Maybe they are too generous…

I have written about Costco’s return policy before  (Returning at Costco; Ridiculous Returns).

In the first post, I was emphasizing the benefits to consumers of such a nice policy and how easy it is to return items which shows that Costco stands behind its products. In the second, I was joking about the things that some people actually return at the store.

However, the extreme examples aside, I think that people do take advantage of the liberal policy, which can lead to tremendous food waste.  A few years ago, my family learned that all returned food products–even unopened–are automatically thrown out. I can’t remember the exact details but it was something like this: as she was putting her purchases into the car, my mom realized that she had picked up the wrong item. Because she was still in the parking lot, she figured she would go return it. Not surprisingly, because they are great with returns, the store took back the item without any question. However, they commented that it would immediately be thrown out. My mom said the product was still cold, sealed, and she had the receipt from literally 3 minutes before she returned it. However, the store said that the policy is that all food has to be thrown out. I can understand that there is the potential that it was tampered with (and, as we recently have seen, some people have been tasting ice cream from cartons in stores!).

My concern is that I have seen online discussions in which people are debating whether or not to try an item at Costco and the response tends to be “why not? if you don’t like it, you can return it…they will take anything back. ” I view this attitude as taking advantage of the policy, given that the food will be thrown out.

As I have discussed in the past, my family has returned food products. However, these occasions are few and limited (well, with the exception of the above example before we knew food gets thrown out) to items that we normally purchase and do not find up to usual quality (e.g., smoked salmon that does not look or taste right; moldy cheese). In these cases, we are purchase the item with the expectation that it will be the same standards that we expect from Costco. Along with returns of items that you are confident you will like (e.g., the Kirkland brand of an item you generally enjoy), this type of return seems quite different to me than just deciding to try lots of products because, if you do not like them, you can return them. People know that the Costco amounts are large. Therefore, if unsure about an item I think they should either “take the risk” and then eat the cost (even if they don’t eat the product…yeah, yeah, groan, groan, groan..). Alternatively, if the product is not exclusive to Costco, they can spend a little more for one portion at a grocery store to taste before deciding whether or not to invest in the full Costco size. I have done that with products in the past.

What do you think?

Do you think it is fair for people to try things just because they “can” return if they do not want?

Did you know that food products are immediately thrown out?

Does knowing that the food will be wasted change your opinion?