‘Costco Quality Has Declined’: New York Woman Buys $278 Ribeye From Costco. Then She Smells It. Can She Return It?

Costco is known for its generous return policy, with people being able to return half-eaten food, furniture, and appliances they’ve had for years.

One shopper found herself at the customer service counter to return a pricey meat purchase she was deeply disappointed by. Now, people are saying that this shows a larger quality trend at the big-box retailer.

Woman Returns Costco Meat

In a viral video with more than 280,000 views, Emmy (@emmy__k__) shared her experience attempting to return $278 worth of ribeye steaks to Costco after discovering they smelled off.

The footage shows a large plastic bag presumably full of Costco ribeyes, though the meat itself isn’t clearly visible. Instead, it appears as one big pink mass with red liquid pooling around it that’s slowly leaking and dripping onto the floor.

The text overlay on the video reads, “Imagine my embarrassment when returning $278 worth of smelly rib eye.”

In her caption, Emmy expressed her mortification at the situation, particularly the leaking, saying, “Omg it dripped. I’m dying.”

While Emmy doesn’t explain in detail what happened with the meat or how long she’d had it before noticing the smell, the video suggests the ribeye had gone bad despite being bought recently.

Costco’s Lenient Return Policy

Costco’s return policy is legendary. While other places have strict limits around when and what you can return, Costco is famous for accepting returns on just about anything. And yes, that includes food, even if you’ve already opened it or eaten some of it.

According to Parade, Costco’s policy is built around a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you buy food and it doesn’t meet your expectations, whether it’s a quality issue, spoilage, or you simply don’t like it, you can usually return it.

This extends to perishable items like meat. Parade notes that Costco accepts returns on produce, meat, dairy, and baked goods, even if something spoils quickly, has a bad smell, or just isn’t as good as you thought it would be. The company will generally refund or replace it.

The policy has led to some wild stories. According to AOL, customers have brought back everything from half-eaten rotisserie chickens to empty cases of wine.

Mashed reports that food that’s been unwrapped or even partially eaten will be accepted for returns and full refunds, no questions asked—though you’ll typically need to bring back at least half of the item.

Because Costco ties every purchase to your membership card, they can easily track your purchase history even without a receipt, Parade explains. But this also means they track patterns. Abuse the policy too much, and Costco can revoke your membership entirely.

What is Costco’s Official Return Policy?

Costco boasts a “risk-free 100% satisfaction guarantee.”

“We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell, and will refund your purchase price,” the site states.

While most items, including food, are returnable, here are the listed exceptions:

• Specific electronics (you can find the full list here) have a 90-day return window
• Diamonds must have all their original paperwork and will need to go through an authentication process.
• Cigarettes and alcohol
• Products with a limited useful life expectancy (like tires and batteries)
• Custom items
• Plane and event tickets
• Gold bullion, gold bars, and silver coins
• Gift cards

Why Beef Quality Issues Are Becoming More Common

There are some real issues happening in the beef industry right now that could be affecting meat quality at stores everywhere.

The U.S. beef industry is dealing with some serious supply problems, food ingredient manufacturer Kemin reported. Beef supply is dropping because cattle herds are shrinking. As there’s been an ongoing drought, costs keep going up, prolonging supply chain issues.

We’re eating less beef per person than we used to, about 56 pounds per capita in 2024, down nearly 2 percent from 2023. And things aren’t expected to bounce back anytime soon.

Kemin points to one major culprit for shrinking herds: drought. Pastureland across the Midwest has been struggling for years, and it’s getting worse. Cattle herds have been declining since 1975 and recently hit a 61-year low.

Commenters React

“It’s just me o lately Costco don’t have good quality like as before,” the top comment read.

“It’s not Costco, it’s our entire food system,” a person said. 

“Buy from family farms or farmers that ship meat to you. We raise beef, pork, lamb, and chicken. We ship all over the United States!” a business owner proposed.

“Embarrassed for the store that they would have the nerve to sell it,” another wrote.

BroBible reached out to Emmy for comment via TikTok direct message and contact form and to Costco via email.