Costco is known for its generous return policy, and many have certainly tried to test its limits.
Earlier this year, a woman successfully returned a Costco mattress after five years, and another person was able to return a couch after two years.
In April, a customer witnessed someone try to return a 22-year-old TV at a Costco in the US, which might just be the oldest product ever brought back to the big-box store.
In Canada, one Redditor was curious about how shoppers have used the policy and whether they’ve been successful.
“What is the oldest item you returned and why? Has your return ever been rejected?” Ok_Explanation3151 asked in r/CostcoCanada.
For context, the store’s return policy is quite flexible compared to other retailers.
“We are pleased to offer what we believe is one of the best return policies in the industry,” reads the site. “With a few exceptions, Costco has a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all of our merchandise.”
The exception includes electronics like TVs, projectors, major appliances, and computers, which must be returned within 90 days from the date of purchase.
Costco Canada
The post received dozens of responses. There were customers who returned household appliances like vacuums up to two years later because they were faulty.
“A Miele C3 vacuum that I owned for 18 months. Since I owned the vacuum, I had to get it serviced twice because of dust getting into the motor,” one person explained. “Each time cost me $90 because ‘it is a user issue not covered by the warranty’ according to Miele.”
They said they explained their situation to Costco and the staff immediately gave them a refund without question.
Another shopper was having issues with their iRobot Roomba S9 and successfully returned it in just under a year.
“It stopped charging, I called customer service with iRobot and their technician thought he fixed it and told me to let it charge and call back if there was any issue,” said Redditor Paganoma. “Well it didn’t work, called back, sent emails but couldn’t get anyone to respond, so I just returned it and got another one.”
One person shared how they were able to return golf clubs they owned for two years, but it took a couple of attempts before they found a Costco location that would accept the return.
“The driver head flew off during a swing. I took it to one location and they said no, so I tried another Costco close by and they took it back without issue,” they explained.
In the mid-range, one Redditor said their friend was able to return a three-year-old hot tub. Another person was able to return a frying pan two and a half years later because it was no longer non-stick.
The oldest Costco returns ranged from five to 11 years.
One person returned jeans that they had never worn over five years later.
“They Asked when I bought I shrugged my shoulders…they checked and it had been over five years! lol And refunded me. They still sell same brand,” reads the comment.
Another customer successfully returned five-year-old printer ink cartridges that were unopened.
“Printer cartridges for an HP printer that died on me and I found the ink. New. In the packaging still. 5 years. I didn’t realize they were that old. I felt bad. But $80 is $80,” they said.
Someone was also able to return luggage after seven years, even though it had a 10-year warranty.
Finally, the oldest return in the comment section goes to an 11-year-old air conditioner.
“My friend returned an 11 year old air conditioner and it was accepted. His dad passed away and they wouldn’t let the mom claim the annual cash back so they returned the a/c in spite,” reads the comment.
While there were a lot of success stories, there were also a lot of rejected returns.
Costco apparently rejected one customer who tried to return a faulty blender.
“Rejected return: Blendtec blender that had error codes from day 1 and progressively got worse,” said the commenter. “It’s still in warranty, but I still try to take it back every once in a while to see if they’ll give me my money back since I have a Vitamix now.”
And not all pants are created equal. While five-year-old jeans were accepted, a shopper trying to return snow pants that didn’t fit was denied.
What’s the oldest thing you’ve tried to return to Costco? Let us know in the comments.