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Fed up with Costco

I did know they tend to stock the kinds of items their local customer base wants to buy, over and above the "staples" they normally carry. That's one of things we enjoy about visiting different Costco warehouses in different parts of the country - to see what they carry that we don't have back home. Probably the most dramatic are the Hawaii Costco locations. A very different selection of things than back on the Mainland. :D

Dave
Yep, On our recent trip through Albuquerque we loaded up on enchilada sauce (quite a few cases) and the door person said "out of towners, yes?".
 
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I think it is great. I would love to see it everywhere.

However, a lot of seniors wont adapt to this.
Count me among them. I gladly use self-checkout, but see the 'Scan&Go' feature available at my neighborhood Kroger outlet to be intrusive to my privacy- even though I use their shopper card and they know what I buy anyway.

Remember, if something is offered to you for free, odds are that YOU are the product being sold.

Jim
 
While I prefer Costco, I LOVE the Sam's Club app that lets me scan and go! Not only do I avoid long checkout lines, but I can price check while shopping. I wish Costco had a similar app.
 
So, Costco called me last night about my complaint.

I mentioned the scan and go app and the manager of the store who called me said he was not aware of it. He seemed amazed that you can skip checkout lines at Sams. I also mentioned that they need a feature that tells you the stock of items at a warehouse.

Truthfully... many other stores are already here with this type technology. Costco is SO FAR behind that they are going to eventually be hurt by it. When you go to the stores, the managers actually have old 'green screen' monitors that just have a bunch of codes on them. Completely useless if you are looking to find if a sold out 'seasonal' items is available elsewhere or if they are going to be restocked. I went through this during the summer buying an 'offset' umbrella.
 
Count me among them. I gladly use self-checkout, but see the 'Scan&Go' feature available at my neighborhood Kroger outlet to be intrusive to my privacy- even though I use their shopper card and they know what I buy anyway.

Remember, if something is offered to you for free, odds are that YOU are the product being sold.

Jim
Not only do they know what you buy, but also can track where you went after leaving the store. Cell phones and internet use are great vehicles for companies to track everything you do.
 
So, Costco called me last night about my complaint.

I mentioned the scan and go app and the manager of the store who called me said he was not aware of it. He seemed amazed that you can skip checkout lines at Sams. I also mentioned that they need a feature that tells you the stock of items at a warehouse.

Truthfully... many other stores are already here with this type technology. Costco is SO FAR behind that they are going to eventually be hurt by it. When you go to the stores, the managers actually have old 'green screen' monitors that just have a bunch of codes on them. Completely useless if you are looking to find if a sold out 'seasonal' items is available elsewhere or if they are going to be restocked. I went through this during the summer buying an 'offset' umbrella.

I'm impressed they got back to you in such a timely manner! We gave up our Costco membership a few years ago (I prefer Sam's but Cliff refuses to darken their doorway). When my back/leg/mobility problems flare up the walking is simply too much for me, even if Cliff drops me at the door and then picks me up before parking in the back forty. The store is simply too big to deal with. Aldi opened up 30 minutes away from us in August. Much more manageable (once you figure out you need a quarter to get a cart loose from the rack) walking wise, but a big fat zero as far as shopping. Such a giant meh in our opinions that we would not be surprised to see it close.
 
Not only do they know what you buy, but also can track where you went after leaving the store. Cell phones and internet use are great vehicles for companies to track everything you do.
Yup. There's a time for using the 'location' mode on your smartphone, and a time to turn it off. Some applications can't be turned off, but some are switchable.
 
Not only do they know what you buy, but also can track where you went after leaving the store. Cell phones and internet use are great vehicles for companies to track everything you do.

I would assume the vast majority go home to drop off their purchases.
 
I would love to see an app that checks your phone for location and other tracking outside of when you give permission when using the app and then shut them all off when not. I keep the tracking on because it is the best way to track business miles (Mile IQ is not very accurate and misses a lot of trips so I end up having to manually update). If you ever want to get creeped out, go on the website version of Google maps and hit the timeline feature. I can see every country and place I have visited (except Asia which is blocked) for the past 5 years.
 
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Truthfully... many other stores are already here with this type technology. Costco is SO FAR behind that they are going to eventually be hurt by it. When you go to the stores, the managers actually have old 'green screen' monitors that just have a bunch of codes on them. Completely useless if you are looking to find if a sold out 'seasonal' items is available elsewhere or if they are going to be restocked. I went through this during the summer buying an 'offset' umbrella.
Yup, they are still using very old AS400 technology. The only store that I have seen even lesser technology is Hobby Lobby. They don't even use barcodes on their products and the cashiers need to manually key in each product code to ring it up.
 
I use both Costco and BJs. I go to BJs the most because they are closer to me. My Costco is in a huge mall so parking is a royal pain there. There's also a Sam's Club near my Costco in another busy shopping complex.

It doesn't matter if I go to BJs or Costco for gas, the lines are always long.

I could never give up my Costco card though as they have more extensive locations than the others including many other countries: As of March 2021 (from Wikipedia), Costco has 804 warehouses worldwide:558 in the United States, 103 in Canada, 39 in Mexico, 29 in the United Kingdom, 27 in Japan, 16 in South Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 13 in Australia, 3 in Spain, 1 in Iceland, 1 in France, and 1 in mainland China. Costco regularly opens new locations. The company plans to open warehouses in 2022 for the first time in New Zealand, and Sweden.

Whenever I am going on vacation I check to see if there is a Costco in the area.
 
I think any supermarket will provide a different shopping experience than a Costco warehouse. It's a very different kind of business model. There is a Kroger store, "Smith's" in St. George, Utah, that is enormous - like a combination grocery store and department store. Pretty upscale place, very fancy, and a world different than the tiny cramped little Smith's we have here in Mesquite.

Dave

This is true, in my local area we have Albertsons / Vons / Pavillions, same chain, same ad flyers. Pavillions is the high end merch, if you stay at Newport Coast Villas try the one up the hill, the deli is awesome for picking up a picnic lunch at the beach.

We enjoy stopping at the Costco in Carlsbad, they have the best wine selection there, the buyer has good taste :)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
Being only 75 miles from Bentonville, we live in solid Walmart country! Costco opened their first warehouse here this summer, two miles up the freeway from one of our Sam's Clubs. We're enjoying the competition. On the way home from a hike this morning, we dropped by Costco to pick up some wine, then swung by Sam's to fill up the tank with $2.78/gal gas. The local price of gas is $3.19+/gal, but that particular Sam's Club has kept their price $.40-.50 below average ever since Costco opened. (Premium gas is only $3.03/gal!)
 
Does anyone know when the Costco in Savannah is opening? I hope it is open when I'm in Hilton Head in Jan. I always stop at the Costco in Columbia, SC on my way down. It will be nice to have one in the area to replenish supplies since I will be there for four weeks.
 
Does anyone know when the Costco in Savannah is opening? I hope it is open when I'm in Hilton Head in Jan. I always stop at the Costco in Columbia, SC on my way down. It will be nice to have one in the area to replenish supplies since I will be there for four weeks.

I assume you're talking about the one in Pooler? It's set to open at 8am on November 18th - only ten days away!
 
I have avoided traditional gift giving for as long as I can remember. I prefer being spontaneous when I see a want or need...

George
Getting anything for my wife became impossible about 30 years ago. Both of us buy what we need when we need it. Nothing either of us wants that we just haven't gone out and bought.
Bart
 
I had a Costco (at the time it was Price Club) membership when I was single. It was worth it for me. Sometimes a friend and I would go and we'd split some of the items. Dh and I have had a membership for over 30 years (Price Club, then Costco). We used to live less than 10 minutes from a Costco and we'd go weekly. Now that we're an hour away it's more like monthly. Our younger dd lives close to us and many times we'll pick up stuff for her, or split a larger item and give her part. I've only been in a Sam's Club twice and not impressed. As I said earlier I won't shop Sam's.........or Walmart.
We do Costco about once every month or so. A neighbor my wife walks with goes once or twice a week. They let each other know they are going and buy for the other and many times since they both bake they share some items. Their are 6 that walk together so they watch items,prices and buy and share between them.
 
We get items more often than once a month.

I love the Kirkland microwave popcorn. I cannot use my microwave to pop it anymore, it doesn't pop hot enough, so take the packages with us on vacation. The microwave still works to heat food. I don't get it. But my new microwave/ oven combo will be here 12/15.
 
Interesting and informative thread. When we lived in NJ I frequented Sams Club....loved it there and one day it closed with no warning. So moved on to BJs as it was closer than Costco. Moved to coastal Carolina and happily rejoined Sams in Myrtle Beach and opted for the plus (?) membership because everything was free shipping. It’s about a 40 minute drive. We’ve been extremely disappointed. Everything I want to buy for delivery is out of stock. Yet you go to the store and there is plenty. They discontinued carrying many favorites. I’m mostly annoyed about the not in stock items for free shipping. I mostly buy my coffee pods there, a certain dishwasher tab and the jet dry when they are on special. Also the wet mop supplies. And the rotisserie chicken. Our membership has expired and we will be trying out the Costco that is only 5 minutes further. If we don’t like what we see, we may just stop doing club memberships. DH is a savvy grocery shopper. He lives to bargain hunt. We are okay with buying discounted meat and poultry products with last day of sale....prepare right away or in the freezer.

Very disappointing....the other day he found 2 packages of ground beef with big tears/holes on the wrapper. He brought it to the attention of the person stocking shelves. Apparently people remove the “reduced for sale” stickers with the new bar code and place it over the more expensive meat and do self checkout. And then the store has to throw away the opened one. Makes me mad.

Main grocery stores here are Food Lion, Lowe’s and one Publix. Publix is our favorite (5% off for us old fogies on Wednesday), their produce is wonderful and their employees are top notch. They are cheaper than Food Lion for many items. DH very rarely pays full price for anything. He hasn’t been in a Lowe’s yet.
This has happened for years at all grocery stores. Before I retired Safeway made the decision that perishable items do not get returned to the shelves. That includes any refrigerated,frozen, cold or hot items. So many customers decide when in line they don't want something and set it down on the display or shelf next to them. This all becomes garbage (for safety reasons) and in the end costs all of us extra money.
It drove me nuts as the inventory control clerk because then our inventory is short and you know who gets blamed. It's amazing how fast management forgets about this decision and doesn't include it in their calculations. It took me years to find the correct person in Division to write to so we could finally get some store compensation when our coolers, freezers, or meat cases would go out. The same people that complain that are repair expenses are too high yet buy junk equipment that goes out all the time.
 
Interesting how people's opinions can vary. I personally find the fruit at Costco much fresher and less expensive than at my local markets and there is almost always a choice of both organic and nonorganic. I live close so shop weekly and can go when the crowds are low ( never on Friday-Sunday), so the check out the lanes where the employees use a hand scanner to quickly tally the items in my cart go very quickly. The Sam's Club is even closer to my house, but I choose to support Costco because of their better pay for employees.
Put me in the Quality Counts column. Aside from an amazing bunch of grapes I got at random grocery last week,I do find the food better at Costco. Plus, their return policy is outstanding.

One thing they have had right for a long time - if you bought something and now there is a recall, they will let you know. That happened to me many times with dog food (this goes back many years). That kind of tech I like a lot because I don't always know what's on recall unless I go find out myself.

I like Costco. Partially for the steady 10% markup, treatment of employees, clean stores, and I'm a stock holder, so the occasional special dividend is very nice. Gas prices cannot be beat.

Agree, evenings during the week is best time. First thing when they open seems like it should be good but not always.
 
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