I've Returned $116 Worth of Food Items to Costco With No Hassle

One of my favorite things about shopping at Costco is getting to save money on groceries. I buy a lot of my produce, dairy products, and non-perishable food items at Costco, and it commonly results in a much lower credit card tab compared to my regular supermarket.

But another great thing about Costco is its commitment to customer service. Through the years, I've returned more than $100 worth of food items to Costco, and I've never had a problem doing so.

Costco's very generous return policy

Since January 2014 (which is as far back as the helpful customer service representative could look at my account), I've returned $46.72 worth of produce to Costco and $69.60 worth of non-perishable food. So all told, that's about $116 worth of food I've taken back. 

In many cases, the reason I took food items back boiled down to early spoilage or inferior quality. And the customer service representative who ran the above numbers for me assured me that any time there's any issue with quality, you can bring back a food item to Costco and get a full refund. This holds true even if you've used a portion of the product before returning it.

I once remember bringing back an unopened bag of spinach because it started to look wilted before its expiration date. Costco gave me a full refund without a problem, but I expected that.

Another time, though, I had purchased a two-pack of feta cheese. We were finishing up our first pack without issues when I noticed that the second sealed, unopened pack had mold in it, even though the cheese had several more weeks to go before its expiration date. When I took it back to Costco, I asked for a 50% refund, the logic being that I'd gotten to enjoy 50% of my purchase. The customer service representative said it was their policy to give a 100% refund in that situation, and that's what happened.

Not only can you return food items that have quality issues, but you can also return items you feel don't meet your expectations. If you try a new bakery line product, for example, and find it cloyingly sweet, you can generally take it back to Costco, say you didn't like it, and get a refund. 

However, the customer service representative I spoke to said that you can only do this within reason. If you start to return every other item you buy once it's already been opened and partially consumed, your membership will be flagged and you may be denied the option to make such returns. You might even, in an extreme situation, be denied a membership renewal. 

What's more, she said, if you're going to return a food item due to not liking it or the item not meeting your expectations, it generally can't be more than 50% eaten. You can't, for example, return a cake that's 90% gone and claim it wasn't good. 

A great store all around

All told, there are lots of savings to be reaped when you shop at Costco. But savings aside, it pays to do your food shopping at a store that clearly puts customers first. And Costco certainly fits that bill.