I’m officially listing my relationship status with Costco as ” its complicated”.
I’ve never been a Costco person, as I find the parking lot unbearable. It’s too busy, and in order to make it out alive, you really need eyes in the back of your head. Prior to being a family of 4, I didn’t really need the mass quantities, so I just never bothered.
What I do love about Costco is their birthday cake. It’s so freaking good, and it’s under 20 dollars for a giant sheet cake. I decided I was going to get one for my daughter’s birthday, only I forgot to ask my husband to give me the membership card. I saw my in-laws earlier that day, and since my husband shares a membership with his mother, she just gave me her card.
So off I went.
I braved that parking lot. I showed the guy in front my card so I could shop. I ordered my cake. And then I wondered around for a bit. I had my oldest daughter with me, so we checked out what they had. She was loving the sampling (so was I, who would I be kidding!), and we found a few items that made sense to buy in bulk (chocolate peppermint bark 😂). We made our way to the checkout where I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen basically since college. It was great to see her, but with what was about to transpire, it was probably less great to see me.
I went to check out. I gave the guy the Costco card and my Id. Now, hopefully, it doesn’t take a genius to know that my picture doesn’t match my MIL. However, our last names match. The guy at the checkout told me he couldn’t process my order and sent me to customer service.
They asked me if I was on the membership. I told them my husband is, and that I couldn’t take his card because he had it with him, and he was at work.
” So, you aren’t on the membership then.”
“No, but you see this credit card I am paying with? The man who pays the bill attached to this credit card is. I will happily call him, list all the items I am buying, and await his okay for you.”
” Well you see it’s not that easy. We believe you, but, hmmm, you know you can’t drive on your husband’s drivers license and expect the cops to honor that. It’s the same thing with a Costco membership.”
And that’s where I possibly blacked out.
Ok, maybe not, but my blood started to boil.
This is where the service people should say, ” We only allow two members per card. In order for you to shop here, you need to get your own membership, or buy one with someone else. However, I’ll honor your shopping this time as I can tell this is an innocent mistake. When we are done with this transaction, I will show you to the membership desk where you can get your own.”
But since they didn’t say that, they got to watch me begin to melt down.
” So, there is nothing you can do? Nothing ? So I’ve wasted all this time here shopping, and I have to put it all back ? Awesome.”
At that point I began to unload my cart right there. The lady then tells me she’d allow me to shop as long as I pay cash.
But I didn’t have cash. And that offer almost made it worse. I’m pulling out the groceries fast. My friend is standing nearby offering to buy them for me and that I could pay her back. It was a super sweet offer, but one I just couldn’t take up.
I then attempt to get my almost 4 year old out of the cart. As I’m struggling to get her out, the lady tells me I can use the cart to wheel her back to the car. I snarked at her while accidentally bumping my daughter’s leg against the handle bar. She starts to cry.
I’m so bewildered at this point, and now I’ve hurt my daughter. So I’m on the floor of Costco, hugging my crying daughter, feeling like a terrible mom, and I’m frustrated beyond belief. After a good awkward 4 minutes of this, the customer service lady honors my purchase.
Um what?
So she was certain there was nothing she could do to allow me to shop until My child started to cry ? She couldn’t take care of me before, but now we are making a horrible scene ( this was not staged, I assure you), now it is okay? I found this to be appalling and pathetic.
I’ll let you in on a secret. Managers can always do something to fix anything if they want to. I was one for several companies. I had that power to take care of people in every company I worked for. So the “There is nothing we can do” line is bs. And, knowing this, it infuriates me.
I made my purchases, got the hell out of there, and vowed never to go back.
But I bought a birthday cake there. Dammit.
My husband took me to go pick up the cake a few weeks later. We got a few extra things there, and I hated to admit that I enjoyed the shopping piece. They offer great deals, the sampling is fun, and the cashiers are quick. So, I bit the bullet, and we got our own membership.
It’s been over a month since that fiasco. Since then, I have to say I’ve enjoyed my time there. But, the company needs to work with their management. How they handled me was so wrong and disgusting. If a wife and husband can’t share a membership where we share the same credit card paying for said membership, then maybe they need to look at how they sell their plans. I can’t be the only person who has had this experience.
I got my way because of a perceived temper tantrum. What a great lesson that was 😬. I hope my daughter wasn’t paying too much attention !