The Frequent Complaint Costco Shoppers Make About The Meat Department

Shopping at Costco is all about buying in bulk. It's a smart way to save money for many households, who often turn to chest freezers to store perishable ingredients, like meat, for the long haul. However, some omnivorous foodies have reported that they don't feel like they are getting their buck's worth. To steer discerning shoppers straight, Tasting Table rounded up six frequent customer complaints about Costco's meat department and, according to many shoppers, the meat has an unappetizing tendency to spoil way too quickly.

There is no shortage of social media commentary detailing this experience from shoppers. In a Reddit thread, one Costco member shared that they purchased ground beef on August 9 with a best-before date marked at August 10, only to discover that the meat had turned gray and foul-smelling less than 24 hours after bringing it home. "Absolutely ridiculous," writes the poster. "It was refrigerated within an hour of purchase and still went bad before I literally had a chance to use or freeze it."

Other commenters have shared similar frustrating experiences. "I returned chicken that smelled terrible after a day as well. Got a lot of looks," one added. Indeed, in order for shoppers to receive a merchandise refund at Costco, they have to return the item in-person — a noteworthy nuisance.

The good news is that, if your meat goes bad quickly, Costco wants to make it right. Under its generous Risk-Free 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, Costco will take back pretty much any item that customers have an issue with for any reason. Quality and spoilage issues (even on opened packages of perishable items) fall under this umbrella. The bad news is that the item must be brought back to the store and returned in-person. When it comes to returning rancid raw meat, the prospect of packing it up, driving it to a store, and having to hand it to an employee is an unpleasant scene for everyone, to say the least. It's even worse if your local Costco location doesn't happen to be nearby. 

Some shoppers and store employees have said online that the rules of the return policy can be lenient at some store locations. To avoid bringing weird meat to the return counter, one Costco employee on Reddit recommends shoppers take a photo of the rancid meat, throw the meat away, then come back to the store with the photo and the empty meat packaging. However, others say that this strategy doesn't always work: "I tried this a couple years ago and they wouldn't refund the meat because I didn't physically bring it in. She said without the actual item being returned, they can't refund anything." 

This isn't to say that Costco's meat department isn't selling plenty of high-quality items, too. But, no matter how you spin it, handling rotted meat is an unpleasant experience that has customers taking to social media to complain.