To those who have been unable to return the game for a refund to their local vendor, you can ship the game and a copy of your receipt to EA and they will provide an unopened version in exchange that your local store will accept.
Even though I have to spring for the shipping, I am going to go this route. The shipping will cost me $10. In other words, I have to pay $10 for the two hours of gameplay I got out of it. Pretty sad, however I suppose its ok to get back $40 rather than making use of the game as a coaster or frisbee.