They returned used toilets and dirty rugs to Costco

takeahike

They returned used toilets and dirty rugs to Costco.

The online fury reached a fever pitch in 2024 when a Seattle woman got a full refund for a 2½-year-old couch because she no longer cared for the color.

Parker Seidel, a 26-year-old YouTube creator from Orange County, got blowback when he tested the limits of Costco’s return policy with a series of stunts, getting his money back for a half-eaten chicken bake and three-week-old flowers he never put in water.

HooRU

The people who rip us off this way are being dirty. It’s like refusing to tip.

Somewhat-Reticent

HooRU No, it’s much worse.

px_eliezer_

After MANY years. LL Bean had to change their unlimited policy in 2018, they were SICK of the abuse.

In a letter to customers Friday morning, the company said it has updated its return policy to give customers one year to return purchases, with a receipt. The previous lifetime guarantee, which enabled customers to return products years — or even decades — after purchase, has long been a selling point for the company.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/09/584493046/l-l-bean-scraps-legendary-lifetime-return-policy

HONEST customers should not have to pay for abusive returns by SCHMUCKS.

This is especially true of a membership-model store such as Costco.

Somewhat-Reticent

HooRU Lifetime integrity matters, but shouldn’t need a warranty.

dave

px_eliezer_

Lifetime no-questions warranties show that a manufacturer or seller is willing to stand behind their products, but there needs to be goodwill on both sides.

Otherwise, as L.L.Bean demonstrates, a generous policy gets replaced by Rules That We Will Follow, and everyone suffers.

One minor story element of The First 20 Million Is Always The Hardest can no longer happen – the protagonist keeps his tiny startup afloat by returning everything he’s ever bought from L. L. Bean.

px_eliezer_

dave Lifetime no-questions warranties show that a manufacturer or seller is willing to stand behind their products, but there needs to be goodwill on both sides.

Which is NOT a feature of American life anymore, either in commerce or in government.

“Norm” from Cheers died recently, but “Norms” in American Society died even earlier.