Costco!

[netmaestro]

Went to Costco this morning and bought a cartful of stuff. Left a $30 box of frozen chicken breasts in the bottom of the cart and drove away. We realized the mistake when we got home but when we went back it was gone of course. Went into the store to ask if someone had turned it in and no luck. The manager asked to see the receipt and we'd lost it. So he asked for my membership card. He took it in the back and came out 5 minutes later with a reprinted receipt with the chicken circled, handed it to a clerk and said, 'go get him one of these, ok?' The next person who whines to me about paying a yearly Costco fee is getting poked in the eye!

[Tenaja]

Besides that, you can save the anal fee on their low price of TP alone.




[typo intended.]

[Fangbeast]

The next person who whines to me about paying a yearly Costco fee is getting poked in the eye!

Okay, I'm whining, start poking. CostoCo opened up a new place in Ringwood, Melbourne, Australia and they want to charge me to just go in there and look?? Hell no and to hell with them. There are lots of good places I can go and look and decide whether I like it or not first.

Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh.

I'm running away now.

[idle]

That's great customer service after saying, "has anyone seen my breasts"?

That wouldn't be a problem here, it's a small supermarket on a small Island with no competition
and everyone knows everyone and they never really ask for a receipt if there's a problem.
If membership offers you discounts plus has the added benefit of auditing what you purchased
it sounds like a good reason to be a member.

[netmaestro]

You save the fee really quickly, sometimes on your first purchase. Example: Calvin Klein jeans at The Bay, $120. At Costco, $25. And in my case I don't actually pay a fee. I have an executive membership that costs $110 and pays me 2% back on all my purchases. I always seem to spend the $5500 necessary to earn back my whole fee. Plus, where else are you going to find a store that will replace an item that you lost outside their store entirely due to your own stupidity? I was very surprised when they did that.

[Fangbeast]

Damnit, would you stop refuting my peurile, infantile arguments with irrefutable logic?? There is just no place in this forum for that sort of behaviour!!

I'll go with Idle's "has anyone seen my breasts"!!

Around here, trying to get good service if you are 6 feet five and a half inches of ugly is damned near impossible.

Unless you go to the nearby Chinese food takeway and get served by that lovely young blonde with the gorgeous face (And other bits I cannot mention because I am married)

Actually, Big-W always takes care of me as does ALDI (Strangely enough). No Idle, that's NOT WHAT I MEANT you pervert!

[Tenaja]

The next person who whines to me about paying a yearly Costco fee is getting poked in the eye!

Okay, I'm whining, start poking. CostoCo opened up a new place in Ringwood, Melbourne, Australia and they want to charge me to just go in there and look?? Hell no and to hell with them. There are lots of good places I can go and look and decide whether I like it or not first.

Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh.

I'm running away now.

There is a way to look; you go to the membership counter. Most stores (in the States) have a separate entrance to get there without getting "carded." Once you get there, you just keep walking and go browse. Sometimes they will let you have a one-day trial pass. But maybe I am confusing them with Sams Club.

[BorisTheOld]

You save the fee really quickly, sometimes on your first purchase. Example: Calvin Klein jeans at The Bay, $120. At Costco, $25.........

You do realize, I hope, that most big name companies, like Calvin Klein, produce cheap quality product lines especially for cut-rate retailers. An item from Costco will be of much lower quality than the same item from a high-end store.

You get what you pay for.

And as for annual memberships, it's just a retail scam to make people believe they are a special class of person and to lock them into buying the company's products. It's right up there with free shipping.

People will buy anything if they think they're getting something for nothing. Which of course, they're not.

[netmaestro]

Which of course, they're not.

Not nothing, just good deals. And Calvin Klein banks on their high-end position in the market, which they would lose real fast if they sold cheap product under the Calvin Klein name in box stores. Also, there is no shortage of stories in the news lately about large companies doing business directly with the public (Walmart, McDonalds, etc.) being called out for their shameful treatment of their workforce. Costco is one of the very best employers out there, with wages and benefits rivalling the automakers, all without the involvement of a union. You're old, you can remember the days when a kid could graduate high school and get a job with a decent wage and future in any number of factories. That's mostly gone now but Costco is one of the very few places where it's still true.

[Tenaja]

You get what you pay for.

This is only partially true. All of their electronic gear (that I have "shopped") have the same part numbers as any other retailer. For instance, some of their PC's--I bought a Lenovo slim desktop earlier this year for about $650. I liked it (it had a $300 CPU in it!!!), and needed another a few weeks later, so I figured I'd get the same model, but Costco was sold out. I found the same model at Newegg (who also has decent prices) but for $750. Exact same model, exact same specs, exact same PC. Note that Newegg's price was not out of line with other retailers; many were higher priced.

The "cost" in dealing with Costco is that they carry almost nothing long term. They get a shipment, maybe two, and that is it. They only carry items that can be sold out fast.

[PB]

> he asked for my membership card

And now, behind the scenes on your file, you're probably marked as a
potential thief and someone to watch out for in future, in case a pattern
starts of lost goods and receipts. Just theorizing.

[IdeasVacuum]

Plus, where else are you going to find a store that will replace an item that you lost outside their store entirely due to your own stupidity? I was very surprised when they did that.

Any major supermarket in the UK (no membership required).

[naw]

Like all Supermarkets and any *smart* retailer, they earned a lot of goodwill and positive publicity by effectively giving you something that they had already made well over 100% profit on. A small price to pay. If you want *proof* go see USA:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7Pahd2X-eE or UK:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqOJTwI3oVQ. Tesco / Walmart etc make a lot of money out of us, but they need our good will to do that

[GeoTrail]

You do realize, I hope, that most big name companies, like Calvin Klein, produce cheap quality product lines especially for cut-rate retailers. An item from Costco will be of much lower quality than the same item from a high-end store.

Yupp, that is true.
My girlfriend has membership cards in the local chain where we often go shopping. When I go there I use here card. But even if we shop there all year, it only adds up to around 3-40$ per year is discount. The membership doesn't cost anything, but she had to pay around 70$ for the card. If she returns the card, she gets her money back.
ALso, they offer many discount for members only. So even if she doesn't return the card to get her 70 bucks back, she thinks she has around 200$ savings each year there.