Woman returns "dead" Christmas tree to Costco on Jan 4. Gets her money back

[CO skier]

I had one of those "stuck in the car until the story ends" moments a few years ago while listening to this report:

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/...tore-lets-customers-return-whatever-they-want

What the article does not mention, but the radio report did, it that there is high staff turnover in the returns department, because employees become so frustrated seeing how customers abuse the policy.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I remember the days when Costco gave your money back for computers, even old computers. We were with our friends about 20 years ago, and they took a computer back to Costco and got 100% of their money back. The computer was used and abused by their teenagers.

I would never take back a computer and expect a full refund after two years because it had a problem. They got a new computer and then took it back two years later. It was a very liberal policy that hurt members who didn't do that. Those people are rich, so no excuse for them getting free computers every two years.

 

[VacationForever]

Costco new electronics policy started some years ago. You now have ninety (90) days to return your electronics items liked televisions and computer sales. You can go on line and read Costco electronics return policy for yourself.
The Costco manager that told me this worked in a Costco store in the state of Washington.

What I meant is then what is the old policy, since you mentioned a new policy? I am aware of the 90 days to return.

 

[klpca]

FYI, very close friend is a Costco store manager. They definitely have a naughty list and if you abuse the return policy, there is a limit to their generosity.

I return clothes that don't fit (there are no dressing rooms), food that is spoiled (how else would they know that their suppliers are giving them bad food?), and items that are of poor quality. But I probably return things 5 or 6 times a year.

 

[clifffaith]

People certainly return stuff a lot more than I do/would. I was behind a woman at Costco who asked if the watermelon she was buying wasn't any good, how should she go about getting a refund. I would have never thought about that. When I cut a watermelon and it's bad, I toss it. I couldn't imagine going out of my way to get my money back. Everyone's different and has a different amount of spare time, I guess.

My daughter worked at Sprouts for years and said people return crazy stuff all the time. Empty cracker boxes, "I didn't like them." It's hard not to ask why they ate the entire box if they didn't like it. Black, watery fresh vegetables, "these are bad." I'd be saying, "and so are you." I guess if people have a spare hour every day for returning stuff, it's probably more of a hobby than anything else.

We took fruit back after Christmas. The grapes I bought for the cheese and cracker platter were so tart I couldn't choke them down myself let alone serve them to company. I spend hundreds of dollars every month at Vons, so didn't feel the least bit guilty. Generally we'd just toss sub par fruit, but the boxed grapes irritated me no end. Of course store manager knows Cliff by name because I have to send him back several times a year to make an exchange when he comes home with diet cranberry juice instead of regular or creme soda instead of root beer.

 

[Jan M.]

Not too long ago my husband bought some kind of truffle flavored potato chips from Aldi's because we were getting company. They have new/special items periodically and my husband thought they looked interesting. We enjoy trying new foods and there aren't many things we don't like. We each tried two or three chips and declared them awful. We briefly considered offering them to our friends but decided we like our friends too much to do that to them! We threw the bag of chips out as it wasn't worth the time and effort to return them. We've never taken a food item back because we didn't like it but these could have been the exception.

 

[DaveNV]

Welcome to the nightmare at our house. I hear these kind of horror stories every day. My spouse is the head Refund Cashier at our Costco. All day, every day, hands out money to the membership masses. You'd think it would be the best job in the warehouse - giving away money all day, but it's a thankless grind that is exhausting. The worst time is the weeks leading up to the Christmas holidays, where people return anything and everything, including what they received for Christmas last year (or five years ago) to get money so they can shop for Christmas presents all over again. It's crazy.

People return all sorts of stuff, including cut Christmas trees. Or at least, they try to. Abuse of the system is constant, and it's a struggle to balance the "You deserve a refund because you're a good member and we know you'll spend the money here on something else" with the "Sorry, you won't be getting a refund today for these reasons..."

Some of the things I've heard of:

-- The woman who tore up her kitchen floor, and returned it in a heap, with cut boards and painted edges and nails still sticking out of it, because she wanted to buy something else. She'd had the flooring in her house for years.

-- The guy who brought in the rusted out generator he'd purchased NINE YEARS BEFORE, because it quit working.

-- The woman who returned her computer because "It doesn't sound right." The computer was COATED with heavy cigarette smoke tar - the case was yellowed and brown, stinking of smoke. She said she wasn't a smoker. (An obvious lie - she reeked.) When they opened the case the interior was equally coated, and the fan was sticky with cigarette tar. Disgusted everyone in the vicinity. She'd owned the computer about five years. This was the kind of thing that forced Costco to start their 90-day return on electronics - still the most generous return policy in the industry.

-- The people who buy a huge TV the week before the Super Bowl, and return it the week after. This happens every year.

-- The people who complain the pizza they bought "didn't taste right." They want a refund. No, they don't have the pizza box, or the remaining pizza. "We threw it away." They get the refund, and immediately go stand in line to buy ANOTHER pizza - and then a few days later come back and want another refund, for the same reason - and then they buy another pizza. It's an ongoing cycle, and these people are recognized as regulars who do this a lot. It happens a lot.

It takes a special person to deal with the crazies at Costco, and an even crazier person to deal with giving away money to them all day. Don't tell my spouse that.

Dave

 

[DaveNV]

Also, if you ever buy anything at Costco and legitimately don't like it, or it tastes bad, or it doesn't work like you expect, please don't hesitate to return it. A portion of the purchased item pricing of everything Costco sells is factored in as a refund. It's something like five or ten percent. So if they bought 1000 or something from the vendor, they expect they may get as many as 100 returned, which they in turn send back to the vendor for a credit. Generous returns are a member benefit. Your membership money goes to support that sort of thing. Legit returns are expected. It's the abusers who give the experience a bad name.

Dave

 

[VacationForever]

Also, if you ever buy anything at Costco and legitimately don't like it, or it tastes bad, or it doesn't work like you expect, please don't hesitate to return it. A portion of the purchased item pricing of everything Costco sells is factored in as a refund. It's something like five or ten percent. So if they bought 1000 or something from the vendor, they expect they may get as many as 100 returned, which they in turn send back to the vendor for a credit. Generous returns are a member benefit. Your membership money goes to support that sort of thing. Legit returns are expected. It's the abusers who give the experience a bad name.

Dave

...so you think I should have gone back to Costco to tell them about the bad reeking chicken which we threw into the garbage bin? Seriously. It was a hassle plus we thought Costco might want the chicken as proof... ewwww... makes me sick just thinking about the smell.

 

[r1lee]

That’s nothing, I’ve seen worse first hand.

Some dude in front of me returned his 3 pack of bread, with only 2 slices left over which had mold. He had the guts to turn around to me and another patron and say, I don’t know how many I ate that had mold on it. Value $6.


Another one, was when I was walking through the store and saw some of the workers carrying the playground set through (~$1500) The wood was rotting and you can tell by the colour that it was a super old set. I asked the guys and they said it was about 15+yrs old. I have the same set and at 10yrs now there’s no rotting at all.

I’ve returned food before and I don’t feel guilty about it. When I buy seedless grapes and there’s tons of seeds, I will return it. But of course, only eating a couple to make sure it wasn’t an anomaly.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

I'm assuming this was a potted, 'live' tree? I don't think Costco sells cut trees- at least where we live. Still kind of a cheeky move. The guy doesn't say if she got the refund.

The Costco’s buy us sell live trees each year.

 

[SandyPGravel]

Welcome to the nightmare at our house. I hear these kind of horror stories every day. My spouse is the head Refund Cashier at our Costco. All day, every day, hands out money to the membership masses. You'd think it would be the best job in the warehouse - giving away money all day, but it's a thankless grind that is exhausting. The worst time is the weeks leading up to the Christmas holidays, where people return anything and everything, including what they received for Christmas last year (or five years ago) to get money so they can shop for Christmas presents all over again. It's crazy.

People return all sorts of stuff, including cut Christmas trees. Or at least, they try to. Abuse of the system is constant, and it's a struggle to balance the "You deserve a refund because you're a good member and we know you'll spend the money here on something else" with the "Sorry, you won't be getting a refund today for these reasons..."

Some of the things I've heard of:

-- The woman who tore up her kitchen floor, and returned it in a heap, with cut boards and painted edges and nails still sticking out of it, because she wanted to buy something else. She'd had the flooring in her house for years.

-- The guy who brought in the rusted out generator he'd purchased NINE YEARS BEFORE, because it quit working.

-- The woman who returned her computer because "It doesn't sound right." The computer was COATED with heavy cigarette smoke tar - the case was yellowed and brown, stinking of smoke. She said she wasn't a smoker. (An obvious lie - she reeked.) When they opened the case the interior was equally coated, and the fan was sticky with cigarette tar. Disgusted everyone in the vicinity. She'd owned the computer about five years. This was the kind of thing that forced Costco to start their 90-day return on electronics - still the most generous return policy in the industry.

-- The people who buy a huge TV the week before the Super Bowl, and return it the week after. This happens every year.

-- The people who complain the pizza they bought "didn't taste right." They want a refund. No, they don't have the pizza box, or the remaining pizza. "We threw it away." They get the refund, and immediately go stand in line to buy ANOTHER pizza - and then a few days later come back and want another refund, for the same reason - and then they buy another pizza. It's an ongoing cycle, and these people are recognized as regulars who do this a lot. It happens a lot.

It takes a special person to deal with the crazies at Costco, and an even crazier person to deal with giving away money to them all day. Don't tell my spouse that.

Dave

You have my sympathies. I have seen customers try to return things to a number of different retailers and the audacity of some people. Costco has the best return policy, but if these kind of situations continue to happen, I wonder when the policy will change.

 

[DaveNV]

...so you think I should have gone back to Costco to tell them about the bad reeking chicken which we threw into the garbage bin? Seriously. It was a hassle plus we thought Costco might want the chicken as proof... ewwww... makes me sick just thinking about the smell.

Any food item would just go into the garbage when you return it anyway, even if it's unopened. So yes, you should ask for a refund. (I'm surprised it would be bad, if freshly purchased and such, but you bet your boots I'd take it back. And they won't give you grief about it. Your satisfaction is the bottom line.) But once again - yes - anything you buy that isn't right, take it back. If it's a gross item like this chicken, just tell them about it. Or if you have the packaging, bring that. They don't care about the contents.

Dave

 

[DaveNV]

You have my sympathies. I have seen customers try to return things to a number of different retailers and the audacity of some people. Costco has the best return policy, but if these kind of situations continue to happen, I wonder when the policy will change.

One of the new features available to Refund Cashiers at Costco is they can check your shopping history, and print you a new receipt, if needed. You only need to have the right membership card. Where things get a bit troublesome is when people were shopping with a friend and it ended up on someone else's membership card. The history goes on the account of the card swiped at the checkout registers. One advantage of that system is they can tell when you bought something. If you say "A few weeks ago" and it was last Winter, they may ask for a bit more information.

What's worse is when someone tries to return merchandise they got at Goodwill or a garage sale. If it's not on your shopping history, it likely won't result in a refund. But if you're a mega shopper, they may give you the refund anyway, depending on the item, because it's good business to keep members satisfied.

A month or so ago I heard about someone trying to return clothing they'd bought on Amazon, but that had been drop-shipped from Costco, because the Amazon vendor was reselling Costco merchandise that way. The guy was pretty upset to learn he'd paid nearly double what Costco charged for the items (I think it was two pairs of pants), and that he'd have to return them to the seller - Costco couldn't give him a refund on something he didn't buy there. I had no idea people could drop ship stuff through an Amazon account from another seller. (Retirement business idea for me? )

Dave

 

[DaveNV]

The Costco’s buy us sell live trees each year.

I think it depends on where you live. My local Costco used to sell cut trees, but they don't anymore. There wasn't enough money in it for the hassle.

Dave

 

[Luanne]

We have returned food to Costco, when we lived within 10 minutes of one. The only times I actually recall returning food though was when there was a recall. Now that we live an hour away from the closest Costco we don't return any food items. But I can't think of any instances where we've needed to.

 

[DaveNV]

You have my sympathies. I have seen customers try to return things to a number of different retailers and the audacity of some people. Costco has the best return policy, but if these kind of situations continue to happen, I wonder when the policy will change.

The refund cashiers have a certain amount of leeway in deciding whether to give a refund to people. Mostly, they will, out of fairness. If the person is abusive, or is trying to rip them off, it usually doesn't happen. They won't hesitate to call a Manager to deal with unruly people.

A couple of years ago a guy tried to return a $10000 diamond ring he said his wife hated, and everything looked legit, except the stone seemed "off." They used a jeweler's loop thing to check the serial number on the stone (yes, they have teensy tiny lasered serial numbers on them) and found it wasn't the same stone. Oopsie. Can you say "Felony fraud?" Not sure how that one played out, but my spouse got a major "Well done" kudos letter from Costco Corporate over that one.

The stories go on and on: The guy who tried to return the Rolex watch, until it was shown the watch in the box wasn't the watch he had purchased. it was a nice watch, but the serial numbers didn't line up. They track that sort of thing, for that very reason.

Dave

 

[DaveNV]

We have returned food to Costco, when we lived within 10 minutes of one. The only times I actually recall returning food though was when there was a recall. Now that we live an hour away from the closest Costco we don't return any food items. But I can't think of any instances where we've needed to.

Food for thought (ahem, pun intended... ) Just save the packaging, and dump the contents. Then the next time you're in the warehouse, get the refund. You don't need to haul around the old food itself. Costco won't care, and they'll toss it in the trash anyway.

I've seen people return unopened expensive hams and $$$ cuts of meat after the holidays, because they don't use it, or whatever. They are always shocked when the Refunder turns around and drops it in the garbage. "Why are you doing that? If I'd known you were going to just throw it away, I'd have kept it!"

"Well, sir, tell me this; Would YOU want to eat something that had been sold before, traveled in a car whatever distance, handled in whichever way, stored in whatever which way, then carried back in a car whatever distance, then hauled back to return it to Costco, all without guarantee of refrigeration or sanitary handling? No? Me neither."

It's a safety thing, but most people don't think that far down the road. If it's a canned item, that's one thing, but any fresh food just can't go back on the shelves. Eewww!

Dave

 

[VacationForever]

@DaveNW, we buy a ton of stuff from Costco, especially when we still had our business as we bought computers, monitors, paper, printer ink, Kuerig (bought 5 as as each broke after a year or so), etc... We have never returned anything to the store. Guess we should have gone to returns and tell them about the chicken... we will keep that in mind for the future.

 

[DaveNV]

@DaveNW, we buy a ton of stuff from Costco, especially when we still had our business as we bought computers, monitors, paper, printer ink, Kuerig (bought 5 as as each broke after a year or so), etc... We have never return anything to the store. Guess we should have gone to returns and tell them about the chicken... we will keep that in mind for the future.

You really should. If it was a fresh chicken that arrived at your house bad, they'd want to know about it. Factory recalls and such. As I say, even if you don't have the item itself, just the label or package is enough for them to track down the details. It isn't so much about the purchase of it, (they can check for that), it's about which vendor sold it to Costco, lot numbers, shipping dates, and such. Chances are, if they got a bad batch of something, you're not the only one who returned the item. It's not about the money, it's about your safety.

As to other things, wear and tear happens. But there is an expected life for any product. If you wore out your Keurigs by using them a lot, that's one thing. But if they failed after minimal use, definitely say something. And don't buy the same one again. (There was a guy here who ran a restaurant, and he was using household-quality deep fryers in his business. As they failed, he'd bring them back, then buy another. After the third or fourth one coming back, they pointed out his purchase and refund history with that item, and told him he needed to get a commercial fryer, or he wouldn't receive any more refunds when the next one broke. They flagged his account to that effect, so he wouldn't be allowed to return the same item again. He wised up, and bought a commercial fryer instead.)

As for anything else you buy at Costco, fair is fair. If you think the item should have worked better, or lasted longer, or it's the wrong color, or it's too big, or whatever - take it back. If you buy something and use the heck out of it, and it breaks, well, that's a decision you'll have to make. Did it break because it was faulty, or because it was your fault?

As I said above, they factor in a percentage of returns on every item they sell, and chances are good you're not the only one to bring that item back. That's a big part of the Costco management decision about whether to keep selling something. If they get excessive returns on it, chances are good it won't be sold anymore. That's one reason things come and go so fast. It's a tight market and competition for shelf space is fierce. If you see the same item on the shelves there a lot, chances are good it's a reliable product that people like. If it's a piece of junk, it won't be around long.

Dave

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

That's one reason things come and go so fast. It's a tight market and competition for shelf space is fierce. If you see the same item on the shelves there a lot, chances are good it's a reliable product that people like. If it's a piece of junk, it won't be around long.

Generally true, but occasional exceptions. When we're on Kauai we usually stop by Auntie Lillikoi's shop on Waimea. One time "Auntie Lillikoi" herself was minding the store, and we chatted a bit about the business end of things. I've seen her products in grocery stores on the island, but never in Costco. So I asked about it.

She had did a deal with Costco one time. But selling to Costco meant delivering product in pallet-side loads, with about ten pallets minimum. Her shop can produce cases without much difficulty, but for her size of operation pallet-size loads was a nightmare. They had to dedicate enormous amounts of production time to filling the order, which stressed her supply chain and cut into her ability to service other accounts. And without a packaging line set up to create pallet loads, she underestimated the amount of work involved to get the cases palletized and loaded.

So she filled that one order. And even though the product was well-received and Costco wanted more, she felt she had to say "No". So on island you can find Auntie Lillikoi in Safeway, Long's, Big Save, Hilo Hattie's, and many other locations. But not at Costco.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

In other threads, there have been discussions about the strategy of heading to Costco when arriving on island and buying various beach gear items for use during the week. Then, on your last, going to the beach and hawking that gear for whatever you can get for it. In the end, you come out money ahead as compared with renting the gear from an outfit such as Snorkel Bob or Boss Frong.

But based on the information in this thread, for those who might be sufficiently mercenary (and that qualifier excludes me), there's a better strategy. When you arrive on island, go to Costco and get the beach gear you want. Then return all the stuff on your last day before you head to the airport.

 

[VacationForever]

In other threads, there have been discussions about the strategy of heading to Costco when arriving on island and buying various beach gear items for use during the week. Then, on your last, going to the beach and hawking that gear for whatever you can get for it. In the end, you come out money ahead as compared with renting the gear from an outfit such as Snorkel Bob or Boss Frong.

But based on the information in this thread, for those who might be sufficiently mercenary (and that qualifier excludes me), there's a better strategy. When you arrive on island, go to Costco and get the beach gear you want. Then return all the stuff on your last day before you head to the airport.

Don't give anyone that idea!

 

[artringwald]

That woman gives human beings a bad name. Can only imagine what else she has returned to Costco. I've had Costco employees tell me to return a food item if I end up not liking it. I can't bring myself to do that. It's one thing if the bag of oranges is rotting in the middle when you open it(had this happen), but returning a 1/2 eaten bag of chips because "Eh, didn't really like them" is just wrong. IMNSHO

The woman ahead of us at the Costco service desk returned a 2'x3' sheet cake that had been more than 1/2 eaten. She said it was too dry and got a full refund. I was thinking that it couldn't have been too bad if they ate more than 1/2 of it.

 

[DaveNV]

In other threads, there have been discussions about the strategy of heading to Costco when arriving on island and buying various beach gear items for use during the week. Then, on your last, going to the beach and hawking that gear for whatever you can get for it. In the end, you come out money ahead as compared with renting the gear from an outfit such as Snorkel Bob or Boss Frong.

But based on the information in this thread, for those who might be sufficiently mercenary (and that qualifier excludes me), there's a better strategy. When you arrive on island, go to Costco and get the beach gear you want. Then return all the stuff on your last day before you head to the airport.

I just asked my spouse your question. I'm told the Hawaii Costco locations pretty much won't take back beach gear for refunds, for just the reason you name. Can you imagine the thousands of visitors each month who'd want to return things a week later? Due to obvious abuses of the system, they are very unlikely to give a refund. So there you go.

Dave