Is Costcos HDTV return policy ripe for abuse?
Early last year, Vizio’s 32-inch LCD TV was selling for around $1,400 at Costco. Right now, that same TV–well, actually, a better version of that model–is priced at $899. To anyone who’s been keeping tabs on the flat-panel TV market, this sort of price erosion isn’t exactly a great shock. But if you happen to have bought said TV, you’re probably experiencing a touch of buyer’s remorse. The fact is, today your $1,400 would easily buy you a 37-inch LCD TV. And by the end of this year, that kind of dough might get you within striking distance of a 42-inch LCD. Some stores offer a bit of price protection–usually about 30 days–but Costco is bold enough to tell customers they can return a product at any point during the course of its lifetime (except for computers, which are capped at six months). Depending on which Costco manager you run into, there appear to be some restrictions to this policy, but so long as your set is relatively blemish-free (read: no baseballs thrown through the mi
