3 Reasons Why Costco Might Revoke Your Membership

Costco’s Gold Star membership costs $65 per year due to a recent fee increase on September 1, while the Executive membership costs $130 per year. For some people, that fee isn’t worth paying. But if you enjoy shopping at Costco and go there often, it might be worth paying $65 or $130 to get you access to the store. What you spend on a membership, you may more than make up for in money saved throughout the year.

But if you’re not careful, you could lose your Costco membership. Here are some actions that could lead to the warehouse club giant taking away your membership.

1. Abusing the return policy

Generally, Costco allows members to return any item at any time for a full refund. There are a few exceptions, like electronics, which only give you a 90-day return period, or gift cards, which can’t be returned at all.

But in most cases, you are free to take back items you don’t want or need. And you can even take back fresh food because of quality issues or because you don’t like the taste.

However, if you abuse Costco’s return policy, the warehouse club giant might decide it doesn’t want you shopping there anymore.

The problem is, there’s no specific number of returns that could lead to this situation. It would almost be easier for Costco to say, “If you return more than 10 items per month, your membership is in jeopardy.” Instead, it’s largely up to Costco. For that reason, you want to make sure your returns are reasonable.

If you return a worn and stained carpet 12 months after you bought it, Costco won’t look kindly on that. And if you return a baked good you bought because it tasted “off” but only brought back a quarter of that cake, not only could your refund be denied, but your account could be flagged. So while you generally don’t have to worry about returning items to Costco, you should be a little careful and make sure you don’t take advantage of the situation.

2. Abusing the cancellation policy

Costco guarantees 100% satisfaction with its memberships, so you can cancel at any time during the year for a full refund. But if you wait until you’ve had a membership for 364 consecutive days and cancel just before the one-year mark, you can bet Costco won’t let you renew your membership a day or a week later.

On the other hand, if you join Costco in February, but decide in March that you’re not going often enough, cancel your membership, but then decide to try again the following February, you probably won’t have a problem.

3. Abuse of employees

It goes without saying that mistreating your employees is a pretty horrible thing to do, whether at Costco or anywhere else. But if you verbally or physically mistreat store employees, you’re basically asking to have your membership removed.

Costco prides itself on providing excellent customer service, so if you’re unhappy with a situation, it may be helpful to take some time to cool off and come back and talk to a representative once you’ve calmed down.

Costco does not have a practice of revoking memberships without good reason. The company relies on revenue from membership fees to stay profitable and offer great deals. But if you take advantage of the store’s return or cancellation policy and mistreat Costco employees, you could find yourself banned from Costco, either for a period of time or, in extreme cases, potentially for life.