Fingers crossed we won't get banned for accepting too many samples!

Do This Too Much at Costco and You Might Get Banned for Life

Step into a Costco warehouse and you’ve got everything you need for survival. There are groceries, clothes, flowers, electronics—you could live off the land inside the store for a good, long while. Of course, attempting to set up shop there and ignoring repeated calls for store closing could certainly be grounds to get you banned from Costco for life. But that’s not the only thing.
Because, yes, while Costco is generally considered the G.O.A.T. for maintaining low prices and extending their gas station hours, even they have their limits. So while it’s pretty dang difficult to get banned from Costco, try hard enough and you can do it. Particularly if you engage in one very specific behavior. And there isn’t any level of Costco membership that can save you from it, not even Executive.
Get Reader’s Digest’s Read Up newsletter for more Costco news, shopping, humor, travel, tech and fun facts all week long.
What frequent behavior will get you banned for life at Costco?
To put it simply: too many returns. Yes, Costco has an incredible return policy. And yes, they want their members to be happy so they keep coming back and paying that annual membership fee. But return abuse is still return abuse, and it costs retailers like Costco a lot of money.
In fact, according to Appriss Retail, which provides retail abuse and fraud prevention services to businesses, companies lost a collective $103 billion to fraudulent and abusive returns in 2024 alone. Considering Costco is already sucking it up by making their $4.99 rotisserie chicken a massive loss leader, they don’t want to lose even more money on shifty returns.
Why are too many returns a red flag?
When we say frequent returns, we mean really frequent. As in multiple times per week.
“There are definitely patterns that should raise red flags,” says Monica Eaton, founder and CEO of Chargebacks911. “Members who make frequent returns (think multiple times per week), or who return a high percentage of their total purchases, may get marked as suspicious. The same goes for returning incomplete products while keeping valuable components like remotes or cables, or returning clothes that have clearly been worn (a practice known as ‘wardrobing’).”
Eaton notes that Costco might become especially wary regarding high-value electronics. “It’s not uncommon for people to repeatedly buy and return electronics after extended use,” she says.
What is Costco’s return policy?
Costco is known for its “risk-free, 100% satisfaction guarantee” return policy. However, electronics and major appliances must be returned within 90 days of receipt of the merchandise. Products deemed to have a “limited life expectancy,” like batteries and tires, are also sold with a time-limited warranty for returns. Airline tickets and tickets to live events are also ineligible for returns.
Fortunately, Costco keeps customer receipts for up to two years to make it super easy to return products. However, in return, they do expect discretion when making a return. Generally speaking, a customer knows when they are taking advantage of the system or not.
How often is too often when it comes to returns?
For Costco, this is a little tricky. Pedro Ramos, Appriss Retail’s chief revenue officer, explains why. “Club stores face unique challenges due to their membership model and bulk purchasing behaviors, which demand a more nuanced approach to fraud prevention,” Ramos says. “A positive returns experience can drive 70% of shoppers to become repeat customers, but a single negative interaction can drive 30% away for good.”
This becomes a high-stakes equation when customers are paying to shop at Costco via their membership fee. In Costco’s case, Ramos says retailers must strike the right balance between preventing abuse and keeping high-value club members happy.
“This is where AI and behavioral analytics are essential, helping identify real abuse without mistakenly flagging loyal members,” he says.
How many people does Costco ban a year?
This information isn’t publicly available, but the cases of getting banned are likely few and far between. “As a rule, Costco tries to avoid going to extreme measures like this,” Eaton says. “But blatant and proactive return fraud is probably your best bet if you’re trying to get banned. This includes trying to return stolen goods, or using doctored receipts to try to return items for more than was originally paid.”
A scan of Reddit’s Costco threads uncovered a few stories of members getting banned for life, though typically for rather illegal wrongdoings. For example, one Redditor who works at Costco recalls a man who purchased a membership only to immediately start causing a scene in the warehouse, disturbing employees and other customers. He was banned “immediately.”
Another shared a ban that essentially amounts to stealing. “I remember a story here of someone returning some kind of alcohol (wine or liquor) and it was mostly water,” said the Reddit poster. “Costco employees tested it, and the customer was banned for life.”
What other behaviors might get you banned from Costco?
Costco does not play around when it comes to being an upstanding member of their warehouse club.
“Managers have discretion to revoke memberships,” Eaton says. “Though they generally try to avoid doing this, customers that have an established pattern of systematically exploiting Costco policies will probably see consequences at some point.”
- Being rude to staff. “Getting aggressive or threatening with employees over return disputes is another possibility (for a ban),” she says. “For instance, say an employee rejects your return request, and you start to yell and threaten them. This could very easily result in a ban.”
- Breaking warehouse club rules. “Letting non-household members use your membership card, for instance, or buying items in bulk for commercial resale without a business membership, could be problematic,” Eaton says. “Even filling an unauthorized container at the gas pump or leaving a pump unattended while filling your tank are both violations of Costco rules.”
- Helping yourself to a discount. “Any kind of fraud or criminal behavior could result in a ban,” she says. “For example, eating food while in the store then refusing to pay for it, attempting to use expired coupons or switching price tags.”
RELATED:
- Here’s Why Aldi’s Cashiers Stay Seated Behind the Cash Register
- New Report: More Americans Are Doing This to Pay for Groceries—Here’s Why Experts Are Concerned
- Here’s Why You Should Skip Precut Fruit Trays at Costco
About the experts
|
Why trust us
At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Sources:
- Monica Eaton, CEO and founder of Chargebacks911
- Pedro Ramos, chief revenue officer of Appriss Retail
- Appriss Retail: “2024 Consumer Returns in the Retail Industry”
- Reddit: Costco lifetime ban stories