Costco

Merchandise returns. Costco's return policy page says: "On Merchandise: We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell, and will refund your purchase price*, with the following exceptions". The asterisk reads "Limitations apply. See the membership counter or Costco.com for details." Electronics have a 90-day window "from the date the member received the merchandise" for televisions, projectors, major appliances, computers, touchscreen tablets, smart wearable devices, cameras, drones, camcorders, MP3 players and cellular phones (the page adds that return details for phones vary by carrier service contract). The page also lists items that are not returnable or have special rules: custom products made to a member's specifications (except warranty repair or replacement), airline and live-performance event items, precious metals, Shop Cards, gift card and ticket items, cigarettes and alcohol where prohibited by law, and diamonds of 1.00 carat or larger (original paperwork required). It says products with a limited useful life, "such as tires and batteries, may be sold with a product-specific limited warranty."

Costco.com orders and price matching. Costco's page on online returns says an online order can be returned to any warehouse for an immediate refund, or returned or replaced through Orders & Returns on Costco.com; refunds include shipping and handling and go to the original payment method, and "You won't be charged for the return shipping." Its price-match page says purchases that go down in price within 30 days of the purchase date are eligible, that "Costco does not price match with other businesses or retailers", and that warehouse purchases are handled at the Returns counter of the warehouse where the item was bought.

Tire Center. Costco's tire site says: "Tire purchase includes installation at No charge. Additional member values included 5 year road hazard warranty, Rotation, Balancing, Inflation checks, Flat repairs, Nitrogen tire Inflation. Installation only available on tires purchased from Costco tire center by Costco members. Additional component costs, including TPMS service pack fees, may apply. Not available for all vehicles and/or tires. See the Road hazard warranty on Costco.com and the Tire Centre counter for details." Costco's Road Hazard Warranty page (opened October 3, 2026) says the warranty applies to the original purchaser who bought the tires from Costco Wholesale and presents the original purchase receipt and the tire to a Costco tire center; that the owner must rotate and balance the tires, keep inflation pressures as the vehicle manufacturer outlines, and sign a "Costco Wholesale tire adjustment form". It defines "Road hazard failure" as "a tire that becomes unserviceable due to cuts, non-repairable punctures or impact damage"; says "The warranty may not be available for certain vehicles and/or tires"; and says the warranty is "valid for 60 months from the date of purchase, or until the tire reaches 1.6 mm (2/32 of an inch) or less in remaining tread depth regardless of age, whichever occurs first". It describes the remedy as "a promise under certain conditions to give credit on a prorated basis towards the purchase of a new tire", with credit worked out by "multiplying the usable remaining tread by the price you paid for the tire net of all discounts received". Its list of what is not covered includes damage from vandalism, an accident or commercial use. Costco's Contact Us page says to reach a warehouse department such as the Tire Center or Pharmacy by finding and calling the nearest warehouse.

Contacts published by Costco (Contact Us page, published October 2, 2026).

• Membership and Warehouse: 1-800-774-2678 (phone hours on the page: Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT, Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT).
• Costco.com online orders and orders delivered by Costco Logistics: 1-800-955-2292 (Monday to Friday 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. PT, Saturday and Sunday 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. PT).
• Costco Business Center orders: 1-800-788-9968 (Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT).
• Costco Technical & Warranty Services technical support: 1-866-861-0450 (Monday to Sunday 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. PT).
• Costco Mail Order Pharmacy: 1-800-607-6861 (Monday to Friday 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. PT, Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. PT). Costco Travel: 1-877-849-2730. The page also lists separate numbers for Costco Home Improvement installed products.

Costco Next. Costco's Costco Next Member Services page (published September 30, 2026) says: "Access to Costco Next store fronts is no longer available." It lists vendor contacts and says: "For eligible returns and warranty inquiries, contact the vendor directly." The page does not state a date for the change.

Recalls. Costco's Recalls & Product Notices page, as displayed on October 3, 2026, listed notices for Tylo and Watkins saunas, Mistolin and Lestoil cleaners (Puerto Rico only), the Goal Zero Yeti 3000x power station, a Panasonic NB-G200 toaster oven notice, a Desert Willow Sweet Bubba 18.9L notice (select locations) and the Titan Pro 40 Can cooler. Federal recalls of products sold by Costco are posted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission; for example, CPSC recall 26-068 (November 6, 2025) covered about 941,400 Kirkland Signature Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG bottles sold at Costco in 12 states, with the hazard stated as "The Prosecco bottles can break or shatter, posing a laceration hazard" and the remedy "Refund" (CPSC names F&F Fine Wines International, Inc., dba Ethica Wines, as importer). CPSC's remedy text reads: "Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled bottles and not attempt to open them. Consumers should discard the recalled bottles in their household trash and contact Ethica Wines for instructions on how to obtain a full refund from Costco." CPSC lists Ethica Wines at 786-810-7132 (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST) as the consumer contact. Product incidents can be reported at SaferProducts.gov.

Messages, calls and checks using Costco's name. Costco's "Currently Known Scams" page (published September 11, 2026) says of the examples it shows: "These offers are not from Costco Wholesale." It adds: "You should not visit any links provided in messages such as these, and you should not provide the sender any personal information." The page says Costco has been notified of calls "disguised as" its home-office number (425-313-8100), e-commerce number (800-955-2292) or membership number (800-774-2678) in which the caller says they are from the "Costco Chinese Member Service" and tells the person an account in China has been opened in their name with fraud activity. Costco's page says suspicious calls, emails and texts can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission and links a list of valid Costco email domains. Its "Preventing Fraud" page (published March 16, 2026) has a "Check Scam" section that says: "Do not deposit the check or follow the instructions you receive with it."

Other complaint routes. The Washington Attorney General's page says it accepts complaints from "Washington state residents, and to consumers with complaints about businesses located in Washington state", online, by mail or by phone (1.800.551.4636 in Washington only; 206.464.6684). Costco's 10-K says Citibank, N.A. is the exclusive issuer of co-branded credit cards to U.S. members; the CFPB's complaint page says it accepts complaints about credit cards (online or at (855) 411-2372).

CPSC, Docket 19-C0001 (settlement agreement, 2018). The Consumer Product Safety Commission's staff alleged that Costco imported and sold about 367,000 EKO Sensible Eco Living 80-liter trash cans between December 2013 and May 2015 and, having received 92 complaints between December 2013 and May 2015 (60 of them from consumers who received injuries), did not notify the Commission immediately of a defect that could create a substantial product hazard (a plastic collar that can become dislodged and expose a sharp edge, posing a laceration hazard), thereby knowingly violating the Consumer Product Safety Act. The trash cans were recalled in July 2015. The agreement provides for a $3,850,000 civil penalty and states that it "does not constitute an admission by Costco or a determination by the Commission that Costco violated the CPSA's reporting requirements." Costco's response in the agreement says its safety committee "did not believe that Costco had a duty to notify CPSC" before May 2015 and that Costco "does not believe that it knowingly violated the CPSA". The copy checked did not show the date of the Commission's final order.

Investigations Costco discloses in SEC filings. Costco's filings state that it received civil investigative demands from the Washington Attorney General's Office on January 2 and August 22, 2024 and a pre-litigation letter from the Los Angeles County Counsel on January 3, 2024, related to the pharmacy-website tracking-pixel class actions described below; and a civil investigative demand from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington, in January 2023 for a False Claims Act investigation about claims relating to prescription medications. The filings give no outcome for these matters. In May 2024 Costco received a notice from EPA of intent to file an administrative complaint under FIFRA, which became the 2025 order above.

Data security. Costco's 10-K says "We and our third-party service and merchandise providers have experienced cybersecurity incidents and threats" and that, based on information available at the filing date, it was not aware of risks from actual incidents that had materially affected it. The California Attorney General's breach-notice list, searched for "costco" on October 3, 2026, returned one entry: "Costco Photo Center", breach date 06/19/2014, reported 09/23/2015.

No Federal Trade Commission or state attorney-general enforcement action against Costco was identified in the sources checked on October 3, 2026 (Costco's SEC filings and the agency documents above); that is not a search of every state agency.

Tariff-refund suits. Costco's 10-K for fiscal 2026 says four class actions were filed in March 2026 seeking a refund of IEEPA tariffs that Costco paid and allegedly passed on to members through higher prices: Stockov (N.D. Ill.), Gower (King County Superior Court), Ortiz (D.P.R.) and Briggs (W.D. Wash.), alleging violations of state consumer-protection laws and equitable doctrines. It says Costco filed motions to dismiss in Stockov and Gower, that the Gower court denied the motion on July 17, 2026 and that a motion seeking discretionary appellate review of that decision is pending. In Stockov the docket shows Costco's motion to dismiss under Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) filed May 18, 2026 and fully briefed by August 12, 2026, with no ruling on that motion on the docket opened October 19, 2026 (newest entry September 30, 2026). The docket also lists an amended motion for transfer and centralization under 28 U.S.C. Section 1407 (entry 30, received August 25, 2026) and a further such motion (entry 31, received September 30, 2026). Costco's statements about passing on recovered tariffs are in the company background section.

Pharmacy-website privacy case (Castillo). Plaintiffs allege Costco installed the Meta Pixel and other tracking technologies on its pharmacy website and shared customers' health information without disclosure. On November 14, 2024 the court denied Costco's motion to dismiss as to the Wiretap Act, Washington Consumer Protection Act, Washington Uniform Health Care Information Act, California Invasion of Privacy Act, California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, Florida Security of Communications Act and unjust enrichment claims, and dismissed four other claims without prejudice. Costco answered the complaint on December 20, 2024. The CourtListener docket opened on October 19, 2026 shows that plaintiffs filed a sealed motion to certify a class on July 2, 2026; that Costco filed a motion for sanctions on May 29, 2026 (plaintiffs' opposition is titled a response to Costco's "Motion for Spoliation Sanctions Pursuant to Rule 37"); and that nine entries dated September 25, 2026 (entries 117 to 125: a reply brief and sealed motions and documents) are not public. On October 6, 2026 the court granted a stipulated motion (Dkt 127) that moves plaintiffs' reply on class certification from October 30 to November 6, 2026 and sets November 6, 2026 for plaintiffs' oppositions to Costco's motion to dismiss (Dkt 118) and motion to exclude expert testimony (Dkt 120), November 20, 2026 for Costco's replies and December 2, 2026 for Costco's opposition to plaintiffs' Daubert motion; a notice of supplemental authority followed on October 14, 2026. The docket shows no ruling on class certification, the motion to dismiss or the sanctions motion. Costco's 10-K says it has received related civil investigative demands from the Washington Attorney General's Office and describes the case as pending. A related case (Birdwell, Contra Costa County) was dismissed with prejudice in March 2026, per the 10-K.

Kirkland Signature tequila labeling (Salisbury): dismissed with prejudice. Plaintiffs alleged Kirkland Signature tequila labeled "100% de Agave" contains alcohol from non-agave sugars. The docket shows an amended complaint on March 9, 2026, Costco's motion to dismiss on April 21, 2026 with Mexican regulations attached, a September 9, 2026 minute order saying that a non-party entity, "including the Government of Mexico", that wishes to offer its views must do so as amicus curiae through local counsel, and oral argument on September 15, 2026. On October 16, 2026 Judge Evanson granted the motion to dismiss with prejudice (Dkt 50), holding that all claims are nonjusticiable under the doctrine of international comity and that the act of state doctrine separately warrants dismissal, and denied leave to amend as futile; the court did not decide whether the labeling allegations are true. The docket opened October 19, 2026 shows no later entry. The 10-K says a related Florida case (Glazer) was dismissed without prejudice.

Baby wipes (Bullard). A 2024 class action alleged Kirkland Signature baby wipes contained PFAS, which Costco's 10-K filed in October 2025 described as pending. The court denied a motion to dismiss on May 14, 2025; on November 17, 2025 the plaintiff filed a stipulation of voluntary dismissal with prejudice and the case was closed on November 18, 2025.

Other matters in Costco's filings, briefly. The 10-K for fiscal 2026 also describes wage-and-hour class and PAGA actions in California and Washington (for example Reyes, E.D. Cal. No. 2:24-cv-00300; Madera, King County, which Costco says it has agreed to resolve for an immaterial amount subject to court approval; Howell, dismissed), a Washington second-job class action (Gray, King County No. 25-2-17717-3, in which the 10-K says a class was certified on December 12, 2025 and trial is set for March 1, 2027) and opioid litigation (MDL No. 2804), in which Costco says it is defending the remaining claims. Costco says it does not believe any pending matter will have a material adverse effect.

California Proposition 65 record. The California Attorney General's Proposition 65 index, record 2023-00357, lists Costco Wholesale Corporation and Fly by Jing, Inc. as alleged violators in a notice dated February 7, 2023 about lead in Sichuan Chili Crisp, and shows a private plaintiff's civil complaint (Berj Parseghian v. Fly by Jing, Inc., et al., Los Angeles County Superior Court No. 24STCV02895, claim type "Failure to Warn") filed February 5, 2024. The record's corrected settlement entry, dated February 7, 2025, describes injunctive relief directed to Fly by Jing, Inc.; this page does not state any settlement terms as to Costco.