We have a friend who tells a story about taking a broken TV back to Costco -- four years after she bought it. She didn't expect them to, but Costco gave her store credit. She upgraded to a nicer TV for not a lot of money, and they won her heart for life. (Lesson learned: It never hurts to ask.)

According to Ben Popkin at Consumerist, though, the days of those carefree and liberal return policies may be coming to a close:

Costco is making its liberal return policies stricter, according to a little birdy. Previously, you could return anything, except computers, at anytime, with or without a receipt.

Our tipster says Costco will limit returns to 30 days, citing 'abuse.' We called Costco and they had no idea what we were talking about, but if they were changing their policy, said Barbara, it wouldn't be until after Jan 1.

Barbara also said that if they were changing the policy, it would be to restrict certain items, like computers, which currently have a 6-month limit on their return.

If you have any Costco merch lying around the house that you're not feeling so hot about, Dec 31 might be the last day for you to return it. That is, if they were changing their return policy.