Life will never be the same again....

I was so devastated by this news that I felt the need to write a note of preparation/warning to my fellow Costco lovers out there.

I recently decided to try out a digital SLR camera. Of course, I went straight to my beloved Costco, knowing that I could buy it, try it out and then return it if I decided not to keep it. What I love about Costco is that you can return anything and they'll take it back, and there's no time limit! What other company has that kind of return policy or service?! It's what makes Costco, Costco.

So I bought 2 cameras: the Nikon D80 and the Canon 400D/Rebel XTi. I took them home, charged their batteries and only opened what I really needed, keeping everything else in plastic. I shot several dozen of pictures on both cameras, and not feeling the love, so to speak, decided to return them the next day. The teller promptly accepted my return, but with a stark warning:

"Costco will only accept returns on electronics if it has been less than 30 days from the date of purchase, starting NOW." She emphasized, "NOW."

OMG! What has happened to my beloved Costco?? John will ask me now and again if I would consider moving to some random place, like Shanghai, NY, London or Seattle. I always tell him the same thing, "NO. But if I had to, I would only move if there was a Target and a Costco within a 10 minute drive."

So imagine my devastation. If I had decided to keep those 2 cameras a little longer, maybe take them on our trip to Tahoe at the end of January for a little comparison test, and then tried to return them, I'd be stuck with 2 digital SLR cameras and a tab for $2300! In the past, even laptops were given a 6 month window for returns. But that is no more.

As I waited for a salesperson to open the boxes and check to make sure everything was inside as it should be, a lady came up to return a dead plant. It was a stick inside a pot of dirt. The clerk said, "Lady, that's just wrong." He had her money refunded and told her to throw the plant in the trash next to her. The woman after her had a package of kodak photo paper and 1 small watermelon. The clerk, whose name I've now learned is Edgar, asked her, "Ma'am, where's the printer that this paper goes with?" I was distracted by the salesperson checking my boxes so I didn't hear her response, but when I turned back to her, she was saying how her watermelon was all watery when she opened it and so had to return the other that it came with. When her return was processed, she walked away with approximately $220.

So yes, I understand that Costco would feel the need to set some limits on their returns, but the ONE thing that set Costco apart from all the rest was their spectacular return policy. They were unique in all the world! Now that it's been compromised, well, I feel there is less security in my life. Now, anything electronic that you buy is at risk.

So I have to walk away from all those items that I had planned to return: my point and shoot camera, the TV we bought for John's parents, my bluetooth headset, our new Panasonic phones (I just saw that they're now in a bundle with 3 handsets for the same price as I bought our set with 2).

I'm not sure if Costco will have any backlash from this change. It seems to me that now we can buy our TVs and phones from any other store with the lowest prices. Even Best Buy has a 60 day lowest price guarantee on HDTVs.

So, what does this mean?! Does this free me to move anywhere in the civilized world? No!! I want my Costco back!