Costco
Reviews and Complaints

Let me start by saying we LOVE Costco and spend a great deal of money there every month. It's an hour and a half drive to the nearest Costco. My complaint is only regarding the Tire Service Center.

Since appointments can't be made to get our Costco tires rotated, we asked when the best time to come in to have it done ought to be. They told us first thing in the morning.

So, Friday the 18th of October 2013, we arrived 22 minutes after they opened. (We intended to be there right at opening but got caught in road construction for a few minutes twice.) We went in and were told by the none to friendly "Butch" that it would be at least 3 hours until he could get us in and then it would take 45 minutes to an hour to do the rotation. He didn't say sorry or act like he gave a rats behind. It felt like he actually wanted us to say, sorry can't stay. We had medical appointments scheduled for 3 hours out so we couldn't stay and wait.

This was our third try at getting rotation at Costco Tire Center with the same result. Our Costco is situated where there is really no where else to go while one waits for 3 or 4 hours. We can kill an hour or so shopping while we get service but 3 or 4 hours is out of the question.

This amount of wait time is ridiculous. We can't just drop in and see if they're busy or not. Why can't they take appointments at least for out of town folks? We sure had no trouble when we bought our tires there. We're not going to go somewhere else and have to PAY to have our Costco tires rotated.

So bottom line for us is that is that this is the last set of tires we buy at Costco. We have a Les Schwab two miles from home that is happy to service us. Before I married my husband I used nothing but LS tires and they were always very convenient. They even came way out of town one time when I had a flat on the highway, to come and change my tire for me. And Les Schwab can be found in tiny towns all over the place. Not just in the bigger places like Costco. Much more convenient if you don't live near a Costco.

This store (Marks St.) has been there since 80s. Meanwhile, the southwest area of LV/Henderson has had explosive growth. Why isn't Costco building a new store in the area of I -15/St. Rose Parkway? They cover the 'other' side of town with 2 stores, meanwhile Henderson has 1 store. This needs to be addressed with all the new/continuing growth in the SW area.

Supposedly it's illegal to discriminate by age, when hiring but Costco Wholesale asks for a SS# on their online application. If you don't fill in that field, the computerized application system halts and won't proceed...and the minute you fill that field in, the computer knows your age...isn't that illegal ?
It's nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get a job once you're in your 40 's or 50's yet ALL of the big chains do their hiring online, and they ALL demand SS's. So people in this age bracket are screwed...and to make matters worse...CA provides incentives in the way of tax breaks to these mega corporations for hiring anybody BUT people in these brackets.
Too old to get a job, and too young to collect SS. NOT FAIR.

I ordered a Samsung TV online. Pursuant to Costco's standard recommendation, I contracted with Installs, Inc. to do the installation. Before Installs arrived, I checked my wiring for my four speakers, DVD, cable box and stereo. I realized that I had a surplus of wires which were connected only at one end to something. I removed all of them and realized that all the necessary wiring ran into the stereo box, so that the installers only had to remove the TV from the box, put it on the table and plug the HDMI cord from the stereo box into the rear of the TV. They did this quickly, gave me a very brief tutorial about the TV and left. I put the pile of wires in the recycle bin.

But then the "smart" portion of the TV wouldn't work. I wasted a lot of time trying to fix that. Then I reread the instruction manual, which said that I needed to plug the IR cord into the back of the box. I couldn't find it in the TV box. I had to search through the recycle box and found it. The installers had thrown it on my pile of extra wires. As soon as I plugged the little IR wire into the back of the TV, the smart portion worked.

I complained to Installs, Inc. but they said that it was not the installers job to attach that wire, or, obviously, even to mention it in their so-called tutorial. I phoned Costco. To the woman who answered II explained the problem. She said that she had to check something and returned to the phone after 15 minutes. She said that it was not the installers job to stick that wire into the "IR in" hole in the back of the box or to tell me about it. She offered me a refund of $10 of the $90 I had paid. Moral of the story: Don't use any of Costco's "services" because what you will get is aggravating disservice. Barry Blyveis

Wanting to get an estimate of how much lens would cost for my glasses, I waited in line with the prescription from my eye doctor in hand. There were three employees, two women and one man, behind the optical desk and two were helping the others in front of me. When the other customers left, I stepped up to the register and waited to be acknowledged. I waited ten minutes... One of the women came to the register, but didn't bother to even look up when I said, "Excuse me..." She just turned and walked off. The other two wouldn't make eye contact either and were also, apparently, hearing impaired, because they wouldn't look up when I spoke either. I finally just left. After about an hour I thought, 'No. That's just not right. I'm going back to that store and give them a piece of my mind (if they'd actually acknowledge my presence this time!). My husband went in with me and we went to the counter and stood. After a couple of minutes (there were no customers, mind you) a woman named Lee asked if she could help us? I said, "Yes. You can tell me why you all ignored me earlier when I was in here." I then explained what happened. She replied, "I'm sorry. But we get busy finishing up with other people." I said, "I understand that. But it doesn't excuse poor customer service. Good customer service goes something like this, "Hello. Thanks for waiting. I'll be right with you. See? Acknowledge customer. Let them know that they are seen. Then tell them you'll help them momentarily. Easy, no?" She said, "I'm sorry. What can I do for you." I said, "Nothing. Just like you did before. I would never buy glasses from this Costco. Period. Just wanted to school you on how to properly treat another human being. Customer or not"

Today I visited Costco warehouse with my daughter. At the check out there was a Customer Service Rep who said that my daughter can't pay for the purchase of a box of milk regardless that I was present at the moment of the purchase and we live in the same house...so what this means...do I need a card for each family member leaving in the same house? This is ridiculous! Worst of all, the lady, didn't gave me the opportunity to go to the ATM and pay in Cash...well this means taht my membership will be cancelled and I will do my purchases in Costo and BJ. Sorry Costco, your finances are not going to be increasing with this new system...you are loosing customers plus the income from purchases.

Costco's Kirkland Milk containers are awkward to open and use. The new lid packaging certainly is not new and improved.
My wife and daughter cannot open the lids. Please review my request to concider changing back the lids with you milk supplier. We will try other stores for our milk purchases. I am sure other Costco Customers would welcome going back to the screw on type milk lid. ( ESPECIALLY SR CITIZENS )

Thank you for your concideration.

Costco by far offers the best prices and decent quality for leather sofas and sectionals. But they only have one type of color - dark and darker! I am filing this complaint hoping someone from their corporate office reads complaint boards such as this. Why don't they realize that tons of customers want something other than dark? And they have almost nothing that reclines, especially motion meaning electronic. Yah there is a market for that old traditional dark leather but much of the customer base has moved into a more contemporary look with Euro style, different shades of color and motion. The classic argument that motion can be a problem and breaks down etc is hollow. Its just a simple motor that makes the simple movement of the furniture recline - its not rocket science. So please Costco, get rid of your buyer and update and broaden your selection. You just might be surprised at the increase in business.

Got a worn front passanger tire, drove to Costco have it replace. Standard procedure to put the new tires to the back, rotate the good back tires to the front. Next morning, front passanger tire is totally flat. The tire was good, but because it was moved to the front it's flat overnight. Now, both has to be replaced. How can a perfectly good tire become flat overnight because of rotation? Only possible answer is bad worker skills! Costco doesn't even have the professionalism it needs to offer replacement for free on the flat tire that they cause. All we get is denial. Bad service!

On Thursday morning I purchased $10 of gas at my local Costco with my credit card. The following weekend I was paying may bill and noticed my credit card had been charged $150.00. After investigating with both Costco and the credit card company I learned that in order to purchase gas at Costco they preauthorize your credit card for $150 no matter how much your gas purchase is. This amount, plus the amount of your gas purchase is deducted from the available credit on your card and remains there for a least 72 business hours. I purchased my gas on Thursday morning and the preauthorization was taken off my charge Monday night. AT THE VERY LEAST COSTCO SHOULD POST THEIR POLICY OF CHARGING A $150 PREAUTHORIZATION AT THEIR GAS PUMPS.

Pharmacy Clerk Serena desperately needs customer service training and is very rude and obnoxious. Have complained to management several times and no change in her character. If she does not like her job (as she appears to) then she should do everyone a favor and leave.

A sales associate named Felicia C. @ register #5 was extremely rude to my husband and myself. She challenged whether we could use my husbands Costco card with my credit card. She did not even give me a chance to get out my own since we are on the same account. From that moment on...she was highly discourteous. ...to the point that she did not help pack up but chastised my husband for taking his time. When he asked about help with packing, she started tossing items in the cart. To make it worse ...she started mocking whatever he said...it was a horribly surprising experience that I am still upset an hour later. I have NEVER had such a unprofessional encounter in all the years I have been going to that store.

On Friday, June 22nd, at approximately 4:30pm at your Norfolk, VA. location my friend and I visited your store. My friend has a membership and I frequently accompany him when he shops.

We enjoy your samples which has led us to discover, and buy, new items we wouldn't have otherwise purchased. Usually those at the sample stations are polite and helpful...not this time. The lady who was working the Garden Salsa Chip's stand was very rude and did not handle the situation well. She was busy chatting with a customer and apparently couldn't handle multi-tasking. She had samples set-up and I reached over the board and she yelled at me, "don't touch those I haven't put them out and I'll have to throw them all away" and smacked my hand. I said, "you hit me", she said, "no I didn't", an outright lie as my friend observed the whole episode.

While I may be wrong to reach over this board for a sample (note they were already in cups and all she had to do was move the tray with the cups in front of the board), her reaction, unprofessional behavior and inability to restrain herself made a minor incident into something very disturbing.

Although we did not speak to the store manager at the time, we continue to be bothered by this incident. Clearly this treatment is not indicitive of our experience with Costco employees over the years. As a result I have decided to make you aware of what transpired.

We've been Costco members for many years' running, and have used our Costco credit account for Costco purchases for the last several years. We always pay the bill immediately. In May, apparently, Costco sold its credit operation to Capital One. Some time after that our Costco credit got declined at the store, and we were told by Costco reps that it was because they had changed credit providers, and that we would have to re-apply through American Express, who they said was their new provider. Since we have other credit cards we can use, we haven't, to date, got around to doing that.

Two days ago, we got a call from someone identifying himself as an employee of a collection agency working for Capital One, whom he claimed to be the new credit provider for Costco. He claimed we owed $800 plus from a purchase in April (though we hadn't received a bill from Costco since March; and historically, Costco doesn't send a bill when there's no balance). After confirming our address, he claimed they had been sending us bills. When I asked him how many they had sent (on the theory that one might have gotten lost, but certainly not multiple ones), he became abusive and I hung up the phone.

Was this a scammer?

This attendent was just simply very rude. I had my card renewed at the site in manahawkin NewJersey. This guy was just so mean He would not even look at my face. I just wanted to have the card renewed . He kept saying when the card expired. I finally was able to tell him I knew it had expired. I give him a credit card. He said you can use that card you need to give me a debit card. All I ask for is a smile from a person I'm handing over $58 dollars too. Give this guy a job at a Prison or jail. Costco's is no place for him to work>>> I was in the store between 5:30-6:30.

Basically I just want to warn people that the Costco Executive membership and American Express card is a complete waste of time and a money-losing scam unless you spend BOATLOADS of money for yourself or your business at Costco. They convinced me to sign up and I lost a fortune in interest paid, I cancelled my Costco Membership and the American Express card, but they didn't give me my reward of $36.03 from Amex before I cancelled and they refused to give it to me the next day of course. So there you have it. It was an inappropriate program for me and it cost me money. I received no rewards at all because the guarantee on the $55 membership (they say they will give you back the $55 extra they charge you for the Exec membership if you don't realize at least that in savings... which is NO SAVINGS AT ALL!) is a refund of that amount MINUS the paltry award you get from Costco. In my case it was $19.00. So they backed that out. It all sounds fair, but when you have to drive out of your way for the savings it is a BAD DEAL. So, for you Costco Amex shills out there, you can write what you want. I am merely trying to point out to people who haven't gotten it yet that if you are not rich or a million-dollar-plus business this is a complete waste for you. Don't get it. Get a different card with rewards miles.

A few years ago, I bought two set of tires for two of my family cars from Costco Tire Center. Vehicle "A" tires (40K miles warranted) were rotated and balanced at prescribed intervals. At about 30K, they were worn down to 4/32 and the worst one was at 2/32. Costco tire techs said the 2/32 tire was considered bald and may get residual prorated value. The 4/32 ones were ok.but would have to pay full price to replace them. If I decided to get just one, Costco will NOT rotate this new one with the rest of the older tires because their difference in depth exceeded 6/32. At that point, I felt obligated to purchase all 4 tires when only 1 was bald. Vehicle "B" tires ran less than 30K (45K miles warranted) and missed 1 rotation/balance cycle. Costco tire supvr Mario and his tech Ryan said Costco will NOT rotate them because their difference in depth was about 4/32. Ryan said it is member's fault that the tires were NOT rotated at their prescribed intervals. With no scientific proof of any kind, Mario said the front tires lost twice the amount of tread because they missed one rotation cycle. Based upon the experience with Vehicle "A", Costco will NOT balance the two older tires even if I replaced them with new ones because their difference in depth will exceed 4/32. To conclude this, for every two worn out tires, members will need to buy all four to get Costco tire techs to rotate/balance them. Stay away from Costco tire center unless you want to buy four new tires every two years.

Don't buy tv's from costco. And if you make this mistake, don't rub salt in the wound by getting extended warranties. We got a 3-year warranty when purchasing tvs from costco and using our american express card. Electronics manager told us if there was any problems, they would send out a tech to repair the problem, and if it could not be repaired, they would replace it with a current model of equitable size/traits. We purchased 5 tv's (32"-55" flat panels) and had a problem with one of them. Called costco's "concierge services [protected]) and after nearly 30 minutes on the phone trying to"reset" the tv and being put on hold, were transferred to costsco's 3rd party repair service. Their response? Take the tv over to a local shop they partner with (45 minute drive, in a dilapidated part of the city) and drop it off. We'd also get the pleasure of a second 1.5 hour round trip to pick up the tv in a few weeks.

Moral of the story: don't buy your tv's from costco

Do not buy this insurance that is sold through costco. Doesn't matter whether you are victim or insured you will get screwed. Yes this is the same company that we bailed out in 2008 and they still coninue screwing us americans! Don't let them get you! Read below story: I was involved in an auto accident last september 2011. This lady ran a red light while I was making a left turn. I was 90+ percent into my turn when she hit me.

Immediately ameriprise wanted to ding me 15% because they say I should have had eyes behind my head and swerved to miss their insured and hit the pickup truck that was to the immediate left of me. Not only did they ding me but they also screwed their own insured by giving her an "old sweaty three year old car". They wouldn't replace her new toyota! The agents you deal with are "rude" and "unprofessional". Their agents can't even spell their name correctly! That's the calibre of personnel you are dealing with.

First off (1) do not give them any information over the phone or written communication especially if you are the victim because they will use it against you. Only say something like "their insured hit me" and keep repeating that. (2) get an attorney especially if you are the victim because they will not settle with you unless you do.

One more thing if your buy from this insurance the $450.00 savings they say they will save you on the costco website will wind up costing you a lot more. What they do not tell you is that your $450 savings will turn into an expense for you because they will not listen to you and pay out. They will save you $450 by discounting what they pay out to the victim and put the $450 in their general fund.in other words this insured will wind up paying me $2000.00 through our court system because they would not protect their.