A viral photo showing a person returning an old television from the early 2000s to Costco has once again put the spotlight on the retailer’s much-loved return policy.
The image shows an old Samsung TV placed on an iconic orange flat Costco cart in a store in Pennsylvania.
Costco’s return policy made headlines in January when a video surfaced of a woman returning her two-and-a-half-year-old couch without a receipt.
At the time, customers and even staff confirmed that the retailer’s generous policy allowed most items to be returned at any time.
But the return of a two-decade-old TV is another issue that has even Costco fans stunned. One wrote under the viral post on Reddit: ‘This is WILD. 22 years later, who decides to come and return a television?
The viral image showed a Samsung projection TV from the early 2000s on a flat cart at a Costco being processed for a refund.
Electronic items must now be returned to Costco within 90 days, but that was not the case until 2007. Pictured is a news story published by the LA Times in 2007.
The original poster responded: “You know, after 20 years, I felt like this just didn’t work for our space.”
Referring to the size of the TV, which has a stand with a large speaker and is much deeper than the flat-screen TVs most people have today, they added: “It probably took 20 years to find someone to help him get it out of his living room.’
The user who posted the photo, which went viral on the r/Costco subreddit, told DailyMail.com that he was unsure if the refund was issued and that he heard associates suggesting the original purchase was made in 2002.
The model appears to be a Samsung HCL552W rear projection, which was available on the US market in 2002.
“I couldn’t see the person(s) who made the actual return,” the user wrote in response to the image.
‘I just saw the associates processing. His response was “it’s within the guidelines,” along with a big shrug.
The owner of the old television would have had solid arguments to return it.
Although Costco currently has a policy that electronics must be returned within 90 days of purchase, that was not the case until 2007, after the TV was supposedly sold.
in a news published by the LA Times In February 2007, titled ‘Costco Stops Liberal Electronics Return Policy’, it was reported that Costco had been losing ‘tens of millions of dollars’ a year on returned consumer electronics, especially televisions.
Following the story about the couch return in January, DailyMail.com published a full summary of Costco’s return policy.
Almost all items, with some exceptions, can be returned at any time, even without a receipt.
This was backed up by a former Costco returns counter worker, who said the retailer keeps a list of everything a customer has purchased and returned.
That means they can tell when the lenient policy is being abused and also that members may not need to show a receipt as proof of purchase.
A TikToker who worked at Costco for six years in the returns department explained why the store has such a relaxed returns policy.
Costco is famous for its liberal return policy, which still allows members to return most items at any time. Pictured is a warehouse in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania.
It’s unclear whether or not Costco issued a refund for the old Samsung TV. Pictured is a staff member directing customers at a store in Teterboro, New Jersey.
When Costco changed its policy around electronics in 2007, the LA Times interviewed a police officer who was in the process of returning a plasma TV he bought in 2004 because its colors were fading.
The Glendale warehouse issued a refund, “no questions asked.”
‘It was incredible. It was great,’ she said. “It didn’t take a genius to figure out that someone was going to abuse him eventually.”
TO separate report in 2007 published by the Wall Street Journal also covered the end of the ‘unlimited grace period to return [electronic] purchases for a full refund.’
It noted that “electronic products purchased before the implementation of the new 90-day policy can still be returned at any time.”
Fortunately for the owner of the vintage Samsung seen in Pennsylvania this week, if the TV was purchased before 2007, it is theoretically eligible for a refund.
DailyMail.com wrote to Costco to clarify whether a refund was issued for the TV, but did not immediately receive a response.