Costco LIFETIME warranty?

[Kelemvor]

We don't have Cosco's around here but I was just wondering how it worked. It's just a very interesting policy.

 

[abaez]

Costco has great returns but its nothing like the return policy at Nordstrom.

They will return anything period. I remember reading a couple years back a salesperson allowed a return on a tire at Nordstroms. I don't think they do that anymore but you can return an item without a receipt or tag. My sister worked there, many MANY people buy an item of clothing and wore it to a nice party or something and then return it shortly thereafter. It's kind of silly but like costco, they have people who will only shop there.

 

[dquan97]

did you know that costco sells coffins on their online site? :Q

 

[nikko]

Originally posted by: abaez
Costco has great returns but its nothing like the return policy at Nordstrom.

They will return anything period. I remember reading a couple years back a salesperson allowed a return on a tire at Nordstroms. I don't think they do that anymore but you can return an item without a receipt or tag. My sister worked there, many MANY people buy an item of clothing and wore it to a nice party or something and then return it shortly thereafter. It's kind of silly but like costco, they have people who will only shop there.

How would someone return a tire to Nordstrom? They don't sell tires. Sounds like a bogus story. Used to be true that they would let you return anything they sold, anytime, but I think for certain items like dresses, the label still has to be attached, and they now put the labels in places that make them impossible to hide if you are actually wearing the dress. I'm pretty sure they did that for the reason you stated: women buying the dresses, wearing them to a fancy function and then returning it the next day.

 

[dquan97]

What's their policy on software?

 

[monkuboy]

One time I was stupid and forgot to put a case of bottled water in my trunk before driving away. I went back the next day and asked if anyone had been nice enough to return it (which of course they hadn't) but Costco was nice enough to give me another case of water. I'm sure that they must incur a lot of returned items expense compared to other stores, but the goodwill that comes from this policy far outweighs the cost. There have been plenty of times I decided to buy something from them instead of somewhere else because I knew it it didn't work or I didn't like it, I wouldn't be made to feel like a criminal for returning it (are you listening, Fry's in Burbank??). And almost every time, I am satisfied and don't need to return the item. Stores that hassle customers who return stuff (aside from the abusers) are quite shortsighted and are biting the hands that feed them. If a store hassles me about a return, then I simply don't shop there anymore.

 

[SirPsycho]

Originally posted by: dquan97
What's their policy on software?

It's the same as everything else. Full satisfaction guarantee. Same goes for DVDs, CDs, and everything else they sell (except computers, which are limited to 6 months). I bought a piece of language software there a few months ago, and when I took it home and tried it, I realized that it was absolutely worthless. I took it back and they didn't even blink.

There are lots of things that I buy at Costco that I might be able to find a little bit cheaper online, but I know that I'll never have a problem returning it even if it breaks after the manufacturer's ridiculously short warranty period has expired. I have a cell phone that I bought there a couple years ago that all of a sudden doesn't want to charge anymore, and I don't think that it's unreasonable that something that a $125 phone should only last two years, so I'll be returning it this weekend. I have no doubt that they'll have no problem taking it back. That's why I'm willing to pay the extra money. I consider the membership fee to be like a cheap extended warranty for things I buy there.

 

[gsethi]

I have returned couple of things at Costco but they were still Brand new and still sealed and returned within 5 Bus days of purchase (i dont think thats abusing, is it). But i must say that they have the best return policy..no questions asked, no hassle...just took it back happily and refunded my $$$. Some other places ask you thousands of questions as to why you are returning (and always force me to lie for a valid excuse).

I mean if its in your policy and a person is not abusing it (returning brand new, sealed and within reasonable time frame), why bog them down with tons of questions.

Ex of few questions:
Why are you returning it ?
Is there something wrong with it ? (I am like, its still BRAND NEW and SEALED, how the hell i know if something is wrong...said this to one CSR at Frys and she was like ..oops sry)
Why did you purchase it if you want to return this ?

 

[Drango]

I once puter a rain soaked newspaper in the microwave to dry it out. I guess I wanted to read the Fry's ad. In any case, it burst into flames with a major POP and the microwave gave up it's life.

Wife took it back to COSTCO and go a full refund

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: Drango
I once puter a rain soaked newspaper in the microwave to dry it out. I guess I wanted to read the Fry's ad. In any case, it burst into flames with a major POP and the microwave gave up it's life.

Wife took it back to COSTCO and go a full refund

sorry but thats one of the dumbest thing i've ever heard in a long time. but i rest assured that costco will take care of me if i ever had a problem like that.



also, if you guys don't have the box, how can costco scan the UPC to get the price and such?

 

[MisterMe]

I returned a scanner that was 5 years old. I found the receipt when cleaning out my file cabinet... tried to return it in the store but was rejected by the assistant manager.
I called back a couple days later to speak to the manager and actually got the visiting regional manager.
She approved the return without hesitation...the look on the assistant managers face was classic when he handed me back $370 for a friggin scanner...

You sir are an a-hole and a criminal!! Why would you place the burden of of broken product on the retailer that sold the thing for HP, Canon or whoever?? You got 5 years worth of use out of it and when it finally gave up the ghost, you go get your money back? What an a-hole !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's hoping that you open a business someday, try to do the right thing by offering top notch service and have ALL YOUR customers come in and eff you in the ass!!! What goes around will certainly come around Mr Scheister....Happy Holidays...

 

[LIVAN]

You are quite wrong. Costco charges a membership and it's not proven but people with Executive membership get even more leadway when returning products. This is there business model. Complete satisfaction and hence they are making a killing even with people returning 5 year old scanners. It doesn't matter to them because they have factored a certain percentage of that into their overhead. NOw if people start abusing it and that number goes up, there will be changes. FOr example, I bought a canon multifunction from Costco, the thing stopped printing color after using it for 1.5 years. NOw normally I will be stuck but a company like Costco will take it back protecting one of it's members. That is why I buy everything at Costco if they sell them, they got a customer for life. WHereas ahole companies like Compusa that charges restocking fees on anything, I haven't walked in a store for 5 years.

It's how one chooses to do business, I predict CompUSA will be out of busines in 5 years whereas COstco and Fry's will thrive.

 

[IceBlue]

Originally posted by: MisterMe

I returned a scanner that was 5 years old. I found the receipt when cleaning out my file cabinet... tried to return it in the store but was rejected by the assistant manager.
I called back a couple days later to speak to the manager and actually got the visiting regional manager.
She approved the return without hesitation...the look on the assistant managers face was classic when he handed me back $370 for a friggin scanner...

You sir are an a-hole and a criminal!! Why would you place the burden of of broken product on the retailer that sold the thing for HP, Canon or whoever?? You got 5 years worth of use out of it and when it finally gave up the ghost, you go get your money back? What an a-hole !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's hoping that you open a business someday, try to do the right thing by offering top notch service and have ALL YOUR customers come in and eff you in the ass!!! What goes around will certainly come around Mr Scheister....Happy Holidays...

But he did pay 5 years of membership fees @ $50/yr for the priviledge of returning it. Barring any other frivilous returns such as this one, Costco is not out as much as much as one might think.

 

[Wozster]

Also keep in mind that Costco is one of the few publicly-traded companies that tells Wall Street to
Fvk-Off every time the investors and analysts pressure the company to pay their employees less.

Costco is an awesome company... with ethics

 

[LIVAN]

Costco is badass... my favorite place to shop, for just about anything, I have gotten all my pants there for a while, where else can you get a nice pair of wool slacks for 20 bucks?---------





Exactly, they have nice CK ,Polo Jeans as well.

 

[thedealmaker]

I just can't believe people returning stuff that are couple years old to Costco. They are abusing the system. My dignity worths much more than having the customer representatives eye-balling me during the return.

 

[jammur21]

While waiting in line for the Olevia 30 LCD at MicroCenter, Costco was mentioned and a kid in front of me was telling us about his friend who returns his Christmas tree back to Costco after the holidays.

 

[LoverBoyJ]

Originally posted by: ams30gts
i work at costco and you do not need to have a receipt of box.

everything has a lifetime warranty except computers that have a 6 month.

if you have a receipt you will receive 100% of what you paid. If you dont have a receipt, you will get back what the lowest price was when it was still being sold there.

but trust me, it is true about the warranty.

for example, i bought a AIWA stereo like 5 years ago. cd player broke so i took it back with the original receipt and got full credit for it

that said, I bought a package of those energy saver bulbs that was suppose to last 5 years or more, guess what, half of it only lasted a few months. Can I return the whole package with the bad bulbs?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: monkuboy
One time I was stupid and forgot to put a case of bottled water in my trunk before driving away. I went back the next day and asked if anyone had been nice enough to return it (which of course they hadn't) but Costco was nice enough to give me another case of water. I'm sure that they must incur a lot of returned items expense compared to other stores, but the goodwill that comes from this policy far outweighs the cost. There have been plenty of times I decided to buy something from them instead of somewhere else because I knew it it didn't work or I didn't like it, I wouldn't be made to feel like a criminal for returning it (are you listening, Fry's in Burbank??). And almost every time, I am satisfied and don't need to return the item. Stores that hassle customers who return stuff (aside from the abusers) are quite shortsighted and are biting the hands that feed them. If a store hassles me about a return, then I simply don't shop there anymore.

That is awesome. It's almost the exact opposite of BestBuy (and others) - Costco appears to actually want to provide service, so as to be rewarded with customer loyalty and goodwill. BestBuy, OTOH, wants to drive away 20% of their customers. You tell me which company will be around and profitable ten years from now.

Other stores with notably good return policies that I've seen - Sears, and Wal-Mart (believe it or not).

 

[Marco Valentino]

To add one negative story to my Coscto return service, and this is from years ago. I came to return a piece of software, can't remember even what it was, and when I did the exchange, the manager said, "Allright, well did that copy over ok for ya? Ok good." Kinda ticked me off, but he did the return.

And I don't know if it's just the Fry's in Renton or what but they honestly have given me the least ammount of grief when returning stuff, and also the staff was extrememly polite. I almost never have a reciept but they just pull the reciept up when I come back and are really top notch. Many have flamed Fry's for their customer service, but the one in Renton has been great to me.

 

[Unit1Evangelion]

Originally posted by: zaku

Originally posted by: Drango
I once puter a rain soaked newspaper in the microwave to dry it out. I guess I wanted to read the Fry's ad. In any case, it burst into flames with a major POP and the microwave gave up it's life.

Wife took it back to COSTCO and go a full refund

sorry but thats one of the dumbest thing i've ever heard in a long time. but i rest assured that costco will take care of me if i ever had a problem like that.

also, if you guys don't have the box, how can costco scan the UPC to get the price and such?

costco has a data base where it holds every item it has in stock. even some items that they don't carry anymore. all they have to do is run a search for it. i don't know about the items that haven't been in stock for a couple of yrs though.

i don't work front end at costco so most of my info is rusty but i have been working for their 1 of 5 delievery services in america for 3 yrs now. they do strive on making their customers happy. if you have a problem they will fix it in anyway so you can come back shopping at their store again. in the delivery center i work in. if a product is missing/damaged in the process of it being delivered to the customer they will recieve a credit for that item so that they won't go to sysco or some other company. funny thing is, they lose so much money off delivery service for that one thing. mostly cause they don't train the employees properly but in anycase we lose about $30,000 a yr just delivering cause they want to keep the customer satisfied.

oh and costco does make most of their profit on membership. at the store im at they make about 1.5 million annually just on membership fees. which is nothing compared to a walk-in.

i was talking to my store manager and regional manager awhile ago and they said they are goin to be cracking down on the returns though. don't know if that just means the sf bay area or all the stores. mostly if they see that its wear and tear or you just don't want it they will take it. but if you break it they are goin to stop taking it. which i think works. save costco alot of money.

 

[macosx]

Originally posted by: LoverBoyJ

that said, I bought a package of those energy saver bulbs that was suppose to last 5 years or more, guess what, half of it only lasted a few months. Can I return the whole package with the bad bulbs?

I too bought some energy saver bulbs with 5 year warranty at costco that went bad. Instead of returning to costco, I called the manufacturer (these had an 800 number printed on the base of the bulb). A week later, replacements arrived in the mail! Just another option.

 

[bamx2]

I got some of those Feit bulbs toos - thanks . The only complaints I really have about Costco ( store in Dunwoody GA ) . Checkout lines are too long making a long wait . Tire service dept is always backed up . At least the employees seem to care . However , I can't go there ofen because it wastes too much time .

q]Originally posted by: macosx

Originally posted by: LoverBoyJ

that said, I bought a package of those energy saver bulbs that was suppose to last 5 years or more, guess what, half of it only lasted a few months. Can I return the whole package with the bad bulbs?

I too bought some energy saver bulbs with 5 year warranty at costco that went bad. Instead of returning to costco, I called the manufacturer (these had an 800 number printed on the base of the bulb). A week later, replacements arrived in the mail! Just another option.
[/quote]

 

[jrichrds]

Originally posted by: MickDDThere are usually two really good tire sales a year.

Do they typically occur around the same times each year? Or does the timing of the tire sales change every year?

 

[mikeford]

This has to be regional YMMV as to what Costco does with returns. I live in Socal, and the places I know local to me have HUGE contracts for product returns, but I have seen the product mix change a lot over time. Some of this is due to the vendor selling stuff on ebay instead of in the stores. Some is due to buying from other places like Best Buy, Goodguys, some even comes from Fry's. The most comes from Belkin and Best Buy right now, with the stuff from Costco mostly food, clothes and furniture.

I do know what kills a lot of there contracts, two things; Weasels in the business, and product getting returned a second time to Costco etc. I don't really understand why its tolerated, but bids for contracts are fairly open, take everything and pay some fixed percentage of original cost, but many of the buyers are weasels who shift the terms, take only premium items etc. Loading dock renegotiations that really irk me (having bid against some of these jokers).