faintember
macrumors 65816
Your described situation is just a bit different than the OP's. The guy in your story was a jerk, I will give you that. Regardless, I would expect a long wait in any wholesale place where only one register is open.
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My Costco Rant
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balamw
Moderator emeritus
You sure about that?
Some believe the scanners to be FAR more invasive as they can often read RFID tags on your body that are unrelated to your current purchase.
Plus, the automated scanner can store everything in a database linked to the picture they took of you walking through the door, while the human being could never keep up with that kind of info.
Anyhow, I though privacy in the UK was an illusion since you are almost always withing range of a camera.
EDIT: I think the concept is that casual thieves will be more deterred by the presence of a human being than a machine.
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janey
macrumors 603
I think this thread makes it sound horrible and neverending when it's not. The searching part at Costco, or at least, all the ones in socal that I've been to, is all of 10 seconds. Most of them barely even look at your cart or lift boxes or peer into bags. The only time the waits are long (1-2 minutes) are when there's a LOT of people, which is almost never the case.
EricNau
Moderator emeritus
Literally, it's a quick item count, nothing more. For the average sized cart it takes about 10 seconds.
How is it any different than the clerk who scans your items at the check-out stand?
They've also been known to cause pacemakers to fail and defibrillators to trigger. 😛
janey
macrumors 603
Well I stopped going there 😱
All the employees were dicks, and going to Costco ended up being easier than going out of my way to those kinds of places (those reseller-only warehouses that aren't open to the public, cause stuff is even cheaper there than the likes of Costco sometimes).
balamw
Moderator emeritus
Especially when the check out register can associate the detailed items in your purchase to your form of payment unless you use cash. (Worse at a membership place like Costco since you need both membership and payment).
We've received some pretty "targeted" mailings of coupons from retailers that seem to know what brands we prefer in quite gruesome detail.
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bartelby
macrumors Core
I've seen no big signs in any UK store saying information is being collected.
Well we don't get searched doing our shopping!
How is it different?
Because it's necessary for someone to scan your goods so you can pay for them (not many stores have self scanning aisles here yet). It's not necessary for someone to look through after I've paid.
No offence taken; I don't expect everyone to agree with me on every issue. 😉
That makes perfect sense BEFORE you buy the product, but when I've already paid for my items, why do I have to wait in line again?
It takes much longer than that because I'm waiting for people in front of me with truck loads of stuff. If I waited for 30-40 minutes in line to pay for the stuff, why should I have to do it all over again AFTER I own the stuff?
That's right, I pay $50 a year for the privilege of being searched before I leave the store with the items I've already paid for. 😎
They might have to invoke my membership, but they wouldn't know who to revoke unless they were able to retrieve my membership card. The Clovis Police Department is more than welcome to check my receipt next time. 😎
You're right, no one is forcing me to shop there, but I believe it is my right to exit the store in a timely manner after I have waited 20-40 minutes in the purchase line and have PAID for the goods.
That's exactly my point.
LethalWolfe
macrumors G3
As far as rants go this is the second lamest one I've seen recently. The most lame was on another board where someone said Apple should give them a free or severely discounted version of FSC2 since they "recently" purchased FSC1 back in January.
The 2 of the 3 Costcos in my area are so super busy all the time that I'd only go there on my lunch hour (20min there, 20min shop, 20min back) otherwise I'd be there all day. Thankfully the 3rd one (and closest) isn't nearly as busy (but still busier than the ones back in Indiana).
I think the door checkers also look at the date on the recipient as well. W/stores that big and hectic it would be easy to go in w/an old receipt, pick up the same times and head out the door w/o anyone knowing. I've lived in LA so long that I'm used to seeing security guards at the exists of most stores and occasionally being asked to show a receipt on the way out so having to do it every time I go to Costco doesn't stand out to me. It's just part of shopping there.
Lethal
The 2 of the 3 Costcos in my area are so super busy all the time that I'd only go there on my lunch hour (20min there, 20min shop, 20min back) otherwise I'd be there all day. Thankfully the 3rd one (and closest) isn't nearly as busy (but still busier than the ones back in Indiana).
I think the door checkers also look at the date on the recipient as well. W/stores that big and hectic it would be easy to go in w/an old receipt, pick up the same times and head out the door w/o anyone knowing. I've lived in LA so long that I'm used to seeing security guards at the exists of most stores and occasionally being asked to show a receipt on the way out so having to do it every time I go to Costco doesn't stand out to me. It's just part of shopping there.
Lethal
Actually, if you shop at Costco in the UK they do exactly what is mentioned here, i.e. check your trolley on the way out. They also do it in my local B&Q occasionally, usually if you have a trolley full of large items that you're wheeling out. A bit of a pain sometimes, but not really an invasion of privacy given that they already know what I've bought from the cash register records....
bartelby
macrumors Core
There's Costcos in the UK😱
I didn't know that.
Put it this way, no numpty will be checking my purchases once I've paid for them.
LethalWolfe
macrumors G3
Awesome, you'll be one less person in front of me then if I ever hit up a Costco across the pond. 😉
Lethal
To the OP, yup, sounds awful. Maybe they should hire more people to check customers on the way out, so the shopping experience isn't all that awful and you have to wait less. At least they should, if they want more people buying there.
(bartelby) There are lots of membership-only hypermarkets here in Europe that do this, if not all the ones I've been to. Difference from what the OP described is there are enough employees who do this so as you never have to wait in a line, and it doesn't take more than 30 seconds. All they do is look at what's in your cart to see if every item was marked on the receipt, and most only take a quick glance.
(bartelby) There are lots of membership-only hypermarkets here in Europe that do this, if not all the ones I've been to. Difference from what the OP described is there are enough employees who do this so as you never have to wait in a line, and it doesn't take more than 30 seconds. All they do is look at what's in your cart to see if every item was marked on the receipt, and most only take a quick glance.
Costco Shopping is Better for Your Bladder!
I like to shop at Costco because after a loooooooong shopping experience and paying at the register, I push my cart towards the restroom and have 100% assurance that no one will steal it and take out my $200 worth of groceries because I have the receipt in my wallet.
I like to shop at Costco because after a loooooooong shopping experience and paying at the register, I push my cart towards the restroom and have 100% assurance that no one will steal it and take out my $200 worth of groceries because I have the receipt in my wallet.
gnasher729
Suspended
I am just wondering: What were you doing at Costco purchasing three items? As far as I know Costco sells only to businesses. I somehow can't imagine my company buying two jars of mayonaise and 1 box of motrin.
You shopped at Costco for only 3 items? THAT is the problem, right there. Go to a grocery store. 😉
I am reminded of those people who see a closed lane ahead and speed right up to the barrier expecting other people, who waited patiently in line, to let them merge. Not me. I NEVER let them merge. I am ALWAYS in more of a hurry that the rest of the population at large. 😉
I am reminded of those people who see a closed lane ahead and speed right up to the barrier expecting other people, who waited patiently in line, to let them merge. Not me. I NEVER let them merge. I am ALWAYS in more of a hurry that the rest of the population at large. 😉
if he wants to buy those three items in bulk. hes allowed too.
granted if there is a line, you wait in line. everyone has to.
and about your example. if the lane isn't blocked, people are allowed to drive in it all the way. just because they're using it and you're not isn't their fault. you don't have to let them merge, but again as mentioned earlier in this thread. being patient and courteous can go a long way. shame the only thing that people care about these days is themselves.
I am working with the assumption that they saw the closed lane well in advance, like everyone else. They should have moved out of the lane, like everyone else. By moving out of the lane before it ends, I am being the patient and courteous one. I will not surrender my lane to an ass.
Mind you, up until the time the lane ends, say 1000 feet or so, I tend to let 2-3 people merge into the lane and I always seem to be the one letting the 18-wheeler into the traffic flow, when no one else will. It's the lone speedster that I object to.
I also tend to cut people off, when they are speeding in school zones. I also drop my speed by 25 mph when I am tailgated. But that's just me; Mr. Nice Guy. 😉
edit: spelling
I was waiting for someone to ask that. 😛
I was picking up some stuff for my Mom on my way home from work. She doesn't drive anymore, so I do all the shopping for her and take her to her appointments. 😉
balamw
Moderator emeritus
Must resist temptation to ask what mom was planning to do with two gallons of mayo. 😱 😛
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Abstract
macrumors Penryn
While I sort of agree with you, I want to say that since you need to buy a membership before you can shop there, then don't buy a membership, and don't shop there. It's your choice. It's not your right to shop there. You pay the membership fee if you like the policies and want to shop there, and you don't pay them the membership if don't like what you hear about their policies. Nobody is twisting your arm and forcing you to shop there. Sounds like everything else in a consumer's life.
This thread is whiney and crap, and just exposes the whiney people here for what they are. 😱
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