This was also really common with TVs during the Super Bowl. People would come in and buy the biggest TV they could get, have their Super Bowl party and then return the TV.

That why the Costco policy no longer applies to electronics (they’re time-limited now). But it’s at manager discretion, so if you seem to have a genuine problem they’ll still take something back after the limit.

That was less about the Superbowl returns (the return window on electronics is 90 days, you can easily get a TV, have a Superbowl party, and return it still).

It's more the depreciation and how quickly electronics evolve. People were using the returns as a free lifetime of upgrades.

One particularly stark example when I worked there a long time ago was someone who wanted to upgrade their old projection TV.

So four years after they bought it they brought it in and returned it. They got about $4k back. They walked out on the floor, picked up a brand new LCD TV for $2k and almost half a decade after their original purchase they walked out with a brand new, upgraded TV and $2k in their pocket.

You can imagine how this can be abused with most electronics that Costco sells. Imagine going in and getting a brand new upgraded laptop every 2-3 years for the rest of your life after a single couple thousand dollar purchase.

Wait, the free return period is 90 days even thought it's "limited"? It looks still insane from outside US.

Yes. Electronics are 90 days any reason. Any non-electronics it's "lifetime for any reason".

I saw someone return a flat of steaks with half a remaining cooked steak left just saying "my guests thought they weren't very good".

Someone had a custom photo book printed and when they came to pick it up decided they didn't want it anymore and just got a refund.

Someone returned a plasma TV because of the glare from their windows.

My wife bought a car seat there (something you can't return _anywhere_) which we ended up not being able to get installed in the car (had the shitty cheap version of the LATCH clips that are impossible to get tightened up). Took it back for a full refund.

We bought a vacuum there that broke literally a week after the manufacturer's warranty. Brought it in and exchanged it for a new one.

There's no time limit on any of this.

This is by no means normal in North America. It's one of those Costco things like providing part time retail workers reasonable salaries and health benefits, etc that sounds insane in theory but obviously works for them.

I know personally there's been a couple times where I've been on the fence about buying something and ended up purchasing it because "If it sucks/falls apart in 6 months/whatever I can just bring it back."

But wouldn't that be expected? More people buying (because they think they need it, as they're going to cook a lot), would mean, even if the return percentage is the same, more people returning.

Add to that the people who realize what a waste of an investment that was after the holiday spree is over, you can explain it a bit more.

But of course, it's impossible to tell surely without data.

Going back to gut feelings: Does he see suspicious behavior? Weird reasons for returning?

The Costco I worked at had a lady that came in every holiday season and bought over $10k of holiday decorations. Like clockwork she'd be back in January to return it all, nearly all of it having been opened and used. She'd been doing this for almost a decade by the time I started working there.

It's gonna be impossible to concretely discern intent from the data you could get, but it's pretty obvious there's _some_ abuse. The only question is where you draw the line on abuse and how much.

January at our store was a rush of returns of opened and used Christmas decorations because "I decided I don't want it anymore." Often times from people that had done the same thing year after year. We'll never know what those people really intended when they bought it in the fall, but you'd have to be pretty damn charitable to assume the best of intent in all the cases. Especially when it was people doing it multiple years in a row.

A number of outdoor gear stores like REI and (sorta) LL Bean have discontinued lifetime returns during the past few years. I've known people who used policies as sort of a lifetime subscription to, say, a rain jacket. I'm not sure the reason the policies eventually changed.

I assume it's some combination of degraded quality as most stuff is made in the same Asian factories and an increasingly widespread attitude that it's OK to take anything that isn't nailed down.

He does not work the returns desk, he is primarily a forklift driver. I find it interesting to hear about the seasonal variations though.

A couple random things - the first stack of shelves that face the front of the store are managed to give a good impression. They always keep those shelves full of pallets and try to have a lot of only a few items to give a clean look. If the warehouse has empty space they try to keep it so you can't see from the center of the store.

I've seen shameless bastards return christmas trees in january lol - but still as a whole the majority of people in the states don't abuse policies like that.

Is the implication that people are buying extra furniture for having family or other guests over, with the intent of returning it after the guests leave?

I guess so? I'm not sure if the intent is there or if they realize that the holidays cost too much and need to return some.

them buying fancier furniture to impress their guests would be my guess but yours is very likely as well