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Using Costco To Qualify For Points...

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Epcot
Valued Contributor

Re: Using Costco To Qualify For Points...

That's strange as I have had about two returns and one exchange in my many years as a member at Costco. Both times I was able to get the refund paid back to my CC, while the exchange was a simple: walk in, get the item I wanted to exchange for and take it back to the customer service desk for them to exchange (same item). Nothing more than a new receipt.

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Current Score: EQ 849 EX 835 TU 841
Message 11 of 15
RSCo
Established Contributor

Re: Using Costco To Qualify For Points...


@Epcot wrote:
That's strange as I have had about two returns and one exchange in my many years as a member at Costco. Both times I was able to get the refund paid back to my CC, while the exchange was a simple: walk in, get the item I wanted to exchange for and take it back to the customer service desk for them to exchange (same item). Nothing more than a new receipt.

I was shocked.. I asked her why and the only thing she said was that they couldn't credit it back to my original form of payment.. The seemed to be handing out cash to everyone doing returns.. I was shocked by this..

 

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Message 12 of 15
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Using Costco To Qualify For Points...

Beyond the questionable ethics, this may indeed be viewed as fraud, and possibly as supicious activity and I think Amex can submit a SAR.  

 

i.e. run screaming from this as an idea in my opinion.  There are certain things which are never worth the cost, and meeting a spend requirement at the expense of getting potentially getting close and personal with a Federal agency, is not my idea of a good time and I would suggest as something to be avoided.  Expect AA if Amex catches you regardless.

 

The Costco transactional cost is non-zero as well.  I'm not a lawyer, and I could be wrong about the SAR as I have no experience in financial crimes enforcement, but this strikes me as an incredibly bad idea.




        
Message 13 of 15
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Using Costco To Qualify For Points...

Something like this surely cannot be considered ethical behavior...

Buying goods to return for cashback to meet a spend requirement seems dishonest...
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Message 14 of 15
cashnocredit
Valued Contributor

Re: Using Costco To Qualify For Points...


@webhopper wrote:

Something like this surely cannot be considered ethical behavior...

Buying goods to return for cashback to meet a spend requirement seems dishonest...

Yeah, purchasing something with the intent to return it is dishonest. It's not a harmless thing either. A store cannot sell a returned item as new if it has been opened even if never used. There are databases that collect information about freq of returns. It's playing with fire.


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so my moniker is, well, rather out of date.

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Message 15 of 15
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