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Costco’s Incredible Return Policy
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I know a lot of folks love Costco, I’m one of them. Did you know that their return policy permits you to return ANYTHING (except computers) with or without the receipt whenever you want as long as you still have the same membership. If you bought a pair of pants, as I did, and found that you didn’t really like them but tossed the receipt already… no fear, just go back and they have it all on record. Yes, I bought these pants two months ago and had been meaning to return them for two months. You can also use this as a (semi-free) extended warranty – buy a TV or DVD player and if/when it stops working after four or five years, just return it! The only exception to this rule is a computer purchase and that return period expires after six months.
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I love costco. I tell everybody about the merits of costco membership and the fact that they have stood behind every single one of their products sold with a full money back guarantee thus far.
Although lately at some Costco’s I’ve heard comments about returns clerks ‘asking’ more questions – even if successful return. I’ve personally have not ever seen or experienced any return that was not possible.
I’m surprised to hear that there may be a ‘point system’ in place now – can a costco employee verify that? Is it similar to what other retailers use? (I hear there is really only a handful of systems in use – the most popular one used by Walmart).
Rumor has it that Costco may be changing their return policy next year. I’m sure that whatever the policy change is, it will still be the best out there.
I work for Costco. Yes our policy is great and we are happy to take things back for reasonable reasons. If a TV craps out on you in 3 years, we are happy to take it back but if your returning a TV because you want to “upgrade”, I and many of Costco’s workers believe it’s ethically wrong. Why? Because we then need to take that really old TV that was returned and try to salvage it to a reseller (for usually 10% or less of the actual price) or completely dispose of it and lose every dollar.
BE AWARE PEOPLE!!!!!!! WARNING
We do keep track of all returns and if we track a history of consistant and unreasonable returns, such as multiple cases returning a computer every 6 months or returning a TV every 3 years, we can ban you from all costco locations. WHEN YOU APPLY FOR A MEMBERSHIP, WE TYPE IN YOUR LICENSE # INTO THE COMPUTER THAT IS IN A DATABASE SERVER TO ALL COSTCOS WORLDWIDE!!!
We want our members to be happy and we want to give them the freedom to be happy with their purchases. That is why we have such a great policy, and now and then we will have the ethically wrong returns, and we definately notice them. Continue to shop at Costco and enjoy our great policy but please don’t try to take advantage of it, because its unfair for the 98% who ARE fair. Our prices are very competitive and we expect our products to work great for you.
You all are wrong to say its lifetime.. Shame on you all .. The policy isnt there for you to take it for granted.. Its there to make you happy .. I guess if it was your store you would feel so fine with people like yourselfs.. Costco is there for the members who want good quility for good prices.. not stupid people like most of you … If you came in to my store i would deffently wouldnt let you retun a dam thing… I dont care if i gave your membership money back .. at least we wouldnt have to deal with you in out store again .. But you cant seem to stop comming in our prices must be that great.. stop and think about the return is it really Costco’s fault.. NO
I returned 7 or 8 items and the person told me oh “Wow you return a lot of stuff. Please don’t abuse the policy.” I was so embarresed.
Hey, “Return clerk”:
Nice job calling people who return items to Costco stupid. You really back up your point that everyone else is stupid with words like “yourselfs”, “deffently”, “comming”, and “dam”. Just the literacy and elloquence that you have exhibited in your brilliant point has made me think about not abusing aforementioned return policy.
I agree with you that this policy shouldn’t be abused. If people abuse something like this, chances are it gets taken away. However, next time try this: don’t insult people and make yourself look like a douchebag at the same time. Not the best way to sway opinions. Maybe make a relevant point, and back it up by being reasonable about it. Just a thought…
FUCK THE RETURN CLERK. MAKES ME WANT TO RETURN MORE STUFF. HAHAHAHAH
to the first poster i would like to say this and to many others and my response would be : actually if you have had it over 5 yrs its more reasonable to return it why? simply cuz you gave the company enough time for them to make profit however returning tvs or anyting just to “upgrade” then on that i agree that you are abusing it and they should blacklist those people not everyone !!! so a tv after 4 yrs for a return sounds great
and for the record i agree to no name on dec10 reply the costco worker 100%
I think people have to be honest to themselves if they really think it’s ethical to return things. Like someone said above, if it was your store, how would you feel about it? I have had a lot of returns at costco, but I also spend alot of money there. There were times when I was more embarassed than others about my returns, but I try to make a clear decision about if I am abusing it or not. I do video editing and I have purchased and returned alot of LCD monitors because I have a very hard time finding one that works for what I am doing. I have asked customer service if they have a recommendation and no one seems to have one. So I try the new products as they come out, and return them if they don’t work. I try to make my returns on a 6 month max, but usually try to return in less than 30 or 60 days.
From finance.yahoo.com:
COST
Revenue 60B dollars
Gross Profit (ttm): 7.41B
Are you telling me that the abusers will ever ever ever wipe off 7.5 billions dollars worth profits? Costco rocks because of it’s policy, that’s the reason for it’s kicka$$ sales figures. Why whine when high end retailers like Nordstorm have a similar return policy?????
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Fiscal Year
Fiscal Year Ends: 3-Sep
Most Recent Quarter (mrq): 03-Sep-06
Profitability
Profit Margin (ttm): 1.83%
Operating Margin (ttm): 2.71%
Management Effectiveness
Return on Assets (ttm): 6.45%
Return on Equity (ttm): 12.24%
Income Statement
Revenue (ttm): 60.15B
Revenue Per Share (ttm): 128.058
Qtrly Revenue Growth (yoy): 19.00%
Gross Profit (ttm): 7.41B
EBITDA (ttm): 2.28B
Net Income Avl to Common (ttm): 1.10B
Diluted EPS (ttm): 2.30
Qtrly Earnings Growth (yoy): 0.30%
Balance Sheet
Total Cash (mrq): 2.83B
Total Cash Per Share (mrq): 6.182
Total Debt (mrq): 565.28M
Total Debt/Equity (mrq): 0.062
Current Ratio (mrq): 1.053
Book Value Per Share (mrq): 19.778999
Cash Flow Statement
Operating Cash Flow (ttm): 1.83B
Levered Free Cash Flow (ttm): 578.57M
What is return abuse?
A neighbor of mine when I was a teenager was an owner of a small pizza restaurant. And he would complain about customer return abuse. I just thought he was a cranky old man and ignored his whining.
Then one day I went to college. Some guys in my college dorm would purchase 1 pizza purchase at the beginning of the semester, eat 90% of the pizza and leave the remainder sitting on the windowsill for 3 days and then cry to the pizza establishments about the quality of the pizza. IF they did their whining and screaming well enough they could milk that single pizza into free pizzas for the next 4 months.
My neighbor was not whining. He was correct. Return abuse can be horrendous.
I call it Pizza Abuse. A singularly insignificant sale becomes return policy abuse costing the vendor money far greater than what could ever be recouped from a life time of sales to that customer.
After I read this thread it became obvious that many people have made Pizza Abuse their primary passion.
One seldom discussed fact is most business polices are not written for the enjoyment or satisfaction of the customers, rather the policies are written for the employees to easily perform. Written polices, regardless of the policy, allow sales staff to quickly perform their job. It is really NOT about the customer, it is about the sales staff (or business) returning to their more profitable jobs. While any policy is good as long as the customers are quickly processed, liberal return policies are “nice” in that they generate smiling customers who are even more quickly processed.
Wham, bam, thank you madam here is your new toaster oven (big screen TV or any other appliance), allows the business to sell 50 more toaster ovens quicker and easier. And 1 returned toaster oven versus 50 sold toaster ovens may be a great ratio for some businesses. But what happens when you give away 50 toaster ovens to only 1 sold toaster oven? 50 returned toaster ovens to 1 sold amounts to Pizza Abuse.
The hand writing is on the wall. Pizza Abuse is becoming rampant across this country. The ratio of wham bam returns is eating into the units sold. Not a good situation. If Costco sees the need to stop Pizza Abuse I say more power to them.
Wow, there are a lot of ignorant people out there (referring to the ’shopgrifters’ in this thread)
Sears is bringing in a 15% restock fee on some items specifically to combat shopgrifting.
To back up what some of the costco employees have stated: costco does not always get to return the refunded merchandise to the manufacturer for credit. I personally know of one of our competitors in the Fitness industry who buys the returned treadmills & other fitness items, at a huge discount below cost. He fixes them and then resells them in his store (without telling the customer of course).
As a specialty retailer that does not have such a generous return policy: I have always been reasonable with customers who are unsatisfied with their purchase: if there is a defect, our service people will fix it; if there’s a cosmetic flaw we will either repair, replace, or exchange the item at the manufacturer’s discretion. If you bought a treadmill 3 years ago and then decide you want a refund simply because you don’t use it, well we might give you what it’s worth for us to resell, but a full refund in that case is rediculous and unreasonable. Some people simply have unreasonable expectations and cannot be satisfied.
In 10 years of retail management I can only think of 2 cases where a customer asked for a refund that I thought was unreasonable and I simply told them so. Did I lose those 2 as a future customer? Sure.
Let Costco have the unreasonable few out there. Their policy encourages fraud, but their volume makes up for it. That’s their business model and that’s fine with me. I’ll just keep being reasonable and fair, it works for me.
I love Costco return policy and is the only reason I joined it. Never returned anything in 4 years but recently bought a $2000 LCD TV. If it does crap out in 3-4 years, I wont mind returning it. I could have gotten the same TV for $400 less in CircuitCity but purchased it in Costco for peace of mind (not for returning).
The main reason Costco gets members to buy their high end products is the return policy. So not being able to use it when required is a oxy-moron. Also, if they do change their return policy next year on TV’s to 1yr or 2, then this TV is going right back to them. There is no reason to feel ashamed. I am sure I made them more money than that and will keep being an Executive member.
But I agree with most members that buying a 5000$ TV for the sole reason of returning is ABUSE.
to ed crab,
thanks for your reply, i’m still on the fence about my couch, and have retired it to the basement. i don’t think i’ll return it, the dog has become fond of it.
i’m really enjoying this thread, i shake my head at the people that outright abuse the policy, and it’s a shame for all those that have to return items legitimately. i once returned ham that had gone mouldy before it’s expiry date, and was embarassed. i don’t know how some of these people can live with themselves. one word…..karma.
buffy
I have been a customer of Costco for many years, I have returned quite a few items in those years due to problems or issues and had no problems. I purchased a tv about 12 months ago and now the picture is totally screwed up. My question is will Costco take my return after the new year. I hear all this talk about Costco not taking back any LCD tvs because of the abuse. Also how does Costco determine if you are not allowed to return anymore items, is there a dollar threshold that is used, ie. if you returned more then $10,000 worth of stuff you are not allowed to return anymore. I live in Canada so I am not sure if the policy is the same in the US and Canada. Any input would be great.
NoName: It’s not for Costco’s return clerks to decide if you are returning to “upgrade” your computer. I have bought and returned a number of computers to Costco 5 months later. Why? Some sort of failure or, BIOS bug on each one. The fact is, manufacturers are not interested in hearing from technically inclined consumers about problems with their products. I know far more than the return clerks at my Costco about computers and have encountered some strange bugs in many, many different laptops. I’ve come to realize that if that happens, it’s time to haul it back. Unfortunately I’ve gotten strange looks and I’m sure they all think I just return to get a free upgrade.
The fact of the matter is that the policy is “Complete Satisfaction Guaranteed”. I am not completely satisfied with a product if it does not last a reasonable amount of time. For me that means:
Computers: 1 year (unfortunately, they limit to 6 months)
TVs: 5 years
Consumer Electronics: 5 years
Clothes: More than one year
Food: Up to it’s expiration date (this means every last piece of it. If I buy a case of Diet Coke and the last one is flat, you’re going to take it back.)
Furniture: 5+ years. I’ve had a hard time with office chairs. All of the padding wears out within 6 months. And the chairs Costco is stocking only seem to be worse. But they’re still better than Office Max, Staples, etc.
Household appliances: Depends, but at least 2 years.
We’ve developed a good relationship with many of the employees at our Costco and they know we buy more than we return. It’s not unreasonable to haul a TV back in after 8 months because it’s developed a bad case of burn-in, or it’s getting dark spots, or it turns itself off, etc. Maybe we just happen to get the bad equipment, but we’ve had to return what is probably an unusually high amount of electronics. I’ll be damned if we’re going to eat that cost. Costco doesn’t either. Almost all of the returns that we have made go back to the manufacturer. That is what the employees at our store have told us. The manufacturer makes a bad product? You better believe that they are going to eat it.
Just returned a Sony flatscreen w builtin dvd player and VHS that we purchased in Dec 2003 at a Costco in Baltimore. Top 20% of the screen had was distorted with big white lines jumping through it. Went to Costco customer service desk back in Nov and they pulled up the record, we explained we didn’t have the receipt, they said bring manuals, remote, etc. back and everything would be ok for return. Took TV back today, Dec. 30th and person working returns gave us a hard time. “You know you purchased this in 2003, right? That was over 3 years ago!” We explained we had spoken to someone already and that we understood Costco’s policy was to replace defective merch. Then she called the manager, after 10 min of waiting the manager chastises us and says “You know you can only return tv’s within a year / you have to go through the manufacturer, etc.” We stood firm and explained the situation again, she didn’t fight it and gave us credit. But for a second she kinda expected us to say “OK!” and walk back out w/ the broken tv. She begrudgingly gave us store credit and we bought a new LCD set. Just pissed me off that we were given a hard time today. I should have returned the set in Nov but procrastinated and then got paranoid today thinking they would change the policy! Phew!
I bought a Akai TV from Costco 3 1/2 years ago for $999.99. We were out of town over the holidays and when we returned home and turned on the TV, it had red lines all over the screen. I read the owners manual and found out it was the confergence. After unsuccessfully trying “perfect focus” and manuel confergence, it still wouldn’t fix itself. I did a search online and found out that this particular TV has a history of this problem, usually 3-4 years after purchase. I called Costco and explained the situation and they said to bring the TV in for a full refund. I don’t think I’m abusing the policy. This is a defect with the TV and Costco has a policy to cover this type of situation. As a result, I won’t buy anything electronic anywhere but at Costco. Talk about successful marketing on Costco’s part. I returned a $400 camera that stopped working after 1 year and they refunded my money, but I have to say, I was surprised they would refund the money for a TV. I certainly wouldn’t return something that worked perfectly fine just to get a new model. That I do think is unethical.
Someone asked earlier in this thread about returning a product they received as a gift but I didn’t see a reply.
Here goes. I received a portable TV/DVD as a Christmas gift (this Christmas). It died yesterday after using it for less that 20 hours. It is still in warranty and I called manufacturer, apparently a defect. They want me to ship it to the US and they will repair or replace it. Shipping will cost me $30-$40 Canadian as the service centre is in the US and must be sent as a trackable package (UPS). After 90 days from the original date of purchase the warranty is no longer valid thus no extented warranty after they repair it and if it malfunctions again the minimum cost (1 hr) is $135 US to repair. Not to mention shipping costs again…
So I would like to return it to Costco, however, like the post above, I am not the member (but in this case I do have the original receipt). Will they give me the money? Are they going to make me take another product the same? Will they give me a store credit? or will they tell me only the member can return the item even if I have the original receipt? Thing is, I want the protable DVD but now that I know the manufacturer warranty sucks I would rather buy a Sony or other relyable name brand that at least has a Canadian Service centre.
I can see costo getting royally shafted when the Xbox 360 version 2 is released.
Everyone will return their version 1’s to buy the one with the HDMI port.
Clearly anyone with a 1080p TV is going to want the new one since HDMI is superior to component for 1080p display
Costco’s Risk-Free 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
On merchandise: We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell with a full refund. Please note, as of November 4th, 2002 , the return policy for all desktop and notebook computers are six months from the date of purchase. Six months after purchase, all computer services and technical support will be subject to the applicable remaining manufacturer’s warranty.
On membership: We will refund your membership fee in full at any time if you are dissatisfied.
That’s the policy.Note the word “satisfaction”….There is nothing stated or implied about merchandise returns other than computers and your membership. Ge, it’s funny how everybody is whining about electronics. I don’t hear too many issues about other stuff. So cheapskates…keep on abusing the privelige and guess what….sooner or later you’ll be cutoff. Go ahead and keep returning your old junk for new stuff. Try doing that with a car. Then when you become dissatisfied with the management preventing you from abusing the system set up for honest people who actually encounter defective products then maybe you’ll finally get 100% of your membership refunded with a kick out the door along with your last return so they get rid of the shopgrifters who are ruining it for the good people and you will then have your final satisfaction 100% at Costco. Costco doesn’t offer extended warranties like other stores because in the past people weren’t so stingy and greedy to just return everything they buy. You people make me sick. If you can afford to buy a $4000 TV then just shut up and buy another one. It must be nice to be able to piss away money like that. You could feed a third world country with that dough, instead you’re whining about TV’s. Get your fat a– off of your couch and maybe go buy a pair of glasses instead and do something productive with yourselves and don’t be so greedy. Are you that blind that you need to look at 65″ screen. And as far as you people claiming that you spend like $20,000 on electronics items and just have to return like almost all of them because they are somehow defective right after a new model has come out, you people are FULL OF CRAP!!!!!!!!!!! If you have that kind of money to burn and a store kept selling you stuff that happened to break down always and you had to keep returning things you bought, you wouldn’t continue to shop there for your electronics. So cut out the BS. And to all of you people who just LOOOVE the fact that you can keep trading up your goods, guess what, you’ll be the ones who cause the liberal policy to be cut off. It’s just a matter of time, like the computers. All you “every computer I buy from here lasts only 5 months” people, you’ll be cut off too. Nobody is that dumb to believe you!!!
I recently bought a 1080p 67″ Samsung DLP set from Costco since I am a HUGE FAN of Costco (I call it the $200 store since me and the wife can’t go in without spending $200) but have had it home now for just over 2 months. As much as I like the set, I am one of those that notices the sparkle effect and the Rainbow effect. This set cost me $4000 Cdn and tax.
HERE IS MY DELEMA …..
I am not happy with the set ..
I want to return it to Costco to buy another set from Costco.
But I want another BIG 1080p set but after much reading realize I need a Plasma or LCD which do not suffer from Rainbow Effect or Sparkle effect that I am prone to see.
Costco does not have a larger Plasma or LCD in the 1080p format “YET” … but I am sure they will within the next few months.
I don’t want to go the next few months with no HDTV and an empty wall unit while I wait for my local Canadian Costco to get one of these sets.
Am I wrong for wanting to wait till Costco gets what I want in and “THEN” return it so I still have a HDTV in the mean time.
I don’t see this as EVIL or ABUSE to the system. My next set HAS TO BE at Costco since I sleep easy at night knowing a great name in the Wholesale world has my back. This is not an upgrade swap if that is what you are thinking .. do you think I enjoy lugging this thing around !!
I would love to hear comments from COSTCO EMPLOYEES in particular that are in the know. I just want to be happy with my $4000 purchase .. and right now I am not. The set is not defective, but I see things I just don’t like.
Cheers
I am so sick of these so called “ethics champions” out there trying to preach their idea of what is or is not ethical. Here are some points for you to consider:
1: Costco has put this policy in place KNOWING there will certainly be some abuse. However, a cost/benifit analysis has told them that it is FAR more beneficial than it is detrimental.
2: As for HDTVs and some other electronics, Costco sells only inferior stripped down Costco specific models, old models, or no-name brands. I guarantee any item you purchase at Costco can be found for far less $$ elsewhere. I recently purchased a Sharp LCD tv from Costco for $1300. It is a 2 year old model as of the time I bought it. That same TV sells for $900 at several other retailers. So why would I pay Costco $400 more? Because of their guarantee that’s why. So look at it this way, I just paid $400 for an extended replacement guarantee warranty. And HELL YES a tv should last more than 4-5 years. I have never had a tv last under 15 years and that’s on at leaast 12 hours per day 7 days a week.
Costco’s guarantee states that they will refund you if AT ANY TIME you are “unsatisfied with your purchase” FOR ANT REASON!!
So quit trying to preach your twisted idea’s of “ethics” in this regard. If Costco was not gaining and profiting from this policy, they would have changed it years ago.
BTW, did you know that Sam’s Club changed their return policy to read almost identical to Costco’s? Why? because it makes sense and MAKES SALES!!
you are all full of crap
you just want something bigger and cheaper and you feel guilty because you know what you are doing is just upgrading and you are looking for a good excuse to tell the cashier that asks , What’ the reason for your return, and don’t want to give a dumbass reason, so you are looking for support from the peanut gallery. If all of you people really believed that costco had a policy of taking everything back just to sell more stuff this topic wouldn’t go on and on and on. The reason for the policy is so you can shop with confidence knowing that if you do run into trouble with your product costco will be there with a refund. It has nothing to do with taking back stuff that breaks. Everything has a life expectancy and no item will last forever.
and unless you work for costco you have no business whining about why costco policies are what they are. And as far as lasting 4-5 years…..it’s still new technology, if manufacturers told you their $3000 TV would burn out after a few years you wouldn’t waste your money buying one
This true. I work at Costco in returns and I don’t know where you guys are getting these numbers. Not our policy at all!
Thanks for the reply on my delema. But the issue still is … if I return my set now due to RBE, Costco has nothing I want at the moment as a replacement. Since I am a gamer and my room is bright, my choice is a nice 50-52″ LCD (prefer 1080p) and Costco does not have this.
So If I return my DLP to Costco now, I will be without an HDTV. Only other option is to go elswhere for the set, in which case .. I am now without Costco’s great policy.
Mikey_Gee, If you are asking for an opinion on your dilemma, here it is:
The tv is going back regardless. You are certainly “NOT SATISFIED” with your purchase. If I were in your position, I would wait until Costco has the TV you want or you can settle for something like a 46″ LCD which I believe they carry now. Or as someone else suggested, try Costco.com. They usually have a large selection but I did notice that recently Costco.com has not had a great selection of LCD and plasma tvs. I would be willing to bet that the selection will certainly improve within the next couple months.
I believe the above is a better option than giving your business to another competitor. It keeps you loyal to Costco. I believe if you asked a Costco executive, he/she would give you the same opinion.
Well, lady luck is on my side.
Costco here in my area of Canada will be getting in the Sharp Aquos 1080p 52″ LCD set (Sharp-LC52D62U) this week. So I am VERY VERY happy. I was actually looking at a few at my FS and BS (which I would NEVER BUY FROM) and they are GEORGEOUS LCD sets with Plasma like contrast and blacks with a 4ms response time. ANYWAY ….
I hear this set had some banding issues over on the AVS forum in the early serial numbers (610) but the “611″ serials and up are pretty solid with the odd lemon. You know how it is … folks that are happy say little or nothing … and folks that are not complain to the point of driving you crazy.
I will cross my fingers I get a 611 serial or higher and have no banding …….. “BUT IF I DO” ….. once again …. here is why I love Costco …. if need be I will return the set 10 times for a new LC52D62U till I get one that is perfect (still hope I get a good set first time out)
Then I can set it up and FORGET ABOUT IT !!!!!!!!!!!
I will enjoy it for many years till next time I need a new TV … and then I will go back to Costco to buy my new set (as long as they still have that killer policy)
Thanks to all who gave me some feed back. I apprecate it very much.
Cheers
While you can argue the ethics of the intial post, it simply is not true.
I had a VCR I bought at Costco 5 years ago die, so I thought I’d put this policy to the test. I brought it in today, without a receipt and asked if I could return it. The guy behind the counter asked how long ago I bought it, immediately got annoyed and flatly said “no”. No explanation, no conversation, no pleasantries. Just “no, we can’t do that” as if I was insane for even asking.
I Looked up at the wall, I noticed the return policy seems to have been amended with vague wording along the lines of
“All purchases are 100% guaranteed. Costco appreciates:
- returns within 30 days of purchase
- with receipt
- in original packaging”
So it appears that the return policy has become an unconditional 30 day return policy. There seems to be some “magic” number where if you bought within that period (a year?) they may listen to your story, but the policy on the wall prettly clearly states where they are going.
Please don’t flame me for trying to return a dead 5 year old VCR – I was going to junk it but thought it would be a great chance to test out the boundaries of this legendary Costco return policy. I think it is still vague to allow local managers some latitude but it is certainly no longer an unconditional lifetime return policy.
If anything it is unethical for Costco to continue to foster a perception of a lifetime return policy, and owe it to it’s members to clarify this policy.
Costco’s policy on TV’s is NOT that great. I “JUST” got off the phone and came right out and asked …. if I dump $4600 into a TV, how long will Costco cover me for ??
I was told 1 year and nothing more.
So I replied …. WOW …. if I spend $4600 on a TV and as little as 2 years later it has a LEGIT issue, Costco will not help me out …??
I was told NO
I asked if I could buy an extended warranty since I can get a bigger selection and a 5 year full warranty at most places for the same if not close to what Costco wants (case in point the set I want at Costco is $3999, I can get it at my local B&M stores for $3800) and once again I was told “NO”
So now, I have no intention of abusing the return policy to UPGRADE a few years from now … HOWEVER …. when I spend $4600 (tax in) on a HDTV …. I do expect to get more than one year of backing on a product.
Me again, a new day a new discovery
====
Ok, after getting my very sad news from Costco yesterday about the return policy, I found myself having a hard time really thinking they would only cover me for 1 year on a $4600 purchase.
SO …. I just called back and SPECIFICALLY asked for the returns manager. Did not tell why, I just had to speak to the Return manager.
Conversation went like this: (M= Me / CM = Costco Return Manager)
==============================================
M:
I called yesterday in regards to your return policy on TV sets and was told it was only one year is this true ??
CM:
Well that depends
M:
Well I always keep my boxes, receipt, original stuff that came with it
CM:
OK, that’s good , so what really are you looking to find out.
M:
Well I will be spending a total of about $4600 on a HDTV set and to be very honest, the fact I will only have Costco back me if something goes wrong for only a year … that does not make me happy at all. In fact, it has causes me to start shopping arount at other stores with more selections and in many cases a better price.
CM:
Well the first thing you have to consider with the return policy is the PRICE of the item. If you buy a $500 TV from us, the info you got was correct … we will cover it for only a year. HOWEVER, in your case you are spending well over that, $4600 I think you said correct ??
M:
Yes ..
CM:
Well of course you want more than 1 years peace of mind. Other wise I think you would be crazy to not go elsewhere and get a extended warranty. HOWEVER, not sure who you spoke to, but they left out one VERY BIG detail.
M:
Oh ?? And what is that ??
CM:
Our policy is 1 year per every $1000 in regards to Televisions and most electronics. .. but not computers.
M:
Yeah I knew about that and computers. But hey .. I am liking what I hear and feel better.
CM:
Yes, I am sure you do. So long story short, your $4600 set will be backed by our well known policy for 4 years. As I said .. one year per $1000
M:
Well that make me feel much better and I guess now I can buy will confidence again at Costco. Other wise, my business and many other of my friends would probably go to another store for our stuff.
CM:
Sure you would … and rightfully so. Costco is hoping to get a more DIRECT explanation of our policy since it seems to be shadowed with rumours and questions far to much.
M:
Yeah, your not kidding. Well thanks for the info, and not I can happily say I will be getting my TV at Costco now.
CM:
Very glad to hear that and we appreciate the business.
M:
Oh, one more thing …. not that I have any intention on doing so, but with such a good policy you must get abuse from it.
CM:
Sure we do …. but it is not like we don’t know this. Trust me, I will not get into the details but this “Abuse” is factored into the big pictures. At anual conferences we discuse and understand the pros and cons of our policy. Lucky for us …. and the customers ….. the pros far outweigh the cons.
M:
NICE !!! Well thanks for your time and I look forward to my new TV from Costco.
CM:
Your more than welcome and I am happy to be able to clear the water.
=======================================================
So, not WORD FOR WORD …. but pretty close for sure. This makes me feel better so I guess I will retract my last statement.
Just to confirm I called a second Costco in my area but kept it short when taking to the Return Manager by simply asking …. “I am looking to spend $4600 on a HDTV … is it true you guys give one year coverage per $1000??” and I was very quickly told “YES, that is true”
Just goes to show ….. DO NOT TALK TO DESK JOKEYS ….. 90% of the time they are clueless. Needles to say, I will be going back to my original plan and getting my set at Costco and sleeping well at night knowing I am covered.
Cheers;
Mike
Hmm… That’s totally not what I experienced. I tried to return a defective 7 month old TV to my local warehouse yesterday, and I was flat out rejected. The return manager told me that there’s been a new policy in effect for the last 2 month: they’ll reject all TV returns past 30 days unless I can prove that I’ve exhausted all possible options in repairing the TV. And even then, it’s up to the return manager’s discretion.
I called their customer center this morning at 800-744-2678 and was told that there’s no such thing as unlimited return period. They’ll accept returns up to 30 days from the date of purchase, then it’s on a case-by-case basis. Basically each store can have its own return policy – there’s absolutely no guarantee that you can return anything after 30 days.
So this seems to contradict with everything I’ve heard so far (unlimited return policy, etc), but it’s straight from the source – both physical warehouse and customer call center.
^^
Well if it is on a store to store basis (maybe country as well) I am glad my Costco is in Canada and I am glad both Costcos in my area are on the same page as well as Canada head office.
If costco policy is going in that direction stated by the last posts from this year (2007), then it seems that costco has really changed (or assumed) its new return policy.
And if that is the case with a ridiculous inconsistent return policy, then I’ll be taking my business and membership fee somewhere else, because with a policy that you never know what to expect is no better than buying from an Ebay seller.
How is costco return policy for the Dell laptops they sell?
Are the Dell laptops also included in the six montn retunr policy for computers?
I mean IF i need to return the laptop Will I deal with costco or Dell?
How about the return policy for the weider home gym platinum plus? How long is the return policy for that one?
Thanks in advance.
I just returned my Dell XPS yesterday. I had it for 3 months and the battery started dying out on my. They gladly took it back and i got my 1650$ for it. I love costco and if i spend more than $100 on something that is where it will be. They said there is no exceptions on computer after 6 months and that is the only downside I have noticed (i guess that they figure that computers go out of date in 6 months).
Costco’s return policy is not open ended. The returns policy is 100% satisfaction guaranteed. If a manufacturer will only guarantee (warranty) the product they made for, say, 1 year, why would Costco say that they know it will last longer. They are not saying that if you use it for a couple of years and you decide that you are not satisfied because the picture is not as clear as you think it should be. Then you can return it. Costco actually takes a 65% loss on TV’s returned out of the manufacturers warranty. There is no written policy (internal or external) on how long you may return an item. There are a lot of factors that are looked at……The returns policy does vary store to store….hope this helps.
Which XPS did you buy, the m1210 or m1710?
Was it a hassle to return it to costco?
I got an m1710 but the thing is getting extremely hot so I called dell but they have no clue what’s going on, and say that this is normal with the m1710.
But for me an idle temp of around 80 degree Celsius is not normal at all.
So i’m thinking on returning it to costco instead of going through the hassle of sending it to dell to fix it, which i doubt they will do decently.
thanks
If Costco told you their policy changed in the last two months but you bought it 7 months ago.. Then I would fight them on it if I were you. You should still be under whatever the old policy was. If the manager won’t help ask for their district manager.
I’ve read this whole thread because I plan to buy a HDTV within the next two weeks. And Right now Costco is sounding like a crap shot. I think I might take my business to Sam’s Club where I can at least buy an extended warranty..
Hey yiassou, was that the Akai PT4298HD that you had and returned? I have the same tv and it started doing the same thing thie morning . . . 3 1/2 years after getting it. I’m thinking about seeing if my Costco will take it back so I can get something else. Odd timing though, as I just got a 62″ Toshi for the living room and that Akai is in the bedroom.
qstn for mikey gee… where in canada are you? i would like to get that sharp 52 from costco, i was thinking of going down to the US to get it, but would prefer to get it here in toronto if possible.
Wondering if someone can comment on my situation. I bought a Garmin GPS receiver from Costco.ca in July 06 (7 months ago). I intended to take a road trip, but that never happened. Its been sitting on my shelf for 7 months – I have all the packaging and everything it came with. Never used it, or hooked it up. It cost about $500 and right now I’d rather have the money back. Is not having any use for a purchase a valid reason for returning it? Its obviously my fault for not taking it back sooner. Will they take it back? It was a wrong purchase entirely as I don’t go on out of town trip very often, and I know my city too well to lug around this thing in the car. Buying something and not liking it is one thing, but will Costco take back something because it was stupid of me to buy it in the first place?
great hotdogs
I tried to return a my 1 yr old lcd today and was told by the general manager to try the concierge service to resolve my television issue. I did bring up the fact I bought the tv under different return policies the year prior and that they should honor my original return agreement. I was given what seemed to be a bunch of corporate answers off a rebuttal sheet.
Do I have any legal recourse??? Won’t the district manager just regurgitate what the general manager said??
I’ll probably try another store in my area and see if another general manager is going for the corporate posterchild of the week award.
People who use Costco’s return policy when they want the latest product or if it breaks after a reasonable period of time are MAGGOTS!
When you do this, you just increase the costs for the rest of us. How do you think Costco aborbs these losses? They raise prices or membership fees you fools!
Fair is fair, but you abusers are selfish and inconsiderate.
For you who say you’ll take your business elsewhere if Costco changes their return policy, go right ahead! Retailers don’t need or want policy abusers like you…in fact, some of them track abusers and won’t take returns after a certain number of times.
I get tired of people I know who say they’ll take anything back to Costco just to get a new one after it breaks or gets old. You got our money’s worth. Things do not last forever.
I’m a cheapskate always looking for a good deal, but I won’t abuse a return policy when I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of a product.
The poster who said he expected a 100-dollar DVD player to last more than 4-5 years is a policy abuser, no matter what he believes. A person who say they’ve had a product 6 months or a year wand wants to return is an abuser. Seems to me you would know if you were genuinely unhappy with the purchase within the first month.
Remorse is not a legitimate return reason…you shouldn’t have purchased it in thef first place.
The policy change is “official” now. See link.
90 days for TVs!
To those unethical maggots who abused Costco’s return policy on electronics: Thanks for ruining it for everyone who has a LEGITIMATE REASON for returning or exchanging something.
Time to checkout Sams Club
it’s not incredible anymore. now it sucks just like those ones of all other stores. you, people, have now only 90 days for Televisions, computers, cameras, camcorders, iPOD / MP3 players and cellular phones. here’s the official information http://www.costco.com/Service/FeaturePageLeftNav.aspx?ProductNo=11204333
I have been a DEVOTED customer for the last 10 years, buying Exclusively from Costco in that time. The ONLY reason I have dumped so much money in their less than perfect/non-competitive merchandise?????? THE 100% UNCONDITIONAL SATISFACTION GUARANTEE!!!! THAT IS IT!!! I have a TV that is broke that I bought 2 years ago and was refused returning it. I told them that when I purchased this TV, they promised me a 100% UNCONDITIONAL money back guarantee, and all I got was, sorry, our policy has changed and you will have to call the 800# for repair. All I can say is that I smell class action lawsuit!!!!!! When someone (millions) purposely buy specifically from Costco for the sole guarantee, and Costco doesn’t want to honor that, that is baiting and switching! Costco has used their return policy as a gimmic to lure awstruck consumers into making an impulse purchase (hence their sales people hanging around telling customers about a 30 year return policy that doesn’t exist). They know that if they hang the cheese in front of us, we’ll fall into the trap….once we are in, THEY call the shots!!! I think people should be uniting AGAINST COSTCO and their Indian Giving ways! Who knows a good lawyer?
I bought 20+ months ago a Panasonic EDTV for just above 3000$ (with tax) for only one reason, and that reason was that I can return it if is not working properly. At the same time, on the http://www.newegg.com (better model) Panasonic EDTV was 2049$ (no tax needed + S/H), but still I paid $800 more just because of the Costco’s return policy and now I can not return if it doesn’t work?
That policy is new and doesn’t effect old purchases.
I think the new policy is B.S. I too am one of those that has made large purchases from Costco just because I always had that reassurance that if thing broke or if I was dissatisfied with it I could always bring it back.
Out of the tens of thousands of dollars I’ve spent there I only returned an Ipod that died out after only 3 weeks. I never abused the policy even though I bought the Vizio 50″ plazzie back in 2005 when it was on coupon for $2999 – $300 and now it is being given away for only $1500. My TV has lost sound, I get ghosted picture using the HDMI input, the fan sounds as loud as a jet engine and the thing doesn’t turn off sometimes requiring me to physically unplug it and now I’m stuck with a POS TV that I overpaid for by almost 200% and they’re not going to even attempt to help me out.
I am going to cancel my Executive Membership and go back to Sam’s. At least at Sam’s they tell you up-front that their policy’s suck and they don’t try and pull the old bait-and-switch move on loyal customers!
The new policy DOES NOT, I repeat DOES NOT apply to purchases made prior to the change that began as of 2/26/2007. I have read the official Costco memorandum that went out to all warehouse managers and it SPECIFICALLY states that purchases made prior to the policy change are NOT subject to the new policy. Some managers may try and give you a hard time because of their own ignorance. I suggest you call Costco corporate offices and complain. You are entitled to a full refund based on the terms you purchased under.
Hey Costco Employee, I realize that the memo you’re referring to is an internal memo and probably confidential. But is that memo published somewhere (Costco website maybe) where the public has access to? Or, would a customer have some way to refer to that memo once in a store? Can a customer have the manager or returns manager or whoever refer to memo #XXX or the returns policy memo dated XX-XX-XXXX?
The memo is dated Feb 8, 2007. tell he manager you know it excludes prior purchases and that you would like him/her to produce the memo in your presence so that you can point out the discrepency. They probably will give you some BS stating memos are internal documents and cannot be displayed to the public. In this case, ask him/her to simply go back and re-read it on their own while you wait.
I read with interest all the replies as it started with a pair of jeans and worked its way to an ethical debate about peoples honesty and the abuse (or non-abuse by some) of a return policy. Those on the “ethical” side mentioned that if this abuse continued, the policy would be tightened or cancelled completely. As I’ve seen throughout my 40 years of life, those 10% of people who take advantage of the system to get what they think life owes them, ruins it for the 90% of those who abide by societies expected rules. Being raised (and now a 17 year career) in the military, we live by a code of Integrity. Simply put, it’s doing the right thing when no one is looking. That means, even if you know you won’t get caught or pay for your actions, you still do what is right. Though I’m saddened by Costco’s new return policy (my wife should own stock in it), I am not suprised they changed it reading replies by some of the people in this thread. It’s also interesting how after the policy has changed, there has been deathly silence on the part of the “returnee’s” to what has happened. I’d be interested in some of the comments and replies to what the change really means to them. Unfortunately, many will just answer back at how bad and greedy the company is and do so angrily because this injustice has been served on them, instead of what it really is….making them accountable for the abuse that they have been doing to the company. By the way, it would be nice if some of the posters who would argue their position not use so much base language. (That would be fowl language) You can get your point across and make your position more believable if you use intelligence instead of emotions in your arguments. Thank you for your time in reading this post.
After learning that Costco has changed their return policy for their electronics item, I decided to return my 37” Vizio HDTV I bought 6 months ago which has had this noticible “bright” pixel the size of the end of a tip of a pen. It wasn’t big or anything but it has always bugged me and since the price of the same Vizio is now $200 less than what I paid for I thought this would be the perfect time to return it and that I would be within justifiable reason of doing so. But let me share my experience with you returning this item…it wasn’t pleasant.
I stood in line to the returns line as normal and the Costco employee processed my return as normal and I informed him of the problem. I was afraid that he was gonna begin citing that the new return policy was now 90 days for my HDTV and that they would not accept my return. This was not the case and he quietly processed my transaction. I noticed that it took a little longer than usual and that the Costco employee had also made some printouts. Fifteen minutes probably now has passed when the Costco supervisor arrives and after glancing at the printout approaches me and the conversation goes something like this:
(Dick=Costo Supervisor)
************************************************************************
Dick: I’m sorry Mr Customer but based on your past history of purchases and returns to Department 24, we are gonna need to get the store manager involved and review whether or not to revoke your membership.
Me: Excuse me. What are you talking about?
Dick: You’ve made a total purchase of $5000 and have returned a total of $5000 in the Department 24. And basically, we’re not making any money keeping you as a customer.
Me: So what? Do you know how much money I spend a year here at Costco?
Dick: It doesn’t matter how much money you spend here. What I’m trying to tell you is that we’re not making any money from you as a customer.
Me: What does that have to do with anything with this LCD HDTV which has a bad pixel?
Dick: Well Sir, since it’s obvious that you have not been satisfied with the purchases you’ve made here, it’s probably best that you take your business elsewhere and we can gladly return your membership cost.
//At this point, I was pretty much furious. I still wasn’t sure whether he was gonna take my return back. Most of my previous returns involved some sort of failures (two digital SLR cameras and dell computer which had a dvd writer go bad) and only one which I returned because I was dissatisfied (a plasma TV which didn’t have a tuner). You tell me…was this an abuse of their return policy?
Me: Ok Dick, go ahead and get your manager here and let’s get this settled once in for all. I think this is ridiculous and for you to be implying that I’ve been doing something wrong all these years as a member…well, I won’t stand for it.
Dick: Well Sir, the manager is not here now but I will authorize this return. But I just want to let you know that because of your history, you will no longer be able to return anything in Department 24. You will not even get the 90 days that’s on our new revised policy.
Me: Thanks for nothing, Dick! You don’t have to worry about me returning anything in your so-called Departmen 24 because along with this return I’d like to get a refund on my Executive membership.
Dick: We’re sorry to hear that. Have a nice day.
****************************************************************************
A word of advice to people who would like to return electronics item bought prior to the new 90-day policy. If you’ve been flagged as someone who may fit the profile of someone abusing the return policy, just be firm and automatically ask to speak for the Manager. Especially if the supervisor is hesitating on processing your return. Unlike the past, you’ll also notice that Costco employees acting like Dicks and feel like they have the authority to treat you like sh*t because they think they will be saving corporate money by getting rid of you.
I’ve had it with Costco. I wish all members unites on a particular day and return an old item just to prove a point. I don’t know how many members Costco has but let’s say there were 100,000 members. If everyone return something worth $10 on the same day, then that would be a $1 million loss. I’m pretty sure that would get their attention.
Good luck all.
I was just in a local Costco in MA to pick a TV and I went up to the service desk and spoke with 2 different employees that both stated that their revised return policy didn’t start until March 20 something. They both assured me that if I purchased a TV before then that I would be “grandfathered” in with the old policy for lifetime.
I’ve read on this post that the policy changed in February. I’m confused now that if I purchase a TV this weekend that 3 years down the line the TV breaks and I try to return it that they are going to look at the date and tell me that I purchased it 2 weeks late and that I’m screwed…even though everyone at the return desk tells me otherwise now.
Any thoughts out there?
Bill,
The Costco internal Memo which details the specifics of the new policy states: “The rollout schedule for the 90-DAY refund policy and Costco Concierge program is as follows:
*All California warehouses 2/26/07 *Remaining West Coast warehouses (NW,LA,SD) 3/12/07 *NW and TX warehouses 3/19/07 *NE warehouses 3/26/07 *SE & PR warehouses 4/2/07.”. Hope thats clear enough, I couldn’t get that to format properly. That memo also states: “The 90-day refund policy is effective for purchases made on or after the regional rollout date. All previous purchases are NOT subject to the new 90-day policy.”.
Thanks! That is very helpful and completely in line with what the guys at the warehouse told me. Now it’s just a matter of believing that if I purchase under the old policy and my TV breaks in 3 years that I am going to be able to bring it back and get a new one.
There seems to be a lot of mixed reviews on that data throughout this thread.
How can I know that there won’t be some A..hole manager in 3 years that tells me I’m out of luck?
To those of you who are upset with Costco’s electronics return policy change: See ya!!! Cancel your memberships—who needs you? No retailer wants people like you. To the “unsatisfied Costco ex member”…$5000.00 of electronics purchased and returned??? The electronics are not the problem…YOU ARE!!! So are the rest of you who are upset at Costco. They have been more than fair with their returns policy if you have a legitimate reason….YOU’VE RUINED IT FOR THOSE WITH REAL REASONS FOR RETURNING/EXCHANGING A BAD PRODUCT. THANKS A LOT YOU CHEAPSKATES! GET A LIFE!
To Gary:
“YOU’VE RUINED IT FOR THOSE WITH REAL REASONS FOR RETURNING/EXCHANGING A BAD PRODUCT”
May I ask exactly what exactly is your opinion of a “legitimate reason” and timeframe for “RETURNING/EXCHANGING A BAD PRODUCT”?
Please be specific.
Thank you for clarifying the effective date of the new policy. I am glad that I have not purchased anything in the electronics dept. since that date so all of my stuff at home is still covered should I become dissatisfied at any point from now till eternity.
Wrong! What many of you don’t know is that Costco has a return policy clearly posted. 30 days in the package, with a receipt. However, the reason Costco excepts your purchases outside of that limit, is because it also has a 100% satisfaction guarantee. That does not include computers (6 months). Also, if you have abused the product, (rick…the hammer through the tv) Costco many times will not take it back. I have seen many mistreated items refused, including but not limited to a computer purchased a couple weeks prior to return attempt. The member had shut the laptop with something hard in it and cracked the screen. Costco did NOT return it.
Oh yea, and with so many people abusing the policy, they finally have limited all electronics to 90 days. Thank God! I dont know how people have the balls to return 3-5 year old tv’s and crap. Obviousely your desperate for money if thats the case…get a job…Costco pays employees well…lol
{{unsatisfied ex-Costco member}}
The policy does vary slightly from warehouse to warehouse; managers & supervisors are allowed to okay problematic returns at their discretion. Some warehouses put up with a whole lot more then others. At mine we had a woman who returned a small amount of party leftovers from several party platters, bakery items, and big bags of throw away plates. Reason: Because they didn’t eat it all.
It was for an office party, another employee and I had to wonder if she was not only screwing over Costco but also her employer who may have reimbursed her for the original purchase and I added that she would probably still write it off on her taxes as a business expense thus screwing over the IRS as well.
Some warehouses have accepted returns for used underwear. Another member successfully returned the remainder of a box of condoms and a used pregnancy test. Reason? He and his girlfriend/wife were dissatisfied because she was pregnant. The only 100% way to not get pregnant or get someone pregnant would be celibacy.
Another thing we do not accept are diabetes blood tests and anything else possibly infected with blood, which is why we shouldn’t accept back used underwear…it’s not only been possibly exposed to blood but other equally unsanitary things.
If ever a member wants to know why the membership fees have gone up then they should look no further then the returns line.
Managers can cancel people’s memberships at their discretion. Too many returns to department 24 is one of them. It is not a so-called department that is the actual department number, also known as Major Sales, also known as the electronics department to members. Believe me when I say that not nearly as many members have had their membership canceled by the warehouse as should have been.
Today was a perfect example of what it is in this world that makes me a misanthrope. We were freakishly busy for a Sunday, why, because it was the last day the return policy could be abused at our location. Many members do not abuse the policy, but the many that have are making everyone else pay for their abuse of the system.
Oh and you can also get your membership cancelled for cussing at employees, but depending on the warehouse a member can and have done much worse to an employee without any repercussion.
{{Mikey Gee}}
I also find it wonderful that someone has such tough life decisions to agonize over as whether or not to OMG go without a TV for a bit of time because Costco doesn’t have the biggest fanciest latest and greatest TV that they can return their current one for. While other people in the world agonize over such trivial things as which brand of canned cat food to buy because they have to eat that because their f*cking prescriptions cost so much. Let’s just hope it’s not one of the dozen or so that have now been recalled due to causing liver failure in cats. I hope you don’t think that I’m actually kidding about that.
Or how I wonder whether or not I will finish college at a 4-year because the only university I might possibly be able to afford to go to in my state for my particular major requires me to transfer to another Costco which is notorious for being hard to transfer to and has already rejected my first attempt and I can’t quit Costco for various reasons and if I don’t finish college then I’ll probably stay at freaking Costco forever until I die and am buried in a casket purchased at Costco.com which thankfully cannot be returned to our warehouses which all Costco employees are eternally grateful for. Yes, I’m bitter, the misanthropic mention should have tipped people off, retail hell makes you bitter.
It was nice thinking that what if I purchased a DVD player here and it suddenly stopped working at 93 days (90 days is the max for most stores) that I could return it and get one that is not defective. I have a VCR that once belonged to my parents and has been in storage for a few years it is probably pushing being 13 years old; I bet if I took it out it would still work. It just keeps on trucking, why, who knows. While a DVD player I was fortunate enough to receive as a gift f*cked up within 4 months. Hence the reason I no longer want brand new technology. A big problem is that consumers want the latest and greatest and put little forethought into it and whether or not they are purchasing a product that will last, if it will go down in price soon if they wait, or might have bugs because it is new. If you purchase something that is fairly new technology and it goes down several hundred dollars soon after then you only have yourself to blame, why should Costco have to pay for you shamelessly upgrading and getting money back to boot?
Such as the member who came in with a 3+ year old TV, there wasn’t anything actually wrong with it, he just obviously wanted something shinier, bigger, and less expensive then the original and he had the nerve to bitch at the major sales guy because he Only got back $2,400 as opposed to the $2,500 he originally paid. I thought that he should consider it to be a very generous rental fee.
BTW Costco employees are very excited about the new policy.
{{F from Toronto}}
I think it depends on whether or not we still sell that same model, if we do and it is in the virtually brand new condition you stated then I don’t see a problem with it particularly since GPS navigators are not included in the new stricter policy. In that case we could resell the item, though you could even ask if the store can resell it or not. Otherwise you could eBay it. Even if something was in brand new condition I don’t think I could ever return something to any store because I ended up not needing it, if I new they couldn’t resell it meaning they are taking a direct loss because I waited around too long. The longer you wait the more likely they are to no longer be carrying it.
{{1pissedcustomer}}
LOL thanks for making me laugh it’s been a long day. Things purchased prior to the policy change are supposed to be grandfathered in, but as I previously stated some things are left up to the manager or supervisors discretion. If you feel you have a legitimate complaint then why not call our corporate office, it’s free, lawyers aren’t.
Personally I am unlikely to buy electronics at my store if I were in the market, because the majority of the time our prices on electronics are not as good as some other stores, though that’s not always the case and I rarely return things to any store period. The prices on many other items are extremely competitive and tend to be the ones I do purchase. How many stores can you buy 400 sheets of wrapping tissue for $6.00 or 40 wooden hangers for $20.00?
If you are seeking a class action lawsuit you may have to wait in line as Costco is already currently involved in one with its employees for gender discrimination. I actually do know a good lawyer in Washington, but I’m afraid she’s far too busy to help you at the moment.
What people seem to be forgetting here is that our policy is only being tightened on a handful of items in our store, the most severely abused ones. We have a great number of products in the store that still have the lifetime guarantee, believe me I counted many of them during inventory. If you don’t like it then we do still have a 100% refund for your membership if you no longer want it.
An alert!
The gravy days are over, waranties are now limited on ALL electronic devices, for 90 days. Also with this launch, we have some kind of new toll-free tech support for any device you could concivably buy at costco.
I work here, and I think it sucks. True, most of our returns are from people who cant figure out how to turn on, sync, or use most of the devices we sell, but still, I don’t like the idea.
Cmon, pros and cons, guys!
Go Drift!
EdCrab!
Any engineer who is successful knows about “Planned Obsolescence”. See, nowadays, part of engineering is making the things break on purpose.
This keeps consumers spending and the economy happy right?
Well, only if you are not taking into account the monumental waste of material, time and labor (time and labor both of the consumer and the manufacturer) that goes along with it.
Even if you don’t care about all the waste, please don’t delude yourself into thinking that all of this is actually going to be good for the economy. You are not an economist, and even if you were, you would be biased.
You would also need to believe that it is a good thing that the rate of failure of most electronic devices is rising faster than their rate of “improvement”. Example: Old, slow laptops with tiny screens may not be as cool as a Vaio, but they don’t over heat because their fan fails after a two years–that is why the military uses them.
All this talk about “abusing” Costco is misplaced. Costco helps manufacturers sell FAULTY PRODUCTS.
And YES, it is FAULTY if it fails after 5 years. Just because you can’t remember a time when electronics were worth repairing, does not mean it never existed. Companies used to stand behind their products.
Wake up. Steal a TV from a store. Steal 7 laptops from Fry’s. The house always wins anyways.
So I might as well share my positive experience with Costco’s concierge service. I posted on 2/20 of this year that I was having problems with a tv purchased @ Costco 3 1/2 years ago. First thing I did was call Costco’s concierge service to see if they would do anything about it. I wasn’t expecting them to, but thought I’d give a try and find out what this new service is all about.
I called them, they called Akai to find a local service center. Costco then called the service center to schedule service. They came, picked up my tv, diagnosed the problem, repaired it and Costco picked up the bill – all $409.33 of it.
Now, of course I have over simplified it, and the whole process took just about a month. It was fairly lengthy because the funding request for the initial diagnosis had to be approved by Costco corporate. Then I had to make an appointment for the tv to be picked up – that took a week. Then when it was diagnosed, the service center had to contact Costco with the repair costs, and that again had to be approved by corporate.
Whole process took five weeks from beginning to end, but saved over $400. Might be worth a try for others having issues with electronics purchased @ Costco.
I wanted to share my (mostly) positive experience with Costco as well. We purchased a Vizio TV in July 2006 (under the old return/satisfaction guarantee). In October 2008 while watching a movie we heard a loud “pop” and the display went dark. Turning the TV off and on didn’t help – the unit would power on, but there was no sound or picture.
My husband went to Costco to ask about our options. The employees there explained that since it was outside the two year warranty we should contact the manufacturer. At that time no one mentioned to him that we were granfathered into the old policy and to be honest, we didn’t even think to question it.
The manufacturer (Vizio) would not help since the warranty had expired, and recommended contacting a local repair shop. We were told that the repairs would cost $300-$500. Since we didn’t have cash on hand we waited, and ended up finally taking it in to be diagnosed at the end of November.
Yesterday they called me back and told me that the repairs would cost $425. I asked around to others what they thought we should do – and also posted my quandary on Twitter. Someone asked when and where we purchased the TV and I told them – and they pointed out the discrepancy in the return policy and recommended we check into that before spending money on repairs.
With this information at hand, my husband called his brother (who happens to have a close relationship with a Costco employee). We didn’t want to haul a big, heavy TV into the warehouse and then get laughed at when we tried to return it. The employee actually recommended we call Costco Concierge and get a case number from them before going to the warehouse. After a long conversation with the Concierge representative, it now appears that Costco is going to pick up the tab for the repairs on our TV.
This is a satisfying resolution to our problem. It is nice to see that Costco is holding up their end of the bargain for customers who purchased their TV’s with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. I also want to point out that we wouldn’t even think about pursuing this if there wasn’t an actual technical problem with our TV. We were really upset that we had spent so much money on a TV that failed after only 26 months!
Based on their new return policy I will continue to comparison shop at other electronics stores when making a large purchase. But I will definitely continue to be a loyal Costco member.
Here is my recent experience with returning a VIZIO 50″ Plasma:
Scenario – Originally purchased VIZIO 50″ HD Plasma in August, 2005. After a few price adjustments and re-buy/returns, the receipt I last had was dated April 2, 2006.
Walked into store on Sunday, March 25th, 2007. Had the TV on a cart with a small box containing the manual, remote and all cords. There was only one person in line ahead of me and when I got to the front I was greeted by a customer service woman. I started to go into explaining my story of how I had contacted the Concierge service and they couldn’t do anything for me and I called Costco’s corporate office and asked about their new return policy but she cut me off as soon as she glanced at my receipt and told me, “you bought this before the policy was changed so you’re okay.”
To that I let out a big sigh of relief and she quickly called someone over from electronics to check the contents and then proceeded to give me my entire refund. She never called a manager or asked any questions other than if there was something wrong with it, to which I replied, “the HDMI inputs stopped working.”
30 minutes later I was walking out of the store with my new VIZIO 60″ MAXIMVS Plasma and a 36-pack of Caffeine-free Diet Coke!
She did mention to me that if I were going to be purchasing a new TV set that I would now be restricted to the new policy to which I replied, “yes, I know too well.”
I was contacted by my local manager with referance to my high number of returs. The problem here is that 90% of my returns are for original sealed product and the system does not know the difference. Furthermore you cannot have a high number of returns without spending a lot of money!
it seems unfair to punish or harass customers about a policy that has been pushed by the sales people at Cosco for the last 10 years?
OH WELL, AT LEAST I STILL HAVE A BUNCH OF STUFF GRANDFATHER BY THE OLD POLICY. IF THEY DECIDE NOT TO TAKE THEM BACK, THEN FUCK THEM, IM GOING TO COURT. PLUS I NO LONGER BY ANY ELECTRONICS FROM COSTCO. THEY SUCK, THE ONLY THING GOOD WAS THE POLICY, YOU BUY THE SHAREHOLDERS MADE THEIR MONEY, YOU RETURN, COSTCO GETS THERE MONEY FROM MANUFACTURE. BYE BYE COSTCO, HELLO SAMS CLUB
When you file to take Costco to court, are you going to write it all in caps?
i purchased my xbox360 before the policy and returned it last week (because of noisy drive)… no questions asked!
fyi. computer consoles are not included in the policy
… now waiting for the xbox360 elite
What’s this about a new policy?
Last time I bought a digital camera and for some reasons I went back to return it (the one on Chino Hills, CA) the lady looked at me in the eye (not to friendly) and ask- “what’s reason for you to return it”. I said– “because I don’t like it” and she said” xxxxx” (I couldn’t hear it but I could tell she is not quite happy with that answer)…and she kept checking it (by the way this is my first time to return an item after being a member for 10 years with Costco) there I miss a warranty form came with the box and she refuse to take my camera back…
I mean obviously, it seems you guys have no problem to return your stuff but then why they are making it so hard to me….?? Instead of saying “I don’t like it”. Could I ask you guys, what is the proper way to answer that??
It was simple really.
They used the “policy” to get you to join.
“yes you can freely return the TV ANYTIME you become dissatisfied. Without the receipt or box.
Anytime? No hassles?
“Yes sir ANYTIME for any reason.
“Ok Where do I sign”
2 years later.
“I have become unsatisfied with my $4000 TV”
“Im sorry sir here are a few hundred hoops you need to jump through” “You certainly cannot expect to return a TV you used for years becasue you became unsatisfied” “I’ll have to check with corporate”
can someone buy a playstation 2 and games and return it 2 yrs later still?
Costco was more then generous with their previous return policy. Because of the many that felt that the deserved to exercise their right to return a product years after purchase because the price went down or a newer model came out .. YOU RUNIED IT FOR THE REST OF US. Sure Sams club sells extended warranties , but you just cant bring it back to the store and pick up another one, you have to call the 800 number on the service contract and find a service center to repair you product . If you think BestBuy or Circuit city will treat you better and take back your years old used items because you aren’t satisfied , it wont happen . You can always buy third party extended warranties from http://www.tvwarranties.com/ or others . if that is important to you . Don’t like the new policy don’t buy at Costco , go “ RENT “ you products from another company , Im sure they would love your business
.
Surprised to see a link posted in another website by vandit9. Yes, that is the “memo” posted at http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?catid=24&threadid=679223&start=360
here’s a scanned image of the memo:
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s133/vandit_photo/costco.jpg
With Costco’s policy, can someone return an item purchased from another store and get credit? As in, pruct A purchased from Best Buy gets returned to Costco and gets $xxx in Costco store credit. There’s no receipt and no record of the prchase under the member’s info.
I really have to chime in on this one…I HAD THE BEST EXPERIENCE!
I’ve been dealing with Costco maybe 5 years, never really had to use the no receipt policy, however…I bought a Plasma years ago-because their price was the lowest…Well, 3 years later, it just stopped turning on. I called the manufacturer and they said there would be a fee. When I called Costco, he made it clear that it would be a chance I would be taking-but they would look for the receipt (all I had was my credit card receipt). Of course, I got his name and when I got there I asked for him and was adament about the return, along with my prayers. My $3000+ was returned CASH. It took about 20 minutes but that was nothing! The really good part was I used the money to buy a ticket for my daughter and I to go to my cousins memorial-Although I really do think COSTCO is great…GOD is greater!!
Have you ever wondered were the return itemed from Costco go. There is an amazing business called PRICEMATERS.CA . They buy all the good store returns from Costco and resell them for 30% less then Costco what Costco Sold them for. They include 3 year Warranties on most items
So see it at Costco then goto one of the nine Price Matters Stores and purchase it for 30% less with no membership
I bought a $1200 HP laptop from Costco. I had it for roughly 60 days when the video card went bad. HP asked me to ship it back to them for repair. They sent FedEx to pick it up, I put the laptop in the box they sent. Other than the video card it was in PERFECT condition.
Three weeks later they call me with some BS about a severely dented cover and how they cant ship me back the computer unless I agree to pay to have the cover fixed. I kick and scream and they send the laptop back as is.
There is a HUGE dent in the side, as if someone has taken it and literally thrown it onto the corner of a table. HP refuses to give me any satisifaction so I returned it to Costco, no questions asked. Fvkc HP and thank god for Costco.
I just got my Executive Membership 2% rebate, $500. I like to shop at Costco.
Reading the above comments on their return policy has been very informative. One question.Who keeps packaging for years? Do you have to return the merchandise in it’s original packaging?
Hi thanks for all the posts. I am a little conflicted about this. I bought a 27 inch TV in August of 2006. I didn’t have a TV at all before that. It was a big purchase for me. The Costco representative told me I could return the TV at any time in the future. The return policy, I feel, was used as a sales technique. Now I know Costco employees do not get commissions, but I definitely chose Costco because of the “unlimited” return policy. Now I want to return the TV, because it is not adequate for my needs and I am feeling guilty about even considering to do so. Hmmmmmm, this is a tough one. I understand the moral hazard issue here, but if Costco had an official policy that allowed people to bring back TVs for any reason, then why in the name of God should I feel guilty about taking them up on it? I am more than happy to abide by the new return policy…it is definitely fair, but why should I be held responsible for an unfair policy, unfair to Costco that is, that was in place at the time of my original purchase?
So, here’s one non rhetorical question? Can I, or can I not return the TV I purchased in Aug of 2006? I get that people have opinions about if I should or not, I am conflicted about it myself, clearly, or I wouldn’t be posting here. Is this moral dilemma a complete waste of time, practically speaking?
I recently lost the center diamond in my wedding ring which was purchased at Costco 5 years ago and am being told they cannot help me. Eight months after the ring was purchased I had it sent back to be repaired due to a broken prong (does this carry any weight?) – am I entitled to a refund or at least the same ring? I have been a longtime customer and am not looking for anything more than for them to make this right.
Costco sucks now.. they wont accept anything. my Vizio TV completely fied after 11 months, and the Costco in Honolulu told me “NO” I would have to spend $300 to ship it to the manufacturer to have it fixed!!!
I spent $1500 on the damn tv.
I will never shop at Costco again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
im sorry to hear about the people that needed to return something because it malfunctioned after like a year or so and now cant, but blame it all on the people that abused the policy, returning shit from 3 or 4 years even if it malfunctions its bull, because COSTCO never made the products , so if they malfunction, after a year or so, why the hell should it be their problem? they didnt make the product, they just sold it to you. And some people get upset because they dont take them anymore and say screw costo and bla bla bla , i wanna see those people tryng to return a TV at walmart or anything there, after a year? you wish. costco was tryng to get costumer satisfaction by helping people out who really needed the policy, not because now they need money, or because something broke after 4 years, you bought a PLASMA TV from whatever company and it breaks after 2 years, not their problem, contact whatever company you bought it from and try to mess with them, dont like that they wont do nothing for you and charge you to fix the tv you bought from them?, well dont buy from that brand anymore, and costco would probably stop selling it. sorry about my rant here, i just hate that people abuse everything they see, when there is really people in need of it now that cant get it , because somebody else abused something for their own selfish purposes, it basically reflects on everything and why the world is so messed up, cant be nice to nobody because then somebody tries to take advantage of it. well thats all i had to say, BTW i dont work on COSTCO or have anything to do with it, before somebody accuses me of being a employyee there or something
@ Rick, regarding your post of “April 12th, 2006 at 3:32 am”: shame on you. EOM
@ Jim (OP): sure you can flaunt your right to free speech (that comes from US citizenship) but why not caution against abusing the system in your original post, itself? And perhaps link to Hank’s informative post on Costco’s policies?
Costco’s return policy is now a joke. It’s a bad company with bad service. There electronics’s (computers especially) are offended outdated and sold as being state of the art. The Costco I go to had mulptible roofs leaks and one leak burned out a LCD TV on display. I wondered if they tried to fixed it and sell it (beware of only one left display model sales). Its an awlful company.
could u return something that u already returned before
I work for Costco, so I feel the need to clarify a little here. First off, Costco’s return policy is 90 days from the date of purchase on televisions, computers, cameras/camcorders, and ipod/mp3 players. To offset the change, we have extended manufacturers warranty’s on tv’s and computers to 2 years. I believe the only company not to partner in the 2 year warranty was Dell (Don’t quote me on that). We also have free technical support. This is all summed up in the Costco Consierge Warranty, and inside of the envelope you received when you purchased an item that is under that warranty. If you were fortunate enough to purchase with Amex, they added an additional year on the warranty. Feel free to check around, but Costco’s return policy is very good if not the best in the business. I could go on, but I have other things to do, perhaps I will pop back in here one day and address more.
I have read most of the comments and wanted to post mine… Costco’s rock!!! I love the policy. I will return whatever they accept as a return. It is the reason why I spend 7K+ a year (we (family of 4) do everything at Costco). It is pretty much the only store that I shop. This is what Costco is after!!! Your money!! They are not doing this to win some consumer humanitarian award (JD somebody)… I think if you find it convenient to spend 90% of your discretionary funds in one store alone you deserve to return what you want as long as they accept it… And for the comments regarding ethics…. ethics requirements do not exist in any policy because it is a position rely mostly on someone’s opinion. What you consider ethical may differ when it comes to your parents, children, friends, supporters, etc… therefore it is not a viable inclusion to a legal return policy. I read a comment about a pereson recently that said “He was a perfect American, unless you were not an American” Let Costco decide what is an acceptable return not what you believe is ethical…
just returned a 2 yr old tv last night and got a full refund in cash. we then grabbed a shopping cart and bought food and alcohol. Spent nearly all $300 of the return.
I was contemplating purchasing a Scooba {floor cleaning robot} @ Costco because of their excellent return policy. To me, it’s an expensive gadget with only a 60 or 90 day manufacturer’s policy – and I don’t like the odds. I don’t want to be able to return the thing after 5 years, I just want to know it will work for at least a year or two — I’ve been very disappointed in expensive gadgets in the past that broke as soon as the very short warranty period ended.
But I don’t have a membership, and I just learned from this thread that I would have to maintain the membership for 2 or 3 years (at a cost of $150+) – it’s probably not worth the effort to purchase it at Costco when I can get it on Amazon or elsewhere for cheaper.
Sadly, if manufacturer’s would just stop making crappy electronics, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion about return policies….
Returned a broken ladder. No hassles. I suspect that I would have been out of luck at another store. I will keep continue to shop at Costco because of this.
I am addicted to CostCo. It seems that every time I end up buying something from another store, it bites me in the butt. About 6 months ago I bought an HP ethernet printer from Walmart and it died after very little use. After I bought it I saw the same one at CostCo for about the same price, and I am still kicking myself for not getting it there. I know that the have reduced their warranties on some electronics, but as one CostCo employee here mentioned, the managers seem to have a lot of freedom to do what they feel is fair. I think a lot has to do with how much you buy there and how often you return stuff. Also, as I recently discovered, the store has some items that have been returned a lot because they have obviously not been manufactured well. I bought two electronic garbage cans with automatic opening lips. One worked for a few days and the other one failed to work out of the box. So I returned them both and got two more. Both of the new ones didn’t work out of the box. When I went back to return them I saw that they had all been removed from the shelf. I could tell from the attitude of the girl accepting returns that she knew of the problem and still gave me my money back with a smile after returning 4 cans. I am getting to the point where I don’t buy much of anything until I check to see if it is available at CostCo. When they see that I buy over 10 grand worth of stuff there per year, they don’t question anything I return. But to be fair I don’t return many things, because they usually have good quality merchandise, and even if they raised the price, I would still go there. They also seem to have a lot of pull with their suppliers, which explains the extended warrantees offered on products sold at CostCo. I had am experience recently where I had bought a couple deluxe office chairs few years ago, and the mechanism stopped working. I went to CostCo only to ask where I could get it repaired. They didn’t carry it anymore, so they put me in touch with the manufacturer who shipped me a new mechanism totally for free. The bottom line is that the only objection I have is that I am going to need a larger home. Seems whatever they have in stock today will not be there tomorrow. So if I like something, I have to buy at least two of them, and store one. So far two bedrooms in my 6 bedroom home have isles with shelves, similar to a department store where I store the spares
Some people on here seem to think that the new return policy is for everything in the store. Some have stated it’s only for certain electronics such as TV’s computers, ipods and such.
I am a Costco employee and can assure you that IF you purchased your tv before the new return policy was implemented, you can return it even if you bought it 5 years ago.
Now it’s 90 days for certain electronics mentioned above. Why is it 90 days you might ask? The reason is because extensive studies were done … and a majority of returns of these devices were WITHIN 90 days anyway. Costco feels that this is adequate time for a customer to either realize they don’t want it, don’t need it, or it’s just a lemon. However … Costco extends the manufacturer’s warranty for free (it costs money at places such as futureshop) and provides free 24 hr help from a tech support line.
Note: This tech support is not “Bob” in India that you’re calling (unless you’re in india … are there costco’s in india?). It will be north american tech support and they will be trained to deal with your exact product.
So, what if you buy a chair tomorrow and in 3 years it falls apart. What can you do under Costco’s new return policy, call tech support? No, you can’t. YOU CAN STILL RETURN IT!
Hell, people still return 3/4 eaten fruit. I deal with returns at the end of the day (not at the membership counter, but everything that is returned goes through me) … and I still see completely empty buckets of Feta cheese returned with the expiry date not for 5 months away!
This policy is still way better than any other return policy out there. If you bought your membership because of the policy (like someone stated above) … then I’m sorry, that’s not why you buy the membership and you are saying you bought the membership to cheat the company out of money … people buy a membership because of the prices and quality products sold at Costco.
I’ll tell you a few other interesting facts about Costco …
the maximum markup on a product is about 15% (it might be 1 or 2% on either side of that, I forget) … but very very rarely will you find a product marked up that high. I think (note, I don’t know this for a fact) that produce is usually marked up high …. but, again I only think.
some warehouses ONLY make money or break even because of their memberships. This is how the company can afford to keep this markup so low for all products.
Costco will sometimes get “free” merchandise. I say “free” because it’s not really free. What happens is, say Costco is going to sell some leather sofas. The sofa company may give Costco a few thousand extra dollars in case there are faulty products or shipping accidents (which most often is the case) … however, sometimes the warehouse will get all the product safe and sound and sell it all … guess what, Costco gets to keep that money. So … if you see the last of a product on the floor and it’s only the display … you might even be able to talk a manager down to a loss (and often they want to lose the product because it’s taking up valuable space).
The CEO of Costco earns a paltry 350k/yr. (NOTE: he owns 15 million in costco stock … but that’s only paper).
Costco is an excellent company, a great corporate citizen with a big social conscience. They pay their employees well, offer excellent benefits (even for parttime employees) with excellent retirement plans. I’m considering staying on after I graduate (with a very good degree I might add) as a part timer simply because of the excellent benefits offered.
Here’s an interesting story that shows you how far Costco will go … As anyone knows, an employee of Costco is an embassador for Costco … but even more a manager should be the embodyment of what Costco’s values are and how they look upon their customers.
Several months back, a customer walking around the store in his new (white) shoes … he scuffed them on a pallet, complained to the manager. You know what the manager did? No, he didn’t buy him new shoes … he got on one knee and buffed the scuff out. I mean, afterwards, we all talked about how the member was a bit of a jerk and it really shouldn’t have come to that … but the manager stated “well, he may have been a jerk, but he is a member, and that membership pays all of our salaries. It’s our duty to make sure the customer leaves the store happy” …
Some people gripe that Costco should sell some things in smaller quantities … however, that’s how Costco often gets deals out of other companies … they agree to sell a certain packaging (usually it’s more) … if a ketchup plant can package 1 gallon of ketchup in a 1 gallon tub, rather than several bottles … in the long run, they can save a lot of money … so it is advantageous.
Last thing, I promise … to those of you that “graze” in the produce section (tasting grapes, strawberries and whatnot) … don’t try to hide it … everyone knows and nobody that works there cares (I get people telling me everyday ’sorry’ … no you’re not, don’t treat us like idiots). In fact, it’s not Costco’s policy, but it’s a kind of general policy … but if a customer needs to test out a grape to see if they’re sweet … they are more likely to buy a box of grapes … and then come back to buy more. Everytime someone apologizes to me for testing out a strawberry or something, I just laugh at them and say “well, try all you want, but I wouldn’t eat anything wtihout washing it first, you know what you’re putting in your system?” haha
Honestly … before I applied for the job at Costco, I had never even set foot inside of a costco. I assumed they were just like a walmart or sams club … for anyone who thinks that … you are mistaken. It’s a great place to work … this is evident from the fact that they have the lowest turnover rate in the industry (well .. if not the lowest, it’s near the lowest) … however, it’s an even better place to shop.
alright … that’s good enough for now …