Google is your friend. From the Costco website
Merchandise: We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell with a full refund. The following must be returned within 90 days of purchase for a refund: televisions, projectors, computers, cameras, camcorders, touch screen tablets, MP3 players and cellular phones.
Thanks for the info - I was not able to find it when looking earlier.
However, check the following, just after the above quote:
Within 90 days you may receive a refund on the handset itself. However, you will still be responsible for any applicable early termination fees if service is canceled after the Trial Period. The Trial Period varies by carrier and State. See carrier Cancellation Policy for details.
So, it would appear that you certainly can get a refund from Costco after 14 days, buy you are still obligated under contract to Verizon. When you buy a new phone at a Verizon-authorized retailer (Costco - actually Wireless Advocates), there are two transactions - the purchase at Costco and the service contract with Verizon. Verizon has subsidized the purchase price to Costco (Wireless Advocates) - this is the reason for the mandatory 2-year service contract.
My interpretation of this is that you can return the phone to Costco within 90 days for a refund of the purchase price, but if the return is after 14 days (Verizon's "trial period" of 14 days) you would be on the hook to continue paying the monthly service charges under the contract or to pay the early termination fee of $350.
If I returned the phone after 14 days, exchanged for another phone (Razr Maxx) and continued paying on the contract, I assume that the early termination fee would not apply because I would still keep the service contract. The key word is
assume. But there is another "gotcha". Can Verizon be counted on to "play nice" with Costco in terms of staying on the contract while still being eligible for the discounted price on a new phone (the Razr Maxx)? In other words, I'm already under contract from having purchased the 1st phone. Then I return the phone to Costco for a refund. Now I have no phone, but I'm still under contract to Verizon. Costco (playing under Verizon's rules) would not allow me to buy another phone at the discounted price - I would have to pay the full retail price. Oops.
If I return the phone to Costco after 14 days and then re-activated and used an old ("off-contract") phone, then no harm, no foul - I would just paying the monthly service charges while using the old phone. However, I would now be under contract for the remainder of the two years because I purchased a new phone at the discounted price. And I couldn't buy a new phone at the discounted price for almost two years.
Remember the two transactions. The phone purchase at Costco was reversed when the phone was returned within Costco's mandated 90 days, but the contract agreement with Verizon can be reversed only by returning the phone within Verizon's 14-day Trial Period.
I think that this line of reasoning is why the lady at my local Costco phone kiosk informed me that the effective return period is 14 days.
Am I wrong here? Do you know someone who has returned a phone to Costco after 14 days and was able to buy (or exchange for) another phone at the discounted price, not the full retail price of $650 or more?
Verizon is holding all the cards - they control access to the phones and lock you down tight with the contract.
