5 Reasons People Have Their Sam’s Club Membership Revoked

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A membership is required to shop at Sam’s Club. Keep yours in good standing by learning what can lead to a Sam’s Club membership getting revoked. 

If you like shopping at Sam’s Club, the last thing you want is to lose your membership. Since it has a large selection and reasonable prices, it’s a great place to shop without too much of a hit to your finances. Fortunately, Sam’s Club doesn’t go around canceling people’s memberships for no reason. That wouldn’t be a great way to run a membership club.

However, it does reserve the right to revoke membership, and it lists actionable offenses that could lead to this on its website. Here are the most common reasons for people to have their Sam’s Club membership revoked.

1. Writing bad checks

Bounced checks could get you bounced from Sam’s Club. You might be able to fix this if it’s a one-time issue, but not if it happens on a regular basis. A better option is to pay with a rewards credit card instead of a check, so you can earn cash back or points on your purchase. If you’re one of the store’s frequent shoppers, there are Sam’s Club credit cards that are worth checking out.

2. Shoplifting

Like most of the actionable offenses on Sam’s Club’s list, this one’s pretty self-explanatory. Most stores ban people who get caught trying to shoplift. With those that require a membership, including Sam’s Club and Costco, they’ll usually take away your membership.

3. Violent behavior

Your local Sam’s Club is not the place to throw down, even on Black Friday. You’ll most likely lose your membership, plus there’s the whole “could get arrested and spend the night in jail” part.

4. Abusive, disrespectful, or threatening behavior toward an associate; profanity used toward an associate

It should go without saying, but sadly, not all customers treat retail employees well. Sam’s Club considers practically any type of rude behavior toward its associates as an actionable offense. That gives it plenty of leeway to revoke memberships of problem customers.

5. Questionable returns

Return abuse is a common issue for retailers, especially those with generous return policies. It’s the No. 1 reason people have their Costco membership revoked, and it’s also an actionable offense at Sam’s Club.

You don’t need to worry if you have a legitimate return to make every now and then. Even if it has been months, or years since you made the purchase, Sam’s Club lets you return most items at any time. This stipulation about questionable returns is designed for the small percentage of customers who try to game the system. Here are a few examples of what can qualify:

Returning a large number of your purchases.Frequently returning items you’ve had for a long time.Committing any sort of return fraud, such as trying to pass off an old laptop or phone as a new one.

Most members won’t have any problems

The reasons listed above are the actionable offenses that Sam’s Club specifically mentions. It can technically revoke your membership for any reason, without cause.

The typical shopper doesn’t have anything to worry about. All the things Sam’s Club will ban you for aren’t exactly normal customer behavior. If someone tries to steal, start fights, or return 90% of what they buy at Sam’s Club, their membership could be revoked. The people who just shop there, enjoy the deals, and don’t yell at the employees can have a membership for as long as they want.

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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Lyle Daly has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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