Costco is well-known for its no-questions-asked return policy. Now some shoppers are taking it upon themselves to test the limits of that policy.
“Returning my slime stained carpet to Costco,” one TikTok user posted earlier this month.
Costco offers customers an unlimited grace period to return most purchases for a full refund, earning the wholesaler a top-six spot among stores with exceptional return policies, according to a 2023 ranking by U.S. News and World Report.
While the customer received a full refund for the ruined rug, the comments section on the TikTok video was divided. “That’s embarrassing for you,” one person wrote. “This just seems wrong,” another added.
For others, it’s simply about getting their money’s worth. “I could be mad but in this economy . . . hell yeah,” one comment read. Even Costco employees chimed in. “Our upper management has said Costco makes way too much money. [T]hey would rather take the hit than lose a member,” one wrote. “Customer satisfaction at the end of the day.”
What if the rug is in perfect condition but you just don’t like it anymore? No problem. Another TikTok user returned a rug bought over a year ago because it no longer matched their aesthetic—and received a full refund.
@brooke_mydlo I’ve always wondered how good costcos return policy is…. Today I found out. #costco #momlife #costcofinds #costcoreturn
♬ original sound – brooke_mydlo
Costco’s return policy is not only open-ended in terms of time frame, but it also doesn’t clearly define the condition items must be in upon their return to the store. One person returned a broken couch four years after buying it. Another brought back a half-eaten chicken bake. Both were refunded in full. “This is why we can’t have nice things,” one person commented.
This isn’t the first time customers have pushed the policy’s boundaries. One notable return made headlines in 2018 when a woman brought back her dried-up Christmas tree in January.
Extreme as it may seem, the policy supports Costco’s membership model. “Kudos for Costco,” the couch-returner said at the end of his video. “You’ve got me as a client for life now.” Research shows that restrictive return policies can cost retailers business, whereas positive return experiences often lead to more purchases.
Still, that doesn’t mean the customer is always right. Of the $685 billion in U.S. retail merchandise returned in 2024, $103 billion was attributed to return/claims fraud or abuse, according to a 2024 report from Appriss Retail and Deloitte.
Just because you can, doesn’t always mean you should.
Connectez-vous pour ajouter un commentaire
Autres messages de ce groupe
Forget Cowboy Carter or the Eras tour, the hottest ticket this year is for your favorite podcast.
Content creator tours sold nearly 500% more tickets this year compared to 20
In late July, the Trump administration released its long-awaited AI Action Pla
Matthew Williams has slept very little since he learned about Sacha Stone’s plan to build a “sovereign” micronation on 60 acres of land near his home in rural Tennessee. What began as a quic
Let’s be honest: Your phone is a jerk. A loud, demanding, little pocket-size jerk that never stops buzzing, dinging, and begging for your attention. It’s the first thing you see in the
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but email scams are getting surprisingly sophisticated.
We’ve had a handful of instances here at The Intelligence International Headquarters where we’ve h
Interest in virtual private networks (VPNs) has surged in America and Europe this year. Countries on both sides of the Atlantic have recently enacted new age-verification laws designed to prevent
