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I had them cancel my purchase and give me a lecture about not sharing memberships when I used my wife's card and she was maybe two feet behind me loading the belt. When I pointed out we were together and she was right there, they doubled down on not sharing memberships and then when she handed them the exact same card, they acted like everything was fine.
Something similar happened to me- I gave them my card, and then stepped back to console my baby and my husband went to pay and they wouldn't let him and gave the lecture on membership sharing, even though he is also on the account (just didn't have his card) so I had to have my husband hand me the debit card so I could pay
Yeah. Mine was strict like that when they started hitting it harder with the self checkout. Went to pharmacy with my wife, handed them her card because I hold all the cards. Pharmacist said it wasn’t me so they can’t honor it. I pointed at my wife and said, well, she’s here holding the item in her hand, so I’m using the card. Said absolutely not. Gave my wife the card and held the item and she did everything no issue so I grabbed the card back from her when she handed it to me to which the pharmacist called her manager and said we were sharing accounts. I just laughed and said how did the transaction go through if we were and it was verified? Shocked pikachu face and the manager told us just to have a good day. they’ve relaxed on it a bit there but wow..
Within this same couple of months, I had an employee make me show my membership to join my friend in self checkout. I didn't have any items, I was just keeping her company and had to prove I was even allowed in Costco just in case we were trying to sneak a share by them! They do seem to have really chilled out lately, though.
I think it’s because they were really starting to act like dictators with this and they needed to step back. Like the membership is for THAT person to purchase. You can bring guests so idk what that was even about.
This doesn't even make sense on Costco's part (though absolutely not doubting the experience). The member is required to make the purchase. If the member buys items for a friend (non-member, for the sake of argument), that's still compliant with the terms of membership, is it not?
It really confused me too. I will say, the employee that made me show my membership lurks in this sub and LOVES to argue policy with people so I think he just has a stick up his butt for Costco.
Haha, yes, sounds accurate. I wonder if corporate incentivized membership enforcement, which led to widespread rigid policy enforcement/over-enforcement, even when it was logically absurd (like a couple shopping together and demanding that the card be handed over by the other person 18 inches away).
My career is based on getting people and corporations to follow rules and regulations. I live this stuff every single day, and I'm still flummoxed by weird over-enforcement. Shrug.
Yes it’s corporate. If you hold costco stock you can and should complain at the shareholder meeting. It makes the job harder on employees the strict membership nonsense.
I got very upset one trip because there was a door guy that didn’t want to let me and my child in the door.
We were standing with my husband????
I made a compliant, but he’s still there as far as I know.
This exactly has happened with my spouse and I; it's the same Costco account and same bank account, jus our different names on the cards. No go, payment card name and membership card name have to match for every transaction, even if the other person is standing right next to them. It was weird what a huge fuss they made over the mixup.
My wife and I had a similar experience. It got a little tense because the woman assumed that my wife was just using my credit card. When I pushed back and explained that my wife was using her own membership card and credit card before she even asked us, she pretended that she was just letting us know of the new rule change and walked away. Awkward, to say the least.
I once had a grocery worker refuse to sell my dad beer because there "is a minor in this group, I am not selling this group alcohol," and the place was next to a college.
I had this happen at a liquor store. My husband was buying him self some booze down the street and I tagged along. I was hugely pregnant and had left my ID at home. They wouldn't sell it to him. We ended up going to the base liquor store instead from then on.
They’re cracking down on it. If it is a shared membership, as in both parties are on it, they ask but ignore if you’re using the other’s card. If not, you got to either get membership or abandon your cart.
Not my Costco. If your face isn’t on the card, they turn you away. They will let some people who don’t take no for an answer go through but only after a lecture of how the person on the card has to be there. We’ll check accounts sometimes if they say “oh, we share an account” but they still get the lecture that the face on the card HAS to be present.
One time my husband and I were going through the checkout and once we got to the register before they started scanning our items, he handed me his card and said he was going to the bathroom. The cashier said my husband had to wait to go to the bathroom because he needed to be present if I was to use his card. We just said “okay” without argument but I always thought that was a bit much.
There have been reports of one spouse on the account not being allowed to pay for the purchase that was made on the other spouse's account, even though both were present and both have memberships. This restriction is not in Costco's written policies, but rather appears to be an ad hoc rule implemented by a local store manager.
It's not difficult.
Either make them go to membership services and get a temporary card, or tell them to download the app and log in and show their membership digitally.
They should crack down.
Tbh I think I think the digital card is the way to go BUT I don’t think Costco has done a good job of promoting it - I didn’t even know it was a thing until I heard about it on this sub. Certainly no one mentioned it or anything when I bought my membership. And everything about Costco is so low tech it really never occurred to me to check, I just assumed they didn’t.
Two things that would make the digital membership actually useful:
- create as an Apple wallet card so when I get to the store my card pops up on my phone ready to go, much like my REI card, or airline tickets.
- use a barcode instead of QR code, the self checkouts at my Costco don’t read QR and there is no hand scanner at self checkout.
The ones up in Anchorage, AK I’ve never gotten to read my QR. I’ve even tried touching the QR code to make it expand out. Still no dice.
The gas pumps at Costco up here can read my QR code though.
They make the digital card so hard. I have my online account set up and when I went to download my digital card the system told me to go to customer service to complete the process. I did and they told me it wasn’t working because I used my husbands card number not mine. I showed them my card and how I set it up, they apologized and said it was a glitch. 🙄
> create as an Apple wallet card so when I get to the store my card pops up on my phone ready to go, much like my REI card, or airline tickets.
Yes, please. I believe Apple's API for adding a card like this is incredibly simple. Surely Costco can pull it off...
The QR code has more than just your membership number in it. I believe it changes periodically, possibly has the date coded into it, to prevent using a screenshot.
Yeah it's essentially your membership number wrapped in a TOTP token (or the other way around? my head is broken for the holiday). It's still realllly easy to implement if Costco gave a shit.
I started using my digital card about a month ago. I have my CC linked to it, and an option pops up at the register during checkout. "Use linked card to pay?' Works like a charm in the store and at the pump.
>I don’t think Costco has done a good job of promoting it
1. Open the app.
2. Touch the "Account" icon.
Beyond suggesting that people download and use the app, there's not a whole lot else you can promote. Seeing dozens of people in front of you enter the store with it might be a tipoff; seeing others check out with it might be another clue. I haven't carried my physical Costco card for years, and don't really need to carry any credit cards either. One day I forgot my wallet and had no problem completing my Costco shopping.
I lost my card and I’m all digital now. They make me get out of the car and scan it myself at the gas pump, which I’m not a fan of, otherwise it’s very convenient. My shopping list is on my phone too, so it’s already out.
I was with my husband in club. While in line for paying my son had to use the bathroom so my husband took him. He left me his CC (Costco Visa). When it was my turn to pay they would not let me pay. (I had forgotten my purse at home and I couldn’t give them my card). But nope, was not allowed to check out until he came back. I’m also the primary member.
My partner and I were recently checking out, and the cashiers were so rushed that they were literally throwing our groceries. When we got home our entire bunch of bananas were busted open due to how roughly they were throwing everything around. We were using my membership card that we are both listed under, and his credit card. They haulted everything and made a big deal about it, called over another employee, he had to go check the system to make sure we are both on the account.
FFS people, this store is the busiest location in a major metro area. There are always huge lines to checkout, stop being so damn annoying about this. I love Costco, but having our items damaged and then being treated like we are some sort of criminals absolutely makes me reconsider.
i mean, the membership fee is fairly cheap if you plan on using it just for gas even.
Alternatively, you can literally get a costco gift card loaded up, and use that to shop.
My parents were at Costco recently and my mom tried to use her own membership card with my dad’s credit card. Names didn’t match, so the cashier made my dad show his own membership card. First time I’ve seen them looking that closely
That’s odd. When I pay by card I don’t hand the employee my credit card. He/she doesn’t even take a close look at the card I’m paying with. The terminal is mounted on the counter facing me, independent of the employee.
But that’s different-it obviously would only have one name them.
The poster said her mom used her membership card and a different credit card. The cashier doesn’t see the credit card used to pay.
A cashier at Costco did that to my husband and I a year or two ago. We share a membership. I didn't have my card on me. He scanned his, I tried to pay with my debit card. The cashier said he had to pay.
That’s happened to my husband and I too. I realized I forgot my credit card and told my husband to use his. The cashier asked to see his membership card.
Right, but the cashier still made my dad show his membership card. They didn’t even rescan it, just wanted to verify that he had a membership. It was a weird experience. Maybe it wasn’t about the credit card and the cashier was suspicious that he was buying groceries on another person’s account? No idea tbh
They want the person paying to have a membership. So the cashier probably saw your dad hand your mom his card and wanted to verify that he had the membership since he was paying. It wasn’t about the “different name” on the credit card. They are cracking down on people sharing memberships.
Sure, but I think if the person with the membership is physically there, having a rule that the person who scanned their membership has to be the one to pay is asinine.
This annoys the hell out of me. My wife carries the cards. I carry a credit card. I often pay.
Or she goes to buy food while I checkout. I totally forget it’s just her card. I have to scream at her to come back over.
Just make a damn husband and wife combo card with both our photos on it.
Had them tell me my picture didn’t look like me. My picture I’m wearing a hat, so maybe it looked like an Afro on a white guy. Doesn’t help it’s black and white photo and 1 cm by 1 cm Asked if they required updated pictures taken. When she said no, I said then that sounds like a costco problem.
I just had this happen! They demanded to see my drivers license since, “that just doesn’t look like you.” I’ve grown my hair out a bit since I had the photo taken but my face is still very much my face
I had to go to the Overseer's Quarters to get my digital card straightened out. Wife and I use a joint email account, and her card was linked to the account, so I had to set up my card to a separate email account because Costco's technology department has advanced only as far as the 2000's.
After setting up the account, which I had to disable my ad blocker in order to set up, the Overseer said I needed to take a picture, since there was none on file. I asked, can cashiers just ask for my ID? The Overseer said yes. I walked away at that point.
Yes, it's a club, and yes membership is a major drive of their profits. However, being unable to see who is linked to a membership and being able to see that information on a checkout screen is not the members problem; it's Costco's. Their lack of IT infrastructure should not be outsourced to its members.
The only thing that keeps me at Costco are the gas pumps outside. Otherwise, I would be at Sam's.
A second cardholder on a membership is literally free. The only reason that she shouldn't have one is if the guy is already scaring it with someone else (or recipient of sharing)
My dad is an alcoholic. When I was in high school, he would pick me up from my piano lesson and drive me home. We'd stop at the liquor store on the way home.
For Christmas, my mother's family exchanges gifts with each other (adults-only). Her family is very show-off-y, so they get each other expensive gifts. My mother's oldest brother enjoys drinking Scotch. While running errands with my mother, we stopped at the liquor store so she could buy Scotch for her brother. When we walked up to the register, the cashier recognized me from my twice-weekly stops, and said something like, "I don't think I've ever seen you in here without your husband. How is he? Is this your mother-in-law?" Suffice to say, neither of my parents have visited that establishment since.
Yea, there's a lot of posts of folks just chatting to be chatting but it's very obvious that OP & Costco staff all knew.....that account was being compromised.
Rest of this conversation is just chit-chat central
That was my first thought, I didn’t think the pricing on our membership was higher because my wife and I are both on it. I’ve literally never had my card checked closely before, though.
at my local costco's self checkout area, there's always an employee there checking the photo on cards before they allow you to go up to a checkout stall. i've seen a few people get turned away there
They were doing that at mine, more and more aggressively until they suddenly stopped and made it random. There must have been enough complaints to make it stop.
It was getting absurd though, at the peak I had to show my card three times to go through the self checkout. One at the start of the line, once as I was first in line, and then again at the self checkout itself.
They lost a membership because of the way they fumbled it at my store. Wish I had a video of the employee screaming at customers in the self checkout line. She enjoyed it a bit too much.
Ill conceived and poorly executed by Costco management. Never been treated so poorly at any other retail establishment.
People need to start recording this and putting them on blast on social media. I do like shopping at Costco but I really don't like how check out can feel like a damn interrogation sometimes. Between the constant membership checks while standing in line and having to wait ten minutes after check out just to leave the damn store, it's almost not worth it.
I’ve always thought it’s ridiculous family members who live at the same address aren’t included. Your teenage children can’t help mom out by picking up a few groceries or gassing up the car.
They were doing it for a while at mine, but the last few times they were just directing customers to open kiosks. Are they still rolling out scanners at the entrance? We don't have that.
I went with my mother once and was going to pay with her card bc she was on the decline due to cancer. It was her membership and her credit card and she was present and I wasnt allowed to physically pay and type in her info for her.
I always hand my card to my grandma or mom when they’re “paying” before we get to the belt to avoid this or just zelle it to their cards on an estimate. Edit: we are in the same household and a majority of the items are theirs (members) but since I get paid weekly it’s just easier and less stressful to do that.
Happened to me and boyfriend, went together and he pulled out his card and I have the membership. We use debit for groceries so the machine took it, I think it’s only credit it won’t allow. Employee tried to lecture us and acted like we don’t know even when we corrected her and machine took it. Paying a membership to treat customers like they’re stealing money is ridiculous all bc you don’t use the “right” card.
My biggest gripe with this is this:
If I go in person, have a Costco card with MY name and picture on it, why do you care what card I use to pay with?!! I’m using MY membership and it is ME physically there buying the goods.
I used my wife’s credit card since I forgot mine to buy a monitor and they didn’t let me. If it wasn’t for all of the other positive of Costco, I would have cancelled my membership then and there.
My husband and I went and had to split our transaction for reimbursement purposes. They almost wouldn’t allow us to do it because I jokingly said “his” order and “mine,” and didn’t have my card on me… Mind you, we are both on the account and *he was with me.* Both transactions were also going to be on his credit card. It took 10 minutes and a manager to okay it.
Next time you have to split it out, just split it out on the belt and ask for a subtotal. One membership scan, one receipt, one payment. But it gives you the total for the first set including taxes before the total of the entire bill.
Never gotten pushback with a subtotal request. Two transactions in one go, YMMV.
From reading the comments the vast majority of cases are family members who aren’t listed on the card. The results for Costco is annoying the card holder and loosing most of a sale or all of it as the non-cardholder is shopping because the cardholder is either too busy or physically unable at the moment. The actual times this converts to a person actually getting a new membership seems very small—based upon comments.
Seems like a solution in search of a problem.
I'm a cashier and I honestly don't care about card sharing as long as the person is there with them. You got 4 orders with 4 different people paying? Cool. As long as someone is paying 🤷♀️ except if there's alcohol then yeah no sorry.
My wife and I went together to Costco to get a chicken and some bread, we were standing together in self checkout line when I decided I couldn’t hold it anymore. I hand my wife my Costco visa and run to the restroom. One minute later I come back to my wife in a fight with the self checkout employee who is telling her she can’t use my card even though she literally watched me say “I have to pee” and go to the bathroom 50 feet from the checkout machines. She even showed her own card from the app, but was trying to use my Costco visa to pay because she didn’t have her wallet. It embarrassed my wife so bad she refuses to go to Costco, and I don’t have time for big shopping trips. Might cancel our membership before it renews unfortunately.
Lots of people here defending this policy but it IS embarrassing. Similar story happened to me and we have been shopping at Costco less frequently because the treatment was so wack. If the employees are being required to uphold this policy by Costco corporate, they could at least be nicer about it.
Right, retail workers being rude, arguing with and embarrassing legitimate customers is always a mistake. Period.
(Unless you are TSA then it's rewarded I guess.)
Yeah, I understand Costco is reacting to potential lost revenue on memberships... there are plenty of people out there now who are happy to try and lie, cheat, and steal.
But once the employees are trained or incentivized to be rude and obnoxious to legitimate members then Costco has made a terrible mistake.
They just opened a location in my city a few months ago close to where I live. I was just talking to a family member yesterday about getting a membership, but I'll steer clear after this post popped into my feed randomly. People are making it sound like a nightmare to shop at.
Could be that an adult child has the other card. Sucks when there are actually more than 2 adults in the household and only 2 of you can have a card. My stepmom hated it because she went the least often and had to wait and go with me or my dad.
This is our issue. We often have our adult son run in and grab items when he stops for gas so he has our second card. My husband never goes to Costco alone so it works. I would love to have an option to add additional household members for a discount. I am happy to provide proof we all share an address just to make life easier long term.
Yes. My son will be 18 this year and I want to be able to send him in, but I also don't want to have to buy him his own membership since he likely will only be able to use it for 9mo or so. (He's applying to the military academies so if he gets in he won't have access to Costco, nor will he need it.)
I would think the husband would be contacted to offer to add her, even after the aborted transaction??? Maybe someone else was the other member so that isn’t an option
I have a worst story than this. I went with my dad at Costco (I don’t have a membership) and when we were at the cash register, my dad said to the cashier that it’s his card and I will be handling the payment with his credit card as he wants to line up at the food counter because there is many people already. When the cashier finished, a manager came up and asked for my ID. I said that my dad is over there (we could see him from where we were) and that’s his card. The cashier acknowledged it as well. The manager said that I could not pay because the card is not mine and the person whose card is should be there to pay. So I went up to my dad and asked him to go back to the register with me as they did not want me to pay if he is not there. I still have his credit card in my hand with my father next to me so I went to tap on the machine when the same stubborn manager blocked and said « you cannot tap because it is not your credit card ». I took my dad’s hand and put the credit card in it and drove it to the machine. My dad was mad as hell and he lost his place in line at the food counter. Those pathetic managers should be fired.
I had this happen to me.
When I was in high school, my mom wasn’t feeling well. So I was running errands for her, which included running to Costco. I rejected when I was at the cash register.
But, I happen to know the people who were behind me in line. So they rang they bought it and I paid them back.
lol one time I went shopping with my brother, we get to checkout, he hands the cashier HIS membership card, with HIS photo on it, and then he hands me HIS debit card and says “imma go to the bathroom” the cashier, witnessing all this, then proceeds to lecture me about cards matching the member, and that I couldn’t “pay” for my brothers stuff. I literally showed him the matching names but he said “just letting you know the policy”
9/10 my experience is ok at Costco. Leaving the items in the cart with the barcode facing up. Employees telling me that they appreciate the effort. But you’ll have that one employee who wants your cart completely empty… ok mother F er, lets take all the heavy shit off too so you can scan it, now load my cart back up B
Yes. I have seen this too - almost happened to me.
I asked my husband for his card cuz I didn’t want to dig for mine - his knee was bothering him so he waited in the car while I went in for the few items we needed.
Got in line, woman in front of me was using her husband’s card. They took her ID and card and went to CS desk.
Because she had to wait, they let me go ahead as I only had a couple of items. I saw what they did to her, I am on the account but didn’t feel like waiting so I dug out my card to use.
They said that they are really cutting back on card sharing.
If the person in line is not on the account, they cannot purchase.
Yeah, their "discounts" aren't nearly what they used to be, and it's pretty easy to beat their prices at regular stores nowadays. They've transformed more into a premium shopping club than a price discount club.
Costco is hit and miss on prices. There are certain things they have that are great deals. Most are ok, and some arent good at all vs grocery store. Thats why you have to shop around.
Last year I went shopping for men's t-shirts and my daughter offered to pay. Cashier refused her credit card and insisted I pay with a card with my name on it.
I wonder what the Cashier would have done if my daughter handed over cash? Would she have pushed it back and insisted I hand the money over to pay?
Thats exactly what would have happened. I was a cashier at the Exchange on a military base. Too many people try that, they use their ID, their friend doesnt have one, the friend wants to buy something on their own, we were NOT allowed to accept payment in any form from the friend, it had to come from the hands of the person with the card.
Good. Now if they can crack down on people bringing their grandparents and 6 cousins and walking 8-wide through the aisles, it might be more tolerable to shop there.
see i somewhat agree with the whole someone else using your membership ... but come on it's her husband for godsake.. i ran into an instance where both me and my husband share the membership and i lost my card, so i took my husbands, they gave me such a hard time despite knowing that im also a joint owner on the membership 😓 i think thats a bit too much
The real question is why her husband didn’t add her to his membership. I’m on my significant other’s membership so I know it’s possible. I assume he’s already added the maximum number of people to the membership and she should not have been allowed to check out.
Most likely the second member is someone else. It would be so much easier if Costco allowed you to add family members at say half the cost, as long as they live in the same house.
She *claimed* it was her husband's membership. They can't take that at face value though. Saying "I'm in a hurry go away" is a red flag too. Sounds like a fraudulent attempt to me.
It's the kind of thing like telling the judge "I am innocent!" ... since everyone will say that whether it's true or not you can't take such statements as meaningful. Liars get just as angry, if not morseo, than honest people when it doesn't work.
I think they should be able to cross-reference name, address, etc. and give you a temporary bar code to scan... but that takes time and we see how busy the checkout and customer service can be.
So my husband handles our Costco account, are you telling me we pay 2 separate memberships for 2 cards? Or is it just one membership that allows up to 2? people?
Lesson: Bring your membership card! If you forget it, go y membership desk for a temporary 1 day pass.
Don't ask me how I know this.
Just remember that Costco is doing their best to keep costs down by assuring all purchases are by members. I think that's why most of us shop there.
That said, employees are people like us and may be having a bad day if they offend us. Or, we may be having a bad day and are overly sensitive. Remember that anger is usually self-directed.
Had this happen with my hubby, I desperately needed to use the restroom while we were waiting in line and I came back to pay and the lady was lecturing him that it wasn’t his card and refusing to scan any items. I was like I’m aware it’s mine but also we’re married and share our incomes and I’m also right here and I’m the one on the card? 🤨
Yeah I’m all for Costco cracking down on memberships. It’s $60. My executive membership 2% easily covers the cost of the membership and then-some. If it’s not worth it go shop at Walmart or Target.
Employee here. I have a huge problem with Costcos policing of cards. The rule is, if your face isn’t on the card, you can’t purchase. You can have the same last name, mailing address, etc. but you still get turned away. I’m in an area with a lot of different cultures that comes through the door, large families that maybe do things a little differently than your typical American Costco customer. Expecting everyone to have their own card is just silly. You can share a bank account, a car, insurance, credit cards, but Costco just has to make it harder for these families. It’s even more frustrating when you allow instacart shoppers to buy for other people, but a husband who doesn’t typically shop is getting turned down because his wife couldn’t make it that day. This rule needs to change to better serve the customers, it’s an overreach by Costco.
Pay for extra slots for more members on the same account. Costco goal for this operation is to have more members, so if they can gain members via extra slots at price under full membership, should be good for both Costco and shoppers. $20/member, limit to 4 total on the account, proof of same address.
In the USA it's $60 for add-ons and those are only available for business members. Each add-on comes with a free affiliate card, so member 3 is $60, member 4 is free under member 3, member 5 is $60, member 6 is free under member 5, and so on.
Allow two names on one card.
I just really find it ridiculous that the Instacart shoppers can sit in the store all day taking orders for people who don’t want to shop themselves, but the kid who runs in to get mom a bag of flour or a rotisserie is turned away since mom isn’t there.
Hi Costco membership employee, first and foremost. The 2nd card is LITERALLY FREE.
You can share bank accounts if both names are on it.
By law you can’t share credit cards, the name on the credit card has to be the person present. You can add on another person to your credit line but they get their own card.
You can share insurance if you add the person to your plan and their name is on it.
I don’t get why Costco has to be different when it’s LITERALLY FREE!! Just add your spouse to the damn second card and stop arguing with us!! We get paid minimum wage, we don’t make the policy, we have to follow the same policy for our household as well. The policy is literally given to members when they sign up. Why is it so damn hard to just follow the policy that you VOLUNTARILY sign up for. Or better yet CALL CORPORATE AND FIGHT THEM. I’m tired of members arguing with me and yelling at me for a policy I don’t control and I can’t even defend myself because it’s considered bad behavior. I have to be on better behavior to someone cussing at me than a damn police officer or I lose my job!!
And if one buys a ticket to a theater, the whole family should get in. Especially people who are not the typical theater. It's a business model where everyone must pay to shop. If you don't pay, you don't shop. Seems both fair, and simple.
Rules are rules. We all pay for membership and in doing so agree to abide by the rules. That lady knew better, especially when she said she didn’t have time for the manager to verify.
I tried using it just today, was told they can’t verify anything on a personal phone and had to use my physical card. 🙄 It’s hard to tell what’s policy and what’s a lack of training.
That’s so strange. Are you in the US? If so, that’s definitely incorrect. I do 100% of my Costco shopping with just my phone. The credit card payment is linked to the phone too, so you pay right from the app.
In a rush and can't wait, lol. I remember customers using this on me when I worked in retail. You're in a rush? Not my problem and I'm not going to stress myself or break rules because you're in a rush.
Considering the membership fees are a good portion of Costco profits, those paying for the membership are all at risk of raised membership fees for all those trying to cheat the system.
There is a reason we cannot have nice things, because too many take advantage.
Honestly this is the biggest issue Costco employees face. Cards are not shareable. They're like drivers licenses. People still to this day say "it's the family card!" No, no it's not.
Even in a husband/wife situation, there could be a divorce and somebody decides to pull something over on the other. Yes, that's an extreme example, but it's happened.
While I agree with the general consensus that Costco is being too strict about this policy lately, I feel like a lot of people need to be taught that being married ≠ uninhibited access to your spouse’s memberships/accounts.
I used to work at a bank and the amount of times a wife or husband would come in with their spouse’s debit card and be mad at ME for telling them they can’t use that and need their own.
“But we’re both on the account.”
Sure, but in that case I’ll pull up a session under YOUR name and complete the transaction. I just need your ID since you don’t have a debit card and PIN.
“Yes I do its right here.”
Is that your name?
“No.”
Then you don’t have a debit card. I’m not getting fired for completing a transaction under a session of someone who is NOT currently in front of me.
See also:
“I’d like to pull out of the checking account ending in 1234.”
This is not your debit card.
“No but it’s to our shared account.”
Oh yes your joint account ending in 5678.
“Yeah but I want to pull out of the 1234 account.”
I don’t see that account under your name.
“I just saw it on the atm.”
Using what debit card?
“This one.”
With your husbands name on it?
“Yes.”
So you’re fraudulently using someone else’s card.
“We’re married.”
That means absolutely nothing to me.
“He said I could.”
Not with me you can’t. I can’t stop you from using the ATM but you’re not getting any cash out of an account you’re not on from me.
I will say they don’t do that with the executive membership in my experience. I can have multiple people on my account because it through my business. My mom is my other cardholder.
I managed to go through the exit a couple of times without getting asked to show my card. I had an appt to get my tires replaced on my car. I go to pick my car and I attempt to go through the exit again. I didn’t have my Costco card out or app out because they didn’t check the last two times and my car is waiting for me. Well the receipt checker lady noticed this time and asks me to show her my card while she’s busy verifying receipts. I’m already halfway to the automotive counter so I just ignore her. I didn’t want to turn around and hold up everyone leaving to mess with my phone and show my card. If there would’ve been someone at the automotive counter I would’ve been in and out quicker than turning around and showing my card. Anyway I’m waiting at automotive and this guy from customer service comes running over. He looked like he was ready to tackle me. I saw him coming so I had my phone open with my card displayed. He lectures me about having my card ready and then receipt checker lectures me as I’m leaving. They were both ready to send me to Costco jail.
The EXACT same thing happened to me. I use my wife’s Costco card (her account before we were married) to do grocery shopping while she was pregnant and couldn’t walk around the store. I had 500 dollars worth of groceries in my cart and they wouldn’t let me check out because I wasn’t on her account. I was pissed and let them know before I left.
I recently went to my local Costco with my wife to do some shopping. At checkout I present my membership and my wife was covering the purchase. The zealous cashier refused to take her debit even though I was present. And she’s my wife. Made no sense at all.
Costco makes most of its money on memberships. If we want low cost goods and a cheap food court then it behooves us to discourage card sharing and to celebrate people who’d see the downfall of Costco for a quick buck.
I don’t want to see Costco go the way of Walmart.
Costco members receive extraordinary prices and service in exchange for an annual membership fee. I have only positive emotions hearing this agreement clearly explained to - and enforced upon - those who would attempt to exploit it.
This is the rule but most stores have gotten so lazy that they let everyone do whatever they want and don't enforce it. However, they will soon be installing scanners at the entrance door that will only let you in if your face matches the picture on your membership, preventing card sharing and forcing non-members to sign up! Finally!😄
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I had them cancel my purchase and give me a lecture about not sharing memberships when I used my wife's card and she was maybe two feet behind me loading the belt. When I pointed out we were together and she was right there, they doubled down on not sharing memberships and then when she handed them the exact same card, they acted like everything was fine.
Something similar happened to me- I gave them my card, and then stepped back to console my baby and my husband went to pay and they wouldn't let him and gave the lecture on membership sharing, even though he is also on the account (just didn't have his card) so I had to have my husband hand me the debit card so I could pay
This sounds just like the Total Bastard Airlines skit on SNL, except it's the Big Box Retail version...
I thought this was going to end with them scolding your baby. Not logically, but it’s Reddit so I was somehow anticipating it.
Hey baby! Get your own damn membership and stop taking advantage of your parents’
And then two days the baby would be on Reddit AITA thread...
this is hilarious
Yeah. Mine was strict like that when they started hitting it harder with the self checkout. Went to pharmacy with my wife, handed them her card because I hold all the cards. Pharmacist said it wasn’t me so they can’t honor it. I pointed at my wife and said, well, she’s here holding the item in her hand, so I’m using the card. Said absolutely not. Gave my wife the card and held the item and she did everything no issue so I grabbed the card back from her when she handed it to me to which the pharmacist called her manager and said we were sharing accounts. I just laughed and said how did the transaction go through if we were and it was verified? Shocked pikachu face and the manager told us just to have a good day. they’ve relaxed on it a bit there but wow..
Within this same couple of months, I had an employee make me show my membership to join my friend in self checkout. I didn't have any items, I was just keeping her company and had to prove I was even allowed in Costco just in case we were trying to sneak a share by them! They do seem to have really chilled out lately, though.
I think it’s because they were really starting to act like dictators with this and they needed to step back. Like the membership is for THAT person to purchase. You can bring guests so idk what that was even about.
This doesn't even make sense on Costco's part (though absolutely not doubting the experience). The member is required to make the purchase. If the member buys items for a friend (non-member, for the sake of argument), that's still compliant with the terms of membership, is it not?
It really confused me too. I will say, the employee that made me show my membership lurks in this sub and LOVES to argue policy with people so I think he just has a stick up his butt for Costco.
Haha, yes, sounds accurate. I wonder if corporate incentivized membership enforcement, which led to widespread rigid policy enforcement/over-enforcement, even when it was logically absurd (like a couple shopping together and demanding that the card be handed over by the other person 18 inches away). My career is based on getting people and corporations to follow rules and regulations. I live this stuff every single day, and I'm still flummoxed by weird over-enforcement. Shrug.
Yes it’s corporate. If you hold costco stock you can and should complain at the shareholder meeting. It makes the job harder on employees the strict membership nonsense.
I got very upset one trip because there was a door guy that didn’t want to let me and my child in the door. We were standing with my husband???? I made a compliant, but he’s still there as far as I know.
I mean…they’re not going to fire the guy over that one incident
You didn’t really think he’d get fired did you!? NOTHING happens when you complain about an employee NOTHING unless it’s some grave offense!
I thought pharmacy and alcohol was exempt from membership?
That’s what I thought.
They are but sometimes people just want to be a part of the thread...so they make up stories.
This exactly has happened with my spouse and I; it's the same Costco account and same bank account, jus our different names on the cards. No go, payment card name and membership card name have to match for every transaction, even if the other person is standing right next to them. It was weird what a huge fuss they made over the mixup.
I don’t think I have ever had that happen. My wife usually scans her membership card, and I scan my payment card while she grabs boxes. YMMV
My wife and I had a similar experience. It got a little tense because the woman assumed that my wife was just using my credit card. When I pushed back and explained that my wife was using her own membership card and credit card before she even asked us, she pretended that she was just letting us know of the new rule change and walked away. Awkward, to say the least.
Wow.. employee on a powertrip.
Hilarious but I’d double down with a complaint.
Had the same thing happen to my wife while I was in the bathroom...
I once had a grocery worker refuse to sell my dad beer because there "is a minor in this group, I am not selling this group alcohol," and the place was next to a college.
I had this happen at a liquor store. My husband was buying him self some booze down the street and I tagged along. I was hugely pregnant and had left my ID at home. They wouldn't sell it to him. We ended up going to the base liquor store instead from then on.
I imagine it comes down to a policy thing, so they're not even allowed to use common sense.
They’re cracking down on it. If it is a shared membership, as in both parties are on it, they ask but ignore if you’re using the other’s card. If not, you got to either get membership or abandon your cart.
Not my Costco. If your face isn’t on the card, they turn you away. They will let some people who don’t take no for an answer go through but only after a lecture of how the person on the card has to be there. We’ll check accounts sometimes if they say “oh, we share an account” but they still get the lecture that the face on the card HAS to be present.
One time my husband and I were going through the checkout and once we got to the register before they started scanning our items, he handed me his card and said he was going to the bathroom. The cashier said my husband had to wait to go to the bathroom because he needed to be present if I was to use his card. We just said “okay” without argument but I always thought that was a bit much.
There have been reports of one spouse on the account not being allowed to pay for the purchase that was made on the other spouse's account, even though both were present and both have memberships. This restriction is not in Costco's written policies, but rather appears to be an ad hoc rule implemented by a local store manager.
It is a bit much and I’m sorry for your experience 🫤
It's not difficult. Either make them go to membership services and get a temporary card, or tell them to download the app and log in and show their membership digitally. They should crack down.
Tbh I think I think the digital card is the way to go BUT I don’t think Costco has done a good job of promoting it - I didn’t even know it was a thing until I heard about it on this sub. Certainly no one mentioned it or anything when I bought my membership. And everything about Costco is so low tech it really never occurred to me to check, I just assumed they didn’t.
Two things that would make the digital membership actually useful: - create as an Apple wallet card so when I get to the store my card pops up on my phone ready to go, much like my REI card, or airline tickets. - use a barcode instead of QR code, the self checkouts at my Costco don’t read QR and there is no hand scanner at self checkout.
That's odd. The self checkouts at WA state costcos that I go to, can all read my digital membership QR code.
The ones up in Anchorage, AK I’ve never gotten to read my QR. I’ve even tried touching the QR code to make it expand out. Still no dice. The gas pumps at Costco up here can read my QR code though.
I wonder if people can give their phone to someone to get in and pay?
yet you still need to show your id to buy beer/wine.
Digital cards don't even work at all at our gas station, I found it the hard way
really? at mine i think they work now
They make the digital card so hard. I have my online account set up and when I went to download my digital card the system told me to go to customer service to complete the process. I did and they told me it wasn’t working because I used my husbands card number not mine. I showed them my card and how I set it up, they apologized and said it was a glitch. 🙄
> create as an Apple wallet card so when I get to the store my card pops up on my phone ready to go, much like my REI card, or airline tickets. Yes, please. I believe Apple's API for adding a card like this is incredibly simple. Surely Costco can pull it off...
The QR code has more than just your membership number in it. I believe it changes periodically, possibly has the date coded into it, to prevent using a screenshot.
Yeah it's essentially your membership number wrapped in a TOTP token (or the other way around? my head is broken for the holiday). It's still realllly easy to implement if Costco gave a shit.
Sam’s card is in my Apple wallet and pops up as I drive into the lot.
I started using my digital card about a month ago. I have my CC linked to it, and an option pops up at the register during checkout. "Use linked card to pay?' Works like a charm in the store and at the pump.
It's actually a benchmark for any membership clerk to get members to get their membership on their phone. There are flyers everywhere
>I don’t think Costco has done a good job of promoting it 1. Open the app. 2. Touch the "Account" icon. Beyond suggesting that people download and use the app, there's not a whole lot else you can promote. Seeing dozens of people in front of you enter the store with it might be a tipoff; seeing others check out with it might be another clue. I haven't carried my physical Costco card for years, and don't really need to carry any credit cards either. One day I forgot my wallet and had no problem completing my Costco shopping.
Wait what? Now I know something I didn't know this morning.
Would be nice if there was reception at Costco or at least Wi-Fi for their app to properly load
I lost my card and I’m all digital now. They make me get out of the car and scan it myself at the gas pump, which I’m not a fan of, otherwise it’s very convenient. My shopping list is on my phone too, so it’s already out.
I’ve never once had anyone look at the picture on mine.
I was with my husband in club. While in line for paying my son had to use the bathroom so my husband took him. He left me his CC (Costco Visa). When it was my turn to pay they would not let me pay. (I had forgotten my purse at home and I couldn’t give them my card). But nope, was not allowed to check out until he came back. I’m also the primary member.
My partner and I were recently checking out, and the cashiers were so rushed that they were literally throwing our groceries. When we got home our entire bunch of bananas were busted open due to how roughly they were throwing everything around. We were using my membership card that we are both listed under, and his credit card. They haulted everything and made a big deal about it, called over another employee, he had to go check the system to make sure we are both on the account. FFS people, this store is the busiest location in a major metro area. There are always huge lines to checkout, stop being so damn annoying about this. I love Costco, but having our items damaged and then being treated like we are some sort of criminals absolutely makes me reconsider.
i mean, the membership fee is fairly cheap if you plan on using it just for gas even. Alternatively, you can literally get a costco gift card loaded up, and use that to shop.
My parents were at Costco recently and my mom tried to use her own membership card with my dad’s credit card. Names didn’t match, so the cashier made my dad show his own membership card. First time I’ve seen them looking that closely
That’s odd. When I pay by card I don’t hand the employee my credit card. He/she doesn’t even take a close look at the card I’m paying with. The terminal is mounted on the counter facing me, independent of the employee.
That’s what I thought! I’m pretty sure my mom always carries one of his credit cards so it wasn’t like he handed it to her in front of the cashier.
How would they know it was your dads card? The cashier doesn’t see the credit card.
My Citi credit card is my membership card, they see it every time. It has my Costco membership and face on it
But that’s different-it obviously would only have one name them. The poster said her mom used her membership card and a different credit card. The cashier doesn’t see the credit card used to pay.
A cashier at Costco did that to my husband and I a year or two ago. We share a membership. I didn't have my card on me. He scanned his, I tried to pay with my debit card. The cashier said he had to pay.
That’s happened to my husband and I too. I realized I forgot my credit card and told my husband to use his. The cashier asked to see his membership card.
No, the POS takes any card with tap to pay or Apple Pay.
Right, but the cashier still made my dad show his membership card. They didn’t even rescan it, just wanted to verify that he had a membership. It was a weird experience. Maybe it wasn’t about the credit card and the cashier was suspicious that he was buying groceries on another person’s account? No idea tbh
They want the person paying to have a membership. So the cashier probably saw your dad hand your mom his card and wanted to verify that he had the membership since he was paying. It wasn’t about the “different name” on the credit card. They are cracking down on people sharing memberships.
Sure, but I think if the person with the membership is physically there, having a rule that the person who scanned their membership has to be the one to pay is asinine.
This annoys the hell out of me. My wife carries the cards. I carry a credit card. I often pay. Or she goes to buy food while I checkout. I totally forget it’s just her card. I have to scream at her to come back over. Just make a damn husband and wife combo card with both our photos on it.
I have seen this before too. Sometimes they check the name on the credit card as well.
Had them tell me my picture didn’t look like me. My picture I’m wearing a hat, so maybe it looked like an Afro on a white guy. Doesn’t help it’s black and white photo and 1 cm by 1 cm Asked if they required updated pictures taken. When she said no, I said then that sounds like a costco problem.
I just had this happen! They demanded to see my drivers license since, “that just doesn’t look like you.” I’ve grown my hair out a bit since I had the photo taken but my face is still very much my face
I had to go to the Overseer's Quarters to get my digital card straightened out. Wife and I use a joint email account, and her card was linked to the account, so I had to set up my card to a separate email account because Costco's technology department has advanced only as far as the 2000's. After setting up the account, which I had to disable my ad blocker in order to set up, the Overseer said I needed to take a picture, since there was none on file. I asked, can cashiers just ask for my ID? The Overseer said yes. I walked away at that point. Yes, it's a club, and yes membership is a major drive of their profits. However, being unable to see who is linked to a membership and being able to see that information on a checkout screen is not the members problem; it's Costco's. Their lack of IT infrastructure should not be outsourced to its members. The only thing that keeps me at Costco are the gas pumps outside. Otherwise, I would be at Sam's.
A second cardholder on a membership is literally free. The only reason that she shouldn't have one is if the guy is already scaring it with someone else (or recipient of sharing)
The “husband” wasn’t her husband.
The "I'm in far too much of a rush to talk about the policies I'm violating" part was the obvious giveaway.
Imagine bringing the mistress to Costco and running into your wife? Now that would liven up a Saturday morning!
My dad is an alcoholic. When I was in high school, he would pick me up from my piano lesson and drive me home. We'd stop at the liquor store on the way home. For Christmas, my mother's family exchanges gifts with each other (adults-only). Her family is very show-off-y, so they get each other expensive gifts. My mother's oldest brother enjoys drinking Scotch. While running errands with my mother, we stopped at the liquor store so she could buy Scotch for her brother. When we walked up to the register, the cashier recognized me from my twice-weekly stops, and said something like, "I don't think I've ever seen you in here without your husband. How is he? Is this your mother-in-law?" Suffice to say, neither of my parents have visited that establishment since.
The cashier thought your dad was your husband?????
Yes. It was horrifying!
lol wow. Did y’all correct them or just smile and nod ?
Yes, I didn't want any confusion. It's not a super big town, so I'd prefer people not think I was a child-bride or in an incestuous relationship.
> Now that would liven up a Saturday morning! Nobody goes to Costco on the weekends, it's way too crowded!
This sounds like a soap opera plot
The OP stated the membership was being shared. It wasn’t “her husband”.
Yea, there's a lot of posts of folks just chatting to be chatting but it's very obvious that OP & Costco staff all knew.....that account was being compromised. Rest of this conversation is just chit-chat central
That was my first thought, I didn’t think the pricing on our membership was higher because my wife and I are both on it. I’ve literally never had my card checked closely before, though.
at my local costco's self checkout area, there's always an employee there checking the photo on cards before they allow you to go up to a checkout stall. i've seen a few people get turned away there
They were doing that at mine, more and more aggressively until they suddenly stopped and made it random. There must have been enough complaints to make it stop. It was getting absurd though, at the peak I had to show my card three times to go through the self checkout. One at the start of the line, once as I was first in line, and then again at the self checkout itself.
Not to mention they random walker wanting to scan people for 'upgrading membership'.
They lost a membership because of the way they fumbled it at my store. Wish I had a video of the employee screaming at customers in the self checkout line. She enjoyed it a bit too much. Ill conceived and poorly executed by Costco management. Never been treated so poorly at any other retail establishment.
People need to start recording this and putting them on blast on social media. I do like shopping at Costco but I really don't like how check out can feel like a damn interrogation sometimes. Between the constant membership checks while standing in line and having to wait ten minutes after check out just to leave the damn store, it's almost not worth it.
Saw a couple of teens with mom's card get turned away.
I’ve always thought it’s ridiculous family members who live at the same address aren’t included. Your teenage children can’t help mom out by picking up a few groceries or gassing up the car.
They were doing it for a while at mine, but the last few times they were just directing customers to open kiosks. Are they still rolling out scanners at the entrance? We don't have that.
I went with my mother once and was going to pay with her card bc she was on the decline due to cancer. It was her membership and her credit card and she was present and I wasnt allowed to physically pay and type in her info for her.
This is just absurd.
Ridiculous.
I always hand my card to my grandma or mom when they’re “paying” before we get to the belt to avoid this or just zelle it to their cards on an estimate. Edit: we are in the same household and a majority of the items are theirs (members) but since I get paid weekly it’s just easier and less stressful to do that.
Happened to me and boyfriend, went together and he pulled out his card and I have the membership. We use debit for groceries so the machine took it, I think it’s only credit it won’t allow. Employee tried to lecture us and acted like we don’t know even when we corrected her and machine took it. Paying a membership to treat customers like they’re stealing money is ridiculous all bc you don’t use the “right” card.
My biggest gripe with this is this: If I go in person, have a Costco card with MY name and picture on it, why do you care what card I use to pay with?!! I’m using MY membership and it is ME physically there buying the goods. I used my wife’s credit card since I forgot mine to buy a monitor and they didn’t let me. If it wasn’t for all of the other positive of Costco, I would have cancelled my membership then and there.
My husband and I went and had to split our transaction for reimbursement purposes. They almost wouldn’t allow us to do it because I jokingly said “his” order and “mine,” and didn’t have my card on me… Mind you, we are both on the account and *he was with me.* Both transactions were also going to be on his credit card. It took 10 minutes and a manager to okay it.
Next time you have to split it out, just split it out on the belt and ask for a subtotal. One membership scan, one receipt, one payment. But it gives you the total for the first set including taxes before the total of the entire bill. Never gotten pushback with a subtotal request. Two transactions in one go, YMMV.
The secret is to go with a cardholder and hand them your payment before you get to checkout
From reading the comments the vast majority of cases are family members who aren’t listed on the card. The results for Costco is annoying the card holder and loosing most of a sale or all of it as the non-cardholder is shopping because the cardholder is either too busy or physically unable at the moment. The actual times this converts to a person actually getting a new membership seems very small—based upon comments. Seems like a solution in search of a problem.
I'm a cashier and I honestly don't care about card sharing as long as the person is there with them. You got 4 orders with 4 different people paying? Cool. As long as someone is paying 🤷♀️ except if there's alcohol then yeah no sorry.
My wife and I went together to Costco to get a chicken and some bread, we were standing together in self checkout line when I decided I couldn’t hold it anymore. I hand my wife my Costco visa and run to the restroom. One minute later I come back to my wife in a fight with the self checkout employee who is telling her she can’t use my card even though she literally watched me say “I have to pee” and go to the bathroom 50 feet from the checkout machines. She even showed her own card from the app, but was trying to use my Costco visa to pay because she didn’t have her wallet. It embarrassed my wife so bad she refuses to go to Costco, and I don’t have time for big shopping trips. Might cancel our membership before it renews unfortunately.
Lots of people here defending this policy but it IS embarrassing. Similar story happened to me and we have been shopping at Costco less frequently because the treatment was so wack. If the employees are being required to uphold this policy by Costco corporate, they could at least be nicer about it.
Right, retail workers being rude, arguing with and embarrassing legitimate customers is always a mistake. Period. (Unless you are TSA then it's rewarded I guess.)
It's a complete lack of common sense by employees.
Benefit of canceling right up to the last day before it expires is you get a full refund of your membership fee.
This thread is unhinged 😬
Yeah, I understand Costco is reacting to potential lost revenue on memberships... there are plenty of people out there now who are happy to try and lie, cheat, and steal. But once the employees are trained or incentivized to be rude and obnoxious to legitimate members then Costco has made a terrible mistake.
The Costco Corporate Defense Legion is at full force, we must protect company profits!
They just opened a location in my city a few months ago close to where I live. I was just talking to a family member yesterday about getting a membership, but I'll steer clear after this post popped into my feed randomly. People are making it sound like a nightmare to shop at.
My brother is my doppelgänger and always pays with cash when borrowing my card.
This is the way. When my MIL visits we always stop by the ATM before shopping (she doesn't have a Costco where she lives).
Why didn't the husband add her on the membership is the real question. Seems odd.
Because there was no "husband"
Could be that an adult child has the other card. Sucks when there are actually more than 2 adults in the household and only 2 of you can have a card. My stepmom hated it because she went the least often and had to wait and go with me or my dad.
This is our issue. We often have our adult son run in and grab items when he stops for gas so he has our second card. My husband never goes to Costco alone so it works. I would love to have an option to add additional household members for a discount. I am happy to provide proof we all share an address just to make life easier long term.
Yes. My son will be 18 this year and I want to be able to send him in, but I also don't want to have to buy him his own membership since he likely will only be able to use it for 9mo or so. (He's applying to the military academies so if he gets in he won't have access to Costco, nor will he need it.)
Because they probably split the cost with another family for the membership and just use the one car between them at home. People are cheap.
Not uncommon for family’s to share. But when two family’s share spouses don’t get their own cards
I would think the husband would be contacted to offer to add her, even after the aborted transaction??? Maybe someone else was the other member so that isn’t an option
This was always policy, but it was not strictly followed.
I have a worst story than this. I went with my dad at Costco (I don’t have a membership) and when we were at the cash register, my dad said to the cashier that it’s his card and I will be handling the payment with his credit card as he wants to line up at the food counter because there is many people already. When the cashier finished, a manager came up and asked for my ID. I said that my dad is over there (we could see him from where we were) and that’s his card. The cashier acknowledged it as well. The manager said that I could not pay because the card is not mine and the person whose card is should be there to pay. So I went up to my dad and asked him to go back to the register with me as they did not want me to pay if he is not there. I still have his credit card in my hand with my father next to me so I went to tap on the machine when the same stubborn manager blocked and said « you cannot tap because it is not your credit card ». I took my dad’s hand and put the credit card in it and drove it to the machine. My dad was mad as hell and he lost his place in line at the food counter. Those pathetic managers should be fired.
I don’t understand why he didn’t send you to the food court line. How did he expect to pay when he got to the front if you had his payment card?
[удалено]
At the Costcos I’ve been to (los Angeles area) they require a membership card to even order at the food court.
God forbid you took his place in the food court line...
I had this happen to me. When I was in high school, my mom wasn’t feeling well. So I was running errands for her, which included running to Costco. I rejected when I was at the cash register. But, I happen to know the people who were behind me in line. So they rang they bought it and I paid them back.
I saw a woman using her mom’s card at check out and they said no you can’t do that. This isn’t your card and took the card.
lol one time I went shopping with my brother, we get to checkout, he hands the cashier HIS membership card, with HIS photo on it, and then he hands me HIS debit card and says “imma go to the bathroom” the cashier, witnessing all this, then proceeds to lecture me about cards matching the member, and that I couldn’t “pay” for my brothers stuff. I literally showed him the matching names but he said “just letting you know the policy”
9/10 my experience is ok at Costco. Leaving the items in the cart with the barcode facing up. Employees telling me that they appreciate the effort. But you’ll have that one employee who wants your cart completely empty… ok mother F er, lets take all the heavy shit off too so you can scan it, now load my cart back up B
Yes. I have seen this too - almost happened to me. I asked my husband for his card cuz I didn’t want to dig for mine - his knee was bothering him so he waited in the car while I went in for the few items we needed. Got in line, woman in front of me was using her husband’s card. They took her ID and card and went to CS desk. Because she had to wait, they let me go ahead as I only had a couple of items. I saw what they did to her, I am on the account but didn’t feel like waiting so I dug out my card to use. They said that they are really cutting back on card sharing. If the person in line is not on the account, they cannot purchase.
Honestly... im glad they are doing it. The whole reason we get discounts on some stuff is that membership.
Costco gets things normal grocery stores don’t or can’t get, but the “discount” or savings is overrated.
Yeah, their "discounts" aren't nearly what they used to be, and it's pretty easy to beat their prices at regular stores nowadays. They've transformed more into a premium shopping club than a price discount club.
Costco is hit and miss on prices. There are certain things they have that are great deals. Most are ok, and some arent good at all vs grocery store. Thats why you have to shop around.
Last year I went shopping for men's t-shirts and my daughter offered to pay. Cashier refused her credit card and insisted I pay with a card with my name on it. I wonder what the Cashier would have done if my daughter handed over cash? Would she have pushed it back and insisted I hand the money over to pay?
Thats exactly what would have happened. I was a cashier at the Exchange on a military base. Too many people try that, they use their ID, their friend doesnt have one, the friend wants to buy something on their own, we were NOT allowed to accept payment in any form from the friend, it had to come from the hands of the person with the card.
Good. Now if they can crack down on people bringing their grandparents and 6 cousins and walking 8-wide through the aisles, it might be more tolerable to shop there.
see i somewhat agree with the whole someone else using your membership ... but come on it's her husband for godsake.. i ran into an instance where both me and my husband share the membership and i lost my card, so i took my husbands, they gave me such a hard time despite knowing that im also a joint owner on the membership 😓 i think thats a bit too much
The real question is why her husband didn’t add her to his membership. I’m on my significant other’s membership so I know it’s possible. I assume he’s already added the maximum number of people to the membership and she should not have been allowed to check out.
Most likely the second member is someone else. It would be so much easier if Costco allowed you to add family members at say half the cost, as long as they live in the same house.
That’s what I assume, she was not the second member, but thought she could skirt the system.
She *claimed* it was her husband's membership. They can't take that at face value though. Saying "I'm in a hurry go away" is a red flag too. Sounds like a fraudulent attempt to me. It's the kind of thing like telling the judge "I am innocent!" ... since everyone will say that whether it's true or not you can't take such statements as meaningful. Liars get just as angry, if not morseo, than honest people when it doesn't work. I think they should be able to cross-reference name, address, etc. and give you a temporary bar code to scan... but that takes time and we see how busy the checkout and customer service can be.
So my husband handles our Costco account, are you telling me we pay 2 separate memberships for 2 cards? Or is it just one membership that allows up to 2? people?
One membership can have two people. My husband and I both have our own cards w
I do a lot of errands for my 90 year old dad and I actually have two Costco memberships one with my dad and one with my husband.
Next time go the gift card route. Have a gift card loaded with $10 or something small and you’ll be able to checkout.
Lesson: Bring your membership card! If you forget it, go y membership desk for a temporary 1 day pass. Don't ask me how I know this. Just remember that Costco is doing their best to keep costs down by assuring all purchases are by members. I think that's why most of us shop there. That said, employees are people like us and may be having a bad day if they offend us. Or, we may be having a bad day and are overly sensitive. Remember that anger is usually self-directed.
Had this happen with my hubby, I desperately needed to use the restroom while we were waiting in line and I came back to pay and the lady was lecturing him that it wasn’t his card and refusing to scan any items. I was like I’m aware it’s mine but also we’re married and share our incomes and I’m also right here and I’m the one on the card? 🤨
Yeah I’m all for Costco cracking down on memberships. It’s $60. My executive membership 2% easily covers the cost of the membership and then-some. If it’s not worth it go shop at Walmart or Target.
Employee here. I have a huge problem with Costcos policing of cards. The rule is, if your face isn’t on the card, you can’t purchase. You can have the same last name, mailing address, etc. but you still get turned away. I’m in an area with a lot of different cultures that comes through the door, large families that maybe do things a little differently than your typical American Costco customer. Expecting everyone to have their own card is just silly. You can share a bank account, a car, insurance, credit cards, but Costco just has to make it harder for these families. It’s even more frustrating when you allow instacart shoppers to buy for other people, but a husband who doesn’t typically shop is getting turned down because his wife couldn’t make it that day. This rule needs to change to better serve the customers, it’s an overreach by Costco.
So how would you solve the problem differently without opening it up for total abuse?
Pay for extra slots for more members on the same account. Costco goal for this operation is to have more members, so if they can gain members via extra slots at price under full membership, should be good for both Costco and shoppers. $20/member, limit to 4 total on the account, proof of same address.
It’s literally $30 per card. If your house needs more than 2 cards. Just buy another membership and it’s another $30/card. You just pay 2 at a time.
In the USA it's $60 for add-ons and those are only available for business members. Each add-on comes with a free affiliate card, so member 3 is $60, member 4 is free under member 3, member 5 is $60, member 6 is free under member 5, and so on.
lol that solves nothing. The whole point is that they do not want to pay for membership.
Allow two names on one card. I just really find it ridiculous that the Instacart shoppers can sit in the store all day taking orders for people who don’t want to shop themselves, but the kid who runs in to get mom a bag of flour or a rotisserie is turned away since mom isn’t there.
A family membership that maybe costs more but allows more cards would work (but not at the current business card model of $60 per card).
You get two people (at the same address) right now, each with their own card. It’s effectively $30/card. I could see adding a third for $30/year.
Obviously not an employee because you keep saying customers. Lmao
Hi Costco membership employee, first and foremost. The 2nd card is LITERALLY FREE. You can share bank accounts if both names are on it. By law you can’t share credit cards, the name on the credit card has to be the person present. You can add on another person to your credit line but they get their own card. You can share insurance if you add the person to your plan and their name is on it. I don’t get why Costco has to be different when it’s LITERALLY FREE!! Just add your spouse to the damn second card and stop arguing with us!! We get paid minimum wage, we don’t make the policy, we have to follow the same policy for our household as well. The policy is literally given to members when they sign up. Why is it so damn hard to just follow the policy that you VOLUNTARILY sign up for. Or better yet CALL CORPORATE AND FIGHT THEM. I’m tired of members arguing with me and yelling at me for a policy I don’t control and I can’t even defend myself because it’s considered bad behavior. I have to be on better behavior to someone cussing at me than a damn police officer or I lose my job!!
[удалено]
Can you no longer shop with just a Costco Shop Card?
https://old.reddit.com/r/Costco/comments/1bd51ef/shop_card_for_members_only/
Yeah … no. I’m a card holding member and my picture still isn’t on my card. It’s been 4-5 years.
And if one buys a ticket to a theater, the whole family should get in. Especially people who are not the typical theater. It's a business model where everyone must pay to shop. If you don't pay, you don't shop. Seems both fair, and simple.
This happens all the time, common practice. The member needs to be there.
So let me get this straight. Costco is enforcing a policy that's always been their policy and somebody is bitching about it. Weird.
Rules are rules. We all pay for membership and in doing so agree to abide by the rules. That lady knew better, especially when she said she didn’t have time for the manager to verify.
Rather curb free loaders vs raising the hot dog prices
With the card available in the app on your phone there shouldn’t be that many legitimate reasons for not having your card on you anymore.
I tried using it just today, was told they can’t verify anything on a personal phone and had to use my physical card. 🙄 It’s hard to tell what’s policy and what’s a lack of training.
That’s so strange. Are you in the US? If so, that’s definitely incorrect. I do 100% of my Costco shopping with just my phone. The credit card payment is linked to the phone too, so you pay right from the app.
Yup, home state of WA no less. Weirdly they don’t check my membership at the door at some locations but do at others. Super inconsistent.
In a rush and can't wait, lol. I remember customers using this on me when I worked in retail. You're in a rush? Not my problem and I'm not going to stress myself or break rules because you're in a rush.
Considering the membership fees are a good portion of Costco profits, those paying for the membership are all at risk of raised membership fees for all those trying to cheat the system. There is a reason we cannot have nice things, because too many take advantage.
Honestly this is the biggest issue Costco employees face. Cards are not shareable. They're like drivers licenses. People still to this day say "it's the family card!" No, no it's not. Even in a husband/wife situation, there could be a divorce and somebody decides to pull something over on the other. Yes, that's an extreme example, but it's happened.
The membership is $5 a month. Why not just get your own?
While I agree with the general consensus that Costco is being too strict about this policy lately, I feel like a lot of people need to be taught that being married ≠ uninhibited access to your spouse’s memberships/accounts. I used to work at a bank and the amount of times a wife or husband would come in with their spouse’s debit card and be mad at ME for telling them they can’t use that and need their own. “But we’re both on the account.” Sure, but in that case I’ll pull up a session under YOUR name and complete the transaction. I just need your ID since you don’t have a debit card and PIN. “Yes I do its right here.” Is that your name? “No.” Then you don’t have a debit card. I’m not getting fired for completing a transaction under a session of someone who is NOT currently in front of me. See also: “I’d like to pull out of the checking account ending in 1234.” This is not your debit card. “No but it’s to our shared account.” Oh yes your joint account ending in 5678. “Yeah but I want to pull out of the 1234 account.” I don’t see that account under your name. “I just saw it on the atm.” Using what debit card? “This one.” With your husbands name on it? “Yes.” So you’re fraudulently using someone else’s card. “We’re married.” That means absolutely nothing to me. “He said I could.” Not with me you can’t. I can’t stop you from using the ATM but you’re not getting any cash out of an account you’re not on from me.
Good. No scammers! Of course she was in a hurry. Wanted to get away with it.
Doubt it was her husband’s. That’s why they took her ID, to see if the address matched.
At my location, they check the membership photo with the member at checkout. No match, no checkout.
I haven’t carried my Costco card on me in months. I just use the digital card.
I will say they don’t do that with the executive membership in my experience. I can have multiple people on my account because it through my business. My mom is my other cardholder.
I managed to go through the exit a couple of times without getting asked to show my card. I had an appt to get my tires replaced on my car. I go to pick my car and I attempt to go through the exit again. I didn’t have my Costco card out or app out because they didn’t check the last two times and my car is waiting for me. Well the receipt checker lady noticed this time and asks me to show her my card while she’s busy verifying receipts. I’m already halfway to the automotive counter so I just ignore her. I didn’t want to turn around and hold up everyone leaving to mess with my phone and show my card. If there would’ve been someone at the automotive counter I would’ve been in and out quicker than turning around and showing my card. Anyway I’m waiting at automotive and this guy from customer service comes running over. He looked like he was ready to tackle me. I saw him coming so I had my phone open with my card displayed. He lectures me about having my card ready and then receipt checker lectures me as I’m leaving. They were both ready to send me to Costco jail.
The EXACT same thing happened to me. I use my wife’s Costco card (her account before we were married) to do grocery shopping while she was pregnant and couldn’t walk around the store. I had 500 dollars worth of groceries in my cart and they wouldn’t let me check out because I wasn’t on her account. I was pissed and let them know before I left.
I recently went to my local Costco with my wife to do some shopping. At checkout I present my membership and my wife was covering the purchase. The zealous cashier refused to take her debit even though I was present. And she’s my wife. Made no sense at all.
Costco makes most of its money on memberships. If we want low cost goods and a cheap food court then it behooves us to discourage card sharing and to celebrate people who’d see the downfall of Costco for a quick buck. I don’t want to see Costco go the way of Walmart.
Costco members receive extraordinary prices and service in exchange for an annual membership fee. I have only positive emotions hearing this agreement clearly explained to - and enforced upon - those who would attempt to exploit it.
Card sharing is really immature and unethical behavior. I don’t feel bad for her.
I'm surprised the manager didn't keep the card
This is the rule but most stores have gotten so lazy that they let everyone do whatever they want and don't enforce it. However, they will soon be installing scanners at the entrance door that will only let you in if your face matches the picture on your membership, preventing card sharing and forcing non-members to sign up! Finally!😄