That's absurd and Costco is out of line for expecting this of you, IMO. We recently had an issue with Amazon delivering items to us that were meant for someone else. This was during our shelter at home period, and we were not going to deliver these boxes to strangers, so we chatted online with Amazon and asked them to come pick up the items. They immediately told us to just keep them, it was their mistake, and they would reship to the correct address. I don't mind telling you we got some pretty nice pieces of merchandise, and I don't feel a bit guilty for keeping it, since that was Amazon's choice. I think Costco should extend the same courtesy to you. That they expected you to physically return it is laughable.

Frustrating for sure - however at some point you will get over it and you will probably stop and think you are thankful you don't have bigger problems in light of all that is happening in the world right now.

I understand the frustration, but Costco doesn't schedule UPS, so wouldn't have any way to know the exact time frame. I'm sure things change day to day for UPS, depending on their deliveries. I know i've gotten notice of things out for delivery to me, that go back to the warehouse that night and are delivered the next day. That happened a couple of times. I don't think critters are going to bother the coffee. And hopefully thieves couldn't lift it either.

Get a free account with UPS. Hopefully that will enable you to track the pick up.

I had a return that was a damaged item. The vendor turned in a claim and said UPS would pick it up or come to inspect it (I sent photos). After some pressing to find out what to expect, they said that I didn't have to leave it on my porch. If it wasn't there and I wasn't home, UPS would leave a tag letting me know they'd been there and when they would return. I don't see any reason it would be different for your Costco package. Though I am surprised they wanted you to return the box. Coffee, Tide and some canned goods doesn't sound like there would be much net after they pay shipping both ways.

I was wondering if this would be about their Instacart same day delivery. We did one order at the beginning of the stay at home, not knowing it was Instacart we would be dealing with, not Costco. It was a mess. We have recovered, but between that and an Instacart shopper we dealt with in the store, we are not likely to try them again. I'm sure it is hit and miss.

No good deed....you should never have called them. It just isn't worth it to any of you in the end. Why not just add it to the pantry and move on with life?

I’m surprised they wanted it back. Most aren’t taking returns at this time. . I am also surprised that they didn’t let you keep it since it was their fault.

I am having an issue with Bath and Body Works. I placed an order and then I saw a credit from them. My order was cancelled due to a shipment problem.

I called and replaced the order. A week passes and I get another charge, from the first order. I have to call and see if they are shipping another order or am I just getting a second charge by mistake. If an order comes, I’ll keep it, but I will let them know.

Very disappointing customer service.

Right, eld6161, most places are not taking returns.

I got Bath and Body works shipment the other day. The order said it would arrive June 5-18 and I got it Monday. I can't get liquid soaps with our grocery order, and that's the only place I could find them. Their stuff is so highly scented, though, so generally I avoid their products. Ugh. My first order I ordered a variety to see what I would like. I found one, White Citrus, that is very mild, so I ordered 6 of them. But the other two, Apple Hibiscus with a cat photo, and Seat Salt & Lime are too scented, though the Apple Hibiscus is the strongest of the ones that I've used so far.

This isn’t an Instacart order. It is just 2 day shipping from Costco. This is going to be interesting. We have rain predicted every day for the next week. My porch is tiny, albeit covered. If I have to let it set out for the next week, they could well be getting a bunch of soggy cardboard!

Arcy, it does feel like a “no good deed goes unpunished” situation. In hindsight, I almost wish I had not called them. I was trying to do the right thing.

eld6161, I was a little surprised they wanted it back after it had been unpacked and in my house. Although, I certainly hope my house is cleaner than their warehouse.

Allison0704, if I had been sure of what was in the box and if I’d known about returning like your DD did, that would have been the best scenario. But I couldn’t imagine I was getting exactly the same order.

If they had asked me to, I would have been happy to donate the foodstuffs to the local food pantry. Heaven knows, they need it in these times. Even if they hadn’t asked me, I probably would have done that anyway. One of the items, 12 cans of tuna, was a impulse buy. (And I’m still wondering what possessed me to buy it in the first place!) I sure do not need, cannot use, don’t want to store 24 cans of tuna. But I’m fairly certain the pantry could make good use of it.

If it does rain and the box becomes a soggy mess, you'll be the one stuck dealing with it. I'd consider contacting Costco one last time and telling them they have 24 hours to retrieve their items from your property, otherwise you consider the matter closed. If they don't comply, just put the items away and use them later. It is unreasonable for you to be expected to leave a box of merchandise sitting on your porch for the next few days. It's just inviting porch pirates.

They screwed up. Not your fault and not your problem. Their "solution" is not customer friendly, and they don't get to call the shots at this point.

I wonder if the reason they can’t pin down the date is because of covid? Every single order I have had lately has a warning about the possibility of deliveries being late, blah,blah,blah dud to covid issues. i would try what Terri said. I have accounts with both ups my choice, and fed ex. You will receive up-to-date tacking on orders. This is assuming, of course, you were given a tracking number.

No tracking number. Just “put it on the porch and UPS will pick it up sometime.” On hold with Costco now. Using the old HUCA (Hang up, call again) if you don’t like the first answer.

If you got your order #1 then isn't duplicate #2 something you didn't order? I thought when you're the recipient of something you didn't order you aren't legally obligated to return it. That seems overly simplistic but where's the line?

I'm also surprised Costco wants it returned. It was their mistake to double ship. You should not have to put up with any inconvenience, including having unordered goods sitting on your front porch, or extended wait times on the phone. As if!!

I'd tell them (whoever "them" is), get it out of here by a date/time of your choosing, or you will donate to charity. Who that charity is is up to you.

And how much of your own time have you already spent trying to fix their mistake? You tried to do the right thing, but you don't have to bend over backwards. I know you're a smart cookie who already knows this. I'm just annoyed on your behalf.

They should have told you to keep them, it's their problem, not yours.

DId you check to make sure you only got charged for one order?

I've always had good luck with Costco, but am also surprised they want a return going to their warehouse. Maybe they donate to a food bank and get the tax credit.

I ordered 3 tubes of hair gel for my grandson from a beauty supply. One for each of his parent's homes and one for mine. They arrived pretty quickly, but when I opened the package, they'd sent 3 tubes of semi-permanent hair dye in error! I tried to call customer service and no matter what option I chose, it disconnected me! So I emailed and got a return reply saying they'd look into it, please call their customer service. this should be interesting.

I did the HUCA. Predicted wait time was 30 minutes. Turned out to be over an hour, during which time I showered and got dressed for the day.

The 2nd customer service rep gave me the same 3 choices: return to the store (nope); pack it up and return to UPS (nope); leave it on the porch for some future pick up by UPS (nope). She said those were the only things she could offer. I said how about I give the foodstuffs to the local pantry and keep anything they can’t use. Her response was, “Sure. There is no record of you ever having received the second order so you can do anything you’d like with it and there will be no consequences.” 🙄

So, I have decided to give the Pantry what they can use and also give them a check for the amount of what I’m keeping that they can’t use. At least I can now get it out of the house more or less on my own schedule instead of having a box on the porch for some undetermined length of time.

Her response was, “Sure. There is no record of you ever having received the second order so you can do anything you’d like with it and there will be no consequences.”

That's Option 4 and they should have told you about it at the outset. Glad that's something that will work for you, even though you had so much frustration and wasted time.

I think it's admirable to donate and we do so regularly, but in this case I really would just keep the items, storing them away until needed. That donating would cause me to have to deal with the issue even further would be my deciding factor. YMMV.

In my case, donating is easy. I have a friend who volunteers at the Pantry. She can call me when she heads that way and I can put the stuff on the porch for her to pick up. It’s a convergence of my altruistic side (the Pantry needs it more than I do), my frugal side (if I keep it, it will go bad before I use it), and my conscience (I didn’t pay for it).

In that case, it's had a happy ending. I'm just sorry it took so much of your time to get there. I wonder if Costco has taken on a large number of inexperienced workers during this time.

IC, I had the same thought. I just didn’t feel like I was getting the usual level of service that Costco provides. I’m sure it is a tough time for them right now.

You're a good soul. I would have given up after the first call. :)

I had the exact same thing happen with Amazon, and had the same experience as Ida - they told me keep the duplicate shipment.

I'm appalled on your behalf. What a goofy, bad way to treat someone who was just trying to do the right thing. They should have led with option 4!

Good for you bbstx! You’re a kind soul. Costco has been very good and efficient even during the pandemic, and I generally try to cut the service and delivery sector some slack during these extraordinary times. Having said that, I sent my iPad for repair to Apple, which sent me a replacement device because mine wasn’t repairable. But FedEx lost the package. Between FedEx and Apple, it took over two weeks for me to receive the replacement. I did get very irritated with them, but couldn’t get upset. It wasn’t worth it, especially during these strange times.

Arcy said:

".you should never have called them. It just isn't worth it to any of you in the end. Why not just add it to the pantry and move on with life?"

That is just wrong. IMHO.

I could understand calling once and being put on hold for an hour and then never calling back but to not even attempt to contact them....well...as I said...I think that is wrong.

I admire your tenacity bbstx. This truly is so not typical of Costco and think it is indicative of this period of time.

Chewy is another great company with returns. If your dog/cat doesn't like the food, you can call about a refund/return and they tell you to donate to a local shelter. Hollywood Feed stores are local to me and several other states. They do refunds on opened bags/treats/whatever and then donate those, along with hundreds of bags a month, to local shelters.

When I click on “thank you” it changes from green to black. But when I navigate away and come back, “thank you” is green again. Please know that I thank all of you for listening and responding.

And my responses are all in reverse order! 🤦🏻‍♀️

I had an interesting return experience with Amazon.

I bought a ring light (for Zoom) and not only was it very cheap and flimsy, but the light quality was poor. It was way overpriced for what it was. So I initiated a return and opted to take to the UPS Store and let them do the rest. I got a scan code. I put everything back into the one box it came in, no labels, no nothing else. The UPS Store scanned the code, printed a receipt, and sent me on my way. Later that day, Amazon issued me a refund. I assume Amazon knew it had been scanned by UPS and that was good enough.

I don't know if it's a pandemic policy or just because the item was easy to pack and ship, but I like it.

@Bunny, I think Amazon started that before the Coronavirus shut-downs. I returned something to Amazon in mid-February and did the same thing. Loved it!

I think once they put the order for pick-up in, UPS will contact you to let you know when pick-up will be. Not sure, but UPS has always been pretty good about tracking. Maybe you could call and just ask them the general question of how exactly the return pick-up works. It is entirely possible that Costco really can't know exactly when UPS will show up.

Bunny, Amazon has been doing that since pre-pandemic. It's a nice touch I think.

@bbstx, interesting! I wonder if they were getting poorly repackaged items and confusing labels (gotta make sure the old one is removed or covered) to make it worth paying UPS a little extra to do it right. I never mind repackaging, being grateful for full refunds.

I'd paid with my AmEx and expected the refund to go there and that usually takes a week or two. But later that day I decided to order a different ring light. It was slightly more than the one I was returning. I expected to pay in full and sort it out later on. Instead Amazon showed I had a "gift card" for the full amount of the first light and offered to apply it to my next purchase. Sounded good to me so I paid an additional $5.50. I suppose if I'd wanted that money returned to my AmEx account I could have requested they do that.

I didn't read all the comments, but when it comes to mega chain stores accidentally sending 2x items? I would have spent maybe 5 minutes attempting to return it, tops. any more than that, I'd consider it mine. no room? donate it to charity.

so many other businesses have WAY better customer service than this.

On Mothers Day I received two identical floral arrangements, in separate deliveries, from the same florist and even the same driver. Both cards said the exact same thing. Clearly the florist messed up. I called them to tell them that they sent me an extra and they said it was their mistake and I should doubly enjoy the flowers.

I absolutely would have called Costco as you did. Yes, it was their mistake, but not at least giving them the chance to correct it (Them, not YOU), would feel like theft to me. You handled this situation with grace and patience.

You are much nicer and way more patient then me.

As soon as I heard the wait time to talk to someone I probably would have hung up. Then I would have emailed Costco‘s customer service telling them I had a duplicate order delivered and would appreciate an answer to what to do with it. And wish them a good day.

I would then monitor my credit card to be sure I wasn’t billed twice.

Then it’s in their court...check email once or twice a day.

I had something similar-ish happen with JCrew but because of the disorganization on their end and not doing what they said they would do and having already spent way tooo much time on it, I ended up keeping the duplicate pair of pants they sent.

I felt bad but in reality spending ANY more time trying to resolve it, and them not resolving it, again, it was way easier to keep them. Naturally, they're kinda funky and a dedicated look; high waist, crop and my smallest tightest size so not back up material, lol.

I can't tell you how many times a store let me keep something I wanted to return just because it wasn't worth the hassle. costco should know better. (unless it was a TV or some other super expensive item.)

Bunny - Amazon returns are always like that, if the item is fulfilled by amazon. sometimes when I use their return drop off center, I get my refund notice by the time I reach my car.

Update on my Lowe's order (might help someone in the future). I am still not sure why the chair order was canceled right after the tables are delivered. I'm now wondering if it was human error. After looking online for 3 hours for other chairs, I went back to Lowe's and ordered the pair of chairs again but shipped to the store (instead of home delivery). I received an email last night the chairs were ready for pick up, and they are now on our kitchen deck. Maybe ship to store is a better choice than home delivery.

I had ordered a small medical device on Amazon without realizing it would be shipped from China. I received an email from Amazon saying it was going to be late, and if it still wasn't delivered in X days I could ask for a full refund. So I did. Even though I canceled the order, the seller messaged me it was on the way.... again saying it was in CA.... again saying issues. Each time I said "cancel." It arrived two days ago, over a month late. I did not open and told the seller to send me a return receipt. He said due to shipping costs, would I be willing to keep it and pay them half. I said no. They replied credit was already given and just to keep it. Based on the most recent reviews it is trash. Persistence pays, but is such a PITA.

allison0704next time something like that happens at Amazon, hop on their chat line. it takes only a few minutes, and most of the time they just resolve it by giving you a refund right away (or store credit). it's easier / faster for them and they can afford it. they're really strict about adhering to their excellent customer service.

I swear I'm not a shill for them. I just shop there a lot, lol.

B F and allison0704, I've gotten a couple of "we'll give you $50 if you take down your negative review" emails from an Amazon vendor. I've found Amazon's chat line is the fastest most non-BS (seemingly) chat service I've experienced. I much prefer to go the chat route than phone, by a million percent.

OT: Why do people write "50$"? To me it's a dead giveaway.

Skipped down to ask - do you have a large trash bag or sheet of plastic that you could put the box in to protect it from the elements while it waits on your porch?

I'm reminding myself to be extra tolerant of inconveniences & annoyances these days, since everyone is under some sort of stress - some much more than others.

@carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10, in my first conversation with Costco I forgot the admonition to tell people what you want them to do instead of asking what they can do. In my second conversation, after I got the same 3 options which were still unacceptable, I told them what I was going to do. I donated all the edibles to our local food pantry and kept the rest of the stuff. Plus I sent a nice check to the food pantry to assuage any guilt I felt (which wasn’t much) for keeping the stuff I kept.

B F, it was easy to get the refund from Amazon, but Amazon told me because it was delivered (and verified by USPS), I would be charged for it again and I would need to dispute it with my CC company. I have message from seller in my Amazon account of the seller telling me just to keep the device. So proof to CC company if my card is charged again.