A Costco customer once tried to return her 'dead' Christmas tree in January. It went as expected.

Christmas may seem all about shopping, spending time with loved ones, watching holiday specials, and taking a trip, but once the festivities are over, it's time to clean up. While a lot of people have difficulty figuring out where to discard Christmas trees after the holidays, one woman has found a money-saving hack. Back in 2018, a man named Scott Bentley shared that he witnessed a woman in Santa Clara successfully return a dead Christmas tree to Costco in January.

Costco Return Policy is Unreal

In the now-deleted Facebook post, Bentley shared that he was waiting in line at the checkout counter behind the woman who dragged in the dead tree more than a week after Christmas. While it was clear why the tree had dried up, the woman claimed that she was eligible to return it as she wasn't satisfied with the decreased greenery of the tree.

“If I didn’t see it, I wouldn’t believe that someone had so little moral value or lack of conscience,” Bentley wrote along with the photo of the woman and the tree, according to the New York Post.

“She did get a refund – not happily though. It was questioned, verified purchase on her account and she was shamed to a small degree…" the user confirmed. While the bold attempt was eye catching, Bentley had a different take on the situation.

He expressed that it was heartbreaking to see that the woman had lost "all self-respect and dignity," as she abused Costco's generous return policy. "But I don’t think it fazed her because she has no conscience," he added. There have been numerous viral posts across social media about Costco's generous return policy. The retailer essentially accepts everything back if their members are no longer satisfied, no matter how long it has been since the purchase. However, there is a 90-day time limit on some items such as electronics and gadgets.

Amazing Costco Return Stories

In a viral Reddit post, a user called @estaack shared that a Costco member walked in with a 22-year-old TV to return it. The post on the forum r/Costco left people baffled as it claimed that the return went through successfully.

It turns out that before 2007, Costco did not have a 90-day limit on the return of electronics, thus, the return had to be eligible. The DailyMail UK reported that the TV appeared to be a rear projection Samsung HCL552W sold in the US market around 2002. Furthermore, members have also shared that they don't need a valid reason or a receipt to return items. TikTok creator Jackie Nguyen (@xojacckss) shared in a video that she successfully returned a two-and-a-half-year-old couch to Costco simply because "she didn't like it anymore". 

What's more surprising was that she did it without a receipt. This means that members can essentially borrow items from Costco for free. It was even clearer when another member returned a $1,400 playset bought in 2008, simply because his kids grew up. In the video shared by @psychoz28, the creator explained how Costco had to accept the return as it fell under their policy.

However, members are advised not to abuse the policy as Costco checks their return history before accepting items and if anything suspicious comes up, the store can deny the return or ban the member.