Costco Water Damage

The purpose of this website is to document my water damage claim stemming from a refrigerator installation performed by Costco on 12-2-2024 so that others in the future will understand what a claim process is like, what to expect, and to be better prepared to navigate claims.

This particular claim involves displacing my wife, kids, and myself during the holidays as our home has been declared unlivable by mitigation specialists. While I'm sure this magnitude of loss is atypical, the goal is to give you a generalized idea as I previously went though a water loss and had no blueprint for how to deal with it. This is my blueprint for you.

On 12-2-2024 we had a KitchenAid refrigerator delivered and installed by Costco. I purchased a refrigerator from Costco.com that included delivery. Costco sent out an uninsured contractor to my house to install that caused major damage. The rest is being written.

News4Jax Story

Players in this claim

Click the name for more info (more to come)

Documentation

More coming soon

Communications

Copies of all of my emails with RXO, Costco, Sedgwick coming soon.

Expenses

These are the expenses to pay for our alternative living, mitigate our house, and bring our house back to the same condition it was in before the damage. Any enhancements, upgrades in materials, etc.. are not reflected here. These are my cost to be made whole and not a penny more. Not all expenses are listed, but notable ones are.

Approximate damage to house $360k
Personal property damaged $76k
Alternative Housing and living expense $78k
Mitigation and moving and storage $117k
Professional services to recover monies from RXO so far $72k
Alternative Housing
17196.59
Damaged personal property (Incomplete)
72493.23
Environmental Protocol
875.00
Furniture moving and storage
9883.50
Furniture moving and storage
206.56
Mitigation Phase 1 (2 weeks)
10477.53
Alternative Housing
471.38
Moving Supplies
123.57
Alternative Housing
34393.19
Grand Piano Move to storage
852.50
Piano Storage so far ($75/mo)
450.00
Cost for Estimate
100.00
Cabinets and Countertops in 5 areas including kitchen
137419.38
Cost for Estimate
125.00
Mitigation Phase 2 (8 weeks)
69581.96
Post Remedial Environmental Verification
760.00
Concrete pad repair, tile, and backsplash
62293.00
Per Diem for food - no kitchen. FEMA rate $75 per day per person
27000.00
Insulation, Level 5 Drywall, and Painting
31498.48
Carpet
9997.00
Moving items back into house
8975.25
Mediation
660.00
Professional service fees for adjusting
86253.95
Post Construction Cleaning
3817.31
Carpentry (cabinets and mouldings), material, plumbing, electrical, plus misc finishing.
99658.32
Work missed to deal with rebuilding
12787.47

Pictures

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Costco Water Damage Blog

Last 3 entries

Click here for all blog entries
July 24, 2025

No updates as of today from Costco or RXO. They haven't reached out once since the mediation. I've been asked to take the temperature down until after this is resolve I court, so that's what I'm doing.

I still get emails from viewers of his website - 3-7 a week - that detail hw either Costco, RXO, or both put them in similar situations. I don't get a chance to reply to them all, but I read all of them. There is a clear pattern to the way these companies treat those whose property they damage that maximizes profit at their customers expense. The goal, it seems, is that since most of their claims are going to be for $5000 or less, is that they will offer you pennies on the dollar for actual damages in hopes that you will file a homeowners insurance claim. If you file a homeowners insurance claim, RXO or Costco pay you nothing, and for such small amounts, the insurance company isn't going to subrogate the loss to Costco or RXO, or if they do, it will be rare and recovery will be limited. By doing this, Costco and RXO are able to get by without paying you a dime. However when you file a homeowners insurance claim, you pay a deductible and you will increase your premiums for 3-5 years - so you're going to end up paying for it all out of pocket. This is the strategy they have taken.

Costco and RXO self insure for small losses. They don't use insurance for claims (less than 1 million I assume) so they don't have to abide by insurance laws each state has. There is no time limit to correct the issues, no requires information sharing - nothing. It is a well thought out corporate strategy mitigate their cost for damages they cause. Until the creation of this website, I couldn't find enough testimonial data to determine that this was happening, but with so many people reaching out and sharing their experience, aggregate data shows this is the strategy used. It's sickening and morally corrupt.

After exploring all options available to me and to you, my best advice to you to combat this issue is to take them to small claims court for each and every claim you have against them if they don't offer to make you whole upfront. Each state has a limit of small claims court, so you'll have to research your state - but filing is simple and you do not need an attorney. In my state, Florida, the small claims court limit is $8000. Filing is straight forward and the courts usually have some type of self service form and guidance to help you file easily. In an example I received last week from this website, Costco and RXO offered a customer $650 to settle for repairs caused, despite the customer giving them an estimate that it was going to cost $2500 to repair the damage. Their hope is that the customer will accept it because it's not worth the time or effort to sue them, or that the customer will file a homeowners insurance claim (although with a deductible it may not even be worth it). Either way, statistics show that they can get out of this for $650 if you accept, or nothing if you don't. That is the strategy, and it works. However, if this customer filed a small claims court suit against both of these companies, the cost of them just respond to the lawsuit will exceed the $2500 claim they have. They will offer to settle with you upon receipt of the lawsuit. The cost for them to defend against the lawsuit will cost them much more than just setting the claim and making you whole.

Remember, these companies are motivated by their bottom line and making sure they come out spending the least amount of money. Making you whole is not the goal. They are not your friend. If everything held these companies feet to the fire and sued them in small claims court they would have to adjust their practices or at the very least change their insurance to account for smaller losses. Do not let these companies bully you - there are alternatives.

In my case, which I'm sure is rare, small claims court won't cut it. I had to hire an attorney and spend larger amonts of money to sue. This lawsuit is being file by September 1st. Will link to it when filed.

I just received notice today RXO did not pay their share of the mediation we had in May. Each party owed $660. I paid my share (disgusting that I would have to pay to mediate when they know how much they owe me) and apparently so did Costco, but RXO did not. What a loser organization.

June 6, 2025

Glad that we didn't reach a settlement. Got another bill for the move out and move back that adjusted $5k more. I think this should be the last surprise bill, but I am not certain.

Crickets from Costco and RXO. They don't care about who they hurt.

May 28, 2025

The news story has sent hundred of thousands of people to my website over the past week. It's being rerun worldwide. A large national media outlet has reached out and wants to do a deep dive into this and other related cases. Hopefully we can shine some light onto how these large companies intentionally underinsure and screw their customers.

I've received messages from 31 people who have or have had issues with Costco and RXO - and there is a pattern here. It seems that waiting the customer out until they're desperate for any money at all is one tactic. Also I'm noticing a pattern of Costco using uninsured or underinsured contractors through their third parties. They are clearly aware of it but have not prevented it - risking their members homes in exchange for profit.

I made a last offer to Costco and RXO to settle it today before we reach a point of no return. Once a lawsuit is filed I'm going to see it through for every penny and post everything relevant to the case so you can see how they react.

Continue sending your experience messages. Publishing those is coming up very soon. Let's collectively cost these companies money through loss of trust and exposing how they handle their issues.

Click here for all blog entries

Testimonials from other Costco/RXO Victims

Coming soon - currently gathering pictures and feedback from other victims. Testimonials from the following people will be published soon after I get legal clearance to publish.

Elizabeth B.

Reno, NV

I purchased a refrigerator May 1, 2018. It was delivered and installed May 17, 2018. I was living in CA working on my MBA. I returned to the property June 6, 2018 to find my kitchen flooded - standing water in front of the fridge extending down 2/3's of my kitchen. I contacted costcocare and was told someone would reach in 24-48 hrs. The delivery team fixed the connection on 6/7/2018. It took 2 weeks. It ended up taking 14 months for the first insurance adjuster to come to the property. In the meantime, a representative of the broker contacted me and told me a "contractor" was going to come to the property to assess damage and get resolution moving. It turned out to be the delivery/installer company owner. He insisted he had the right to enter my property to determine if the damage exceeded his deductible. I kicked him out. He made up stories about why they didn't install it - copper pipes (manufactured homes don't have copper pipes), the shut off valve was under the sink. It turns out he took video surreptitiously 6 weeks after the incident without my permission. Stills from this video ended up in a "denial" letter issued by the broker, not an insurance adjuster. This broker claimed my demolition was "proof of prior damage". In March 2019 I received a letter from Sedgwick telling me I had to file as a creditor in the Sears bankruptcy to get compensation. 1. I didn't buy anything from Sears - Innovel Solutions (now Costco Logistics) was formed out of the Sears bankruptcy and 2. The Sears bankruptcy had been adjudicated in February 2019. I finally had to file suit in 2021 to meet the statute of limitations. I escalated to Mr. Jelinek 4 times, Mr. Mike Parrot, SVP E-commerce and Maggie Wilderotter, Board Director, with whom I have an acquaintance in common - no resolution. Multiple times representatives committed to resolution and it never materialized. Why the complexity? 1. Costco has third party contracts with brokers/LTL. Costco treats the purchase receipt and shipping notification as the method they "bind" you to the terms of the third party contract. This is BS. Costco also tries to assert the two bodies of contract law apply to the same transaction 1. The Uniform Commercial Code applies to the item and 2. Common contract law applies to the service. This is also BS. The UCC recognized the concept of "hybrid" contracts, Article 2. The determination of which contract applies is made by applying the "dominant element test". In the case of Costco's selling items/services together, the dominant element is the item and the UCC is the prevailing contract law. Why does this matter? It boils down to the degree of alteration to the original contract. In these cases, its the means for resolution. When Costco "binds" its members to the third party contracts, the means of resolution shifts to the third party - who cannot give a nanoshit about resolving the issue if it's significant and Costco doesn't force them. Costco's party line is "you need to pursue resolution from the party you think did the damage." Of course, the third parties know this and don't leave behind identifying documentation and you are literally left without means for resolution. 1. The purchase receipt and shipping notification cannot possibly constitute a binding to any other contract. 2. These email are unsolicited and there is no way Costco can confirm you've seen it or read it. 3. The alteration to the original contract is significant - means for resolution. I would argue the means of resolution is everything in a contract with Costco because we buy from them for that very reason - they give us reason to believe they will stand by the contract. This has been 7 years of hell. They've know I'm disabled since 2019 and they don't care. I had an attorney at first, but they blew him off as well. Costco sells us "Risk free 100% satisfaction guaranteed on membership and merchandise" and "Concierge" level of service and gives us a never ending nightmare by hiring the cheapest delivery/installer. The delivery/installer didn't even have a business license in his own city/county. BTW the American Customer Satisfaction Rating for Costco has never exceeded 86%. Costco has never achieve 100% so they should stop using this enticing language. They are also required to report to the SEC how they measure their KPI. Costco never mentions its satisfaction in its 10-Q and 10-K filings. Costco left me with a destroyed house for 7 harrowing years. I've had 2 eye surgeries, a nose surgery (none cosmetic), a broken wrist, a broken foot, shingles twice, two rounds of spine injections and spinal nerve ablation and a moldy house fighting them to fix this. We've come to a verbal agreement - waiting for payment. Buy local, hire you're own installer if you buy from Costco. Take pictures/video of the full path from street to the location of the appliance.

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Ethan A.

Jacksonville, FL

My experience with RXO was disappointing. They installed a refrigerator that malfunctioned, and when I reported it, they took weeks to respond. Their lack of urgency was frustrating.

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Isabella G.

San Jose, CA

Costco's installation of my washing machine was a nightmare. It leaked and caused damage to my flooring. When I sought help, they were unresponsive and did not assist with the repairs.

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James S.

Indianapolis, IN

After RXO installed my dishwasher, it leaked and caused water damage to my kitchen. I reached out for help, but they were slow to respond and did not take my situation seriously.

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Sophia W.

Columbus, GA

Costco installed my oven, but it never heated properly. I contacted them for help, but they were dismissive and did not provide any real solutions. I felt abandoned during a stressful time.

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Matthew K.

Austin, TX

My experience with RXO was frustrating. They installed a dryer that malfunctioned, and when I reported it, they took their time to send someone out. I felt like my concerns were ignored.

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Olivia A.

Statesville, NC

Costco's installation of my refrigerator was a disaster. It broke down within a month, and when I sought help, they were unhelpful and did not assist with the repairs.

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Kevin H.

Philadelphia, PA

After RXO installed my washing machine, it started making loud noises. I contacted them, but they were slow to respond and did not take my concerns seriously. I had to hire someone else to fix it.

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Samantha Y.

Julian, CA

Costco installed my kitchen appliances, but the dishwasher leaked and caused significant damage. I reached out for help, but they were dismissive and did not provide any real solutions.

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Going through the same thing?  Want to post your story here?

I am going to start a collection of all of the claims arising from Costco or RXO installation and publishing them here to demonstrate to potential clients the frequency of issues, resolution of issues, and let them weight the risks.

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I'm so sorry you're having to go through this. Costco is just not who we've been led to believe they are.