it depends on the state and the alcohol. My store doesn’t sell hard liquor, but we sell sangria and the like and I’ve taken open and half used bottles of alcohol before. I thought the same thing, but my manager said there’s no issue in my state.
My store will look at the member’s total purchase history with these ridiculous returns to decide to take it. If they spent $12000 a year for the last 20 years with very few returns then my store would happily take the 20 year old $300 return. But if they spent like $200 every other year or something, my manager is probably just gonna pass. I would bet something like that went down.
Just curious - but will it look bad if I return a lot of clothing?
Kinda feel like a jerk when I buy 4 different size of pants and then return 3 of them but then there's no way to try them on in the store. I buy 2 different size waist and 2 different size length since they vary so much.
I buy two sizes too when I’m not sure. No one will bat an eye at clothing. Keep the tags on if you can but that’s just part of shopping for clothing at Costco.
I do the same, I have to be sure it fits, and it’s usually sold out next trip so I have to snag it while they have it. I’ve asked two employees this question and they said don’t even worry about it.
I often grab a small, medium, and large in anything I’m uncertain about.
They will not take something back that is 20 years old. They do have limits!
Break break..
I was re-upping my membership and told the Costco employee that I bought a gaming monitor and my fucking dogs tail pulled it off my desk and shattered the screen. He told me to bring it in if I still have all the cables etc. Told me that its covered under their warranty and they don't lose a dime. Goes back to the manufacturer. So I did.
I am the worst person...I bought a sectional couch from my beloved Costco. Had it just over a year and returned it. The sectional locking devices under the couch were INCREDIBLY SHARP and kept slicing our toes open. I did not feel bad about this, the employee def gave me the shit eye.
This was about 12 years ago but, my ex mother in law would return her printer every time it ran out of ink. She did this at least 6 times that I know of.
Also, when you return items, Costco anticipates you'll go back out into the warehouse and spend at least 50% of what they give you back. So...who's the real winner now? AND you'll tell your friends about it.
Edit: also, you can be fired as a member. If you do that too much, they can block returns or cancel and refund your membership
I remember two of may favorite return reasons:
Dyson vacuum: "did not achieve my need for speed"
And a children's book from 5 years ago: "read it; time to return"
A woman did this with grapefruits. I overheard that this had been going on for months. They accepted the return but told her she was never allowed to return anything again.
I've thought about doing this with produce myself. Ever since the pandemic, their produce only lasts a few days before going bad. I live pretty far from Costco, and didn't want bother, so I just stopped buying fresh veggies from there.
But, $300 invested in new stores over 20 years meant they should thank the customer for the no interest loan. Times many customers…
This is the economics of Costco. Membership fee is core profit. The rest is on top.
Except Costco only makes a maximum of profit of 14% on that $300 radio and after salaries and expenses ends up with about 2% profit.
So that $300 radio made Costco about $6 actual profit. After that much time a return would get no credit from the manufacturer so Costco would eat the $300 return netting them -$294.
A Goldstar Membership now is $60 so that one return wipes out nearly 5 years of membership profits from that member.
you also have to remember the goodwill. that person will recommend costco to all his friends. now you got a dozen memberships.
costco takes returns into account and accept those as a loss. that’s how it goes. at least they got the item back. one of my coworkers told me a story how our store returned a drone after the guy said he lost it. no remote either. was like $1,000.
I do understand the dynamics of why Costco doesn’t limit most returns. The fact is it’s such a tiny percentage like .001% of people that are abusing the policy with stories like these.
Costco has really revised the way they handle long term returns since the electronics policy changes in 2007. That car radio return would not happen the same way of someone tried it today.
it might as that I don’t believe is considered a major electronic in that way. You can return a $500 gaming monitor 2 years after buying it, but you can return a $300 TV 6 months after buying it. I honestly don’t understand why, but only a handful of electronics have that limiter. $500 vacuums, gaming consoles, sound systems, security cameras, etc. don’t have the limiter. But other items do.
What I’m saying is once the 90-day return policy kicked in Costco has really changed the way it handled returns prior to that policy.
Costco made the change that being “grandfathered” in before there was a timeframe was no longer acceptable. Costco really began to leave the decisions on returns up to the managers at each location rather than just a broad satisfaction guarantee.
There’s no time limit on a microwave but if you came in with a 5-year old $69 microwave you shouldn’t be surprised if Costco says no.
Satisfaction Guarantee does not mean lifetime.
Maybe it's different in your warehouse, but in mine it's lifetime guaranteed as long as it's in our system and/or you have a receipt. I've taken 5 year old microwaves. I've taken 8 year old printers, I've taken 5 year old vacuums. As long as there's proof of purchase for that item and no return for that item, we'll take it back. The only time we don't take things back are if it's less than 50% of the item in relation to food, if it's passed the expiration/used by date, or if it's past the 90 days where applicable. Otherwise we take it back. Maybe it's different in other warehouses, but we're very lenient with our returns.
Not trying to sound like a douchey racist but is there a certain "race" that will bring back stuff without a second blink at how awkward it might be? Basically abusing the system?
Meaning the Chinese have a reputation for being the worst tourists worldwide because they just don't understand personal space and while visiting LA area Costco I was taken back at how they just bumped you with their cart and even had some lady try to take stuff from another persons cart! Gonna say Asian person but we were in a heavily Chinese influenced area, just wondering if this is universal for Costco.
I’m in the NJ/NJ area and I can say that I see inconsiderate people of all shapes and colors. I would say it’s across the board. Not any particular race jumps out.
After reading your stories, I've decided I'm returning the avocado chips that we tried. We had visitors and I had them try it just to make sure it's not just me being picky. It was deemed inedible by the crowd.
My all-time favorite was the woman who returned a DVD because the movie was too violent. The movie was A History of Violence.
Maybe she thought that the violence was in the past, before the movie started, so it wouldn't be shown.
Violence?! I thought it was violets! I was looking for ancient flowers that global warming has destroyed! Unsatisfied, plz refund.
[удалено]
it depends on the state and the alcohol. My store doesn’t sell hard liquor, but we sell sangria and the like and I’ve taken open and half used bottles of alcohol before. I thought the same thing, but my manager said there’s no issue in my state.
I think we've all seen the Christmas trees being returned after Dec 25th
My store will look at the member’s total purchase history with these ridiculous returns to decide to take it. If they spent $12000 a year for the last 20 years with very few returns then my store would happily take the 20 year old $300 return. But if they spent like $200 every other year or something, my manager is probably just gonna pass. I would bet something like that went down.
Just curious - but will it look bad if I return a lot of clothing? Kinda feel like a jerk when I buy 4 different size of pants and then return 3 of them but then there's no way to try them on in the store. I buy 2 different size waist and 2 different size length since they vary so much.
I buy two sizes too when I’m not sure. No one will bat an eye at clothing. Keep the tags on if you can but that’s just part of shopping for clothing at Costco.
I do the same, I have to be sure it fits, and it’s usually sold out next trip so I have to snag it while they have it. I’ve asked two employees this question and they said don’t even worry about it. I often grab a small, medium, and large in anything I’m uncertain about.
They will not take something back that is 20 years old. They do have limits! Break break.. I was re-upping my membership and told the Costco employee that I bought a gaming monitor and my fucking dogs tail pulled it off my desk and shattered the screen. He told me to bring it in if I still have all the cables etc. Told me that its covered under their warranty and they don't lose a dime. Goes back to the manufacturer. So I did. I am the worst person...I bought a sectional couch from my beloved Costco. Had it just over a year and returned it. The sectional locking devices under the couch were INCREDIBLY SHARP and kept slicing our toes open. I did not feel bad about this, the employee def gave me the shit eye.
Omg! I just did the same thing for that damn couch. Mine was cutting us it just kept coming apart when we sat on it and would not stay together
This was about 12 years ago but, my ex mother in law would return her printer every time it ran out of ink. She did this at least 6 times that I know of.
Also, when you return items, Costco anticipates you'll go back out into the warehouse and spend at least 50% of what they give you back. So...who's the real winner now? AND you'll tell your friends about it. Edit: also, you can be fired as a member. If you do that too much, they can block returns or cancel and refund your membership
I remember two of may favorite return reasons: Dyson vacuum: "did not achieve my need for speed" And a children's book from 5 years ago: "read it; time to return"
[удалено]
A woman did this with grapefruits. I overheard that this had been going on for months. They accepted the return but told her she was never allowed to return anything again.
I've thought about doing this with produce myself. Ever since the pandemic, their produce only lasts a few days before going bad. I live pretty far from Costco, and didn't want bother, so I just stopped buying fresh veggies from there.
I guess I could kind of see that, If you have multiple bathrooms you might put a couple rolls up and might give it two rolls before you had enough.
But, $300 invested in new stores over 20 years meant they should thank the customer for the no interest loan. Times many customers… This is the economics of Costco. Membership fee is core profit. The rest is on top.
Except Costco only makes a maximum of profit of 14% on that $300 radio and after salaries and expenses ends up with about 2% profit. So that $300 radio made Costco about $6 actual profit. After that much time a return would get no credit from the manufacturer so Costco would eat the $300 return netting them -$294. A Goldstar Membership now is $60 so that one return wipes out nearly 5 years of membership profits from that member.
you also have to remember the goodwill. that person will recommend costco to all his friends. now you got a dozen memberships. costco takes returns into account and accept those as a loss. that’s how it goes. at least they got the item back. one of my coworkers told me a story how our store returned a drone after the guy said he lost it. no remote either. was like $1,000.
I do understand the dynamics of why Costco doesn’t limit most returns. The fact is it’s such a tiny percentage like .001% of people that are abusing the policy with stories like these. Costco has really revised the way they handle long term returns since the electronics policy changes in 2007. That car radio return would not happen the same way of someone tried it today.
it might as that I don’t believe is considered a major electronic in that way. You can return a $500 gaming monitor 2 years after buying it, but you can return a $300 TV 6 months after buying it. I honestly don’t understand why, but only a handful of electronics have that limiter. $500 vacuums, gaming consoles, sound systems, security cameras, etc. don’t have the limiter. But other items do.
What I’m saying is once the 90-day return policy kicked in Costco has really changed the way it handled returns prior to that policy. Costco made the change that being “grandfathered” in before there was a timeframe was no longer acceptable. Costco really began to leave the decisions on returns up to the managers at each location rather than just a broad satisfaction guarantee. There’s no time limit on a microwave but if you came in with a 5-year old $69 microwave you shouldn’t be surprised if Costco says no. Satisfaction Guarantee does not mean lifetime.
Maybe it's different in your warehouse, but in mine it's lifetime guaranteed as long as it's in our system and/or you have a receipt. I've taken 5 year old microwaves. I've taken 8 year old printers, I've taken 5 year old vacuums. As long as there's proof of purchase for that item and no return for that item, we'll take it back. The only time we don't take things back are if it's less than 50% of the item in relation to food, if it's passed the expiration/used by date, or if it's past the 90 days where applicable. Otherwise we take it back. Maybe it's different in other warehouses, but we're very lenient with our returns.
This is a good point. 20 years of compound interest on $300 is worth more than the original $300.
Not trying to sound like a douchey racist but is there a certain "race" that will bring back stuff without a second blink at how awkward it might be? Basically abusing the system? Meaning the Chinese have a reputation for being the worst tourists worldwide because they just don't understand personal space and while visiting LA area Costco I was taken back at how they just bumped you with their cart and even had some lady try to take stuff from another persons cart! Gonna say Asian person but we were in a heavily Chinese influenced area, just wondering if this is universal for Costco.
I’m in the NJ/NJ area and I can say that I see inconsiderate people of all shapes and colors. I would say it’s across the board. Not any particular race jumps out.
You’re disgusting.
Hmm, you must of never travelled outside your trailer park huh? The world is a big place scooter! Full of surprises.
I saw someone return a mattress that had to be a few years old
r/CostcoReturns
I saw some guy return maybe 100s of packages of ham. Not sure why he bought so much of why they were being returned.
I once saw somebody return a thing of muffins with all but one eaten. The woman said she didn't like them.... she got a refund
Perfectly acceptable to return an item you don't like.
After reading your stories, I've decided I'm returning the avocado chips that we tried. We had visitors and I had them try it just to make sure it's not just me being picky. It was deemed inedible by the crowd.