Can you return to Costco as a non-member?

ES_Revenge wrote: ↑ Yeah you don't need a membership on the customer service desk side--non-members are basically free to go in there for that purpose, as well as for going to the restaurant counter. Before I was a member I'd buy hot dogs/pizza all the time in there lol.

calgaryhhr wrote: ↑ I have been asked for my membership card quite a few times when entering through the exit.

PointsHubby wrote: ↑ Heading to Customer Service, one does not need a Membership Card...
Cause, duh... that is where one buys a Membership

Now for the actual question at hand RETURNS & MEMBERSHIP

One does not need a Membership to Return something bought on line at Costco.ca, because the website doesn’t require a membership to make purchases

One MIGHT NEED a Membership to return something that was bought in an actual warehouse store
As purchases are “registered” to the Member who bought it
... one of the actual perks of membership... all your transactions are kept / tracked for your account

If the OP bought the item in the store as a Non Member Visiting with a Gift Card etc
Then they most definitely would need to produce a receipt that proves that

If someone else made the purchase with their Membership, then HE MIGHT not be able to do the return, even if he has the receipt

djeffery wrote: ↑ Surely members buy gifts for people at a Costco and the recipient may or may not have a membership but might need to return something. Surely Costco can deal with that like every other store out there where people return gifts.

PointsHubby wrote: ↑ So NO
Costco is not under any obligation to take back an item that comes into their store from a NON MEMBER
Period

PointsHubby wrote: ↑ FACT... Not all stores will do a return on a Gift as a REFUND. AND a lot of stores now only do REFUNDS / RETURNS to the original purchaser and only to the means by which they purchased the item... ie, paid Cash get cash, paid by plastic then the refund goes back to the original Credit Card / Debit Card when it is presented along with the receipt

Which is why more and more stores ask up front... “Will you require a Gift Receipt ?”
A Gift Receipt at least gives a bit more leeway to the person who gets the gift and might need to do an Exchange etc

And for the record...

NO STORE IS OBLIGATED TO DO RETURNS, EXCHANGES OR REFUNDS
(A common misconception)
It is up to the store if they have such a policy... or live by EVERYTHING IS A FINAL / AS IS SALE
However, I do believe that Stores must POST THEIR T&Cs at the Cash... or in the very least on the receipt somewhere

So NO
Costco is not under any obligation to take back an item that comes into their store from a NON MEMBER
Period

ES_Revenge wrote: ↑ Yeah you don't need a membership on the customer service desk side--non-members are basically free to go in there for that purpose, as well as for going to the restaurant counter. Before I was a member I'd buy hot dogs/pizza all the time in there lol.

ALLCAPS wrote: ↑ FACT. You're wrong. They have a very clear return policy for their web portal, and since they sell to non-members through that portal, the policy applies to non-members for their purchases through the website. Therefore, subject to the terms of that return policy, they are very much obliged to take back an item from a non-member.

Now, as for non-web purchases (gifts, for example, or when they piggybacked through the till with a member as another example), that is a whole different kettle of fish and there you are correct. They have no obligation to accept returns from non-members for products bought in-store. Quite simply, their contract is with the member who made the purchase, not the third party, and therefore return policies do not apply unless the member is doing the return.

djeffery wrote: ↑ Sorry, where did I say that they were legally obliged? FACT is Costco has one of the most generous returns policies in retail, and surely they have a mechanism for dealing with returns at their stores from people who didn’t originally buy it, even as non-members.

PointsHubby wrote: ↑ Heading to Customer Service, one does not need a Membership Card...
Cause, duh... that is where one buys a Membership

Now for the actual question at hand RETURNS & MEMBERSHIP

One does not need a Membership to Return something bought on line at Costco.ca, because the website doesn’t require a membership to make purchases

One MIGHT NEED a Membership to return something that was bought in an actual warehouse store
As purchases are “registered” to the Member who bought it
... one of the actual perks of membership... all your transactions are kept / tracked for your account

If the OP bought the item in the store as a Non Member Visiting with a Gift Card etc
Then they most definitely would need to produce a receipt that proves that

If someone else made the purchase with their Membership, then HE MIGHT not be able to do the return, even if he has the receipt

Kaitlyn wrote: ↑ Since you can purchase online without membership, can you return an item without membership? I know they have those people at the front checking that only members enter the store...