Bad news if you’re mooching off of someone else’s Costco membership: The retail giant is cracking down.
When you enter Costco, you need to show your membership card to an employee to shop. Costco membership cards are non-transferable, but the company allows members to give a second household card to one other person in their home. Anyone with a card can bring up to two guests to the club during each visit, the company stipulates.
But Costco has noticed that non-members have been sneaking in with membership cards that don’t belong to them — particularly since Costco expanded self-checkout.
Costco recently started asking for shoppers’ membership cards along with a photo ID at the self-checkout registers, the same policy as regular checkout lanes, to crack down. “We don’t feel it’s right that non-members receive the same benefits and pricing as our members,” Costco said in announcing the change.
And now, Costco is testing out a system that requires members to scan their membership cards at the store entrance — instead of just flashing the card to employees. Shoppers have spotted the new scanners at a store in Washington State and posted photos on Reddit.
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Makes sense, Costco makes its money from the memberships, not selling you stuff at wholesale prices after you’ve got one
Does it? What I get in rewards from shopping and refueling there more than makes up for my membership.
The money you’re saving doesn’t necessarily have to have any relation to the profit they make.
Impressive. I wouldn’t have guessed.
One of the last times I was in, I was asked for my photo ID and Costco membership card no less than 5 times by employees. I literally got asked while I was in an isle looking at items. I’ve never had this happen before and made me honestly a bit irritated having to constantly pull my ID out of my wallet. This policy needs to chill.
Just tell them to fuck off.
You can’t. They are a private, membership-only business. If you tell them to fuck off, they can escort you out and disable your membership.
You CAN still say it, just with consequences.
Fuck off, then.
Yeah exactly, people are so afraid of confrontation these days, you can tell people to fuck off and they generally will.
And then they can tell you to fuck off, because it’s their store.
I’m sure they would try but if you’ve already shown the damn member card they can eat shit.
It’s literally their property, it doesn’t matter if you have a membership card, they can kick you off their property for any reason or no reason.
You don’t have an inherent right to shop at Costco.
Honestly, I’ve been considering just cancelling my Costco membership. Sam’s Club let’s you scan as you shop, check out on your phone, and walk out. If Costco let you do that, it would help cut down on this greatly.
Only let two phones be registered at a time and that’s your ID. Or have different tiers for solo, duo, or family with different price tiers. If you get a new phone, you have to invalidate your old registration. Have TOTP or one-time QR codes generated in the app for when you check out in line or at the gas station. Let the old people still have cards, but you check their ID every time. If someone forgets their card, let them look it up by phone number and present an ID to prove they are that member. Could even give $10 off a membership for going digital or an extra 60 days of membership if you go all-digital to incentivize it. When someone goes digital, flag their card barcode as no longer active in the system if someone tries to use it.
If you go digital, you get to scan n go and walk right out. Someone scans a QR code of your receipt as you leave like they do at Sam’s Club. Sam’s Club even let’s you scan a gas pump with your phone and it will already program in a credit card of your choice, tie that pump to your membership, and give you a digital receipt. Totally paperless and basically zero contact.
Yawn. Costco > Sam’s club (ew, Walmart) for treating employees, plus Kirkland brand is the best store-name brand. Btw you can have a digital card on Costco app. I’m not even sure what your reason was for canceling, and for some reason I read your whole comment twice
While I agree that I wouldn’t move to Sam’s on ethical grounds I don’t like Costco’s approach on this.
We pay for our membership. Adding hassle or making it less convenient as paying members just pushes me towards cancelling and using someone else’s membership instead.
I’m in the minority for sure though because we only use Costco for a handful of things on a pretty regular cadence (sparkling water, pet food, paper products etc.). We probably just slightly save more than the membership cost in a year.
I fully support Costco protecting their business model but at the end of the day it’s a subscription service and adding barriers to access will push us away.
This is an odd take to me. You acknowledge that you pay for the membership and yet you’re against them enforcing the very benefits that you, as a member, are paying for and then your “solution” to that is to cancel your membership and do the same thing that they’re attempting to curb *specifically for their members *.
This is, to me, akin to someone paying for a gym membership and then cancelling said membership when the gym enforces not letting people in who haven’t paid to use the facilities. Aren’t you paying specifically for the gym staff to enforce who is allowed to come in and use the facilities?
I’m not against them enforcing it, just that their enforcement makes my experience worse. I’m not negatively impacted by this problem they’re trying to fix until their fixes make my experience worse.
I also think it’s naive to believe there’s no financial motivation and they’re only doing it because it’s unfair to their paying members.
Your gym analogy is also a false equivalence. The Costco membership gets you their product guarantee/return policy and the opportunity to purchase things at a cheaper price than elsewhere. Joe Schmo letting his neighbor use his membership doesn’t hurt me in any way, it only hurts Costco.
What I’m saying is actually similar to what has happened, and is happening, in media regarding DRM and various attempts to secure content.
You’re only saying that because they’re insulating you from the effect of this happening. If Costco had to raise rates because people were sharing memberships and members didn’t want that enforced, you’d complain about that too. Again, it’s odd to me that you’re complaining about them protecting the very benefits that you’re paying for which others are not. Unless you have some magic way to prevent non-members from using benefits that doesn’t affect members, your demands are unreasonable.
The gym analogy isn’t a false equivalence. If Joe Schmo lets his neighbor use your membership, it does affect you and it does so in the same way as it does at the gym - more traffic, less access to product, more upkeep, etc. and none of which they’re paying for but you are. I don’t understand why you’re ignoring the ways this affects you simply because this also affects you.
DRM is a a false equivalence. This is not immaterial goods like Intellectual Property. This is physical goods at physical stores of resources that are physically limited. It’s not the same thing in any way.
You’re only saying that because they’re insulating you from the effect of this happening. If Costco had to raise rates because people were sharing memberships and members didn’t want that enforced, you’d complain about that too.
I would not. If the new rates meant I’d pay more for a membership than I’d save over the course of a year I’d just not renew.
Again, it’s odd to me that you’re complaining about them protecting the very benefits that you’re paying for which others are not.
They are not protecting my benefits, they are protecting their revenue stream. I’m not sure why you and so many others don’t understand that companies don’t exist to provide something** for you**. They exist to extract a profit from you.
The gym analogy isn’t a false equivalence.
We’ll have to agree to disagree on this and probably the whole situation in general because you’ve just re-stated the same points as in your first reply to me. You may not like my reasoning but it’s not wrong. The only reason I have a Costco membership is because it is currently cheaper for me to get a few items there than it is to get them elsewhere, but just barely. When it’s no longer financially beneficial to me to have a membership, or if they create a shopping experience so unpleasant that it outweighs the nominal savings we get from shopping there we will end our membership.
If that time ever comes and if the family members who have memberships now still do, then I’ll just have them buy for me or I’ll go as a “guest”. The only difference is the inconvenience of not being able to go whenever it’s convenient for me or waiting until we absolutely need something, because I’d have to go on someone else’s schedule.
Just because you can’t understand a logical cost/benefit rationale doesn’t make it wrong. I’m not under the same illusion as you seem to be that Costco, or any business or corporation, has my best interests at heart. This is ultimately about their revenue stream; you can tell yourself otherwise but you’re a fool if you think that’s not a driving factor.
Just because you can’t understand a logical cost/benefit rationale doesn’t make it wrong.
I understand it fine. I’m pointing out the flaw in it based on the fact that you’re complaining about paying for something that you are ok with others abusing for free. I never said that Costco wasn’t doing it for their own benefit. Happy members benefit them. People who aren’t members do not benefit them or members.
The entire point of contention is why any member would be ok with non-members using services you pay for without paying.
They started this here months ago. My wife kept her maiden name when we got married. I’m sure you can figure out why our 2 hour customer service call ended in cancellation. FUCK Costco
In a decade you’re the first person I’ve ever met who had a problem with Costco.
Meh, I cancelled for similar reasons. They have tilted over to being way too aggressive about the card shit and it’s gotten annoying. Plus, I don’t think a lot of the deals are actually very good these days.
So a family can’t bring their multiple kids and the grandparents to Costco? WTF?
Read the article, silly. This isn’t about family members, it’s about non-members flashing cards that don’t belong to them. x3
I hate going to costco so many people and the suv carts.
I mean the carts are specifically designed for what they sell. Sam’s and BJs are the same way. A smaller cart would be filled with just a couple items.
Well, not renewing my membership, hell with this horseshit.
Why is this a problem for you? In the UK, they scan your card at the entrance, and it affects my day in absolutely no way whatsoever.
What’s wrong with a business wanting only paying members to enter the members only shop?
Why does scanning your card make you feel like a shoplifter?’ (Sorry, i read your chat with the other person in this thread)
This is such an odd take to me.
Their entire model is based on assuming everyone is probably a thief, and I’ve just had it. That receipt checking of everyone as they leave is bad enough, and my last (literally last, i decided not to go back, wasn’t going to renew and just now realized it would have expired in December) trip there, the woman held everyone up by meticulously counting and comparing every single item in everyone’s cart. took 15 minutes to leave with goods i had paid for, finally just said fuck it and left while they screamed at me like fucking morons. “Touch me and see what happens”. Aside from that, I don’t want my movements documented and recorded by a card reader, for example, this whole incident, no I don’t want people actively trying to fuck with me know who I was.
Damn. You’ve got issues. Your mind is warped.
No, it’s just remnants of when people had pride and manners.
No seriously, you are getting mad at a shop (a private business) that has its own rules to protect its own stock (Probably based on their experience of past issues), its your choice to shop there or not. I appreciate that you dont like the idea of being tracked (although not wanting to use a bank card due to worries about tracking you is a bit strange. I assume you have a mobile phone of some description, or a computer or laptop maybe? What about a satnav or a car built after 2010? If so you are being tracked anyway) But getting mad at them because their rules exclude your ideals is way over the top. Your custom would be lovely but i dont think they really care about one person who rather shop somewhere else than scan a membership card at the door.
Tbh you walkkng away from the recipt checker as they shout after you just makes you sound like an impatient and entitled brat.
Sorry but im trying to be understanding but the more i read of what you say here the more and more i find myself being unable to sympathise.
I guess i dont blame costco for being protective of its stock, i blame the people who tried to steal and made them paranoid and protective about it. Whereas you seem to blame the shop and claim its because you dont want anykne knowing what you are doing when, frankly, no one cares.
I paid for the goods. They are mine. The want to waste a half hour of my time acting like I’m shoplifting, they no longer deserve my money. Not many other businesses actively treat you like a thief so blatantly
I’ve never waited more than 5 minutes in line to have my receipt checked at costco. Also, what most businesses do is not any of costco’s concern. And i have never felt like im being treated like a thief.
The entitlement is all over your comment. “I paid for them, They are mine” “no longer deserve my money” “waste half an hour of my time”
What a karen.
Yeah, they don’t care. They want everyone buying to have a membership, as it’s been for decades. This isn’t some new crazy way they’re screwing people. It’s making sure the rules their members agreed to are followed.
I’m sick of being treated like a shoplifter at their store, and now they’re doubling down. They can fuck off at this point.
Well, now you just sound like you wanna shoplift! 😆
Seriously, though, what does this have to do with shoplifting? It’s like you’re making up excuses to be mad. Just say you don’t wanna pay and leave it at that. No excuses are needed.
You think it’s normal to have your ID checked against your card, at the entrance, at the till, and then have your receipt checked as you leave? Our grandpas’ generation wouldn’t have stood for it, and I’ve come to agree.
They sure did. The damn company was founded by my grandfather’s generation. How much shit are you gonna talk out your ass today?
Where I come from, you don’t count money in front of people, and you just told me how young you are. You wouldn’t remember things like this being an active insult.
Because you can’t give your card, which has your picture on it, to anyone you want? That really doesn’t make sense. How many people do you think your membership, that you pay for, should cover? I doubt you actually had one bc this will literally only affect people who don’t have memberships.
You saw the answer to that right here, and you wrote this anyways.
User name checks out, you do sound weirdly furious at the world.
Now if they’d just come up with a new system for parking in the parking lot…
From the article, as I didn’t see this being mentioned in the OP summary…
Costco is testing out a system that requires members to scan their membership cards at the store entrance — instead of just flashing the card to employees.
So it seems like there’s two different things going on, per the article, when you’re entering the building, and when you’re trying to use a self checkout machine.
When you enter the building I’ve never had anyone check if it’s actually my card, they only do that at the checkout. You just need to flash the card so they can tell you have one on your way in. They check the photo and address at the checkout though. I guess people were getting by that with the self checkouts.
I’m just repeating what was said in the article.
Having said that, each and every time I’ve had to flash my Costco card at the employee at the front door, as it also states in the article.
Costco UK has been scanning cards for months, we don’t have self checkout, though.
Costco UK has been scanning cards for months
In the US it’s still visual verification by an employee, as stated in the article.
Just providing some extra info, not refuting anything in the article…
Just providing some extra info, not refuting anything in the article…
Just noting the differences on each side of the Pond.
