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5 Costco Items Employees Say You Should Never Buy

This one coffee machine is always being returned.

Costco has one of the most generous returns policies in retail, so it's no wonder people are always bringing products back—either because they are defective or simply not what the customer wants anymore. "I would just like to thank the Costco employees for making returns the easiest out of any store I've ever dealt with," one appreciative member said on Reddit. Costco employees who work in returns notice certain items are always being brought back, and recommend avoiding them entirely. Here are five items Costco employees say you should never buy at the warehouse.

Keurig Coffee Machine

Keurig K-Supreme Plus Special Edition Single Serve Coffee Maker, with 18 K-Cup Pods
Costco

Employees at Costco say the Keurig coffee machines are almost always returned due to defects. "Those little keurig machines were definitely the item I saw the most when I worked refunds," one worker said on Reddit. "The employees who took back my Keurig Supreme Plus said they nearly always end up returned before the year mark," one customer agreed. "I have the Ninja version now which does more, is easier to use, and is far more robust."

Dyson Vacuums

Dyson Cyclone V10 Animal + Cordless Vacuum Cleaner from Costco
Costco

Another Redditor said Dyson products are constantly returned. "Dyson vacuums and Keurig machines. Every single day, we get at least one Dyson and one Keurig back because they don't work. Every. Day. *Source: I work at membership/refunds. *I feel like I should note that Costco doesn't do 'exchanges.' You can return the item and rebuy a new one," the employee said.

Anti-Kink Garden Hose

FITT HiFlo 60ft Hose 2-pack
Costco

Another frequently returned item is the Kink-Free Garden Hose. "Not an employee but when we returned our kink free hose we purchased online (it was defective) the employee told us not to repurchase because they get returned all the time," one customer said. "Yeah I went thru 3 of those lightweight, rubber/fabric, expandable hoses from them. I really wanted it to work because they were great but all of them ended up leaking in like 30-60 days. The third one had the top straight up detach completely. Two of the returns I did the employee commented how they get returned all the time," another confirmed.

Blood Pressure Cuff

Microlife Bluetooth Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor with Irregular Heartbeat Detection
Costco

One customer says the blood pressure cuffs at Costco are always being returned. "Not an employee, but when I returned a wildly inaccurate blood pressure cuff for the second time, the returns guy didn't even need to look up the item number in the computer. He said they're returned so often he has the number memorized," the member commented.

Wine and Beer

Costco wine
Shutterstock

One Costco employee warned customers to be wary of the alcohol they buy in warehouses. "Wouldn't say most frequent, but as far as large quantities, beer and wine not used for weddings. I really wish we didn't. Not because of the money, because we sure have no problem re-selling it. Because temperature shifts are bad for both beer and wine, and the excess sitting in the sun baking during the event, or in an trailer that isn't refrigerated cooking, or just sitting in the back of someone's SUV doing the same thing until they find the time to come back is shit for the product and can skunk it or otherwise compromise quality and taste. I've talked to management, but every wedding season we take it back and re-sell it. Feel bad for the members who buy a case of beer thinking they've got a great deal and then open a bottle of pure skunk," the Redditor said.

Ferozan Mast
Ferozan Mast is a science, health and wellness writer with a passion for making science and research-backed information accessible to a general audience. Read more about Ferozan
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