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Costco members returning used snorkels and alcohol after vacations

Kapolei

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Based partly on reading this thread, I decided to call Costco about a day we were unable to use on a Go Oahu card we bought at Costco as a result of everything being closing during the recent hurricane in Hawaii. They said I had to call the card company. When I called they card company, they said they would normally give us a credit. But, because we bought the card at Costco, they couldn’t do anything. I needed to call Costco.

I’m not unhappy because we had 3 great days using the card and no one is responsible for a hurricane. But, I was a little surprised based on this thread.

Card was activated and used. So I think that is on Go Oahu. I bet they would give you a discount on next purchase if you politely escalate your issue.
 

DaveNV

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Based partly on reading this thread, I decided to call Costco about a day we were unable to use on a Go Oahu card we bought at Costco as a result of everything being closing during the recent hurricane in Hawaii. They said I had to call the card company. When I called they card company, they said they would normally give us a credit. But, because we bought the card at Costco, they couldn’t do anything. I needed to call Costco.

I’m not unhappy because we had 3 great days using the card and no one is responsible for a hurricane. But, I was a little surprised based on this thread.

I’d take it in to your local warehouse, rather than calling. A Manager can often do something in person to override things. Somebody on the phone is going to take a more generic approach. A smiling member in person is better than a faceless voice on the phone. Can’t hurt, right?

Dave
 
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LisaRex

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Where are these outlet stores and how do we find them?

Here in Cincinnati (and many other places), the vendor who re-sells Costco, Target, Wayfair, Sams Club, etc returns is BidFTA.com. While they do not always divulge what place they're getting returns from, you can often figure it out from the title. For instance, "Needle in the Haystack" sales are returns to Hayneedle.com. If you read the descriptions of this auction, you will see that they are Sams Club returns:
https://bid.bidfta.com/cgi-bin/mnlist.cgi?schoolv262/category/ALL

To see if it's in your area, go to BidFTA.com and click on the down arrow to see which locations they service. If they are not in your area, I have no idea where to find them because I found out from a friend of a friend of a friend whose cousin worked in the warehouse.

FYI, I furnished a great deal of my lakehouse from BidFTA. Bought most of my ceiling fans, vanities, lighting fixtures and linens (sheets, beach towels). You buy "as is" and I've gotten a few clunkers over the year I spent buying from it (e.g. a chair that was missing a key part), but overall I saved a ton.
 

DaveNV

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Based partly on reading this thread, I decided to call Costco about a day we were unable to use on a Go Oahu card we bought at Costco as a result of everything being closing during the recent hurricane in Hawaii. They said I had to call the card company. When I called they card company, they said they would normally give us a credit. But, because we bought the card at Costco, they couldn’t do anything. I needed to call Costco.

I’m not unhappy because we had 3 great days using the card and no one is responsible for a hurricane. But, I was a little surprised based on this thread.

Reply #2: Just discussed this with the spouse. I was told "I have 150-odd people in my warehouse who love to give refund advice over the phone. They have no idea what they're talking about, and they are usually wrong. Take the card into the warehouse and ask a REFUND CLERK in person. They are the only people in the warehouse who know what can be done."

So there you go. From the horse's mouth. ;)

Dave
 

sdtugger

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Reply #2: Just discussed this with the spouse. I was told "I have 150-odd people in my warehouse who love to give refund advice over the phone. They have no idea what they're talking about, and they are usually wrong. Take the card into the warehouse and ask a REFUND CLERK in person. They are the only people in the warehouse who know what can be done."

So there you go. From the horse's mouth. ;)

Dave
Thanks. I’ll give it a try.
 

DaveNV

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DaveNV

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I'd have to have more than a smilie face with a wink if I called my spouse a horse! :D

You've never met my spouse. :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: :D

Dave

(I'm kidding, of course. No horses here. A jackass or two, but no horses. LOL!)
 

DaveNV

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Well, it worked! Costco in store just said that they would make a one time exception and refund 1/4 of the cost. Very nice and unexpected by me. Thanks for suggesting it!

Yeah! I like when a plan works out. Glad you got your refund! :thumbup:

Anybody who ever has a question about whether something can be refunded needs to go into the warehouse and ask. Not demand, not yell. Just ask if the item can be returned. Refund Clerks have a certain amount of power to make judgment calls about items, and a pleasant request will often get a positive response.

Dave
 
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Egret1986

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Anybody who ever has a question about whether something can be refunded needs to go into the warehouse and ask. Not demand, not yell. Just ask if the item can be returned. Refund Clerks have a certain amount of power to make judgment calls about items, and a pleasant request will often get a positive response.

Dave

This can work for most things in life for a more positive outcome (not just Costco and their refunds).

I wish there was a Costco more convenient to me so that I could partake in the benefits of a membership. BJ's has never denied any of my returns, but then I've never had any outlandish returns and most are within a few days of purchase.
 

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I once forgot an item (laundry detergent) on the bottom of my cart at Costco and came back to plead my case and they did give me another container of detergent. I think it was a $15 value and was very embarrassed, but I needed to do laundry. I know they did look at my membership history and probably put a notation on it. I'm not big on returning items at Costco. If I get a bad batch of fruit, i throw it out. I once did see someone returning two containers of raspberries and another person returning a half tub of mayo- to each their own. But I did hear if you abuse returns, your membership can be revoked.
 

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I once forgot an item (laundry detergent) on the bottom of my cart at Costco and came back to plead my case and they did give me another container of detergent. I think it was a $15 value and was very embarrassed, but I needed to do laundry. I know they did look at my membership history and probably put a notation on it. I'm not big on returning items at Costco. If I get a bad batch of fruit, i throw it out. I once did see someone returning two containers of raspberries and another person returning a half tub of mayo- to each their own. But I did hear if you abuse returns, your membership can be revoked.

If you get bad fruit, you should let Costco know. They take that sort of thing very seriously, and there are multiple produce vendors vying for the opportunity of providing product to Costco. If enough people complain about a certain fruit going bad too soon, or whatever, they may make a change in suppliers. The market can be pretty brutal.

Dave
 

cowboy

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I took back a bad container of apples that had several rotten one in it. I had eaten one apple before I discovered the bad ones. The clerk gave me a refund for all but the one I ate.
 

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I took back a bad container of apples that had several rotten one in it. I had eaten one apple before I discovered the bad ones. The clerk gave me a refund for all but the one I ate.

Wow, the inconvenience of having to make another trip to Costco wasn't even worth Costco refunding the full price? That would have been easier than calculating the cost of that one apple.... lol
 

amycurl

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I once did take back a batch of raspberries that grew heaps of mold in my fridge within 24 hours of purchase. I thought that was pretty unacceptable, and they took it back no problem. I've also returned a bag of baby carrots that were mealy and grainy as soon as I opened them. In both cases, they shouldn't have been sold to me in the first place, really. (And these were returns were years apart, I swear, LOL! Please don't flag my membership! I wouldn't know what to do with myself, LOL! I'm there three times a week, easily....)
 

dioxide45

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I bought and returned a case of protein shakes after drinking four of them. No questions asked and they didn't calculate the cost of those four shakes and deduct it from the refund. I considered returning a 3/4 empty jug of Kirkland laundry detergent. It took that long to determine it was bleaching color from our clothes. In the end, I just tossed what was left of it.
 

DaveNV

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I took back a bad container of apples that had several rotten one in it. I had eaten one apple before I discovered the bad ones. The clerk gave me a refund for all but the one I ate.

I've never heard of that happening. How can they calculate the value of one apple? The container was sold as one price, not 12 times X$. How did they know you didn't throw away the first one after cutting into it?

Dave
 

DaveNV

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I once did take back a batch of raspberries that grew heaps of mold in my fridge within 24 hours of purchase. I thought that was pretty unacceptable, and they took it back no problem. I've also returned a bag of baby carrots that were mealy and grainy as soon as I opened them. In both cases, they shouldn't have been sold to me in the first place, really. (And these were returns were years apart, I swear, LOL! Please don't flag my membership! I wouldn't know what to do with myself, LOL! I'm there three times a week, easily....)

That sort of return is not going to get your account flagged. But buying a big screen TV the week before the Super Bowl, and returning it the week after? Do it a couple of times, and guess what? Yeah.

Dave
 

controller1

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. . .
But buying a big screen TV the week before the Super Bowl, and returning it the week after? Do it a couple of times, and guess what? Yeah.

Dave

That's why some electronic stores have policies that TVs returned right after the Super Bowl will only receive store credit.
 

DaveNV

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Here's an article about an abuse of Costco's policy (a dead Christmas tree in January).

https://fox8.com/2018/01/11/report-woman-returns-dead-christmas-tree-to-costco-gets-full-refund/

Those are the kind of people who give regular people with refunds a bad name. Members who would return nothing because they didn't feel it was right would scream in outrage at the brass cojones of this woman. But props to Costco's refund team - they did their job, and very likely flagged her account. If the woman tries the same thing again next year, she may just find herself holding a shredded membership card and being shown the door. This kind of abuse is how that happens.

Dave
 

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On my most recent trip to Maui I ended up returning one of those new snorkels that combined the mask and snorkel into one. In the store, everything seemed fine. Once I got in the water, it was much tougher to breath with it. I think it's a design flaw in that the snorkel intake is too narrow. I quickly returned the snorkel 2 days later when we were back by the Costco.

I hate to see the abuse but people will always take advantage of the policy.
 

sun starved Gayle

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There was an outlet store near me that sold Costco returns, I loved it. They sold the Costco flower bunches for $1.00 a piece ! I have not been able to find another outlet near me.
 
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