My Costco Rant

[faintember]

Honestly, patience and courtesy does work wonders, but I have never failed to ask anyone behind me if they'd like to go ahead of me if they had way less items, or were elderly/expecting/sick. That ******** above..he pissed me off. Would it really honestly hurt to wait all of 2 extra minutes, or did it feel good to be a dick?

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.

 

[MACDRIVE]

Simply walk out! If a guard tries to give you hassle tell em to piss off and keep walking. If they call the cops so be it, you haven't broken any laws.

Thank You dornoforpyros!!! That's EXACTLY what I intend to do next time.

 

[balamw]

It's totally different!
Some electronic thing scanning for tags and some muppet rooting through your shopping are not the same at all!

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.

B

 

[janey]

I have better thing to do with my time than hang around waiting to be searched.

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]

It's totally different!
Some electronic thing scanning for tags and some muppet rooting through your shopping are not the same at all!

It's a total invasion of privacy as far as I'm concerned.

And, for the record, I'd rather pay the higher prices. I have better thing to do with my time than hang around waiting to be searched.

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?

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.

They've also been known to cause pacemakers to fail and defibrillators to trigger.

 

[janey]

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.

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]

How is it any different than the clerk who scans your items at the check-out stand?

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.

B

 

[bartelby]

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.

Anyhow, I though privacy in the UK was an illusion since you are almost always withing range of a camera.

B

The Information Commissioner also issued a statement, clarifying his position on the use of RFID tags. This says:

“RFID tags may be used in circumstances where the Data Protection Act 1998 is unlikely to apply at all – for example, in monitoring distribution of pallets of goods from warehouse to stores. Even where personal information is involved it is perfectly possible to comply with the Act.

“Where the use of such tags involves the collection, generation or disclosure of personal information then the Act will apply. In particular, this means that individuals should be aware when information about them is being collected and what it will be used for.”
See:

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 any different than the clerk who scans your items at the check-out stand?

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.

 

[MACDRIVE]

No offense, but. . .

No offence taken; I don't expect everyone to agree with me on every issue.

I fail to see the issue here. People were in front of you in line, thus you wait.

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?

I agree to some extent, however in this case, it takes ten seconds for them to see the 3 items, sign the slip, and you are out,. . .

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?

FWIW Costco is a membership based store. You pay for the privilege to shop there, . . .

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.

Given that it's a membership club, it seems like it would be pretty easy for them to revoke your membership if you refused to wait in line. If you want to play the game, you have to play by their rules.

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 still on private property owned by the store, and therefore are subject to their rules. No one is forcing you to shop there.

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.

It's just sorta maddening, in some cases. I once had a guy with several carts full of merchandise (it was at a wholesale costco-like place) who hogged the sole checkout lane while I waited behind him with not even a twentieth of what he had. I literally waited for 20-30 minutes.

That's exactly my point.

 

[LethalWolfe]

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

 

[alFR]

Well we don't get searched doing our shopping!

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]

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....

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]

Put it this way, no numpty will be checking my purchases once I've paid for them.

Awesome, you'll be one less person in front of me then if I ever hit up a Costco across the pond.


Lethal

 

[noaccess]

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.

 

[mintlivedotcom]

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.

 

[gnasher729]

[Rant] Anyone who's ever shopped at COSTCO knows about the long purchase lines waiting to buy their supplies. THEN, you have to wait in another long line at the door to be SEARCHED. So anyway, I had already gone through the purchase line and I was rolling my cart towards the search line when I discovered several people with there flat carts piled four feet high with stuff. I was there with only 3 items in my cart: 2 jars of mayonnaise and 1 box of Motrin.

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.

 

[PlaceofDis]

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.

costco sells to anyone who wants to pay for the membership.

 

[Aeolius]

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.

 

[PlaceofDis]

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.

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.

 

[Aeolius]

... 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

 

[PlaceofDis]

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. I will not surrender my land to an ass.

pot meet kettle...

and technically the roads and streets aren't you're land.

 

[MACDRIVE]

I am just wondering: What were you doing at Costco purchasing three items?

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]

I was waiting for someone to ask that.

Must resist temptation to ask what mom was planning to do with two gallons of mayo.

B

 

[Aeolius]

Must resist temptation to ask what mom was planning to do with two gallons of mayo.

Why, making a Motrin sandwich, of course

 

[Abstract]

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.

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.