In recent years, the member-based chain store Costco has gained global popularity as one of the most beloved retailers. Aside from offering high-quality and affordable home goods and food, Costco’s generous return policy is a key factor. If you want to know how lenient Costco’s return policy is, just take a look at the unique return stories shared by its members.
Costco, as a large warehouse-style retail store, indeed has one of the most generous return policies, allowing members to return almost any item at any time if they are unsatisfied, even without a receipt, as long as they have their membership card.
For everyday goods, Costco follows their 100% risk-free return policy, offering full refunds. However, there are exceptions listed on Costco’s website, such as electronics, diamonds, tobacco, and alcohol that cannot be returned, or items that must be returned within a specified time frame. For all delivered items, the return time starts from the date of delivery.
According to a ranking by U.S. News & World Report in 2023, Costco was rated as one of the top six stores with excellent return policies.
“COSTCO’s policy is the most generous among large retailers, even allowing returns (of purchased items) after several years,” said Nick Gausling, Managing Director of the retail consultancy firm Romy Group LLC, to U.S. News & World Report.
“Their membership model offsets the losses from returns and promotes a good relationship between the store and consumers, achieving a win-win situation,” he said.
Costco members often share their unique return stories and experiences on social media, some of which are quite remarkable.
In January 2018, a woman in California returned a dead Christmas tree, and a fellow customer behind her posted a photo of the return on their Facebook page, sparking discussions and making headlines in various media outlets.
This Facebook user criticized the woman’s return behavior at that time. However, in September 2021, a self-claimed Costco employee named Hannah shared a video on social media, revealing common return queries encountered.
One customer asked, “Can I return a dead Christmas tree after Christmas?” The answer in the video was, “Yes! You will receive a full refund.”
Costco does not specify any time frames or conditions for returning items, allowing members to return used products regardless of how long they have owned them.
In early August last year, a couple documented their experience of returning a five-year-old mattress on social media, citing the reason as the mattress being “uncomfortable.”
The return was accepted, and according to the video, the couple purchased a new king-size mattress with the money from a Costco gift card.
A Costco member claimed on social media that she witnessed a customer’s outrageous return behavior while waiting in line.
User @negzzy posted a video recalling seeing a woman returning an empty box at Costco.
“I saw her holding a box, like a candy box, but there was nothing inside the box,” @negzzy said in the video.
The shopper told the return staff that she didn’t like the chocolate bars she purchased and wanted to return them, but there were no chocolate bars to return in the box. She eventually received a refund.
@negzzy user stated that after witnessing this return experience, she openly encouraged Costco to set “boundaries” on what returns are acceptable or should be accepted.
Costco has no restrictions on returning food items, even if the products have been opened or partially consumed.
Several social media users shared absurd stories of returning food items at Costco, including a half-eaten birthday cake returned because it was “too sweet.”
Another social media user @astridcabas shared a video of her returning chicken at Costco.
She said she purchased three boxes of chicken at a local Costco, returned two boxes because “the meat tasted terrible.” She mentioned in the video, “I just felt like I spent $35 to $40, it didn’t seem worth it, so I need to return it.”
She claimed she eventually got her money back.
A website providing stock investment guidance, “The Motley Fool,” stated that when asking Costco customer service representatives about food return issues, they said Costco would definitely take back any product with obvious quality problems, such as food that has gone bad before its expiration date printed on it. They also said that while Costco accepts returned food because customers didn’t like the taste, you must ensure that the amount of food returned is reasonable.
For example, if you buy a Costco cake and return it with 80% eaten, the store will not refund the money. But if you bring back the cake missing a small slice and explain that its taste indeed doesn’t match your expectations, you usually get your money back immediately. If you repeatedly buy the same cake and return it claiming it is not to your taste, Costco may refuse the return.
A widely circulated video on social media last February featured Jackie Nguyen (@xojacckss) revealing that she successfully returned a sofa she purchased at Costco two and a half years ago, even without a receipt, and received a full cash refund.
Ms. Nguyen admitted to feeling nervous about returning the sofa. She said the cashier only asked when she bought the sofa and the reason for the return.
“I just said we don’t like it anymore… we just don’t fancy this color anymore. They gave us a refund. A full refund was credited to the card,” she said.
However, Ms. Nguyen’s video of returning the sofa also drew some strong opposition online, with some Costco customers accusing her of abusing Costco’s generous return policy.
Does having too many returns cause Costco’s membership to be revoked? An article from “The Motley Fool” states that according to Costco customer service representatives, a Costco membership may be revoked for extreme abuse of the store’s return policy but must reach a severe level to be canceled.
(References in this article are partially based on reporting by Fox News.)