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A Costco membership has many benefits. These include saving money on groceries and household essentials, and scoring great deals on everything from discounted gift cards to travel packages.
Since I rely on my Costco membership to feed my family and stock my home with essential goods, like paper towels and cleaning supplies, I wouldn't want to do anything to compromise my ability to shop there. And that means I have no plans to abuse Costco's generous return policy.
See, Costco will generally take back any item for any reason. But if you go overboard on returns, you could, at some point, put yourself at risk of having your membership revoked.
That would be a disastrous thing for me. But despite that, I won't hesitate to return food to Costco. Here's why.
My food returns are rare
When we talk about the risk of having a Costco membership revoked, we're generally talking about extreme situations. A single questionable return probably won't get you into trouble, especially if it's a small amount. But you don't want to be a repeat offender.
I've been a Costco member for about 18 years, and I can say with certainty that I've taken food back to the store fewer than 20 times. That means in my history of shopping at Costco, I've made roughly one food-related return per year or less. I hardly think the store is going to have a problem with that. Plus, I can also say that my returns have been far from questionable.
My food returns are always reasonable
Although I don't return food to Costco often, another reason I'm more than comfortable doing so is that my returns have always been reasonable. I've never taken food back to Costco simply because I didn't like it. Rather, every time I've made a return, it's been a quality issue.
Not so long ago, I bought a gallon of milk that spoiled well ahead of its sell-by date. Costco had no problem refunding me for clumpy milk that should've lasted another week if the label was correct.
Similarly, I've returned fruit that grew moldy the day after I bought it. Fruit doesn't last forever, but in this case, that mold appeared less than 24 hours after I brought it home. Costco gave me my money back without an issue on more than one occasion for this reason.
Another time, I bought a two-pack of cheese with a sell-by date that was a couple of months out. I finished the first pack with no issue. But the second pack -- which was sealed -- grew mold well before the sell-by date. I brought it back and asked for a 50% refund, and Costco graciously gave me 100% of my money back even though I was asking for less.
Know the Costco rules
Costco will pretty much always give you a refund for spoiled food if it's before the sell-by date. So you shouldn't worry about taking food back that falls into that category. And even if you end up having to make several returns of this nature in short order, Costco won't hold that against you.
Costco will also accept returns of partially eaten food if you don't like the taste or claim that something is off. In this case, all you have to do is return at least 50% of the item in question.
Now, if you're returning food items on the basis of not liking them, I recommend not going overboard. It's one thing to make a return of this nature a couple of times a year. If you return seven different food items you didn't like within the same four weeks, it might raise a red flag.
Similarly, if you keep trying to return food that's 80% eaten, Costco might make a note in your file. And you may not get your money back.
But all told, if you make sure your approach to returning food to Costco is similar to mine, then you shouldn't have any issues getting refunds, and you also won't be putting your membership at risk. And remember, despite Costco's low prices, you're typically paying a lot of money per item because you're buying in bulk. So you shouldn't hesitate to get your money back if there's a true quality issue at play.
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We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Maurie Backman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
