Costco: is it too onerous to be worth it? | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Costco: is it too onerous to be worth it?

CruisnGrrl said:
Not all things in costco are a good deal, sometimes you pay more than boutique supermarkets.

not worth the cash for the membership for me, particularly since the nearest one is about an hour's drive away... sometimes i'll go with my mom. supposedly their pharmacy is cheap and you may not need a membership to use the pharmacy.
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No, you do not need a membership for the pharmacy. You will save money, but understand that 99% of it will be generic brands. I personally, am ok with that.
 
Motorcycle Mike said:
I never really liked certain things about costco -- like being checked for your card on the way in, show your card again at the register, show your receipt at the exit, etc, and all of that while dealing with the mass number of idiots and their massive carts not looking where they are going.

Now it is getting worse:

A few weeks back, my 76 year old Mom who is her last stage of chemo treatment for lung cancer stopped at a Costco in St. Catherines on their way back from gambling in Niagara Falls. Mom tried to get in using her American Express Costco card which has her picture and costco number on the back, but they wouldn't let her in saying that their association with AMEX has expired -- despite the literature stating the card is still valid until December 31 of this year. My Mom was too tired to make a big deal of it, so she went to the membership desk and had a new Costco card printed for her -- I would have made a way bigger deal of it and likely would have cancelled on the spot.

Last week I was in Costco in Mississauga with the wife. I went to get a hotdog while the wife went to the checkout. So she goes up to the register and hands them the Costco membership card and her mastercard, and the teller asks her to remove her prescription glasses as she was wearing her contacts on the picture on the card. My wife was very upset as she felt they were accusing her of fraud as she just handed over a mastercard with the same name as the costco card -- her card. If she was someone else, she'd be committing a criminal offence.

Finally, today my wife and I went back to Costco, rolled up to the cash register and I handed my Costco card. They scanned all the stuff and the wife went to pay but they refused her mastercard because they said the name on the mastercard has to be the same as the costco card -- so I paid as my wife had forgotten her membership card.

Really though -- what is going on at that place? It is quickly becoming more annoying than it's worth. Sure you save a couple bucks in gas, but you have to wait 15 minutes in line to get it. I don't know... I'm getting very close to just cancelling the membership -- but not without ranting about it first, of course.

The costco procedure book must be the size of an encyclopedia.
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Amex card is valid until December 31, 2014. Card/membership on said card is then no longer valid. You will then need the MasterCard. That cashier was grossly misinformed.
 
Motorcycle Mike said:
Think about it... you walk in one door, show your card to the person at the door, get herded around the store usually counter-clockwise, wait in line at the checkout, get your card checked again, wait in line at the exit, have your receipt checked, you're out.
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I've walked in many times.... even today I happened to go, and didn't have to pull out my wallet to flash my card, just strolled right in....

at the cash register, it makes sense to flash your card, that way they can register my purchase, and I can get my big fat dividend check at the end of the year which pays off my membership....

as for the receipt when you walk out, you know how easy and rampant shoplifting is? I applaud Costco for this approach on checking receipts. Keeps shoplifting to a minimum which ultimately means lower prices for the consumer at their store.


Bash Costco all you want, but clearly their business model is extremely successful.....
 
LiNK666 said:
I know the manager at the local costco he said the membership is their biggest revenue stream. They are instructed to go all out to make sure you have an excellent experience with membership, but won't hesitate to validate if you are the correct member. They have problems all the time with people coming with family member or friends' cards etc...

On that note, I gave up my costco membership last year. Not worth the crazy public that goes in. The worst of humanity shops at Costco.
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True, the membership fee is the majority of the revenue. That's what helps with the prices.
Worst of humanity at Costco? Obviously you haven't been in a WalMart lately! ?
 
Joe Bass said:
True, the membership fee is the majority of the revenue. That's what helps with the prices.
Worst of humanity at Costco? Obviously you haven't been in a WalMart lately! 
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I haven't been to a walmart either lol. Don't do shopping anymore just eat out. I've seen fist fights in the parking lot of costco over parking spaces. I even had a guy take a swing at me in the membership line in front of his kids. After that, it's not worth dealing with those people.
 
LiNK666 said:
I haven't been to a walmart either lol. Don't do shopping anymore just eat out. I've seen fist fights in the parking lot of costco over parking spaces. I even had a guy take a swing at me in the membership line in front of his kids. After that, it's not worth dealing with those people.
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People are idiots no matter where you go....there's even rumours that we have some on gtam!
Never understood the fighting for parking spots. Pull around to the back, an extra 2 minute walk, no carts banging into your car, easy peasy/ ez pz/ eazy peezy
 
As far as prices go, if you compare apples with apples (literally) they are cheaper. A few years ago, people were saying WalMart had cheaper prices on the same size Tide, Gain etc. Turns out they had the same boxes, (or close to it) but with less product in it to give the perception of savings. If you buy brand name, you can't beat it. I don't mind a lot of store brand/ no name stuff, so it works out cheaper. Except diapers. Best prices for that.
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Joe Bass said:
As far as prices go, if you compare apples with apples (literally) they are cheaper. A few years ago, people were saying WalMart had cheaper prices on the same size Tide, Gain etc. Turns out they had the same boxes, (or close to it) but with less product in it to give the perception of savings. If you buy brand name, you can't beat it. I don't mind a lot of store brand/ no name stuff, so it works out cheaper. Except diapers. Best prices for that.
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Actually, you have to be careful and know your prices.

We nearly bought a bag of meatballs today for $9.99 for about 1kg of meat. When we got home we checked the bag of meatballs we bought at Food Basics and it was $10 for 1.8kg. Kirkland brand is usually very good quality though. I really like the Kirkland wool socks -- 4 for $12.95 or something when at Sail or Bass Pro a good pair of wool socks is $10 for one pair. I guess I will buy a few packs of socks before I quit the membership.

Gas is also usually $0.06/litre less than all other stations here in Mississauga, the problem is that I have never seen the gas station without a line up. There is a private gas station just up Dundas that is full serve for only $0.02 more than costco prices, so for $0.80 or so, I am not going to wait in line anymore.

I am really surprised my Mom bothers to keep her membership. Her and Dad live in Stratford, and the closest Costco is either Kitchener or London. They should really re-think that.
 
Mike, I agree with knowing prices. But usually the meat in the meatballs will be a higher quality/ less filler than, say, Food Basics (again, I personally will take the larger amount). As far as gas is concerned, if I have to wait more than 4 or 5 cars, I'll pay the little extra somewhere else. If you are able to go in the a.m., I believe the gas station opens at 630. Less line ups then?
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I heard Costco employees make better wages than any other big box store, by a fair margin. That's good.
 
The only bad experience I had at Costco was when we went shopping, me, the wife, my dad and my mom, walked around, got our stuff and headed to the cash register, the wife hands over her membership card, the items get rung up and my mom and dad wanted to pay for the goods we purchased as a good will gesture, my dad pulls out his debit card and the cashier tells he cannot pay the bill, it has to be the member paying for the items purchased, I was like really, who cares who pays as long as it's paid for and the actual member is there, all the items purchased were for us and not my parents, but no the cashier was not allowing this to happen, so I take my dad to the ATM, he pulls out cash and we go to pay, he hands the cashier the cash, again she won't take it, says he is not the member, so he hands the cash to my wife, and cashier once again refuses the cash as it was not my wife's cash, as it was given to her by my father.....
So I take the cash, and tell my wife to pay for the purchase with the debit card, she pulls it out of her purse, so we can get the hell out of this crazy house.....she swipes the card punches in the pin number and items are paid for, cashier is happy......

Ohh and just before we walk away from the cashier, I grab the debit card and show it to the cashier, just so she knows, she still don't know jack....the debit card was mine, has only my name on it, and my wife has nothing to do with it, other than she uses it to pay for stuff.......and to add injury to insult I tell the cashier my wife has been using this card for all the payments at COSTCO ever since she has been a member....

We went home......

And to this day, my wife still uses my debit card, even paid for the cashews she got today.....

Dumb Azz rules they have, and can't even enforce........



EDIT


I had to make a change, I am not a member, only my wife is, she is the only one holding a COSTCO membership card, she only uses my debit card to pay for the purchases....
 
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Thats when I leave EVERYTHING exactly as it is and just walk out the door. Wanna be a mindless robot? Fine, you clean up this **** and put it back.

GateKeeper said:
The only bad experience I had at Costco was when we went shopping, me, the wife, my dad and my mom, walked around, got our stuff and headed to the cash register, the wife hands over her membership card, the items get rung up and my mom and dad wanted to pay for the goods we purchased as a good will gesture, my dad pulls out his debit card and the cashier tells he cannot pay the bill, it has to be the member paying for the items purchased, I was like really, who cares who pays as long as it's paid for and the actual member is there, all the items purchased were for us and not my parents, but no the cashier was not allowing this to happen, so I take my dad to the ATM, he pulls out cash and we go to pay, he hands the cashier the cash, again she won't take it, says he is not the member, so he hands the cash to my wife, and cashier once again refuses the cash as it was not my wife's cash, as it was given to her by my father.....
So I take the cash, and tell my wife to pay for the purchase with the debit card, she pulls it out of her purse, so we can get the hell out of this crazy house.....she swipes the card punches in the pin number and items are paid for, cashier is happy......

Ohh and just before we walk away from the cashier, I grab the debit card and show it to the cashier, just so she knows, she still don't know jack....the debit card was mine, has only my name on it, and my wife has nothing to do with it, other than she uses it to pay for stuff.......and to add injury to insult I tell the cashier my wife has been using this card for all the payments at COSTCO ever since we have been members....

We went home......

And to this day, my wife still uses my debit card, even paid for the cashews she got today.....

Dumb Azz rules they have, and can't even enforce........
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Why can't people follow simple rules?
 
inreb said:
Why can't people follow simple rules?
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because rules are for sheep and inconvenience the 'my way matters more than your rules so adjust to me mentality'

if people don't like it.....easy don't shop there instead of bitching and complaining and then going bacK and then ***** again.

I like Costco....never ever had an issue paying for groceries with my money under someone else's card or vice versa. I go fill up while the wife starts shopping as I can't stand shopping crowds anyway. Never in my life have I experienced the rudeness that you guys describe...maybe it's the way you act that is an issue? I don't know but the experiences you've described I've never had.

Typically the chicks are hotter than most other grocery stores so that's a bonus and frankly I like that they finally got rid of Amex and are now with MC.
 
friends of mine purchased food at Costco.

Unbeknownst to them weeks later, one of the food items was being recalled as a result of a food borne illness.

They get a phone call from a rep of Costco informing them that their membership records show they purchased this item, warned them not to touch it (fortunately for them, it was still sitting in the freezer) and to return it to the store for full refund, and offered them an apology.

Membership has its privileges, try getting that kind of service from Walmart.....
 
fastar1 said:
Ayn Rand disapproves of your line of thinking.
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I've heard that name many times. Your reply prompted a flurry of google activity. At first blush I'm getting the clear impression that her core belief system has been twisted by the popular culture media and that, in fact, making a decent wage working for big business is ok. Please advise.
 
mimico_polak said:
because rules are for sheep and inconvenience the 'my way matters more than your rules so adjust to me mentality'

if people don't like it.....easy don't shop there instead of bitching and complaining and then going bacK and then ***** again.

I like Costco....never ever had an issue paying for groceries with my money under someone else's card or vice versa. I go fill up while the wife starts shopping as I can't stand shopping crowds anyway. Never in my life have I experienced the rudeness that you guys describe...maybe it's the way you act that is an issue? I don't know but the experiences you've described I've never had.

Typically the chicks are hotter than most other grocery stores so that's a bonus and frankly I like that they finally got rid of Amex and are now with MC.
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Lucky you...

next time tell them your not the actual member and see what happens, or don't have you wife pull out her cash or debit card and you pull out your wallet an try to pay, let us know how it turns out...

As for following rules, I have no issue, but who cares who had the cash in their hands, does it really matter.....

to make it simple, I just let the wife go in herself and do the shopping and at the end still pay with my debit card, that she pulls out of her purse.....god forbid they actually ever read the name on the card......
 
GateKeeper said:
As for following rules, I have no issue, but who cares who had the cash in their hands, does it really matter.....
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You're probably as honest as the day is long. That can't be said for everybody. Unfortunately, somebody else holding the cash looks like trying to circumvent the membership policy. Employee has a job to protect specifically and a general interest in the health of the company.
 
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