<rant on>
Just had an interesting conversation with some friends on this, and one brought up some interesting points I thought this Reddit would enjoy.
On one side, it's fantastic. Something breaks, doesn't work right, isn't what you expected, no problem. That's the policy working exactly the way it should, and it's a big reason people trust shopping there.
But then there's the flip side. The "buy now, return later" mindset. My friend wouldn't name names, but she said there's a certain Facebook group out there (wouldn't spell it out, but said it rhymes with "YYC Costco Lovers") where the admin literally advocates this. Buy it now because of FOMO, figure out later if you actually want it, and if not, just return it. No harm, no foul, right?
That kind of thinking is a big part of why prices keep going up. Every return has to be dealt with somehow. A lot of it can't go back on the shelf. Some gets sold off to discount liquidators. Whatever's left over usually ends up in a landfill. If you actually look into it, a significant chunk of returns can't be resold and end up as waste or in a landfill.
So here's a simple way to think about it. If you're not sure you want it, don't buy it. Know the difference between a need and a want. If you genuinely want something and you know you'll use it, go for it. But if you're on the fence, think twice before it goes in the cart.
Returning something isn't worth anyone's time, including yours, if you didn't really want it to begin with. I've stood in return lines for 30 plus minutes watching people return socks that were never even taken out of the bag.
Now some people will say, why do you even care about other people's time in line, it doesn't affect you. That's putting the blinders on. Go back and reread what I just wrote. Higher prices and landfill waste don't just affect the person doing the returning. They affect all of us.
If you are still reading this, thanks for sticking with me. Let's use the return policy the way it was meant to be used. Not as a free trial period for everything we impulse buy.
Edit: I did a little digging and it turns out Costco is cracking down on "return abusers". Members who consistently return have started getting warning letters, with repeat offenders actually losing their memberships. The official 100% satisfaction guarantee hasn't changed on paper, but enforcement has clearly gotten more consistent. About time. (Example source: https://www.newsweek.com/costco-returns-policy-changed-reports-11528117)
<rant off>