4 Actions Sure to Get Your Costco Membership Canceled

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Costco is famous for going out of its way to satisfy members. Everything, from sample stations throughout the store to its generous return policy, is meant to keep customers happy. However, that's not to say that members can do whatever they want. Specific actions just may get a membership canceled.

And once a Costco membership has been canceled by the warehouse giant, it's not easy to purchase a new one. Even if you would never take any of these actions, it's interesting to know what others are up to.

1. Getting creative with the store's return policy

For a few Costco members, protecting their personal finances means taking advantage of the store's return policy. Most items purchased at Costco can be returned at any time, while products like televisions and computers have a (still) generous 90-day return window.

RELATED: The #1 Strategy for Saving Money at Costco

Unfortunately, Costco employees are sometimes faced with dealing with shoppers who routinely make questionable returns. For example, on a Costco employee Reddit board, someone calling themselves dyzlexiK told the story of two customers who apparently had more nerve than common sense.

As dyzlexiK told it, "Years ago, we had a GM that was very aggressive with return abusers. I mean like bad abusers, not just people who return a lot. So these guys come in to return two TVs. This is their 7th and 8th returned TVs in 90 days, always just before the 90-day mark."

DyzelexiK went on to say that it had become obvious that the gentlemen were going to continue buying and returning televisions before the 90 days expired, so they would never actually have to pay for them.

DyzlexiK continued, "GM comes out to accept the return and say, 'Well, I guess the quality of our product isn't up to your standards, so we hope you find somewhere that fits your needs.'"

The general manager laid the men's $55 membership fee on the counter and wished them a good day. One has to wonder how long it took them to realize their membership had just been canceled and their days of watching a new television every 90 days were over.

2. Abusing an employee

If it seems like people are becoming bolder about showing their ugly side in public, you're absolutely right. According to the National Retail Federation – the world's largest retail trade association – nearly four out of five companies have seen a rise in guest-on-associate violence.

The impact on employees can be dramatic, leading to emotional and psychological distress, decreased job satisfaction, reduced productivity, and higher turnover rates. That doesn't even begin to account for the danger to an employee's physical well-being when a customer gets carried away.

Verbally assault or touch a Costco employee, and you can expect to have your membership immediately revoked.

3. Theft

Whether a member hides a package of lightbulbs under their coat, slips on a new pair of boots and leaves their old boots in the store, or takes the price tag off an inexpensive cut of meat and puts it on a more expensive cut, it's theft.

There's no doubt that sticking to a budget can be tough, but stealing from any retailer will bring trouble. At Costco, it can also lead to revocation of membership and a permanent ban from the retailer.

4. "Timing" your membership

Another Costco employee on Reddit -- this one with the handle CostcoPanda -- shared the story of a very bold former member who went to the customer service desk asking to cancel their membership. The man had used about 10 months of the 12 months he originally paid for. Once the man received his refunded membership fee, he handed it back to CostcoPanda and said, "Just take that and sign me up again."

The creative member went on to admit that he makes the same move every year because he doesn't believe in membership fees. After checking the customer's membership history, CostcoPanda realized that the man had canceled and immediately renewed his membership once a year.

It would be interesting to see the expression on the member's face when he was told that his membership was being deactivated for violating Costco's membership policy.

The easiest way to avoid a membership cancellation may be to remember the Golden Rule. Treat others (even multinational corporations) the way you want to be treated.

We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team. Dana George has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .