Costco has been hit with a class action lawsuit in California accusing the warehouse club of renewing memberships without sending legally required notices at the right time. The complaint says Russel George’s Gold Star annual membership was automatically renewed in January 2026, and Costco charged his payment card $65.
George says he got an email notice 60 days before the charge, which he argues fell outside California’s 45-day window under the Automatic Renewal Law. He says he had been reconsidering whether to keep the membership because he shopped at the retailer infrequently, and claims he would have cancelled if he had received timely notice.
The lawsuit, George II v. Costco Wholesale Corp., Case No. 3:26-cv-02369, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. George, represented by Matthew Smith of Migliaccio & Rathod LLP, says Costco’s notices also failed to disclose the length and terms of the renewal, the amount to be charged, and any way to cancel the automatic renewal.
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Those omissions sit at the center of the case. George says Costco violated California’s Automatic Renewal Law, False Advertising Law, Consumers Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law. He is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, damages for himself and other class members, and a jury trial.
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The dispute turns on a simple question with broad consequences: whether Costco’s renewal system gives members enough warning and enough information before their cards are charged. If George’s allegations hold, the case could force the company to change how it handles automatic renewals for millions of customers in California.
