Anyone else loathe going to Costco now?

Anyone else loathe going to Costco now?

Author
Discussion

RayDonovan

4,447 posts

216 months

Thursday 29th February
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Sheepshanks said:
RayDonovan said:
Off topic slightly but I used to be one of their suppliers.

I've never dealt with such an awful company in my life. Arrogant, unreasonable, rude, unfair and very questionable ethics.
Did you supply a product covered by lifetime satisfaction? I always wondered if they charged returns back to the supplier, even years later, or do Costo just swallow it.


I contacted their head office with an issue about tyre policy and they pretty bluntly said if I didn't like it then I could cancel my membership!
No, we supplied Grocery items. IIRC, Costco cover the costs themselves for returns. They always have to be cheaper than any competitor which causes huge issues in a free market...

LarryUSA

4,319 posts

257 months

Thursday 29th February
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No one mention going for the wine? Granted I am in the US, but Costco is the biggest wine retailer in the US. Always amazes me seeing bottles of wine in locked plastic cases for $1000's. Clothes too, get lots from there, but then I am old...

borcy

3,055 posts

57 months

Thursday 29th February
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Is the wine any better quality or vfm than say majestic wines? I don't follow it too closely as I'm not a wine drinker but I do buy the odd present.

Defcon5

6,193 posts

192 months

Friday 1st March
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Don’t know about the wine, but the lager/beer is never cheaper than the supermarkets.

Sometimes there are cheap premium spirits but not often

Pit Pony

8,760 posts

122 months

Friday 1st March
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MDMA . said:
JQ said:
MDMA . said:
JQ said:
borcy said:
Is it that much cheaper than the other filling stations?
Yes.

Anyone doing decent miles per year will save hundreds of pounds.
Not always. Closest one to me (many miles away) is Haydock. Diesel is currently £1.44ppl. Local Shell garage is the same price. Add in the cost of membership and filling at Costco would be more expensive for me.
At Haydock Costco Unleaded is 135.9p, SuperUnleaded is 141.9p and Premium Diesel is 144.9p. At Shell Haydock Island Unleaded is 147.9p, SuperUnleaded is 166.9p and Premium Diesel is 167.9p.

The savings for someone doing 15,000 mile per year at 40mpg are :

Unleaded £205
SuperUnleaded £426
Premium Diesel £392

Costco don't do standard diesel, so I imagine you're not comparing the same prices. But even paying the 158.9p for standard diesel at Shell you'd save £240 a year going to Costco.
Costco diesel is standard 51 Cetane diesel. The only thing premium is the name.
As above, for me, there is no saving as my local Shell is the same price. Shell Haydock on the East Lancs is a bad comparison. You might as well give the motorway service station price!
So to fill up at my local Shell garage compared to my nearest Costco would equal £0.00 saving per year. It would cost me to get there!
Having spent 2 years working in Aston, and using Star City Costco for petrol, which was on my way to my midweek accommodation, but frustrating because at 6:30 am the queue for fuel was compounded by a company with a load of tipper trucks having every single one of them queue up to use the pumps on one side only, leaving the pumps on the other side free, but impossible to get to without a long queue.
I've since moved to a job in Leyland, and the Haydock one would mean a 15 mins longer journey home, but I priced up the saving and found that after taking into account the longer distance I worked out I could save £3 a week.
So didn't bother renewing my membership.

Instead i downloaded a petrol price app.


PF62

3,720 posts

174 months

Friday 1st March
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Kateg28 said:
We live near Stevenage so it really isn’t far to our local one.
The Costco that is in a grade 2 listed building -

www.ribaj.com/buildings/tech-broadway-malyan-costc...

www.broadwaymalyan.com/projects/costco-stevenage-u...



borcy

3,055 posts

57 months

Friday 1st March
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I never knew that even though I've been there. I didn't think the covered car park did look a bit unusual but never thought much about it.

JakeT

5,461 posts

121 months

Friday 1st March
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James6112 said:
0730 on my occasional commute
Dive off the M4
I think once I had a 1 car queue

Got to pick the right time, as in not during the rush hour!

Saves me day £8 a tank twice a month.

Compared to anywhere local

So the £30 easily absorbed on fuel
Even outside of rush hour it’s very busy. Early is fine, but any time on a weekend or later during the week and it’s busy enough.

borcy said:
What's wrong with Reading fuel station?
Reading never had a fuel station until recently. Adding it has removed a good amount of parking, and it enters and exits in the main entrance, with no alternatives. This means that people used to queue for ages to get in to park or get fuel. So they set up a route through the car park, with the expected consequences. Now it means the car park is seriously busy (double whammy of busier than ever and less parking), and it’s hard to navigate due to so much queues through the car park.

Challo

10,264 posts

156 months

Friday 1st March
quotequote all
JakeT said:
James6112 said:
0730 on my occasional commute
Dive off the M4
I think once I had a 1 car queue

Got to pick the right time, as in not during the rush hour!

Saves me day £8 a tank twice a month.

Compared to anywhere local

So the £30 easily absorbed on fuel
Even outside of rush hour it’s very busy. Early is fine, but any time on a weekend or later during the week and it’s busy enough.

borcy said:
What's wrong with Reading fuel station?
Reading never had a fuel station until recently. Adding it has removed a good amount of parking, and it enters and exits in the main entrance, with no alternatives. This means that people used to queue for ages to get in to park or get fuel. So they set up a route through the car park, with the expected consequences. Now it means the car park is seriously busy (double whammy of busier than ever and less parking), and it’s hard to navigate due to so much queues through the car park.
I used to live in Shinfield and the queues on a weekend just to get into the car park became ridiculous. Why would anyone in their right mind try to go to Costco on a Sat / Sun afternoon with the family in tow.

borcy

3,055 posts

57 months

Friday 1st March
quotequote all
Challo said:
I used to live in Shinfield and the queues on a weekend just to get into the car park became ridiculous. Why would anyone in their right mind try to go to Costco on a Sat / Sun afternoon with the family in tow.
Maybe only time they could go?

mickk

28,984 posts

243 months

Friday 1st March
quotequote all
borcy said:
I never knew that even though I've been there. I didn't think the covered car park did look a bit unusual but never thought much about it.
It's my local one and I probably go once a month, use the filling station about once a week. always fill up early in the morning and no queues.

It's a really unusual building and I remember when J Lewis owned it.

Nethybridge

1,028 posts

13 months

Friday 1st March
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I always buy my industrial sized adult nappies from there, I'll spare u the grisly details.

mickk

28,984 posts

243 months

Friday 1st March
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Nethybridge said:
I always buy my industrial sized adult nappies from there, I'll spare u the grisly details.
They sometimes have offers on pressure washers if that's helpful.

borcy

3,055 posts

57 months

Friday 1st March
quotequote all
mickk said:
Nethybridge said:
I always buy my industrial sized adult nappies from there, I'll spare u the grisly details.
They sometimes have offers on pressure washers if that's helpful.
hehe

Defcon5

6,193 posts

192 months

Friday 1st March
quotequote all
borcy said:
Challo said:
I used to live in Shinfield and the queues on a weekend just to get into the car park became ridiculous. Why would anyone in their right mind try to go to Costco on a Sat / Sun afternoon with the family in tow.
Maybe only time they could go?
Quite why people go shopping for groceries as a family I have no idea.

Same in supermarkets - mum dad and 2 kids sauntering down the aisles.

borcy

3,055 posts

57 months

Friday 1st March
quotequote all
Defcon5 said:
borcy said:
Challo said:
I used to live in Shinfield and the queues on a weekend just to get into the car park became ridiculous. Why would anyone in their right mind try to go to Costco on a Sat / Sun afternoon with the family in tow.
Maybe only time they could go?
Quite why people go shopping for groceries as a family I have no idea.

Same in supermarkets - mum dad and 2 kids sauntering down the aisles.
Why not, just normal family stuff?

Kateg28

1,353 posts

164 months

Friday 1st March
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PF62 said:
Kateg28 said:
We live near Stevenage so it really isn’t far to our local one.
The Costco that is in a grade 2 listed building -

www.ribaj.com/buildings/tech-broadway-malyan-costc...

www.broadwaymalyan.com/projects/costco-stevenage-u...
Yes, when it was announced there were concerns about retaining the roof from JL days but I think they have done it quite well.
I remember JL being there as I grew up in the area.

Dermot O'Logical

2,614 posts

130 months

Sunday 3rd March
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My nearest Costco is Southampton, and the comments about the queues and clientele in this thread seem universal - get the timing wrong and it's like a chav zoo, full of ignorant mouth breathers and their feral offspring.

The tyres are worth the membership though, and the fitters are excellent. The opticians are very good, with excellent service. And some of the food is worth putting up with the feeling that the zombie apocalypse has kicked off.

I used to have a card on a business account, but since I retired I have a scum-class personal membership, and tend to visit early on weekday afternoons. The fuel station was added a couple of years ago, and is near to the entrance to the car park, which has both sacrificed parking space and resulted in queues to get in and out of the car park, and it's hardly worth the bother for the savings.

The bad points probably outweigh the good, and it's marginal whether it's worth renewing my annual membership. I'll give it another year, and see if things improve.

Teddy Lop

8,301 posts

68 months

Sunday 3rd March
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I joined to get a coffee machine they had at a seriously good price.

The store in chingford seemed like utter bedlam. I'd rather pay more than experience that on a regular basis.

nuyorican

810 posts

103 months

Sunday 3rd March
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I was in the vicinity of my local one today. I never NEVER go at the weekend, but running bit low on fuel I thought I'd just cruise past to see what the queues were like. My god, as I turned off the duel carriageway I could see the queue snaking out of Costco, down the access road and onto the roundabout I was about to arrive at. First exit straight off the roundabout for me. No chance!

People either have nothing else better to do with their weekends, or simply don't have any other time to go due to commitments. But still, the logic doesn't stack up. How long must you be sat in that queue, to save what, a tenner maybe?How much is your time worth? How much fuel is burned whilst queuing?...

Life's too short. But I'll be back early on Tuesday morning.