News: Costco Updates Electronics Return Policy

[RobRich]

Expires: 3/3/07 11:00 PM

Costco is overhauling its previously liberal return policies. Many electronics will now have a 90-day return window, though warranties for televisions and computers will be extended to two years as a partial offset. Click the deal link for more information.

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[desiredfaith]

haha sucks for my uncle, he does that with computers. He returns them after 4 1/2 months and gets a newer higher tech one..

No, it sucks for the rest of the Costco members who don't bleed the system dry, because now they are denied a liberal return policy because of people like your uncle who abused the system.

*But 90 days is still a great return policy.

[tagteam]

I concur with Lara. It really does SUCK for all of the honest and forthright Costco members (I have to include myself here) who use the policy only on rare occasion and, even then, primarily to return TRULY DEFECTIVE items.

It also SUCKS for Costco because I, for one, will NEVER buy another digital camera, iPod, or camcorder from a Costco warehouse or Costco.com again. Although I can fully understand the policy with respect to computers and big screen television sets, I think including the likes of mp3 players, cameras, and camcorders is a HUGE mistake. They're not likely to sell anywhere near as many of the latter as they once did. I have purchased 3 digital cameras, 2 iPods, and a camcorder from either Costco or Costco.com over the past year or so. I bought from Costco rather than another reseller STRICTLY for peace of mind, knowing that I could return the item for a refund (and buy a replacement.....from Costco!) should it fail to function properly. Well, those purchases will be my last of that class of products. In the future, I'll buy them from a reseller that offers some sort of protection beyond the warranty period.

At the very least, Costco COULD have offered extended protection (at a slightly increased price) on certain electronic items. They did that for both computers and televisions (2-year warranty) and free of charge to boot, so I'm at a loss as to why they didn't offer the same extension for other products that fall into the 90-day return category.

As it stands now, though, Costco members are best advised to look elsewhere for cameras, mp3 players, and camcorders. After all, it's not as if Costco ever had the lowest prices on those products anyway. The only difference was the Costco satisfaction guarantee......now a thing of the past. All-in-all, this is a very poor decision.

[tagteam]

Oh yeah, one more thing that makes ZERO sense:

Take a peek at Costco.com and check the electronics section. You'll find that items like a $650 PVR and a $430 HD-DVD player are STILL COVERED by Costco's satisfaction guarantee. Tell me that makes any sense!?!?! Those are EXACTLY the type of items that are likely to drop (perhaps dramatically) in price over the next 1-2 years and WILL BE RETURNED by the same morons who have abused the policy (with respect to TVs and computers) in the past.

[frostbitetwice]

Edited, double thread.

[frostbitetwice]

I joined Costless about five months ago and was told by staff that one could return anything with which they were not truly satisfied, even if it was out of warranty. What gives ??

I agree with tagteam that many customers, including me, will buy else where. Costless, has joined ranks with all of the others retailers. Monkey see, monkey do.

Remember that Bed, Bath & Beyond will take returns up to the end of the warranty peroid.

[tagteam]

Well, I think the folks at Costco have completely forgotten that we, in fact, are MEMBERS, not customers. Customers are people who buy from Sears, Best Buy, Newegg, Amazon, and, well, B&M stores and online vendors.

None of those stores or vendors REQUIRE THAT YOU PAY AN ANNUAL FEE before you make a purchase. Clearly, Costco exacts that fee and, as a result, I think we're at least entitled to some advance notice whenever they decide to change a policy that is INTEGRAL to the reason most of us became members in the first place.

A couple more changes like this and there won't be any reason for anyone to pay that annual fee. I sincerely hope senior-level management considers that before they pull something like this again.

Bottom line here is I will not buy ANYTHING from Costco.com UNLESS I see the statement, "This item is covered by Costco's guarantee to refund your purchase price if you are not completely satisfied" after the item description. I'm also going to print it out and save it with my receipt in case they try to pull another stunt similar to the one they just pulled.

[frostbitetwice]

tagteam, what has happen is that a very large manufacture has told Costless to take a hike. Because of there size, Costless has managed to negotiate this return policy. In exchange for exclusivity, the manufacture has offered to take back any returns and give Costless full credit. Yes, there never was any impact to Costless bottom line.

The return policy was simply too liberal (it should have been restricted to a major flaw), the lame owners would just return the item, after a period of time, to upgrade the technology. The return of these items, which could not be resold had a substantial financial effect on the manufacture. The supplier no longer thought it was in their best interest to continue this arrangement.