments on her tweet and apparently it’s happened to a lot of Amazon shoppers recently.

And there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

It doesn’t seem to be a “price thing” as one commenter was told to keep an expensive electric lawnmower and another was told to a keep a Halloween mask.

It also doesn’t seem to have to do with whether the product was sold by Amazon or a 3rd party as my example above was sold by a company named GLIDESTORE and not Amazon.

So What Does Amazon Say About This?

So I figured that instead of trying to guess what was happening, I should go straight to the horse’s mouth and ask Amazon.

So I hit up Amazon chat and was told that since I said “I received a different item than the one I ordered, I didn’t have to return it.”

I then said that it was not actually the reason for the return, but they insisted I keep it and didn’t want to “hassle me” with returning the item.

This seems like a strange response from Amazon as I know for a fact that I selected “ordered by mistake”, not “received the wrong item”, as my reason for making the return.

So I Contacted Amazon Again…

The next day I started a live chat session with Amazon again trying to figure out exactly what was going on in the hopes of writing a useful blog post about this.

I was told the specific Amazon 3rd party seller who sold me the hoodie was not taking items back.

I then asked if this was a COVID-19 related issue as some retailers are not taking back clothing in certain areas of the country.

The chat rep said “Yes” it was more than likely a COVID issue as to why the seller didn’t want the item back.

The rep then told me I could keep, dispose, or donate the hoodie.

See Also: Amazon Sent Me a $339 Item I Didn’t Order…What Happened Next is Crazy

Can You Trick Amazon Into Getting a Refund?

I was curious if I could “game the system” and tried to return a bunch of different items to try and trigger a “keep it and we will still refund you” response.

I was UNSUCCESSFUL on every attempt, even those where I choose “received the wrong item” as the reason for my return.

I tried to return a dozen different items and Amazon wanted me to mail them all back in order to get my refund.

Even though Amazon often tries to scam us shoppers, this is definitely NOT a way to scam Amazon, so don’t try it at home.

But rather it seems to be a completely random “Amazon surprise” when it actually happens.

So enjoy it and hopefully you can actually use the free product or donate it to somebody that can.

Ask the Reader: Has Amazon ever told you to keep a product and still refunded your money? If so, what was the item and was it sold by Amazon or a 3rd party? 

By Kyle James

Hello, my name is Kyle, I’m a compulsive Ross shopper and it’s been 13 days since I last shopped at Ross. I have no problem admitting it and my wife can definitely vouch for my addiction. I buy pretty much all of my clothing and shoes from Ross. It just makes sense as you’re getting quality name brands with savings in the 40-50% range. But aside from their everyday savings, there exists some highly clever ways to save even more money at Ross, here are my favorite 11 tips and tricks.

Shop On a Monday for “First-Dibs” on Markdowns

I’m a HUGE fan of figuring out when my favorite stores do their price markdowns so I can always shop right after (or during) and get first-dibs on the new sale prices.

I have it on good authority (from personal experience) that Ross does the vast majority of their store markdowns on Mondays when the store is not very busy.

So be sure to shop at Ross on a Monday evening or Tuesday morning and you’ll be the first shopper to check out newly added clearance items and along with the stuff that was marked down even further.

Shop When You’re Not in a Hurry

So here’s the thing with Ross…you GOTTA have time to look for the deals.

The racks of clothing, shoes, and home décor items aren’t exactly well organized, especially in the evenings when stuff has been touched and scattered.

So give yourself plenty of time, when you’re NOT in a hurry, and you’ll easily find the great deals hidden within.

See Also: All the Name-Brands Found at Ross, TJ Maxx, and Marshalls

If You’re 55+ Be Sure to Shop on a Tuesday

Tuesday is “Senior” day at Ross and those 55 or older get a sweet 10% discount on everything in-store.

Ross calls it their “Every Tuesday” club and it’s available nationwide at every Ross location.

You’ll need to sign up in-store and show a valid I.D. with your age displayed on it.

Note: Many Ross stores will give a senior the 10% discount without needing to show any proof, and often without them even asking for the discount.

Every Ross Has Different Inventory Levels

I have 2 Ross locations in my town and when it comes to the amount of inventory each store stocks, one of them is GREAT and the other SUCKS OUT LOUD.

For instance, my “crappy Ross” rarely has Nike shoes in my size, where the “good Ross” always has enough pairs of Nike to make me look like a total pimp. Haha.

So know your local Ross stores as it’s definitely worth a little longer drive to the store where they actually have the brands (and deals) that you’re looking to buy.

See Also: Ultimate Guide for Scoring the Best Deal at TJ Maxx, Ross, and Marshall’s

Irregular Items are Your BEST Friend

Look for price tags at Ross that say “Irregular” on it in order to maximize your savings.

Irregular items is stuff that didn’t meet the manufacturer’s “strict” guidelines and was sold to Ross for cheap.

But I’m here to tell ya that you CANNOT tell what is wrong with most “Irregular” items.

But the savings is usually in the 40-70% range depending on the item.

Found a Ross Coupon? It’s Probably a Fake

One thing I know for certain about Ross, they DO NOT have coupons of any kind.

So if you see one on eBay or in your email inbox, especially if it’s for sale, stay away as it’s 100% a SCAM.

While this tip is not a “way to save” I felt it needed to be included so you aren’t scammed as fake Ross coupons are becoming more prominent.

See Also: 8 Ways to Spot a Fake Coupon…Every Time

Get to Know a Ross Employee

I’ve found that Ross employees have a bunch of cool savings hacks up their sleeves and are willing to spill the beans if you chat them up and are cool about it.

From the best day to shop at that particular location, to the brands they sometimes get, to the departments that have particularly good savings….become buddies and talk them up, you won’t regret it.

Buy Discounted Gift Cards for Ross and Save up to 15%

eBay is a great place to buy Ross gift cards for less than face value.

You can easily save 15 – 25% off your next Ross purchase just by keeping an eye out on Ross gift card auctions and pounce when you spot a good deal.

Get a Job at Ross and Save an Extra 20%

If you love Ross, and are also looking for work, consider applying which would get you a sweet 20% employee discount if hired.

Their employee discount even goes up to 40% off every three months.

See Also: The Best Employee Discounts at Fast Food Restaurants

Check the Ross Facebook Page for Giveaways

Ross does very little on social media with the exception of their Facebook page.

It’s worth a follow as they keep it updated with new product alerts, $50 Ross gift card giveaways, and other cool freebies.

See Also: Ross Return Policy: Insider Tips for Successful Returns

Don’t Forget to Sign-Up for Ross Email Alerts

Because Ross doesn’t advertise very much, and rarely has “sales”, it’s imperative to sign-up for their email alerts as it’s the best way to be kept in-the-know of in-store events and new merchandise alerts.

They also share cool Ross shopping tips via email which is kinda cool (and very rare for a retailer).

Bonus Tip: Don’t Be Afraid to Negotiate a Deal

If you find an item at Ross with damaged packaging and a price that doesn’t reflect the damage, don’t be afraid to ask for a deeper discount.

Ross management knows they will have a hard time selling the product and in most cases will gladly sell it to you at a discount to get it out of the store.

Start the negotiating by asking for a 25% discount and be prepared to meet in the middle with a 10-15% discount.

Ask the Reader: What’s your go-to way to save money at Ross? Let me know in the comments, thanks.

By Kyle James