Why Meat Is One Of The Most Returned Items At Costco

Beyond its store-brand items and famous food court, one of Costco's most defining traits is its generous return policy. Save for a few restrictions, you can return pretty much anything to the store, including perishable foods like meat. If that sounds a little out there to you, you'll be surprised to learn that meat ranks among the most frequently returned foods at Costco, mainly due to quality issues.

Costco offers many top-value cuts of meat that are delicious when fresh, but dig around, and you'll find some controversies about the store's offerings. For one case, the popular Kirkland Signature rotisserie chicken took a hit to its reputation in 2024, when scores of buyers found yellow-green meat inside the birds. Shoppers suspected Green Muscle Disease, a medical issue common to farmed chickens. 

In 2025, yet more Costco customers complained about repeatedly finding "woody" raw chicken breasts. "Woody" meat is also the result of health defects in chickens, and like tree wood, the meat is tough, fibrous, and even crunchy. One Reddit user who encountered the problem said, "I just returned [my chicken] ... and the lady said 'I've had so many people return this!'" 

Technically, there was no need to panic if your Costco chicken was green or woody, as meat affected by these issues is generally still safe to eat. But the same can't be said for chicken that smells rotten as soon as it's opened, which many Costco customers have also complained of. We can't blame shoppers for returning these products in droves.

You can find serious savings on steak at Costco, including premium pieces of cow like fatty ribeye steaks. However, starting in 2024, customers found a major problem with Costco ribeyes, saying the meat had gone from well-marbled and delicious to chewy and low-quality. One Reddit user described the steaks as having "literally no marbling and tiny [fat] caps." Another commenter said, "The quality of Costco beef, in general, has fallen considerably in the past five years ... Marbling and taste have declined".

Unlucky customers have also alleged that they bought straight-up spoiled ribeyes, prime rib, and beef short ribs from Costco. Considering that these are all fancy, expensive cuts – a pack of Kirkland Signature Choice ribeyes usually costs around $75 – it's only natural that many of these shoppers asked for their money back.

Costco's pork butt, ground pork, legs of lamb, and even deli turkey meat have also been called out for spoiling before customers opened the package. In our list of Costco deli meats to buy and avoid, we named some great picks, but beware: It's not just the store's raw meats that may merit a refund. As for a more unique issue, a photo on Reddit shows a pack of Costco pork belly that is mostly pure fat. Normally, fat is the whole appeal of this cut, but a ratio like this would make anyone feel cheated. Commenters in the thread wrote that they experienced the same issue, and one asked for a refund.

In fairness to Costco, issues with its meat products aren't always 100% the store's fault. "Woody" chicken has been a persistent problem in the U.S. poultry industry for years, and the woody chicken breasts that troubled so many Costco customers were also frequently seen at other major grocery stores at the time. Plus, customers may return meat that has nothing wrong with it after all. Costco shoppers have pointed out that slightly sour-smelling meat sold in vacuum-sealed packaging might only smell that way because lactic acid has built up in the plastic, a totally normal and harmless phenomenon that dissipates after a few minutes.

If you suspect you've bought some "off" meat from Costco, learn how to tell if meat is truly spoiled before you decide to brave that long return line. Of course, if the meat hasn't been cut properly, is mostly fat or gristle, or is otherwise not as advertised, returning it is an easier decision — and it's easy to do, too. In fact, some customers say their Costco didn't require them to physically take spoiled meat back to the store. You may be able to simply bring your receipt and explain the situation. Call your local warehouse to ask about this if you'd rather not load a rotten pork roast back in your car (and who could blame you?). If you threw away your proof of purchase, you can even return items to Costco without a receipt in many cases.