A Sam’s Club charge on your statement: SAMS CLUB RENEWAL, SAMSCLUB # or SAMSCLUB.COM

SAMS CLUB RENEWAL is the yearly membership fee. Sam’s Club signs new members up for automatic renewal and charges the card on file at the end of each membership year.¹ SAMSCLUB # or SAMS CLUB # with a number is a purchase at a club; the number is the club’s.⁷⁹ SAMSCLUB.COM or SAMS CLUB.COM, sometimes followed by 888-746-7726, is an order placed online or in the app.⁶⁸

What it looks like on a real statement

A Louisiana school system publishes every charge on its purchasing cards. These lines are copied from two of its yearly files:

The town after SAMS CLUB RENEWAL tells you where the renewal was paid. In the 2024–25 file, 33 of the 37 renewal lines name a town with a club, Covington or Slidell, and four name 888-746-7726, AR.⁶ Sam’s Club’s contact page gives (888) 746-7726 as its number.⁵ Its help page calls the same charge “Sam’s Club Member Renewal”.¹

Why the renewal is not a round number

Sam’s Club’s renewal charge “includes charges of membership fees, add-ons, and local taxes where applicable”.¹ So a $60 membership does not show as 60.00. In the Louisiana school files, 23 of the 37 renewals in 2024–25 are $54.35, and 10 of the 12 in July and August 2026 are $65.55 or $65.78.⁶⁷ $54.35 is $50 plus 8.7%, and $65.55 is $60 plus 9.25%; that arithmetic is ours, the files do not split out the tax. Renewals of $119.57 and $120.59 fit $110, the Plus price before May 2026, with the same tax.⁶

A $1.00 charge near the renewal date is not the fee. Sam’s Club says it is “a hold to make sure your card on file is still active and valid” and that it “will fall off once the card is actually charged for the full renewal fee”.¹

The fee went up on 1 May 2026, and the card records show the day

Sam’s Club announced on 1 April 2026 that from 1 May the Club membership would cost $60 a year instead of $50, and Plus $120 instead of $110. Current members pay the new price when they renew. The fee had last gone up in October 2022.⁴ Its join page now lists Plus at $120 a year and Club at $60.³

The State of Delaware publishes every purchase its employees make on state cards. When we checked on 19 October 2026, its membership lines, SAMS CLUB RENEWAL, SAMS MEMBERSHIP and NEW SAMS.COM MEM#, show each step:⁸

Lines with other amounts, which the data does not explain, are left out of the table. The same offices renewed year after year. One Delaware school district paid $110.00 on 16 October 2024 and on 16 October 2025, then $120.00 on 25 August 2026. In Louisiana, the school that paid $54.35 on 17 July 2024 paid $65.55 on 17 July 2026, the same day of the year.⁶⁷⁸ If your renewal is $10 more than last year, this is why. Sam’s Club says members on Auto Renew are told the date and the total before the charge: by email up to 14 days before, or by post up to 30 days before for members without an email address.¹

One club, two names; and SAMSCLUB.COM became SAMS CLUB.COM

The same club appears both with and without the space. The Louisiana file has SAMSCLUB #4874 and SAMS CLUB #4874 on one card, both in Covington.⁶ Sam’s Club’s page for club 4874 is the Covington Sam’s Club, Louisiana.⁹ In Delaware’s data, club 6330 has 2,526 lines as SAMS CLUB #6330 and 2,349 as SAMSCLUB #6330, both from January 2016 to September 2026;⁸ club 6330 is the Dover Sam’s Club.⁹ Put the number after samsclub.com/club/ to see which club it is.

Online orders changed name in stages. Delaware’s cards show SAMS INTERNET until February 2017, SAMSCLUB.COM from March 2017 (2,810 lines), and SAMS CLUB.COM from 5 November 2025 (366 lines). The two ran side by side for nine months; the last SAMSCLUB.COM line is dated 5 August 2026.⁸ The Louisiana file has both on one card, three weeks apart, in the summer of 2026.⁷

How to stop it and get the money back

1. Check who in the household holds the membership A membership has a Primary Member and can have a complimentary household cardholder and add-on members, and the renewal charges the membership fee plus any add-ons to a card on file.¹ If you did not join, ask whoever in your home or business shops at Sam’s Club.
2. Turn off Auto Renew Sign in to your online account, select Manage Membership under Account, then Cancel Membership, then Yes, Cancel. The membership and its add-ons then expire on the date shown. A club’s Member Services desk can also remove Auto Renew.¹
3. Ask for the fee back Under the 100% Membership Satisfaction Guarantee, Sam’s Club cancels the membership and refunds “the amount paid for your current year membership fee”. It does not apply to sponsored memberships, and there is a limit of one Plus cancellation per household or business per year.² Ask at a club or call (888) 746-7726.⁵
4. If it is not yours If nobody you know holds a Sam’s Club membership and the line names a club you have not been to, call your bank, dispute the charge and ask for a new card. Ask the bank what its deadline is.

Is this a scam?

The names are real: a school system in Louisiana and the State of Delaware pay them every month.⁶⁸ The renewal comes once a year, on about the same date, for the membership fee plus tax; that is what it looks like when it is genuine.¹ A SAMSCLUB.COM order or a club purchase you did not make is a different matter, and that is for your bank.

Why this page is on a site about held money

This site records payment companies that hold back money that belongs to someone else. Sam’s Club is not in the incident record; the part of this page closest to it is a membership that renews itself at a higher price. Sam’s Club belongs to Walmart, whose own lines are explained on the Walmart charge page; the Amazon equivalent is AMAZON PRIME*, and Target’s store and online lines are on the Target charge page. Other lines are in the table of statement names.

Sources

1. Sam’s Club Help Center, "How to change Auto Renew settings": new memberships enrolled automatically, how to disable Auto Renew, the “Sam’s Club Member Renewal” charge, notices 14 or 30 days before, fees plus add-ons and local taxes, the $1 hold. help.samsclub.com. The help center refused our requests on 19 October 2026; read in the archived copy of 20 April 2026.
2. Sam’s Club, "Join the Club", footnote 9: the 100% Membership Satisfaction Guarantee, sponsored memberships excluded, one Plus cancellation per household or business per year. samsclub.com. Read in a browser on 19 October 2026.
3. Sam’s Club, membership page: Plus $120/year, Club $60/year. samsclub.com. Read on 19 October 2026.
4. CNBC, "Walmart-owned Sam’s Club raises its annual membership fee to $60", 1 April 2026: $60 and $120 from 1 May, up from $50 and $110, current members at renewal, last raised in October 2022. cnbc.com. Read on 19 October 2026.
5. Sam’s Club Help Center, "Contact Us": “Contact Sam’s Club, (888) 746-7726”. help.samsclub.com. Read in the archived copy of 8 April 2022 on 19 October 2026.
6. St. Tammany Parish Public Schools (Louisiana), "Credit Card Transactions July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025": 37 SAMS CLUB RENEWAL lines, SAMSCLUB #4874 and SAMS CLUB #4874, SAMSCLUB.COM 888-746-7726, AR. Cardholder names are in the file and left off this page. finalsite.net. Read on 19 October 2026. Archived copy of 10 October 2026.
7. St. Tammany Parish Public Schools, "Credit Card Transactions July 1, 2026 to August 31, 2026": 12 SAMS CLUB RENEWAL lines, SAMSCLUB.COM and SAMS CLUB.COM on one card, refunds at SAMSCLUB #6220. finalsite.net. Read on 19 October 2026. Archived copy of 10 October 2026.
8. State of Delaware Open Data, State Employee Credit Card Transactions, fields "merchant", "trans_dt", "merchandise_amt", "dept_name" and "div_name". Lines whose name contains SAMS. Queried and counted on 19 October 2026.
9. Sam’s Club club pages: club 4874, Covington Sam’s Club, 69630 Stirling Blvd, Covington, LA; club 6330, Dover Sam’s Club. Read in a browser on 19 October 2026.