Costco

Boxes of consumer goodies are stacked as high as the eye can see at this international chain store

by Saira Masood at Citysearch

In Short
Formerly known as the Price Club, this large membership-only warehouse is chock-full of almost any consumer product under the sun-in bulk, of course. With goods ranging from high-end electronics to outdoor furniture to fresh lobster, this wholesale superstore has got it (lots and lots of it!). While the high-volume and low prices appeals mainly to families and business, it's not uncommon to find college students trolling the various aisles for free food samples. The various membership options offer a range of plans, all reasonably priced. A word of warning to shopaholics: If you leave home without a list, you might spend more than you bargained for with all the deals offered.

02/25/08

Skip this

by alansi at Citysearch

I was expecting value for the money when I joined Costco. What I got was mediocre product (Kirkland galore) and prices that are actually higher than other warehouse outfits. There actually closer to super market pricing when you take the bulkiness into consideration. The customer service-or lack there of- is amazely bad. Its true I have seen longer checkout lines at other stores, but not this consistently. Overall, I give Costco very low ratings as a retailer and can only appreciate their policy on membership cancellation.

01/23/08

They think their special

by deanst at Citysearch

Apparently, the fact people, me included for a while, would fork over $50 or $100 fee membership makes us sub-human in this company's eyes. They may be right. The Brooklyn, for that matter all Costcos, have poor to no customer service. The inventory ordering system is laughable when compared to other retailers. Their queuing is horrible which would explain their so called high wages. Paying a couple bucks more an hour, than the competition, to a handful of brainless drones (yes, you hold us in comtempt, I will do the same to you) and have the NewYorkTimes do cozy pieces about your labor relations is apprarently more important than servicing your fee paying customers. Or is this to provide an excuse for crappy service and make people feel bad for complaining when you guys are such good labor Samaritans. To top it off, once the majority of the store goes for the $100 cashback membership with the % cashback purchases, watch the prices sore on staples and food stuffs. I wonder how many stores actually have only 10-15% markup. The more I Iook at your business, from the issues surrounding the forcing of cities to use eniment domain to take private property (that's over,HAHA), the sweetheart tax breaks you force from small cities, and the ongoing sexual discrimination lawsuit-the better I feel when I canceled my membership. Now, if only Brooklyn would respond and not patronage these "masters of the universe"

09/26/07

Costco, really pretty good!

by amobari at Citysearch

Thi sis a typical Costco. I disagree with the other posts.The lines, while present, move fairly quickly, I have never seen them take more than 9 minutes. Customer service is almost non-existant because that is the Costco way but when I had a need for help they really came through.

The Costco experience differs from typical shopping in many ways. I prefer the Costco way for many reasons including fresh produce blisterpacked so nobody touches it and immediate credit on returns with no problems (policies now have limited time returns on computers, tv's and others). I have seen longer lines at Target, supermarkets and the Gateway BJ'S.

• Pros: price, quality, return policy
• Cons: lines look long, not that bad

08/16/07

Customers Come Last, and expect to fight for a shopping cart

by henryedwards at Citysearch

We normally like Costco, but when we moved to Brooklyn and tried the Costco here, it was unbelievably angering. First of all, there are no empty shopping carts anywhere. Ask an employee and they won't even look at you. They'll just say they don't have any. So you'll figure out that to get a cart, you must follow a family with a loaded cart out of the store to their car, ask them if you can have their cart, argue with someone else who claims they also called that cart, wait for the family to slowly unload their cart, and then finally walk it back in to begin your shopping. Several people will inevitably ask you if they can have your cart, like you're in the middle of a famine or something. And if someone gave you Costco-Cash, don't think of it as a gift. Here's how they treat it: they turn you away at the door and make you get temporary membership. Wait 15 minutes in that line like a 2nd class citizen to get a silly printout (sometimes after that 15 minute wait they'll tell you you don't need temporary membereship. Bring it back to the entrance, if you got it. At the checkout line, if the temporary membership didn't give you a printout, the cashier will try to deny you service. They may call the manager who will tell you you are at fault when their membership desk and cashier were the ignorant, unhelpful ones. The website says no membership is needed for Costco Cash, but apparently none of the employees ever read what's on their own website. Do NOT go to Brooklyn Costco. Oh, and after waiting 15 minutes in line for a pizza, they'll tell you they're all out. It took us 3 visits to finally get a pizza. Only go to Brooklyn Costco if you want to get very angry.

• Pros: If you live across the street, then it's a short walk
• Cons: Must fight for shopping carts, Angry workers, Costco-Cash is a turn-off