I accidentally gave an Epic turn-in to the NPC's pet - I was a little stressed by the time I got the piece and in a hurry. I petitioned and went to bed -2AM.
When I checked at 6:00AM the item had allready been returned to me - and they even told me what I had done and what slot in which bag of my inventory they put the item in. Guess maybe it depends on how you talk to them. Now have an epic!
Seldane/EagleFlight