Costco may be very generous with the free food samples and might have a very forgiving return policy, but when it comes to paying with a credit card at the warehouse club, customers have only one option: American Express. But a new report claims that we could be seeing the end of Costco customers being forced to use their AmEx when buying 872 lbs. of steak and enough toilet paper to keep a small nation clean. [More]
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Does Using Someone Else’s Costco Card To Steal From Store Count As Burglary?
By 10.31.14
When you leave a store without having paid for something, you’ve likely committed the crime of theft, but if you use someone else’s card to get into a warehouse club like Costco or Sam’s Club and then walk out of the store without paying for items in your bag, have you also committed the crime of burglary? A New Mexico appeals court says no, but it depends on where you live. [More]
GameStop Decides To Give Employees The Day Off For Thanksgiving
By 10.29.14
GameStop is well known for often getting the jump on new video game releases by opening stores at midnight, so you might expect that the chain would be throwing open its doors as early as possible on Thanksgiving to get out ahead of the Black Friday competition. But today, the retailer announced that its workers won’t be enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner in between dealing with customers. [More]
Costco Takes Unusual Stance That Retail Employees Should Have Thanksgiving Day Off
By 10.24.14
As the beginning of Black Friday and thus the holiday shopping season has crept backwards into the early hours of Thanksgiving, we at Consumerist have taken a cantankerous stance against these early openings. Even we can take heart, though: a few businesses have confirmed that they will not be opening on Thanksgiving Day, because they’d like employees to spend the holiday with their loved ones or something. [More]
The Costco Effect: Science Says We Choose Less Variety When Buying In Bulk
By 10.16.14
When you go to a convenience store to grab a few cold drinks and some snacks, you’re probably going to make different shopping choices than you would at the supermarket or warehouse store. And a new study claims that we tend to go for more variety when we’re not buying in bulk — even if the bulk packages offer variety. [More]
What Not To Buy At Costco
By 10.9.14
When you stroll into Costco, leaning with swagger on your huge cart and confidently flashing your membership card at the entrance, there’s an atmosphere in the air of “I’m going to spend a lot of money today, but things will be so much cheaper than shopping elsewhere.” For some items (huge pack of super-thick steaks, we’re looking at you), that’s true, but no store is the best place to buy everything and some Costco items aren’t always going to save you any money. [More]
4 Things We Learned About The Psychology Of Costco’s Free Samples
By 10.2.14
Anyone familiar with Costco knows about the wide variety of free food samples that shoppers can score when pushing their oversized carts around one of the wholesale clubs. But as you’ve probably guessed, these samples aren’t just about providing free piecemeal lunches to customers. [More]
Guy With A Sweet Mustache Allegedly Went On California Costco Shoplifting Spree
By 9.29.14
I’ve always wanted an awesome nickname. Apparently I should just ask the Santa Cruz, CA, police department for their input. I am officially crowning them the unofficial nickname kings (and queens) for the name bestowed on an alleged serial Costco thief: El Mustachio the Magician. [More]
Man Sues Costco For $670,000 After Receipt-Checking Incident Leaves Him With A Broken Leg
By 9.23.14
Over the years we’ve told you about all kinds of crazy situations – from pepper-sprayed employees to arrested customers – that arose when a consumer refused to show their receipt when leaving stores like Sam’s Club and Best Buy. Now a man in Oregon is suing Costco for $670,000, claiming that a receipt-checking dispute left him with a broken leg. [More]
Some Costco and Safeway Tomatoes Recalled For Possible Salmonella Contamination
By 9.16.14
If your garden’s plentiful supply of tomatoes is running low and you thought, “Hey, I’ll just run to Costco to stock-up on some Fresh Roma tomatoes,” then you better rethink that strategy. A California produce company recalled a lot of tomatoes, and the salad kits they come in over the weekend, you know, because salmonella doesn’t make them taste any fresher. [More]
Send Us Your Questions In Bulk For Costco CEO Craig Jelinek
By 8.20.14
For three decades, Costco has been selling pallets of toilet paper, jugs of ketchup, sacks of flour, and steaks in family packs big enough to feed a reality show family. But what do you actually know about what goes on behind the scenes at the members’ only warehouse chain? Now is your chance to ask the company’s CEO Craig Jelinek. [More]
Halloween Creep Strikes Costco With July Costume Displays
By 7.28.14
If you already finished all of your back-to-school shopping back in June when Staples started up its sale campaigns, maybe it’s time to get started on other ridiculously early holiday tasks. For example, it’s almost August: do you have your kids’ Halloween costumes ready? [More]
Authorities Bust Tiny Dog Out Of Hot Van At Costco, 98-Year-Old Mom Out Of Hot Car At Casino
By 7.22.14
Shopping at Costco is pretty great, but that doesn’t mean you should bring your dog along on your shopping trip, then leave it in your vehicle with the temperature outside in the 90s. The same goes for your very young and very old loved ones. Come to think of it, just don’t lock anyone in the car. An elderly woman and a dog are both still alive because authorities intervened and got them both out. [More]
12 Things You Might Not Know About Costco
By 7.17.14
Consumerist readers seem to love Costco, but how much do you know about the warehouse retail chain? Here are twelve interesting facts that you may or may not know about Costco. If you did know them, you can feel smug about it; if you didn’t, then you’ll learn something new. Everyone wins! [More]
Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Costco Agree To Finally Put Unit Pricing Online
By 6.17.14
When shopping online, it can be difficult to compare prices between similar products because they come in slightly different size containers — or to see if you’re really getting a good deal by buying in bulk — because many e-tail websites don’t include unit pricing to tell you many dollars per ounce/gram/liter or other standard unit of measure. But today, some of the biggest names in retail agreed to start listing unit prices, while the biggest name in online shopping won’t commit. [More]
Costco Shopper Pays For Firefighters’ Groceries While They’re Out On Emergency Call
By 5.28.14
Firefighters might do the work of superheroes, but just like other humans, even they like to chow down during Memorial Day cookouts. So when a group of firefighters had to abandon their groceries at Costco to respond to an emergency call, one good Samaritan didn’t want to let them go hungry. [More]
Top Laundry Detergents At Medium Prices Available At Warehouse Clubs
By 5.21.14
Looking for a reasonably-priced but effective laundry detergent? Consider signing up for a warehouse club if you aren’t already a member of one. Our high-efficiency colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports just put out their list of great performers at reasonable prices, and two of the top three are house brands from Sam’s Club (Member’s Mark) or Costco (Kirkland). Non-members can check out Wisk Deep Clean instead. [More]
25 Tons Of Edible Peanut Butter Dumped In Landfill After Dispute Between Plant And Costco
By 3.28.14
Yesterday we told you that Sunland Foods Inc., the peanut butter plant behind the Great Peanut Butter Recall of 2012, was being sold at a bankruptcy auction. Sure, you could say that makes the company the big loser in peanut-gate. But today we learned the real losers are all the lovers of the creamy, nutty food. Why? Because the company is dumping 950,000 jars of safe, edible peanut butter into a New Mexico landfill following a dispute with Costco. [More]
