A few years back, I misplaced my license while in Washington, D.C. for a wedding. Little did I know that I didn’t have to take a bus back to New York; I apparently could have just shown my Costco card. [More]
costco
How To Get Your Westinghouse Digital TV Repaired Or Replaced: Buy It At Costco
By 2.5.13
Great news and terrible news for reader Mark, who can’t get Westinghouse Digital to repair his TV that broke after only three months. Heck, they won’t even pick up the phone. The great news is that another reader wrote in to tell us how he successfully got his Westinghouse TV first repaired, then replaced. The terrible news is that he accomplished this by buying the TV at Costco. [More]
Ambitious Thief Walks Out Of Costco With 24 Bottles Of Motor Oil Wrapped Around His Body
By 2.4.13
If you’re going to shoplift from a warehouse store, you might as well do it in bulk, right? At least that seemed to be the thinking of one California man, who used bungee cords to secure 24 bottles of motor oil to his body and then headed for the doors. [More]
Pepsi To Replace Coke In Costco’s Beloved $1.50 Soda & Hot Dog Deal
By 2.4.13
For many Costco shoppers, a trip to the warehouse store isn’t complete without stopping by the lunch counter and plunking down $1.50 for a hot dog and a Coca-Cola beverage. It’s the same price and pairing the company has had since 1985. But that’s about to change, with Costco making the decision to switch all its stores over to Pepsi. [More]
Milk, Aspirin, Broadband, And LivingSocial: Some Class Actions You Might Be Eligible For
By 12.14.12
Organic milk, LivingSocial vouchers, Norton Antivirus, Verizon Wireless games, and Clearwire Internet service: what do they all have in common? All of these companies have open class-action lawsuits against them for which eligible customers can file claims and get cash. [More]
New Survey Shows Why Amazon Has Bricks-And-Mortar Retailers Worried
By 11.30.12
Many bricks-and-mortar retailers claim Amazon has an unfair advantage because it is not — in most states — yet required to collect sales tax on purchases, or that Amazon can offer huge discounts because it doesn’t have the overhead associated with running a retail store. But a new survey shows that people might just like Amazon more than other retailers. [More]
Using Your Spouse’s Costco Card Will Launch A Mini Fraud Investigation
By 11.20.12
Costco members, you should feel safe: the world’s most beloved warehouse club is looking out for you. In the event that a thief steals your membership card, happens to have the same last name as you, and makes Costco purchases while you stand a few feet away, Costco has got you covered. Which is to say that Adam’s local store freaked out on his latest visit when his wife forgot her Costco card and used his, but paid with her debit card attached to their joint bank account. [More]
Warehouse Store Sample Server: I’m Not Here To Give You A Free Lunch
By 11.19.12
Shoppers at Costco, Sam’s Club and other warehouse clubs are likely quite familiar with the many sample servers situated around the store, handing out freebies to eager customers. One such sample server has penned an open letter to warehouse club shoppers saying that he loves his job, but there are some things you all do that really get under his skin. [More]
Former Costco Employee Responds To Man Who Refuses To Show Membership Card Or Have Receipt Checked
By 11.16.12
Yesterday, we told you about the California man who, in spite of being aware of Costco policy when he became a member, refuses to show his membership card when he enters the store and makes it impossible for his receipt to be checked on the way out. Today, someone who actually worked at Costco writes in with a rebuttal. [More]
More Obnoxious: Agreeing to Membership Rules You Have No Intention of Following, Or Having Your Receipt Checked?
By 11.15.12
At most stores, it’s reasonable for customers to walk in without being aware of that retailer’s particular policies. But when you sign up for a members-only warehouse store like Costco, it’s made pretty clear from the get-go that you’re agreeing to abide by the store’s rules. Isn’t that the trade-off for being able to buy Snickers by the carton? [More]
Without Discount Passes, AMC’s Rewards Program Is A Lot Less Rewarding
By 10.16.12
Amy thought that the AMC Stubs rewards program was pretty great, back when the discount passes that she bought at Costco counted toward earning rewards. The Stubs program isn’t free (it costs $12 a year) and she was exchanging money for movie tickets and perhaps buying some snacks, after all. Then AMC suddenly stopped counting Gold and Silver passes toward the program. [More]
5 Best Stores For Having Playdates While You Shop
By 10.15.12
To all the parents of young children out there who are constantly wrangled into making playdates for your kid(s). Just because you’ve scheduled a playdate for your little one(s), it doesn’t mean you can’t also get in some all-important shopping while the youngsters amuse each other for a few hours. [More]
I Bought My TV In 2006, Costco's 2006 Electronics Return Policy Should Apply
By 8.17.12
A few years ago, Costco changed its famously generous return policy when it comes to electronics. Customers have only ninety days to bring back gadgets that break or don’t make them happy, unlike the previous seemingly infinite return policy. Nick, however, bought his Vizio TV from Costco before the return policy changed. Back when he had as long as he wanted to bring it back. Now the six-year-old set won’t turn on, and he thinks that Costco should take the set back for a refund, which was the policy at the time he purchased it. [More]
Washington Costco Customers Want Canadians To Shop On Their Own Side Of The Border
By 8.15.12
We don’t like to be alarmist, but we sense the next huge international skirmish brewing on the border between Washington state and the Canadian province of British Columbia, where discount-hungry Canucks (is that an insult? We’ve heard it is, but then there’s the hockey team, so…) are apparently making the border crossing to shop at Costco — and where some locals are all “Hey, stop buying all the dang Huggies!” [More]
Attention, Costco Shoppers: Joan Rivers Handcuffed To A Shopping Cart Is Today's Special In Aisle 4
By 8.8.12
Costco customers stocking up on cases of bendy straws and vats of mayonnaise in Burbank, Calif. were like surprised to come face-to-surgically-altered-face recently, after comedy legend Joan Rivers staged a protest at the store this week. She’s peeved and claims that the bulk retailer won’t sell her new book because it contains curse words. So she handcuffed herself to a shopping cart — easy enough to roll out of the store. [More]
Another Non-Member With Costco Gift Card Encounters Resistance
By 6.4.12
It’s not a well-known trick, but we’ve written before about how it’s possible to shop at Costco without a membership as long as you have a member purchase a gift card for you. But maybe this loophole is closing. A few months ago, one reader reported being turned away at the door, even with the Cash Card in hand. Stephen reports that he was allowed to enter the store, but was told that he couldn’t make purchases without being a card-carrying member. They let him do it just this once. But allegedly never again. [More]
Not Everyone At Costco Understands Secret Membership Avoidance Strategy
By 4.13.12
A few years ago, we ran a post about the secret and kind of awesome way to do some shopping at Costco without purchasing a membership. Just give a member you know some cash and have them pick up a gift card (Costco Cash Card) for you. Great system if your nearest Costco is far away, or you just don’t go often enough to justify joining. In theory, anyway. Justin took the advice in our post, but was turned away at the door by an employee who wasn’t aware that a cash card entitled him to enter the store. [More]
Verizon Math At T-Mobile: 1¢ Is The Same As Free
By 3.23.12
I don’t really want to sit here writing painfully obvious sentences, but here’s the thing. A penny isn’t very much money. It is, however, more than zero, so an item that costs one cent is not free. In practical terms, it might as well be free, but it still isn’t. Which is why Mark found this bit of math confusion on a Verizon T-Mobile phone purchase page through Costco so amusing. “Even though the difference between .01 and .00 is quite small,” he writes, “it’s still not infinitesimal enough to be considered ‘free,’ right?” No, not yet. [More]
