I can understand why the stores may not want to take a pattern back because it could have been used by the buyer and then returned. I will say however, that my JoAnns store did give me a return on a pattern I had bought. The reason I returned it was because a couple days after buying it I was given a pattern that I really had wanted. This may have been an exception to the rule but it had never been opened and think it was safe to do so with me.