I have spent $2500 at Costco this year. Not a lot by many measures, but relative to our family’s budget this ranks up there with other expense categories (more than gas if you can believe it). It’s a warehouse for Pete’s sake! What is it about this place that drives us all so nuts?!
Free samples? (Love my Vita-Mix!)
Kirkland branded, mega-sized, multi-pack, hermetically sealed bags of trail mix?
Generous return policy?
The tribe-like membership aspect (thanks Seth Godin)?
Whatever it is, it has the power to make us overlook certain things. These things, while annoying and unacceptable at any other retailer, are merely a part of the ethos and the mystery that is Costco.
Cram-packed parking lots.
No bags for small items.
Doesn’t accept MasterCard or Visa (yet they take Amex and Discover…Discover!! Come on people!)
Early closing times.
Shifting product lines (here today, gone tomorrow).
It’s amazing how some of these things contribute to the aura, the sense of scarcity and privelege. I get all of that. What I don’t get is what happened to me today.
Stopped by the Costco in Chandler today on my way home from work. As I entered the store, I was handed a sheet of coupons for various items in the adult beverage department. Great! I would be there anyway to pick up a bottle of La Chablisienne Chablis Vallion 2004 thanks to the recommendation of The Valley Wine Guy (whose wife is a coworker) because it was being clearanced for $9.97 a bottle. Anyhow, they were offering a Pinot Grigio I had never tried for only $5 a bottle and Fat Tire Pale Ale 24-packs for under $20 (can you say $5 six-packs?).
After spending the necessary time hunting the coupon items down and the other sundry items on my list I headed to the checkout stand. Unloaded the cart, waited for the guy in front of me to check out, and then heard:
“You know those coupons aren’t good until the 15th?”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Yeah, we should tell the people at the front door that.”
“That would be a great idea, since I don’t want any of the items that I picked up because of the coupons now.”
That’s when they did it. They yanked the items out of my cart and set them to the side, no concessions, just the attitude “Hey this is Costco, we make the rules, not you.”
Now I guess I should have read the fine print on the coupons, but for all that’s good and right, don’t give them to people as they come in the store if we can’t use them while we’re there!!! It’s not like we won’t come back again, you don’t need to use them to get us back in the store. Either wait until the day they’re good or don’t hand them out - otherwise you will just make people mad.
So, now that I have kicked and screamed, I will keep going there, keep dealing with the incredibly long lines and fighting for the last little paper cup of salsa, because after all, it’s Costco.
