Posts Tagged return

Recently, I was looking through an online forum in which someone asked, “Can you return stolen items to Costco?” It seemed like a rather odd question to me at first, but when I began to contemplate the implications associated with this type of transaction, it began to seem like a more reasonable inquiry. So, the following is a more detailed explanation of what this involves.

Naturally, no crime of stealing and reselling stolen goods should ever be condoned; however, this fact aside, the answer to the question of whether or not you can return stolen goods to Costco is actually yes.

It is Costco policy to permit customers to return items to their store even if they don’t have a receipt since pleasing the customer is one of the most important parts of their business strategy. Costco will provide a full refund for a product if it is broken, damaged or unwanted; it doesn’t have to be in perfect shape, and doesn’t even have to still be in the box or have the labels on it.

A few years back, the first problem that came up as a result of this practice arose when liquidation services contracted with Costco started selling salvaged goods that had been taken back to the stores by consumers to department stores.

This practice is based on the concept that the wholesale liquidator will ask for a low price in exchange for the goods, and while the product might not be in mint condition, the person who ends up with it will be satisfied.

However, what was actually happening was that people were abusing Costco’s return policy by returning the products they had purchased in bulk for discount rates back to Costco in return for a full refund. Significant changes were made to wholesale liquidator’s contracts with Costco in order to prevent this practice since Costco lost a large amount of revenue from the abuse of their return policy.

Because stolen items could also be used to exploit Costco’s refund policy, they had to start enforcing additional regulations in their return policies. Now, if you’re taking back electronics, you have to do so within 90 days of the date when you bought them. It’s not explicitly stated in their return policy, but it does indicate that you will need to prove the purchase date by bringing along a receipt.

Customer returns that are received by wholesale liquidators also specifically indicate that they cannot be returned. The enactment of this new policy has allowed customers to continue taking advantage of Costco’s low prices and has also saved the company revenue.

Costco is making a dedicated effort to maintain a high quality shopping experience for its customers, although a few criminals will always attempt to get around the regulations in place.