Costco warehouse stores are big, gray, and decidedly un-sexy, but that has not stopped the wholesale club from attracting shoppers, including some who talk to their friends about Costco the same way you might talk about must-read book. [More]
membership
Is Amazon Adding House Cleaning To Prime Membership Perks?
By 11.7.16
For all of the perks that customers of Amazon’s Prime service receive — free two-day shipping on thousands of items, access to on-demand TV and movies, photo storage, music-streaming library, and free audio books — none include physical services. But a new report claims that Amazon may change that with the launch of a Prime-related cleaning service. [More]
Costco’s Credit Card Transfer Issues Didn’t Affect Sales, Profits
By 10.3.16
Costco’s complicated, complaint-riddled switch from an American Express-branded store credit card to a Visa Citi card may have been a big issue for the membership store’s customers, but it apparently wasn’t a problem for the company’s bottom line. [More]
Texas Sues Bally Total Fitness Over Fake Past Due Billing
By 6.9.10
Texas’ Attorney General Greg Abbott is going after Bally Total Fitness for the fraudulent “past due” scheme it was using to trick former customers into re-upping with the gym. The AG office says that the gym mailed more than 11,000 fake notices to former customers between last summer and March 2010, and at least 1,000 Texans fell for it and paid the fees. [More]
Bally Reps Drove Developmentally Disabled Man To Gym, Signed Him Up
By 11.6.09
Family members of a developmentally disabled 49-year-old man told 6 News in Indianapolis that two men from Bally Total Fitness showed up at the man’s apartment, drove him to a Bally location at Pike Plaza, and signed him up to a monthly membership. When the man’s family asked Bally to invalidate the agreement, the gym refused.
Want To Use Amazon Prime? You'll Pay $50 More For This TomTom Unit
By 3.4.08
Steve was going to split the cost of a TomTom GPS Navigator unit with a friend so they could give it to his sister as a gift.
Joining Lucille Roberts Gym Is Like Joining The Mafia
By 1.14.08
My work out experience was fine, as I didn’t mind the bad smell, chipping paint, or inattentive staff. The problem came when I tried to cancel my membership. I moved to London in April 2007 (less than 2 months after joining), but they refused to cancel my membership and continued to charge my credit card each month. Under my two year contract is a section entitling me to a no fee cancellation if I move outside of the Lucille Roberts catchments area. They demanded proof of my move, which I supplied. Apparently, 3,000 miles away isn’t far enough to be considered outside the catchment area!
