Costco: refund request
Costco refunds most products under its satisfaction guarantee; electronics and major appliances have 90 days.
What does this mean?
Grade A (high: almost everything comes from official pages read directly). 95% of 19 sources are the organization's own pages or government sites.
Collect
- membership card
- receipt or order number
- the item
Steps
Take a warehouse purchase to the returns counter at any Costco warehouse.
For a Costco.com order, sign in, open Orders & Returns, and choose Return or Replace Items, or return it at any warehouse for an immediate refund.
If the price dropped within 30 days of purchase, ask for a price adjustment (online button, or the returns counter of the original warehouse).
If Costco refuses a refund you are owed, dispute the charge with your card issuer.
More contacts for this issue
Facts you can cite
- Policy
Costco's Risk-Free 100% Satisfaction Guarantee refunds the purchase price on any product, with listed exceptions.
Source: customerservice.costco.com, verified 2026-10-12
- Deadline
Televisions, computers, cameras, cell phones, major appliances and other listed electronics must be returned within 90 days of receipt.
Source: customerservice.costco.com, verified 2026-10-12
- Policy
Items that drop in price within 30 days of purchase are eligible for a price adjustment; approved Costco.com credits are usually issued in 5 to 10 business days to the original payment method. Costco does not match other retailers.
Source: customerservice.costco.com, verified 2026-10-12
- Policy
Costco.com refunds include shipping and handling fees and go to the original payment method; Costco does not charge for return shipping.
Source: customerservice.costco.com, verified 2026-10-12
Rules in force
- FTC Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (live-event tickets and short-term lodging)16 CFR part 464 (90 FR 2066, January 10, 2025)
Since May 12, 2025, any business that offers, displays or advertises a price for live-event tickets or short-term lodging (for example hotels, motels and inns) must show the total price, including all mandatory fees, more prominently than other pricing information. Only government charges, shipping and optional add-ons may be left out, and those must be disclosed before the consumer pays. Misrepresenting any fee is prohibited.
Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12
1 citable point
- Policy
A business may not misrepresent the nature, purpose, amount or refundability of any fee, or the identity of the good or service the fee is charged for.
Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12
- Policy
If that fails, escalate
Go up one step at a time. Keep the reference numbers and dates from each contact.
Customer service
Supervisor
Written complaint
Card or bank dispute
Fair Credit Billing Act billing-error and purchase-dispute rights (Regulation Z)
Electronic Fund Transfer Act error resolution and unauthorized-transfer liability (Regulation E)
State agency
Your state’s attorney general. Find it in the list of state agencies (also as JSON:
states/<code>.json, for example states/ny.json).Public complaint
RegulatorBetter Business Bureau
Watch out
- Costco.com returns and price adjustments need the member's sign-in.
Let your AI agent handle this
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1. Set it up (needs uv):
uvx escalate-anything setup2. Ask your agent:
Costco owes me a refund of [amount] for [order or service]. Use Escalate Anything to get it.Source code, other install options and the Claude Code plugin