Costco Membership Crackdown or All Things Costco 😀

[DisneyHardin]

I went to Costco this morning. They still just barely gave the card a glance at the door. There was a clerk positioned just outside the U-Scans doing card checks.

 

[Lilsia]

I went to Costco this morning. They still just barely gave the card a glance at the door. There was a clerk positioned just outside the U-Scans doing card checks.

That is how it is where I live, you flash the card at the person at the door, but they will check to make sure that you are the member before they let you check out.

 

[georgina]

I agree and when something goes wrong everyone just points fingers and says it was the other company who messed up. Then you are left playing ping-pong between the parties to try to get it resolved. While I might use Orbitz to easily search for flight options, I always go to the airline website to actually make a reservation. Most search websites simply accumulate the information and there is no discount. Never used Costco travel, but still feel like the few dollars you might save goes out the window as soon as there is a problem and you end up with some poorly trained 'customer service' person who can barely speak English and never has any idea how to help resolve your issue. If you aren't asking one of the 12 commonly asked questions they have in the script in front of them................good luck getting it resolved.

Since you are not a member and have never used them, your comments about Costco having poorly trained customer service people who can barely speak English are off the mark in my experience. I have dealt with their customer service department for some issues, including a refrigerator that was bought by the previous homeowner but was still under warranty because Costco doubles the warranty on appliances purchased there, they have always been very good. With rental cars they give you the Alamo reservation number and you can see it on the Alamo website when checking in ahead to skip the counter.

 

[_19disnA]

That reference was to virtually all of the other customer service I try to contact for many other companies. Obviously, I haven't used Costco travel as I mentioned since I am not a member and have only been to their stores a few times with friends/relatives. My point is that I wouldn't recommend using ANY 3rd party to book travel since when there is a problem, it is far more complicated to resolve. One of those examples where it works well.............until it doesn't.

 

[Marrila]

That reference was to virtually all of the other customer service I try to contact for many other companies. Obviously, I haven't used Costco travel as I mentioned since I am not a member and have only been to their stores a few times with friends/relatives. My point is that I wouldn't recommend using ANY 3rd party to book travel since when there is a problem, it is far more complicated to resolve.

I think it's fine for you to choose the booking method that works best for you.

 

[Skippy918]

In my experience at our Costco, the self checkout isn’t a full self checkout. There’s an employee that scans your card and your stuff and sends you on your way. You keep the stuff in your cart while they scan.
At Sam’s club, the self checkout is completely do it yourself.

 

[sam_gordon]

I haven't read all pages yet, but let me see if I understand...

Costco cracks down on account sharing, and that's fine, it's their right as their business.
Netflix cracks down on account sharing, and that's it, we quit! (based on a past thread)

 

[nw6675]

I haven't read all pages yet, but let me see if I understand...

Costco cracks down on account sharing, and that's fine, it's their right as their business.
Netflix cracks down on account sharing, and that's it, we quit! (based on a past thread)

But Sam....it's Costco!

 

[Smugpugmug]

I haven't read all pages yet, but let me see if I understand...

Costco cracks down on account sharing, and that's fine, it's their right as their business.
Netflix cracks down on account sharing, and that's it, we quit! (based on a past thread)

At least for me it's easier to give up Netflix vs. Costco. I don't remember the last time I paid for a Netflix subscription or any streaming service.

 

[Christine]

In my experience at our Costco, the self checkout isn’t a full self checkout. There’s an employee that scans your card and your stuff and sends you on your way. You keep the stuff in your cart while they scan.
At Sam’s club, the self checkout is completely do it yourself.

Interesting. My Costco is a full-up self checkout. There is an employee there with a scan gun to scan big items so you don't have to lift them out of your cart. But I scan my membership card as well as all my items.

 

[Lilsia]

In my experience at our Costco, the self checkout isn’t a full self checkout. There’s an employee that scans your card and your stuff and sends you on your way. You keep the stuff in your cart while they scan.
At Sam’s club, the self checkout is completely do it yourself.

Ours is a legit self check out. There is an employee there if you have issues and to direct people to the newest open spot, but we do all of our scanning ourselves. I guess it is whatever is best for that particular store.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

Totally got carded at Costco today. That’s a first for me in Iowa.

Ironically, the lady at the exit barely even looked at our cart when checking the receipt.

 

[robinb]

I noticed a sign up at Costco last week about sharing memberships. I guess I didn't think it was a big deal, but apparently it was. Yesterday my membership card was checked at the self checkout. It annoyed me. Either I am a valued customer or I am a suspected cheat. Between checking my photo ID at the door (which I am OK with), and now checking my photo ID when I get up to the check out, scanning my card to make the purchase and then checking my cart and receipt when I leave, it all makes me feel like the store does not trust me and that I have to prove that I am not stealing from them.

 

[Christine]

I noticed a sign up at Costco last week about sharing memberships. I guess I didn't think it was a big deal, but apparently it was. Yesterday my membership card was checked at the self checkout. It annoyed me. Either I am a valued customer or I am a suspected cheat. Between checking my photo ID at the door (which I am OK with), and now checking my photo ID when I get up to the check out, scanning my card to make the purchase and then checking my cart and receipt when I leave, it all makes me feel like the store does not trust me and that I have to prove that I am not stealing from them.

I guess I have a different view on it. I pay a lot (in my mind) for a membership there. I don't feel like I should be subsidizing cheaters. Costco uses their membership fees to offer the goods and services I want so I'm willing to pay it. Having people want to shop at Costco but not pay the required fees doesn't help the store or the paying members get what the experience that might be possible. Costco uses those fees to subsidize their operating costs and keep product prices lower.

I don't feel like they are accusing me--I have no reason to feel guilty. But they are obviously aware somehow that they've got a big enough problem that they need to crack down.

 

[NotUrsula]

Although, you are right that it is a third party company. For some reason, I don’t think of Costco like I do Expedia, Orbitz, etc.

That's because it isn't. Expedia, Orbitz, etc. are what used to be called (and still are, when it comes to overseas traffic) "bucket shops"; they are consolidators. They buy unsold inventory and sell it on at lower terms, and along with that the buyers get fewer services.

Costco Travel is an actual first-line travel agency; it's no different than one that you might have on main street in your city, staffed with live people. Instead of Costco paying the carrier to take excess capacity off their hands, the carrier pays them a commission for bringing in the business.

PS: I think that the difference in opinion re: sharing with more than 2 people between Costco and Netflix has to do with the original terms. Costco was always clear on the limits and inclusions of legitimate use, whereas Netflix keeps moving the goal posts.

 

[gmi3804]

Either I am a valued customer or I am a suspected cheat.

That’s it in a nutshell. If you're one you don’t want to be the other.

 

[_19disnA]

I have noticed that Walmart will sometimes have an employee at the door when you are exiting asking to see your receipt. Seems to be hit/miss. At most they seem to make a cursory look at the receipt compared to what is in your cart. I don't really mind but have to remember to not toss my receipt in the trash before exiting..........LOL. They seemed to have eliminated the person standing by the door when you first enter the store. I never saw the point of having someone there to greet you. They now have a large number of self-serve registers which I find a nuisance if buying a lot of things. Works fine if you only have a few items. The scales are overly sensitive and if you even touch/move around your items after bagging can cause all sorts of issues. If the intent is to eliminate cashiers, they need to redesign how that area works to be able to handle those who are buying a large number of items.

 

[soccerdad72]

I haven't read all pages yet, but let me see if I understand...

Costco cracks down on account sharing, and that's fine, it's their right as their business.
Netflix cracks down on account sharing, and that's it, we quit! (based on a past thread)

The difference, IMO, is that with Costco, they allow two members on the account and as long as those two are the ones shopping and buying, it's all good. It doesn't matter what store they're shopping at.

With Netflix, the issue I have with the new policy is that we pay for four screens (e.g. members) on our account and now they're saying that all four of those screens have to be used in the same physical location. It would be like Costco saying that both members on an account can only shop at one store.

 

[mjkacmom]

I haven't read all pages yet, but let me see if I understand...

Costco cracks down on account sharing, and that's fine, it's their right as their business.
Netflix cracks down on account sharing, and that's it, we quit! (based on a past thread)

Costco membership has always been for 2, netflix has always been able to share with others, my account allows 3 at a time. My Netflix membership costs me a lot more than Costco too. Netflix had a marketing campaign about sharing passwords with the ones you love.

 

[robinb]

I guess I have a different view on it. I pay a lot (in my mind) for a membership there. I don't feel like I should be subsidizing cheaters. Costco uses their membership fees to offer the goods and services I want so I'm willing to pay it. Having people want to shop at Costco but not pay the required fees doesn't help the store or the paying members get what the experience that might be possible. Costco uses those fees to subsidize their operating costs and keep product prices lower.

I don't feel like they are accusing me--I have no reason to feel guilty. But they are obviously aware somehow that they've got a big enough problem that they need to crack down.

I don't feel guilty. I just don't like having to prove myself to store employees 4 times in a single shopping trip. It's annoying.

I have been a member for over 11 years. I shop there a lot, at least twice a week, and I spend a LOT of money there. I'm an executive member and I always make enough in rewards to make it worth my while to pay for the more expensive membership. I've seen a guests of members purchasing things in the staffed lanes a number of times. I recall seeing it happen in just the past couple of months. In fact, I paid for my own order as a guest my very first time at Costco when I tagged along with a friend. I was hooked and I joined on my next trip.

For me, there is a fine line between (1) making members feel appreciated, (2) making guests feel welcome enough to become members themselves, (3) Costco protecting the value of their brand, and (4) Costco enforcing the rules of membership. For me, the first 3 are taking a hit by Costco adding another step to incorporate (4) in the self checkout they added to reduce the number employees they need pay.