Costco return policy?

BatteryCharger

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Does anybody know anything about Costco's return policy? I've heard that basically they'll take anything back no matter how long it's been. Sounds too good to be true to me...their website is very vague about this. I have a Vector spotlight that I bought there about a year ago, and now the battery only lasts about 8 minutes. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif Think they'll take it back? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

Beamhead

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[ QUOTE ]
BatteryCharger said:
But it's been a year...do they really take stuff back indefinately? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Call them you may be surprised! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif
 

nethiker

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I have returned a cash register, broken, no box after three years. They took it back, no questions asked.

I don't think their return policy is indefinate, but more vague on purpose. The bottom line is they want the customer to be happy and stand behind the product better than most manufacturers.

Costco is awsome. High quality products and great service.

Greg
 

Sigman

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We returned a "lifetime warranty" set of pots & pans to them without the receipt. That specific package was no longer available, so they refunded the price of the current set they were offering and I'm certain it was more than the defective set. (non-stick coating was flaking off)

I stand by them!
 

MrMimizu

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I've seen a guy return a YELLOW refrigerator to them. Only the thing was WHITE when he bought it.
I got a good look at the thing and the yellow layer was build up from oil and I think maybe curry from the odour. But costco did take it back. So at this point in time, I'd have to say that they'll take back anything as long as you got a receipt.
 

Mednanu

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Too bad Costco doesn't sell wives/girlfriends there. I'd be sure to do all of my wife/gf shopping there, if they did ! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

It would be a nice safety feature to be able to have a complete manufacturer's warranty on those sorts of purchases.
 

analogguy

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Bought a DVD box set at a Costco and discovered a duplicate disc in the box a year or so later. No receipt. No problem. Got a credit for the full amount.
 

AnotherDaveH

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When I bought a PC from them, the checkout person made sure that I knew that I had only *SIX MONTHS* to return it for a full refund. I think the big box stores give you 7 days.
 

Deanster

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I actually buy more and more of my major purchases from Costco for this reason - so many manufacturers are terrible about warranties these days, and I know Costco stands behind everything they sell.

Electronics don't work - return it. Software incompatible, return it. No restocking fees, no hassles, no questions other than what's wrong, so they can code it correctly in the computer.

I recently returned a year-old Minolta digicam that wasn't charging in the cradle anymore - no problems, though they checked the package carefully, noticed that I'd left out a cable, sent me home to collect it, and gave a 100% refund when I brought it in. Try that at Best Buy... I dare ya.
 

Datasaurusrex

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I know they got strict about the return policy on computers about a year or 2 ago... used to be a very liberal year or so, now it's pretty much a strict 6 months.

For everything else they are still very accomodating.

One thing to note: no receipt = return value will be the 'last price' the item was sold for.

So if you paid $100 for it, but right before they quite selling it the item was going for $50. You try to return it w/o a receipt then you only get what the computer shows as the 'last price' (the cheapest you 'could have' bought it for).

I keep a file of my Costco receipts for just that reason, just in case.
 

Wingerr

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Saw a guy return a slice of pizza from their food court; he took it while planting his thumb on it to give it to his little girl, who then said she didn't want it. So rather than eat it himself, he gave it back to the lady at the counter for a refund. I was wondering what she'd do with it, and both relieved and dismayed when she summarily tossed it in the garbage for the refund. A waste of food, but it would have been worse if it were put back in the hopper for the next person.
They definitely have a well deserved reputation for customer service; pretty surprising the kind of things they've taken back, but ultimately good practice.

Their Kirkland Signature stuff is pretty good, and I got a jar of chocolate covered raisins one time that seemed to have an abundance of stems in them somehow. It was still okay, but not quite as good as usual. Ate a quarter of the stuff, and idly noticed on the label their guarantee of satisfaction. I thought, well, I'm kinda satisfied, but not as much as usual, so I decided I'd give them a call and let them know of the little slip in quality.
Next thing I knew, they had me go back to the store for an exchange, calling ahead to the store to let them know, practically rolling out the red carpet. For a bunch of raisins... A bit embarrassing actually, all the fuss.
But they said they take the reputation of the Kirkland Signature brand very seriously, so they really do make sure of customer satisfaction.
 

Saaby

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Guess that's really what your membership fee is going towards eh?

Costco is great though!

and since we're talking about return policy...

We purchased a bunch of camp chairs from them several years ago. When we repainted our front room we threw out our old couch and the camp chairs became our living room furnature for awhile (until my mom found a couch she liked /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif she takes FOREVER to make decisions so it took us a LONG time to get a couch /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif).

Anyway, long story longer, one by one the chairs started busting! Due to poor design of some cheap plastic really ending up having to support the weight of the chair and who was in it. Couldn't find the warranty info on the chairs so called Costco and they took them all back, over a year later, for a full refund!
 

Deanster

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Also on my list of favorite things is that since they accept returns so willingly, I understand they go to considerable effort to select items that are well-built, and unlikely to be returned.

Doesn't always work, I've gotten a couple lemons, but they clearly make more effort to stock decent stuff than anyone else these days, with Schlock*Mart as the obvious counter-example. I'm amazed some of the stuff Wal*Mart sells holds together long enough to make it to the shelves...
 
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