There are many things to love about being a Costco member. The easiest ability to shop in any of Costco’s warehouses also comes with free samples, access to all kinds of bulk-sized pantry staples, and even significant savings on everyday goods.
You can also buy a brand-new car, book a vacation, and sign up for home and auto insurance. All these benefits come with a Costco membership. If it sounds way too good to be true, it isn’t. A basic membership costs $60 a year.
For all the membership perks, there are many drawbacks to shopping at Costco that even the most loyal customers can’t fully ignore. Some of the issues that have moved to the forefront of shoppers’ minds in the most recent years are mentioned here, while others are practically the same thing as hearing “I’m going to Costco.”
Finding a parking spot
It can be quite a hassle just to get through the front door at your local Costco, especially since parking lots might have their own unique brand of frenzy. Costco shoppers oftentimes swap tips on visiting hours, especially when crowds are at their lowest, and many would agree that the parking situation is definitely something they dread every single time they need to make a grocery run.
As a general rule, there are plenty of parking spots to be found, but those premium spots are closer to the door, and that’s where the members might notice cars circling around. One Costco member marvels at the stress others feel in the Costco parking lot. “Why do people own this mentality that they’re always in a rush?”
Giant shopping carts
The majority of Costco’s items are generally sold in bulk, which means that the packaging is much larger than any other typical item at the local grocery store. Larger items also imply larger shopping carts, but members rapidly point out how cumbersome the carts might be.
Despite the extra-wide aisles, carts can easily take up all the available space, and oftentimes they are far too large for the small amount of items members are actually getting. One Costco member wished the warehouses would be able to implement smaller carts for people who only want to “get a couple of items.”
After all, if we all have huge shopping carts, it’s only natural to have less space on hand for, you know, moving around!
Items moving around the store
Loyal Costco customers know very well the sheer frustration of having to locate grocery staples on every single trip like it’s some sort of scavenger hunt. Costco is known for moving items around its warehouse, mainly to entice members into traveling down every single aisle, hoping to sell more items.
One Costco member even pleaded “Stop moving items around the store. I shouldn’t have to look through every single aisle to find something I already bought a gazillion times before.” Very aware of the whole scheming, another Costco member added that everyone could easily live without all the hide-and-seek game Costco plays with product placement.
It’s quite maddening, and even if the alleged rationale is to get customers to shop more, some of us already do that. It’s quite useless.
The limited food court menu
As Costco’s food court is quite a popular destination for its members, you might have noticed that it has also lost some of its luster as time went by. Leaving aside the subjective opinions regarding the quality of the food, shoppers might agree that the menu has definitely shrunk.
One Costco shopper pointed out that the food court appears to have adopted ” a series of degraded ingredients compared to pre-pandemic times (the pizzas are not the same), brutally reduced menu selections, and super inconsistent preparation by the Food Court workers.”
Another common gripe is the omission of the Combo Pizza, a well-known and beloved food court item that might never return. As another Costco member stated: “it’s never been the same since they reopened after the pandemic shutdown.”
Smaller inventory
It might feel like shoppers can easily find everything under the sun at Costco, but that’s not entirely true. As a matter of fact, of the three major warehouse chains, Costco members actually have fewer items to choose from, compared to bigger competitors like Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale. BJ itself claims to have double the inventory as Costco, and it supposedly carries more items as well.
The online experience might be improved
Online shopping is the main default option for most customers in this 21st-century world, but it seems that Costco prefers keeping things brick-and-mortar. For all its membership perks, Costco can’t figure out how to fix the digital shopping experience, whether we’re talking about the online one or through its smartphone app.
Members mainly bemoan over the sub-par website experience. One of them even shared on Reddit: “Costco’s website is totally useless, except for when you want to order appliances. Now, I order more from Sam’s, only because they have free shipping on every item with the plus membership.”
No curbside pickup
Shopping has become more modernized and streamlined over the years, making the process more convenient. Just like the advent of self-checkout and online shopping, curbside pickup comes with plenty of solution to time-strapped shoppers.
Surprisingly, Costco you won’t have curbside pickup, even if its chief competitor, Sam’s Club, does. Another Redditor highlighted this huge difference as one of the reasons why having a Costco membership isn’t as great as one at Sam’s Club.
He noted: “I have a membership that comes with free shipping and free store pickup, and that has been a wonderful convenience! Costco used to have free shipping for online purchases, but now there are few items that qualify for free shipping.”
Restrictions on payment methods
Few things are as embarrassing and dreadful as coming to realization that there’s no wallet to be found when you’re next in the checkout line at the grocery store. Not having the right payment method can easily stop any errand dead in its tracks, but these days, the wide majority of retailers accept all kinds of payment. However, this superstore is still super restrictive regarding what payment methods shoppers can use.
Long lines at checkout
Anyone who ever had a super-sized shopping cart loaded with groceries fantasizes about sailing through the checkout line and returning to their cars as fast as they can, but that’s often easier said than done at Costco.
Any number of things might cause a holdup in the checkout line, from playing Tetris with bulk items in the shopping cart to a backup of employees verifying receipts on the way out. Plenty of members noticed that the checkout lanes would be more efficient if they were only efficiently staffed.
As one member points out: “Our normal checkout lanes rarely have more than 2 open. It’s extremely annoying.” Then, the self-checkout lines don’t seem too helpful, either, especially as one member explained: “The self-checkout lanes are horrible.
Our store has eight employees, with only one employee covering all of them. It wouldn’t be that bad if the bagels and all the other baked goods had barcodes so you can easily scan them at the kiosk.” Agree!
If you found this article useful, we also recommend checking: The Top 12 Costco Items You Need in Your Cart in 2024
