Woman returns Costco couch after 2 years, tests limits of return policy: "I just didn't like it anymore"

A Costco shopper tested the limits of the retail club's return policy by bringing back a 3-1/2-year-old sofa simply because she stopped liking it. 

"I just didn't like it anymore. We just don't like the color anymore," the shopper, Jackie Nguyen, said in a TikTok video that's been viewed nearly 3 million times since she posted it on January 23.

Nguyen explained that she did not have the original receipt, but recalled the date on which she had originally purchased the couch. That allowed a Costco retail clerk to process the transaction and issue a full refund to Nguyen. 

"I told her the date I bought it — she looked it up in the computer, told me exactly which one it was. That was it. She asked me if there was anything wrong with it ... I said I just didn't like it anymore," Nguyen explained, adding, "They gave us a full refund to his card, so yeah, it worked." 

Pleased with her experience, Nguyen has encouraged her followers to also purchase their furniture from the members-only store. "Buy your furniture from Costco, girl. You can return it when you don't like it anymore," she said. 

What is Costco's return policy?

Costco does indeed have a generous return policy, according to its website. 

"We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell, and will refund your purchase price," the company states. It lists exceptions on products including electronics, diamonds and alcohol and cigarettes, but does not indicate a timeframe within by which shoppers must bring their goods back. 

Costco did not immediately reply to CBS MoneyWatch's request for comment on its apparent unlimited returns window. 

In a subsequent post on TikTok, Nguyen indicated that she first asked a Costco retail clerk if the company would accept her return before hauling her sofa back to the warehouse. 

Other retailers with formerly generous returns policies have revised them to prevent customers from taking advantage and returning worn out goods just because they could. Maine-based outdoor specialty retailer L.L. Bean, for example, once had allowed its customers to return destroyed goods years after they had first purchased them. It now imposes a one-year limit on most returns to combat abuse and fraud. 

Megan Cerullo

Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News Streaming to discuss her reporting.