How Costco hooks you Come for the hot dogs, stay for the gold bars
That was the case for Troy Pavlek, a 31-year-old software developer from Edmonton, Alberta.
A Costco executive member since 2012, he says he pays to shop at Costco for “the confidence that anything you buy in the store, the store will stand behind or your money back” and he has rarely had to return anything.
While remodeling his house, he splurged on two $900 toilets. When the manufacturer refused to replace a cracked plastic piece that joined the lid to the toilet on one, he returned the other one unused and still in the box — minus the lid.
Should I return this to Costco? Ethics debated
According to Ayelet Fishbach, professor of behavioral science and marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an ethical dilemma drives the spirited controversy over Costco returns: “Should people follow the letter of the rule or the spirit behind it?”
Fishbach got an inkling of where most people stood when she surveyed hundreds of consumers on whether they would return lightly worn clothing. About 40% said yes, but that number dropped significantly when they were asked if they would do it repeatedly.
“It seems many people are comfortable occasionally bending the spirit of a policy, and may even find it amusing, but hesitate to make a habit of it,” she said.
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