How to Cancel Costco Membership

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Sign in on costco.com with the Primary Member's account

   Go to costco.com and select Sign In / Register in the top right. Costco's help says your membership has to be verified on the account before you can change Auto Renewal. If it isn't yet, open Account, then Account Details, enter your membership number if it isn't listed, click Verify Membership and answer the identity questions, which come from a third-party public records service. If verification fails, Costco sends you to a membership counter with your card and photo ID, or to its chat. Use the Primary Member's account: Costco's cancel help is written for the Primary Member, and its terms make that person responsible for the membership.

2. 2

   Open Account, then Renew Membership

   Once you're signed in you'll see Account to the left of Orders & Returns. Under Account, choose Renew Membership. This is where Costco keeps the Visa or Mastercard set up for Auto Renew. A member on r/Costco points out that the renewal card doesn't show under Payment Methods, so don't look for it there.

3. 3

   Remove your card from Auto Renew before your renewal month

   Remove the card set up for Auto Renew. Costco charges Auto Renewal on the first day of your renewal month, and says to remove it at least two business days before that day if you want the membership to expire at the end of the current year (72 hours before if you do it by chat or phone). Your membership stays active through the last day of your renewal month and then ends. This stops next year's charge but refunds nothing for the year you've paid; for that, see the next step. If you remove it within 48 hours of the renewal date, Costco says the card will likely be charged anyway and refunded automatically within two business days.

4. 4
   If this applies to you

   To cancel now and get your fee back, call or visit a membership counter

   Costco's Risk-Free 100% Satisfaction Guarantee says it will cancel and refund your membership fee at any time if you're dissatisfied. The Primary Member can do it at any warehouse membership counter, which refunds you on the spot, or by calling Member Services at 1-800-774-2678 and asking for a live agent (Monday to Friday 6am to 6pm PT, weekends 8am to 5pm PT). Costco's chat says it can't process membership fee card transactions, so use the phone or the counter for this. On r/Costco, one member says the phone agent asked identifying questions for a few minutes and then cancelled with a full refund; others say a photo ID is enough at the counter. Executive Members get the refund minus any 2% Reward (see below), and a 2% Reward certificate can only be redeemed by an active member, so use it before you cancel.

   Heads up: Members on r/Costco report counter staff pushing back on refunds and downgrades, with excuses or by not acting on the request. Costco's own policy is a refund at any time. If the counter won't do it, ask for a manager or call Member Services.

5. 5
   If this applies to you

   If Auto Renewal already charged you

   Use Costco's Auto Renewal Refund Request form at customerservice.costco.com/app/auto_renewal. It covers a US membership that renewed automatically on the first of the month and refunds the full renewal amount, plus applicable taxes, to the card that was charged. It asks for the cardholder's name, an email address, your membership number and the full amount charged; there are no partial refunds through it. Costco says refunds take about 5 to 7 business days, and that the membership then expires at the end of the month unless you renew it at a warehouse or on costco.com.

6. 6
   If this applies to you

   If you're an Executive Member, you can downgrade to Gold Star instead

   A downgrade keeps you a member and refunds this year's Executive upgrade fee, but Costco only does it at a membership counter or on 1-800-774-2678, not online. Costco applies the same rule to a downgrade and a cancellation: any 2% Reward issued or accrued is subtracted from the refund, and forfeited where it's bigger than the refund. Its Executive help adds that members who reverse their Executive status lose all rewards accumulated, and that rewards aren't prorated. The Reward certificate is mailed with your renewal notice, two to three months before your renewal date by Costco's various help answers. Costco's join page terms also let it remove unused Instacart credits once an Executive membership closes. One member on r/Costco found the phone menu has no downgrade option, but pressing 0 reached a person who helped.

   Heads up: Members on r/Costco say counter staff are pushed to sell Executive and Auto Renewal, and one was told a downgrade had to wait until a month before renewal. Costco's help articles on downgrades and refunds don't mention any waiting period. If you hear that, call Member Services instead.

7. 7
   If this applies to you

   If you have a Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi

   The card depends on your membership. Citi's reward certificate FAQ says that once you no longer have a valid Costco membership, you'll be notified the card will be closed, and cash back not yet paid out as a reward certificate is forfeited unless the law says otherwise. A certificate already issued can still be redeemed at any US Costco, Puerto Rico included, through December 31 of the year it was issued, and you don't need an active membership to cash it at the member services desk. Citi issues each year's certificate after the February statement closes, so cancelling soon after it arrives leaves the least cash back behind.

8. 8
   If this applies to you

   If you're not on Auto Renewal, the membership runs out

   Without Auto Renewal nothing is charged automatically. Your membership is active through the last day of your renewal month, which is on your renewal notice and in Account Details on costco.com, and if you don't renew it ends there. One catch from Costco's membership terms: any overdue membership fee is added to your first warehouse purchase after the expiration date. To get back what you paid for the current year, use the counter or phone route above.

9. 9
   If this applies to you

   If you're charged after removing Auto Renewal

   If you removed it inside 48 hours of the renewal date, give Costco its two business days to refund the charge on its own. Otherwise, open Renew Membership again and check that no card is set for Auto Renew: one member on r/Costco was enrolled after deliberately skipping it at sign-up, and others describe warehouse staff pressing them to turn it on. Another found a level change promised at the counter hadn't gone through before the renewal ran. Ask for the money back with the Auto Renewal Refund Request form, or at a membership counter.