bats

We all have our little bête noires.

dbd33

Indeed we do.

BristolUK

"I don't know, this isn't my department" is not something I've heard anywhere but Walmart. Without Walmart, I'm not sure if they'd be employed in another store.

At the risk of sounding snobbish, sometimes I used to be glad some of the staff worked there rather than somewhere I preferred to shop.

bats

Try Sears!

BristolUK

I quite enjoy Sears. I don't buy much in there but it's a pleasant enough experience. I did prefer The Bay though.

Jerseygirl

Although I'm a big supporter or Costco...I haven't bought gas/petrol there. Here in Toronto the queues are too long to justify saving a few pennies per gallon.

evets

Thanks, I suppose due to only being open limited hours does not help.

But as other have commented, I am aware of 24x7 petrol stations, just was a bit confused by Costco's hours.

Danny B

They check your membership card on the way in to prevent long lines at the till when you realise you have left it at home and some poor sod has to put all the shopping back on the shelf.

Checking your cart is obviously a security measure for big ticket items. However, how they can scan my entire cart in 5 seconds I do not know.

The big trolley is to make you spend more, makes business sense but I agree, it is a pain when you don't need much.

I have never been escorted anywhere, in fact I regularly walk in through the exit without showing my card and walk straight to the cafeteria for a $1.50 hot dog combo lunch. That price hasn't gone up since 1985

BristolUK

It must have been a fortune then. Could the sausage be from back then too?

Danny B

$3.33 in 1985 prices.

Sausage meat is not tough so I think they are using fresh meat

Aviator

It came down, used to be 1.99 a few years back.

bats

The card check is to stop non members. Costco told me so
You're supposed to be escorted as a non member to pharmacy. Costco told me so. I've never come across anyone being escorted to pharmacy

Danny B

Pretty much the same thing as what I was told then.

The main reason for having people show their membership cards at the entrance? To make sure you have one. If you get all the way to the register without your membership card it makes for a serious slowdown since a supervisor has to look up your membership number – you’re not only inconveniencing the clerk at the check stand but everyone who got in line behind you as well. If you forgot your card the front door person will send you to the membership desk where they will look up your membership number and write it down for you so the person at the check stand can enter it in. The registers WILL NOT start a transaction without having a valid membership number first.

BristolUK

Not to get into an argument on someone else's behalf but that's not the same thing at all.

Bats' comment was about non members, yours was about members not having their card with them because it was left at home and they have to look it up.

SchnookoLoly

I think it's more so that a non-member doesn't get to the door and say "Oh i just forgot my card" and then the register lets them check out anyway. I did forget my card once, and the membership desk printed me a one-use paper copy of my membership which the lady at the register then held onto after I checked out.

So the checking at the door I think covers both instances - it stops non-members from getting in, and it stops members who have forgotten their card from only realizing it once they get to the checkout, which then holds everything up.