No return at costco

[lily28]

I am not a costco member. My relative who is a costco member and I went to costco last friday and we picked up the WII for my daughter for $194 plus tax. I know walmart has a $50 gift card for the WII last week and target has an ongoing coupon for a free nunchunk with the system. we ended up buying the WII at costco because I don't want my relative to run all over town looking for a better deal. so the wii at costco is $5 cheaper than target, walmart and toy R us but without the additional promotional item. He paid cash for the item in case I need to return it.

Long story short, my 5 year old daughter tried the wii game at her friend's house and it was too hard to her. I decided to return the wii to costco today (5 days later); the game was never opened. However, costco refuses to allow me to return the item even though I have the original receipt. I was told only the member can return purchased items regardless whether it is a gift or not.

Does this sound right? To return this item, I have to drive to my relative's house, give him the item, have him drive to costco to get the money back and then give me the money to buy something else for my daughter. Nowhere did I note this return poliy at costco warehouse. If I know, I will gradly pay additional $5 elsewhere to get the WII plus the additional item. I think this is really not customer friendly, especially during gift giving season of christmas. I will tell all my friends and families not to give us any gifts from costco unless they are willing to return them for us if the gifts are not suitable.

thanks for listening to my ranting. I just got really upset at costco today.

 

[Justsyd2]

This is on their website:

"If you are unable to return your order at one of our warehouses, please email customer service or call our customer service center at 1-800-955-2292 for assistance."

Why don't you call their customer service department?

 

[mumom95]

Yep, only Costco members can return the item, because technically the Costco member bought the item. You have to show your Costco ID when purchasing something and returning something. The nice part about that is that you don't have to have the receipt, they can just look it up.

Costco's return policy is great. I had a phone I bought from there 4 years ago. One of the handsets stopped working, so I took the 4 year old phone, no box and no receipt back to Costco and they looked it up and gave me the cash for it, full refund, no questions asked.

 

[MAH4546]

Costco has a ridiculously generous exchange policy. The trade-off is only the purchaser can make a return.

Sounds fair to me.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

Yup, as the pp stated, you need to be a costco member in order to make a purchase, so you would need to be a costco member in order to make a return. Unlike, target or toys r us, Costco doesn't do gift receipts. We've had a costco membership since our college days so have never encountered this problem. The return policy probably doesn't specify you need to be a member in order to make a return, because it assumes you already are if you are shopping at costco. You would have already had to have membership just to walk through the doors.

 

[soccerchick]

Costco isn't a regular store; it's a membership warehouse. I think your anger is misplaced and unreasonable. I wouldn't expect a store like that (including Sam's and BJ's) to serve me as a non-member either.

Hook-up with the relative and do the return.

Costco is ridiculously easy and accommodating with their returns for members.

 

[kacaju]

what game did your dd try? They do have easy games for the Wii. Are you sure you want to return it?

 

[finz2left]

what game did your dd try? They do have easy games for the Wii. Are you sure you want to return it?

The easiest games are Dora Princess, Diego's Jungle, Bowling, Baseball, etc. 5 is NOT too young...she just tried hard games... I'd keep it :0)

 

[Disneysun]

I agree Costco has one of the best return policies around.

Also, my five year old loves the wii (especially mario cart with steering wheels) and has no issues. She started playing at 4, the game(s) needs to be age appropriate, but I would consider keeping it and giving it a try.

 

[Blue.Fairy2]

The easiest games are Dora Princess, Diego's Jungle, Bowling, Baseball, etc. 5 is NOT too young...she just tried hard games... I'd keep it :0)

I am going to have to agree with the other posters here on the Wii is in no way too difficult for a 5 yr old, she had to have been playing a game that was too difficult.

I disagree with Costco policy on returns though.

 

[tripletots]

Same thing happened to me at a BJ's. I am not a member ( I do belong to Costco) and I went with my sister. I bought shorts using her membership card and my debit card. The shorts did not fit and they would not let me return them without my sister. I dropped the shorts and the receipt off at my sister's house. She took the shorts back and they credited my debit card. It was painless.

 

[JLitfin]

As other's have mention costco is a membership store, if you would like the same benefits then join the store. You came into the store as a guest of your relative, so no you don't have the same benefits as someone who has paid for the membership. It's not the costumer service at fought here, it's the fact that you are a non-member trying to return something at a membership warehouse where you are not a member at. As for the return give the item to your relative to return, your relative shouldn't have a problem.

 

[treehugnmama]

my 3yo plays diego, dd 5 loves dinsey princess game and has for a year. We bought for christmas tsm and lps game. I return to costco at christmas every year. my mom bought it with her membership but I have always been able to return with mine. Because of this I was unaware you could not return if you are not a member.....good to know

 

[Allison]

You aren't the customer at Costco. Since it is a membership store, your relative is the customer, not you. It seems perfectly reasonable to me for them to work this way and have others have said, their return policy is fine.

If you are going to use someone else's membership then you need to be willing to operate under the established policies.

 

[SalandJeff]

Costco's return policies are more lenient than any store I've ever shopped at. They basically take anything back. That being said, you do have to be a member to shop there, so it makes sense that they need the member to return it. They use your membership card when they process the return.

I would like to chime in about possibly keeping it. My dd is 6, but she has been playing my sister's Wii since she was 5. I would agree that you need to find games that are appropriate for her. My daughter played Diego when she first started. She also likes the sports games (bowling, skiing, etc.) and has progressed to table tennis, biking, frisbee, even fencing! I think a lot of the kids like the games that let them move around. My dd is not the most coordinated kid, but can still play these games well enough to enjoy them.

 

[Duchie]

I am not a costco member. My relative who is a costco member and I went to costco last friday and we picked up the WII for my daughter for $194 plus tax. I know walmart has a $50 gift card for the WII last week and target has an ongoing coupon for a free nunchunk with the system. we ended up buying the WII at costco because I don't want my relative to run all over town looking for a better deal. so the wii at costco is $5 cheaper than target, walmart and toy R us but without the additional promotional item. He paid cash for the item in case I need to return it.

Long story short, my 5 year old daughter tried the wii game at her friend's house and it was too hard to her. I decided to return the wii to costco today (5 days later); the game was never opened. However, costco refuses to allow me to return the item even though I have the original receipt. I was told only the member can return purchased items regardless whether it is a gift or not.

Does this sound right? To return this item, I have to drive to my relative's house, give him the item, have him drive to costco to get the money back and then give me the money to buy something else for my daughter. Nowhere did I note this return poliy at costco warehouse. If I know, I will gradly pay additional $5 elsewhere to get the WII plus the additional item. I think this is really not customer friendly, especially during gift giving season of christmas. I will tell all my friends and families not to give us any gifts from costco unless they are willing to return them for us if the gifts are not suitable.

thanks for listening to my ranting. I just got really upset at costco today.

Yes, it sounds right to me. Costco has one of the most generous return policies out there. A friend of mine who is a member returned a used pool there once over a year after she bought it because it developed problems. They took it back no questions asked. But it's a membership store, and to use that generous return policy, you've got to pay for the membership.

 

[tinker&belle]

The easiest games are Dora Princess, Diego's Jungle, Bowling, Baseball, etc. 5 is NOT too young...she just tried hard games... I'd keep it :0)

OT-

I have a two year old and we have a wii...Do you think she would be able to do Dora at three? What is involved in the game. She loves the show Dora and if the game is super easy it might be something her and DH could do together.

 

[allison443]

I am not a costco member. My relative who is a costco member and I went to costco last friday and we picked up the WII for my daughter for $194 plus tax. I know walmart has a $50 gift card for the WII last week and target has an ongoing coupon for a free nunchunk with the system. we ended up buying the WII at costco because I don't want my relative to run all over town looking for a better deal. so the wii at costco is $5 cheaper than target, walmart and toy R us but without the additional promotional item. He paid cash for the item in case I need to return it.

Long story short, my 5 year old daughter tried the wii game at her friend's house and it was too hard to her. I decided to return the wii to costco today (5 days later); the game was never opened. However, costco refuses to allow me to return the item even though I have the original receipt. I was told only the member can return purchased items regardless whether it is a gift or not.

Does this sound right? To return this item, I have to drive to my relative's house, give him the item, have him drive to costco to get the money back and then give me the money to buy something else for my daughter. Nowhere did I note this return poliy at costco warehouse. If I know, I will gradly pay additional $5 elsewhere to get the WII plus the additional item. I think this is really not customer friendly, especially during gift giving season of christmas. I will tell all my friends and families not to give us any gifts from costco unless they are willing to return them for us if the gifts are not suitable.

thanks for listening to my ranting. I just got really upset at costco today.

I agree with what the others have said about Costco's return policy being fair. As an aside, I read that Costco has even slimmer profit margins than the normal retail store and a large part of their revenue is derived from membership fees.

Why is it such a big deal to give the wii back to your relative to return? Just arrange to have him meet you at the warehouse one day and he can return it and hand you the cash right there. Do you not want the relative to know you are returning it or something? Also I agree with others that the wii shouldn't be "too hard" for a 5 year old.

Hope it works out.

 

[delmar411]

OT-

I have a two year old and we have a wii...Do you think she would be able to do Dora at three? What is involved in the game. She loves the show Dora and if the game is super easy it might be something her and DH could do together.

She should be able to do Dora at 3. My 3yr old plays a lot of the sports games, a bunch of the games that came on the Wii Play disc and he plays TSM w/o issue.

He spent a lot of time figuring out how to work the remote on his own which was worth the effort (and our patience! LOL) as he can now figure out a lot of the moves for games w/o someone reading the screen for him.

HTH!

And I'd agree the Wii is not too hard for a 5yr old even one who has zero video game experience.

 

[mrsklamc]

I'm sure lots of people pick up the occasional Costco item for non-member friends or relatives, and I'm not faulting you for that, but from a business perspective, there's no reason Costco should make that easy to do. Their low prices and generous return policy are intended for people who have paid the membership fee.