Is Costco changing return policy for TV's? Confirmed

geckojohn said: vandit9 said: Effective 2/26 Costco will be implementing a 90 day return policy for MOST electronics that are: Ipod/mp3 players, camcorders, cameras, cellular phones, computers and lcd tvs/televisions/plasmas/DLPs.

Television and computers are subjected to an extension of manufacturer's warranty to 2 years only! Costco has been trying to make things better for members as they are offering a FREE technical support service for electronics through their "concierge technical Support" service.

Purchases that are made before the effective date will not be subjected to this new policy, but will be subjected to the old "30 days" or whatever each warehouse has set.

Why are they changing the policy? Abuse, abuse and abuse! And obviously manufactures will not continue to support such a liberal return policy.

The memo is real, this is official!

Keep in mind that this is coming from a new member.

I was told the same thing by my local Costco manager. However, the date he gave me was 3/26 not 2/26. I guess we'll find out for sure soon enough.

vandit9 said:
I work at costco, my store manager just informed me today and gave me the memo. I asked her if this will hit the press soon, she said yes. Rollout is going to start with california and than the remaining stores afterwards. Finally this thread can close.

Can you pdf or scan the memo as an image and put it up on imageshack? Even a digital camera pic would do if that's all you can get it.

This is from the memo we got today with our paychecks,

90 day return policy on Televisions, Computers, Cameras, Camcorders, Ipod/Mp3 players, and cellular phones.

also mentioned Costco's free technical support for the above listed items (worthless in my opinion) and Costco will also extend the manufacturer's warranty on Televisions and Computers to 2 years from date of purchase.

The rollout schedule for the new refund policy is as follows

2/26/07 all California warehouses
3/12/07 Remaining west coast warehouses (NW,LA,SD)
3/19/07 MW and TX warehouses
3/26/07 NE warehouses
4/2/07 SE & PR warehouses

Again this is not retroactive and will not apply to past purchases.

I already get 2 years of warranty coverage on all electronics I buy with my credit card (1 year from the manufacturer, which is doubled by the credit card), so the new policy doesn't really give Costco an advantage over anyone else. I suppose the 90-day return period is still better than the 30-day period that most stores have, but not so valuable that I'd buy a TV at Costco that was less expensive elsewhere.

Ghandi2002 said: vandit9 said:
I work at costco, my store manager just informed me today and gave me the memo. I asked her if this will hit the press soon, she said yes. Rollout is going to start with california and than the remaining stores afterwards. Finally this thread can close.

Can you pdf or scan the memo as an image and put it up on imageshack? Even a digital camera pic would do if that's all you can get it.

Memo scanned image here it is

LOOPHOLE said: The death of Costco!

I wonder if a lot of people will start cancelling their memberships.

Expect to see a mad rush of people in there before the changes are implemented.

vandit9 said: Ghandi2002 said: vandit9 said:
I work at costco, my store manager just informed me today and gave me the memo. I asked her if this will hit the press soon, she said yes. Rollout is going to start with california and than the remaining stores afterwards. Finally this thread can close.

Can you pdf or scan the memo as an image and put it up on imageshack? Even a digital camera pic would do if that's all you can get it.

Memo scanned image here it is
Thank you for proving my statement from 11 days ago!

I've been a member for years and I don't usually buy electronics there even with the lifetime warranty because I can find it cheaper by buying it online. The warranty is automatically extended 1 year by using my AMEX. I've only used it once, and it was from a Newegg purchase.

Initially, this will turn off a lot of buyers but it will finally get rid of the abusers (i.e., renters). TV prices these past years have gone down like PC prices in the late 90's which is why the return policy was revised back then. Did it hurt Costco then? Probably in the short term, but it was not the "death of Costco" by any means.

it will be interesting to see if sam's club retains their lifetime return policy now that costco is moving away from it. if they do, i'll give sam's my future business.

How about vacuums? They are electronics but not listed on the memo.
I am thinking about buying an irobot roomba vacuum when they are having the $50 Off sale from 3/12/07 through 3/18/07. I've read many reviews saying roomba could die after one year or so. That's why I am gonna buy from Costco in case it fails. It's not worthing buying there if they have only 90 day return policy.

This will definitely reduce Costco's competitive position in TVs. Since they changed their computer policy, how many people in this forum have purchased a system or lappy from them??????
Most FWers do not consider them to be competitive even with 6 month return policy.
What makes you think that changing the return policy will drop prices on TV??
Computers are generally higher than most retailers. JMHO

This will be good for the manufacturers. They no longer need to provide credit to Costco for the returns. Eventually this will lower the manufacturering cost and benefits to the customers (who do not abuse the refund policy). Frankly, 90 days return is fair. In many Asian countries, there is NO return policy except for defect items.

What about sams return policy? Is it as good as costco?

Hmm, sounds like a good reason to skip Costco for my Roomba & LCD purchases.

Their prices weren't that great, but it was good to know that should your purchase go belly up, they'd back you. With that gone, it isn't worth the hassle to buy from them, woot and Newegg will offer better service.


Now if we can get this policy added to lawn and garden, furniture and tools. (Which would lower those prices also)

Or they could just drop their return policy wholesale. They carry off-brand equipment, how many tool sales do you think they'll see with an extremely limited return policy?

bigtisas said: In many Asian countries, there is NO return policy except for defect items.

So as long as we're better than Asian countries it's fine? Strange logic. I'm disappointed to see the policy go, but Costco doesn't do too many things to screw itself over, so I'm sure this will make business sense in the end. I know that the debate of Amazon (or similar) vs. Costco has now gotten more interesting. I used to say if it was within $100-200 I'd prefer to buy from Costco for the unlimited "warranty," but not anymore. Then again... how many TVs can I really buy? We spend a lot of money at Costco on other things so they certainly haven't lost us as customers.

The vast majority of the customers at Costco are not buying because of the return policy. Best Buy is the number one electronics retailer and it has a mediocre return policy, horrible prices and horrible customer service (hence WorstBuy). Costco will not be losing customers or significant sales because of this. At any rate, 90 day return policy for electronics is still fantastic.

This goes to show you that a few deadbeats who return 4 year old stuff ruined it for the rest of us.,

It is generally true of electronics that the failure rate is bimodal; that is, there's a lot of stuff that fails shortly after it is placed into service (defective components that were marginal, but made it past initial test and then failed); the stuff that makes it through this early period usually works until components begin to fail from age or fatigue (this assumes that everything was designed to reasonable tolerances; it's easy to "build in" a short service life, e.g., push a power supply too hard, fail to provide adequate thermal protection, etc.).

It looks like Costco's new policy gets the buyer through the first peak in the bimodal distribution. Although I'm a bit miffed at a benefit being deleted because of scam artists who have taken advantage of Costco's generous return policies, I'm not feeling particularly injured because it appears that Costco is providing coverage for the overwhelming majority of people who actually deserve it.
Edit:to correct typo and clarify pronoun

I placed an order in costco.com for a plasma TV ($2299+tax) couple of days ago. After reading this thread, I emailed them regarding the warranty yesterday. Costco.com Customer service replied "This item does not come with any warranties. That is because of the return policy. You can return the item at any time". Then emailed them back "Is there time limit for return?" And the reply I got at 10 AM today is "No, there is no timeframe for this item".

fadippides said: xxeonzz said: The vast majority of the customers at Costco are not buying because of the return policy. ...

I bought because of their return policy and I live 150 miles from a warehouse. Had to use it three times(within 3 months) on the TV until I got one that worked correctly. I wouldnt be a member had it not been for the policy.
I also bought because of the return policy -- and I may have to use it.
The TV is fine, but
the remote on my new Vizio 47" LCD is busted after only two weeks.

fadippides said: xxeonzz said: The vast majority of the customers at Costco are not buying because of the return policy. Best Buy is the number one electronics retailer and it has a mediocre return policy, horrible prices and horrible customer service (hence WorstBuy). Costco will not be losing customers or significant sales because of this. At any rate, 90 day return policy for electronics is still fantastic.

This goes to show you that a few deadbeats who return 4 year old stuff ruined it for the rest of us.,

I bought because of their return policy and I live 150 miles from a warehouse. Had to use it three times(within 3 months) on the TV until I got one that worked correctly. I wouldnt be a member had it not been for the policy.

You are probably not the average shopper. Considering that you are on fatwallet, you are probably much more well informed than most people. Nobody I know knows about Costco's unlimited return policy except me. The truth is that the vast majority of people don't really care. What I mean is that I doubt Costco will be really affected in terms of sales.

The loss of the very savvy shopper like you and me will probably be a smaller loss than what they are currently experiencing with their unlimited return policy. While I also enjoyed their policy, I do think that is it the manufacturer's responsibility to guarantee a product that is defective whether after 90 days or a year. The store is merely an outlet that sells the product. Costco was trying to go above and beyond, but a few people ruined it for all of us.