Anyone else loathe going to Costco now?

[JQ]

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!

Asda Haydock is 151.7p for standard diesel
Tesco Haydock is 151.9p for standard diesel
Texaco Garswood 153.9p for standard diesel

so still 7p a litre cheaper than anything else in Haydock.

144 a litre is a cracking price for Shell - which garage do you use?

[thetapeworm]

I think I've been a member for about 20 years now after first visiting one in the US and being amazed by the bags of tortilla chips that were the size of a sleeping bag, the UK experience wasn't quite so thrilling but there's been a definite decline in how tolerable it is to visit, especially in recent years.

Leeds is my main store, they opened a garage recently which is a nice bonus but long before that appeared the general shopping experience there has been in decline, I sound like a snob here but it seems to coincide with them lowering the restrictions on who can join and an increase in members who don't seem to be the brightest or have no concept of existing without impacting on those around them or being generally entitled.

It used to be directors, doctors, solicitors, people with specific trades or on rare occasions people from a specific company that they decided to target. Now it seems to be anyone willing to pay the membership fee with stalls on the High St signing people up. Membership numbers must have risen dramatically which is obviously great for their bottom line but they haven't invested in any ways to process more people.

It's not uncommon for there to be a queue around the car park before they open on the weekend (it's like Covid times) and once in it's a frustrating shuffle around the place to get what you need before you then join a queue that stretches from the tills right to the back of the store at times. When you get close to the tills you realise there's an extra row of shelving there now so less room for individual queues and so people bottleneck and then go one at a time to each till when they become less busy. All the while staff shout at people to join queues at the tills where there's no viable space to do so without blocking off the entire row of stock behind.

A lot of core items seem to consistently go out of stock now, prices have risen significantly (like most places of course) but shrinkflation is my main annoyance, especially when the prices have gone up too.

Even going late in the day doesn't make things easier, the only time it's less annoying is during that first hour when you can use your trade membership to beat the zombies.

I used to make my membership costs back just by buying oil for the cars but that's not much cheaper than elsewhere now, tyres are more expensive once you add on the extras during fitting and I don't eat pork any more so I can't offset the horrors with a £1.50 hot dog... that I now have to order on a screen and queue around a maze to get.

But I keep renewing, once you're addicted to the kitchen roll, 3-ply loo roll and slightly cheaper tuna in bigger cans it's hard to resist but as with a lot of things other people have just taken the shine off it all.

[triggerhappy21]

I spent maybe 8 years doing Costco every 2 months. I'd buy all my meat there and portion and freeze it, plus any other consumables I needed. I usually enjoyed the experience, as much as you could.

Eventually started shopping in Lidl, and bulk buying began to feel unnecessary. I wasn't saving any money and the quality felt comparable. Stopped going to Costco around 2018.

In 2021 my wife got a membership to get the kids their cakes for their birthday parties. I went to pick one up on a Friday afternoon. It was absolute carnage. Queues queues queues... car park, trolley park, every aisle, checkouts. I'd never seen anything like it before. Figured I was just unlucky.

Next birthday time I went late as I could on a weekday evening. It was just as bad. Absolute chaos. Decided there and then I'd never go back. Just not worth it.

The only thing I missed was the cling film and tin foil. Turns out you can buy it on amazon for a few quid more...

[thetapeworm]

I'd forgotten about the cling film and tinfoil, I'll check out Amazon!

Washing powder, dishwasher tablets and fabric softener are the others I tend to save on, especially if you can stock up when they have an offer on but the cost on my sanity for the awful experience is starting to outweigh any savings made.

[JakeT]

I actively try not to go to Costco now. Our nearest is reading and we’ve been members for 10+years. It used to be shopping nirvana, but now as mentioned is very busy, the fuel station has ruined how people enter and exit (reading exclusive. Others are far better) and it seems like it’s all pre packaged foods which aren’t good for you.

My favourite part is getting a hotdog or chicken bake.

[James6112]

JakeT said:

I actively try not to go to Costco now. Our nearest is reading and we’ve been members for 10+years. It used to be shopping nirvana, but now as mentioned is very busy, the fuel station has ruined how people enter and exit (reading exclusive. Others are far better) and it seems like it’s all pre packaged foods which aren’t good for you.

My favourite part is getting a hotdog or chicken bake.

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

[borcy]

JakeT said:

I actively try not to go to Costco now. Our nearest is reading and we’ve been members for 10+years. It used to be shopping nirvana, but now as mentioned is very busy, the fuel station has ruined how people enter and exit (reading exclusive. Others are far better) and it seems like it’s all pre packaged foods which aren’t good for you.

My favourite part is getting a hotdog or chicken bake.

What's wrong with Reading fuel station?

[pills]

Sheffield one I find variable (hello fellow Sheffielders). I used to fuel up after a night shift so queues not too bad. Tend to go about every six weeks for cheese, wine, the extremely addictive ozzie bites and bulk bog roll, kitchen roll, washing liquid and softener and dishwasher tablets. Their ready made butter chicken is also worth a purchase!

[RayDonovan]

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.

[Kateg28]

I go to Costco about once every two months on a trade card so avoid the crowds. I have a set list of products that I use regularly and pretty much stick to it with the odd new treat. We live near Stevenage so it really isn’t far to our local one.

For me, it is worth it for the steak alone.

And the fuel.

[mike13]

Se7enheaven said:

Can’t stand the place. My blood pressure is off the scale by the time I get out of there , so my wife now goes by herself as it’s less hassle with me tagging along. ( she has the patience of a Saint ) .
My threshold of being able to suffer too many ignorant people stuffed into one small area is very limited.

It does seem to attract a certain type of person now, I've been a member for over 25 years, now considering packing it in.

My wife is going on Saturday, she's taking my niece as I won't go at the weekend, dislike going anytime now I think about it.

[WY86]

I am a big fan of Costco and have been going 10 years. Have the executive membership and i actually find first thing on a Saturday morning the best time to go.

I will say that they have quite a quick throughput even during through the xmas period i was never queuing for long at checkout.

[borcy]

pills said:

Sheffield one I find variable (hello fellow Sheffielders). I used to fuel up after a night shift so queues not too bad. Tend to go about every six weeks for cheese, wine, the extremely addictive ozzie bites and bulk bog roll, kitchen roll, washing liquid and softener and dishwasher tablets. Their ready made butter chicken is also worth a purchase!

Are the fuel queues at Sheffield normally crazy? I've tried filling up on a Sunday a few times when passing, they're out onto the industrial unit whenever I've been.

[PF62]

I used to be a member for many years, primarily because of the Amex Costco card that got you (iirc) 2% (or it may have even been 3%) on travel spending and that included train season tickets and my wife and I commuted into London.

However as a couple with no kids then buying food in bulk wasn't really an option, but there were enough other 'odd' things that we regularly bought that made a trip worthwhile.

And then they stopped the Amex deal (and my wife and I retired).

And then they stopped stocking most of the 'odd' things that we bought that just about made membership worthwhile.

And then we bought an EV so the fuel savings were irrelevant.

And then we had the year of madness, where for a good chunk of it there were three mile queues around it.

So a week before the end of that year's membership I asked for a refund on it - they were not happy, but frankly we had bought damn all from them that year.

[CardinalBlue]

I drive past the Leeds store on my commute three days a week, and pop in when I need petrol as it’s the cheapest around. I’ve never had to queue at the pumps when I go after work - but my colleague that comes in from near Oldham says the one there is manic.

I’m big in to BBQ and the things like brisket etc. are good value. Also, randomly the blueberries are the best I’ve bought.

[Anastie]

I’ve just found this thread. my wife and I were talking about how Costco has changed a few days ago I have been a member of the Gateshead Costco for several years. we buy most of our meat there and various bulk items have an executive membership and fortunate enough to be able to go first thing in the morning.

However, I’ve recently needed to go in on a weekend or during the hours of the individual membership. Never again, it was absolute carnage, feral kids. Several people going in at once, trying to confuse the people on the door it was sheer hell on earth.

I will keep going to Costco but I’ll go at 10 o’clock in the morning get what I need and be in and out as quick as I can, but certainly the people they get in has deteriorated in the last couple of years

[Sheepshanks]

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!

[CardinalBlue]

I drive past the Leeds store on my commute three days a week, and pop in when I need petrol as it’s the cheapest around. I’ve never had to queue at the pumps when I go after work - but my colleague that comes in from near Oldham says the one there is manic.

I’m big in to BBQ and the things like brisket etc. are good value. Also, randomly the blueberries are the best I’ve bought.

[colin79666]

I doubt we will be renewing our membership this year. Our local warehouse (Edinburgh) is rammed now on weekends. No point sitting in the car park for 15 minutes to save a quid on fuel never mind fighting the checkout queues inside.

With the rise of internet shopping there are savings to be made elsewhere on stuff like white goods and TVs. There’s still some good products I’ll miss but overall it has been spoilt by corporate greed and poor capacity planning.

[carreauchompeur]

I fully agree. It’s changed over the last couple of years. Probably wouldn’t have renewed but wanted cheap fuel in the States so pushed the button, and promptly found we’d both left our cards at home anyway!

The times I’ve been in Bristol recently it’s been, by and large, packed with ignorant scummers.

Not a fun experience, although some things like coconut milk and tinned tomatoes are great and, as others have said, the tyre savings pay for the membership.