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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Update on the Costco Fiasco

So I told you yesterday how my friend saved me from an uncertain fate.  Well, she happened to get in the same line I had been in (after she finished her own grocery shopping).  When she got to the cashier he told her that 4 people had been turned away since I had my "situation".  4 people.  A girl was turned away because she had her mom's card, not her own.  She had traveled from CINCINNATI to shop at Costco.  She must have been TICKED!

What the hades kind of business are they running?  They let people INTO the store with a membership card but do not let them BUY their purchases. What?  What kind of genius came up with that plan?  Oh, I hate it when things don't make sense.  And right now I hate Costco.

3 comments:

  1. They must be in cahoots with Sprint, to slowly drive all of us crazy.

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  2. KP, the thing is, that when you sign for a card, the membership agreement explains all of that. Perhaps because I have worked in retail most of my life, I don't assume a card is transferable, I assume it isn't, until I find out otherwise.

    If Costco wasn't meant to have a stringent 'Members Only' policy, they wouldn't employ someone to stand at the door and check cards. They also don't have a 'visitor's pass' or an upcharge for non-members.

    I do know that they are cracking down everywhere on what they call 'abuse.' A membership for an individual, costs between $50 and $100 for a year. Some memberships have cash back incentives. I know plenty of people who pool their shopping, so that they only have one membership, and a higher cash back bonus. It really doesn't help them in the long run, because we pay higher prices at the register to offset the money they aren't making off memberships. If one cashier turned away 5 people in an hour, think about how many people in a day use Costco memberships when they should not be. That would be a $250 loss for one line in an hour. If they have 4 lines open, and they are open 10 hours a day...that is like $10,000.

    I know how frustrating it can be, to do all of that shopping to find that you can't take your groceries home, I have forgotten my wallet in the past.

    I can also see how telling them that (from their perspective) you've been beating the system for three years...might not have helped your case.

    As former retail mgr (suckiest job in the world, EVER) I think they overstepped by taking the card. It is their right to do so, but, it wasn't necessary. Now, if the company your husband works for gets a cash back incentive, then I can see why they would have cancelled the membership. That would be wrong for them (the company) to take money if they are allowing their employees to use their cards for personal shopping.

    You might want to revisit this once you've cooled down, but, only if Costco offers the best pricing. It does here, and with my cash back card, my membership pays for itself each year, last year, I think I made $12, but, the membership cost was covered by the rebate check.

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  3. I don't know anything about rebate checks. I've never heard of that. Again, I did not know that the card would not work if it was in my husband's name. I would NOT have shopped with it for 3 years if I'd known that. It was NOT purposeful on my part to "beat the system". I never signed anything nor did I receive a company policy. If they pay someone to check cards at the front door then they need to actually check the card to make sure that this person is who the card says it is. What's the point of paying a greeter in the first place then? Bad company policy and dang it, i really liked Costco.

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