Costco: is it too onerous to be worth it?

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This all seems very complicated, I never had any issues shopping at Costco.

I go in, show my card, shop and show my card at cash and receipt at the exit. Total time wasted showing cards and receipts (+- 15 seconds)

Only once time the kid at the exit was overwhelmed and took a little longer to check my receipt, I gave him a break and moved on with my day.
 
mxs said:
Theft prevention? ... the only thing I could think of. I personally doubt it does prevent theft, but who knows maybe it does.
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Never worked at Costco but i have at other retailers, it is the perception of security that prevents theft attempts. Knowing that the receipt will be checked, will make thiefs think twice and maybe move on to wall-mart instead.
 
ZX600 said:
Never worked at Costco but i have at other retailers, it is the perception of security that prevents theft attempts. Knowing that the receipt will be checked, will make thiefs think twice and maybe move on to wall-mart instead.
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Do you think it could be connected in any way with returns, exchange and refunds?
 
As costco puts the food court after you pay, it prevents people from walking out your cart while you eat. As a secondary bonus for them, it sometimes catches items the cashier missed (typically the bottom of the cart).
 
I'm starting to wonder if the reason we got any hassle is because these instances where at a newly built Costco at Dixie and Dundas where (presumably) most of the employees would be freshly trained and following the rule book to a tee?

I've had this membership since June and have had zero issues until the ones described above.
 
what is interesting is if you buy something from their website, you don't need a membership and they deliver it ot you
 
fastar1 said:
Oooooooooh now I get it. Of course, they make $ off memberships!

So they should just do what the YMCA does; you can use the service once without a membership but you have to give them ID. If you go a second time, you'll need to get a membership. Simples.
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If you have a gift card for Costco, you don't need a membership to use it. Guess that's one way to get people to shop there without a membership.

Motorcycle Mike said:
I'm starting to wonder if the reason we got any hassle is because these instances where at a newly built Costco at Dixie and Dundas where (presumably) most of the employees would be freshly trained and following the rule book to a tee?

I've had this membership since June and have had zero issues until the ones described above.
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I've heard that that location is a bit of a train wreck.
Also, weekend shopping at costco is the pits. Avoid at all costs. Applies to any location.
 
GreyGhost said:
How do you buy without a membership? Whenever I checked out, it required a membership # to proceed.
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I would need to look at it, but we bought some of our appliances for our house through the website. This was just back in the summer so it was fairly recent
 
I only have myself and 1 other in my house so we have no need for the huge bulk of Costco. The membership rates are way too high for me to bother. It's also kind of out of the way for me to go there.

If I can't stop at a place on any of the 3 or 4 routes I take home, I'm probably not shopping there. If I have to pay more than $5/year to shop there, I'm not going to. Too much hassle. If it takes more than 10 minutes to get in, grab what I want, and check out, I'm not going to shop there.

I've only had friends purchase a few things when they were only available at Costco.

I hate shopping.
 
I didn't read through 5 pages, but if anyone hasn't mentioned it, the return policy alone from Costco is worth every penny of that membership. They have a no hassle return policy, you don't even need a receipt. If you don't like what you've bought you can return it with no reason. you can eat a 3/4 pack of steaks and return 1 back and say you didn't like it and get a ful refund, return dead flowers after valentine's, return patio furniture at the end of the summer, use a big screen TV for a big party and return it, go on vacation and use their cameras, return it. It's basically a free rental service.

Boom!
 
I can't help but sigh when I see someone write something to the effect of I don't have a huge family so buying everything in massive bulk quantity doesn't make sense to me.Clearly people who have never been in a Costco or actually looked at the packaging sizes and/or prices.

I also can't help but sigh when I see folks at the check out with two overflowing carts full of stuff. Lots of things at CostcoI are a really good deal, lots of things at Costco aren't really a good deal. IT'S A GIANT FAMILY PACK! IT MUST BE A GOOD DEAL!!
 
Shoplifting is a big problem at these stores, especially amongst old people. the Uncle Leo stealing episode of Seinfeld is most certainly true.

You can choose to ignore the drones at the door, what are they going to do...tackle you?

You should do guy shopping anyway. Go to Costco.ca click, click, click and the big brown truck shows up the next day at your front door. Shipping is included in the price.
 
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SONIC said:
I didn't read through 5 pages, but if anyone hasn't mentioned it, the return policy alone from Costco is worth every penny of that membership. They have a no hassle return policy, you don't even need a receipt. If you don't like what you've bought you can return it with no reason. you can eat a 3/4 pack of steaks and return 1 back and say you didn't like it and get a ful refund, return dead flowers after valentine's, return patio furniture at the end of the summer, use a big screen TV for a big party and return it, go on vacation and use their cameras, return it. It's basically a free rental service.

Boom!
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It used to be a whole year but people abused it, now I believe it's down to 90 days. I can see it going to 30 days and then 14 like everyone else.
 
So if uncle Leo tucked that DVD under his jacket how is the checkout lady gonna know by looking at his receipt? How is it that the rest of stores manage to be competitively priced vs costs with so much shrinkage due to theft? Most of shoplifting is internal anyways. I blow by them all the time when I have a handful of items.

MLadin said:
Shoplifting is a big problem at these stores, especially amongst old people. the Uncle Leo stealing episode of Seinfeld is most certainly true. You can choose to ignore the drones at the door, what are they going to do, tackle you?

you should do guy shopping anyway. Go to Costco.ca click, click, click and the big brown truck shows up the next day at your front door. Shipping is included in the price.
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Red_Liner740 said:
So if uncle Leo tucked that DVD under his jacket how is the checkout lady gonna know by looking at his receipt? How is it that the rest of stores manage to be competitively priced vs costs with so much shrinkage due to theft? Most of shoplifting is internal anyways. I blow by them all the time when I have a handful of items.
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Whatever they might save by checking customers, they lose by people abusing their generous return policy like Mr. Sonic up there.
 
we only have two people in the house currently , but we have no shortage of storage so grabbing a 48roll toilet paper skid and laundry soap for a yr is what works fur us. If I'm going to use it anyway and it has no real shelf life and I can save a buck, Costco is for me. I'd much rather drag stuff home in family packs than shop weekly/monthly for the same crap.
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