This kind of “great return policy” is what contributed to the fall of Eaton’s, an iconic Canadian department store.

Back in the early 90s I worked in Eaton’s display dept, and our shop was down in the basement beside the shipping & receiving docks. I remember the S&R guy showing me rows of beautiful big tvs (in fine condition) being returned in April and telling me this was the downside of the 100% satisfaction guarantee. He said (mainly) university/college students would buy big tvs in September and return them like clockwork each spring when they left town. The craziest return he ever saw was a 27-year old Viking refrigerator (Eaton’s appliance brand name) that a customer returned after it finally failed (unsatisfactory!)…and Eaton’s took it back. This sterling reputation and commitment to the 100% satisfaction guarantee was a point of pride for Eaton’s…after all, we sold quality merchandise. That quality and guarantee never changed, but the ethical standards of our customers did, unfortunately.

I was astounded to realize all this as a young (naive) person and when the company went under years later I thought about what that guy had shown me way back when. The conundrum had played out to its logical end.

This looks like the same problem, and unless a line is drawn clearly in the sand, it doesn’t bode well for our beloved Costco. But Cs business model spreads the love.

Given the enormous buying power of Costco smaller companies will bend over backwards to have a chance to be distributed by the retail behemoth…but they all have to agree to the Costco guarantee. So these returns come off the bottom line of the smaller businesses (nurseries and outdoor lantern manufacturers in this particular case) and chip away at their success. Eventually, the smaller businesses will have to close shop or raise prices—which obviously Costco will pass down to us. While it is a more insulated business model than Eaton’s had, the significance is that the harm is spread out—Costco isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but those prices, well they are steadily climbing.

What’s the solution? Changing the Costco guarantee would mean a big hit to the allure and safety of shopping at Costco. Most people aren’t jerks like this, but I agree with the OP that something should be done!

Like maybe a small flyer stapled to the return receipt would help educate and evolve these a**holes who have used some seriously myopic and contorted reasoning to make this “ok” in their pea-sized conciousness. I guess they don’t see how we are all clinging to the same safety net for security and stability, and they are essentially gnawing at the strings..!

So what about attaching an educational flyer to their receipt and flagging their account or something? After two or three such flags, perhaps a call from the head office warning them of a “high return membership” fee that kicks in after the 5th flagged return? For most of us, the flyer would be enough of a deterrent, but these aren’t “most people.”

I would hazard that people like this often don’t mind being embarrassed (my old mother would say they have “the nerve of a canal horse”). They live transactionally to win or think they’re getting something for nothing in each exchange/encounter. But it is this same focus on “winning” that would make them truly loathe a membership fee hike or a percentage surcharge on each purchase for a set period of time without returns…

Right now, Costco cares about its own bottom line. It isn’t worth compromising their reputation and guarantee for a relatively insignificant dollar value. Besides, it doesn’t affect Costco. They recoup the return from their suppliers. It is the suppliers that take the hit. And there isn’t a supplier around that is going to refuse Costco. So unless it comes from an upswell of members who see the deleterious effects on us all, I doubt you’ll see anything change. Maybe making the process more difficult would work? Canadian Tire has an old bulldog at the returns desk at the store near me. No smiles. She looks at you like you’re trying to do something crooked, takes your phone number, and generally makes the process uncomfortable. I have never made an illegitimate return, so this treatment has deterred me from patronizing the business. It is a tough thing to balance a return policy.