[WayneM]

Don't tear up your card! Costco will refund membership fees at any time if your are unhappy.

It would be much better to go tell them you are unhappy, tell them why, and ask for your refund. I'm sure they track the reasons why people are unhappy, and if enough people do this, it's bound to get noticed.

[ErnBatavia]

Costco will refund membership fees at any time if your are unhappy.

Then they've changed their policy...when we used to have a card, I requested a one month extension (knowing I was gonna let it lapse) due to the fact that our Costco had been closed for over a month since the whole back collapsed in the Northridge earthquake.

Request denied. They pretended they didn't even know the store had been closed.

[Flash Bazbeaux]

I just joined last week. After two years, one of their cashiers finally notices that my wife does not match the picture on her cousin's card. [Those orientals all look alike, you know] They confiscated the card, then called my wife's cousin to report that someone else was using it. My wife's cousin, who had been tipped off, acted suitably "shocked" at the news.

Call me a criminal, but for two years I successfully deprived Costco of their right to deny me the privilege of giving them my money in exchange for their merchandise.

Unfortunately, my wife got used to shopping there, so this Christmas I agreed to get a card. In January we went "legit".

[Sgt_Schultze]

Make sure to CALL the 800 number. Costco has to pay for that communication. Email is free. Call early, call often.