Costco is facing a class-action lawsuit from a California man who alleges the company violated the state’s law on auto-renewals for memberships.
Russel George claims Costco failed to comply with a law requiring companies to give customers a renewal notice at least 15 days — and no more than 45 days — before an annual membership expires. Costco offers two membership tiers: a $65 annual membership and an “executive” membership costing $130 a year.
The lawsuit says George does not use his membership enough to justify keeping it.
“Had the plaintiff been provided this notice in a timely manner, he would have canceled his membership and not gone forward with the auto-renewal,” the complaint states.
Scripps News has contacted Costco for comment.
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Costco’s policy allows members to cancel memberships by calling a toll-free number or visiting a store location.
California law requires that “consumers must be able to cancel using the same method of communication as used to enroll in the plan or the method that the consumer generally interacts with the business.” Businesses must also offer “a toll-free phone number, email address, or other easy-to-use cancellation method,” according to the California Attorney General’s Office.
The Federal Trade Commission tried to implement similar nationwide auto-renewal rules in 2024 under the Biden administration. A federal appeals court struck down the rule in July 2025, with opponents arguing the FTC failed to follow proper rulemaking procedures.
Under the proposed rule, businesses would have been required to make cancellation at least as easy as enrollment — for example, if signing up took one click, canceling would have been just as simple. It also would have required annual reminders and confirmations for renewals of non-physical goods.
George’s case against Costco is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in June.
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