5 Reasons Costco May Cancel Your Membership

From Costco's generous return policy to its ever-popular sample stations, the retailer prioritizes customer satisfaction. But that doesn't mean Costco will let just anything fly. There are circumstances under which Costco will cancel a membership and refund the membership cost. And once you've had a Costco membership canceled, it may not be easy to purchase a new one. Here are some of the reasons Costco has canceled memberships in the past.

1. Abusing Costco's return policy

Costco, best known for helping shoppers protect their personal finances, also features one of the best return policies in retail. Most items can be returned anytime, while specialty products like electronics have a 90-day return window.

The guarantee does have limits, though. Occasionally, a customer abuses the store's return policy to such a degree that their membership privileges are revoked, and the membership cost is refunded. Here's one example from a Costco employee sharing the experience on Reddit:

Two guys approached the customer service desk saying they wanted to return two televisions. This marked the 7th or 8th TV these men had returned in the previous 90 days, always just before the 90-day mark. A quick-thinking general manager accepted the return and said to the men, "Well, I guess the quality of our products isn't up to your standards, so we hope you find somewhere that fits your needs." The general manager laid a membership fee refund of $55 down on the counter and wished the gentlemen a good day.

2. Theft

When asked how a member might lose access to Costco's amazing deals, a store employee referred to as Certain-Marketing650 mentioned theft. The employee wrote that they'd found meat stashed behind dry dog food. They turned the issue over to their supervisor because they'd heard about a customer taking prices off less expensive cuts of meat and putting them on more expensive cuts. Later, the supervisor told the employee they found the fraudsters on camera and banned them from the store.

3. Employee abuse

Verbally assaulting or threatening a store employee is never cool, and at Costco, it can lead to the cancellation of your membership. Here are three examples of the kind of employee abuse that Costco employees on Reddit report witnessing:

• An employee going by the handle almcken says they once saw a person at the front door giving the greeter a hard time about having to show their membership card to enter. The manager intervened, giving the customer the choice of showing their card or canceling their membership.
• Another employee wrote, "Saw some folks screaming at a manager. He pointed to his radio and said this whole transaction had been recorded. Your membership is being canceled and refunded."
• Frecklesofaginger shared their experience as a "sample lady" at Costco for five years. "We had a member that would sneak up and tickle. After being told repeatedly to knock it off, he did it again. Told our supervisor, who went to the store manager. The manager took the guy's card and escorted him out."

4. Rigging your membership

A Costco employee called CostcoPanda shared the following:

"I had a member come to the desk while I was over Membership asking to cancel. He had used about 10 months of it, but if you know me, you know I stand behind the return policy 100%."

CostcoPanda returned the membership fee to the member, who said, "Just take that and sign me up again." When CostcoPanda gave them a questioning look, the member admitted that they make the same move every year because they "don't believe in membership fees." They went on to say that if the Costco employee wouldn't sell them a new one-year membership, they would "just go to another store."

After checking the customer's membership history, the employee realized that they did, indeed, cancel and immediately renew their membership once a year. The Costco employee says they deactivated the account for a "policy violation," meaning it can't be restarted without a manager's override.

5. Speeding past the receipt checker

Waiting in line to show a receipt after already standing in line to check out may not be anyone's idea of a good time, but it's part of being a warehouse club member. One of the reasons a Costco employee checks receipts is to ensure that purchases have been correctly rung up. While it may not seem critical, speeding past the receipt checker violates the terms of Costco membership.

From its low prices on bulk items to the perks associated with the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, there's something for everyone. Fortunately, members who are honest and thoughtful will never have to worry about losing access to their favorite Costco features.