Costco Member Privileges and Conditions

[JHZR2]

If you have a family card then both cards have the same number. So it may have matched your pic with the number in their database?

Or it’s all just behavior training

It was my wife’s Citibank credit card with her photo on it.

 

[y_p_w]

I’ll add another fun little anecdote to this thread.

We went to Costco for gas tonight as my wife and I were going out. We wanted to check tire pressures since the car had sat a while. I had to go to the bathroom, my wife was going tire pressures and adding nitrogen.

This thread in the OP talks about going in the exit. Even though I could have since the bathroom is over that way, I went in the normal way, waited behind a few folks, scanned in.

Now here’s the thing. I don’t carry a Costco card or the cc. My wife had hers. I took hers and walked in. I scanned it, and the guy said go on in. Very welcoming. The photo on the cc is my wife’s.

Then I decided I wanted to buy some vitamin c on the way out. Again, only had her cc. Scanned it, let me check out.

So if they’re verifying anything, I’m not sure what it is…. If I can go in and buy something while using a card with a photo of my wife, they’re not checking much.

Of course I had to wait on the way out to get my receipt marked up for one item. So that worked.

When are the Kirkland police officers going to come to arrrest me for a bad transaction, and unverified walking around in the store??!?

Using others’ cards at membership stores has been around for years. Before the merger, my mom had a Price Club membership through a relative’s business. I remember once I went to get new tires, and I was upfront it was mom’s card and the tire shop employee didn’t care. But later, I went to get some stuff and the cashier looked at it again before I paid. I was told I could finish the transaction, but they would confiscate the card and my mom had to return to get it back.

 

[JHZR2]

Using others’ cards at membership stores has been around for years. Before the merger, my mom had a Price Club membership through a relative’s business. I remember once I went to get new tires, and I was upfront it was mom’s card and the tire shop employee didn’t care. But later, I went to get some stuff and the cashier looked at it again before I paid. I was told I could finish the transaction, but they would confiscate the card and my mom had to return to get it back.

Sure it has, but you missed the point.

OP talked about wanting to go in the exit. Which I don’t do, nor would I condone.

I’ve talked about the hassle of lines, and “increased” scrutiny turning into a bigger hassle than it was before.

Others have indicated how good it is that they’re checking ID, and verifying membership, which I don’t disagree with, just don’t like the hassle to do it multiple times, creating lines, and no impetus to improve.

On a random situation I went in the store, the right way, with the wrong credentials, and not only went in but purchased something, and in no circumstance was I confronted. Not when I didn’t look like a woman going in the store, not when I purchased something with a credit card that wasn’t mine, with my wife’s photo and name on it.

So it’s all just… false.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Sure it has, but you missed the point.

OP talked about wanting to go in the exit. Which I don’t do, nor would I condone.

I’ve talked about the hassle of lines, and “increased” scrutiny turning into a bigger hassle than it was before.

Others have indicated how good it is that they’re checking ID, and verifying membership, which I don’t disagree with, just don’t like the hassle to do it multiple times, creating lines, and no impetus to improve.

On a random situation I went in the store, the right way, with the wrong credentials, and not only went in but purchased something, and in no circumstance was I confronted. Not when I didn’t look like a woman going in the store, not when I purchased something with a credit card that wasn’t mine, with my wife’s photo and name on it.

So it’s all just… false.

Definitely behavioral training. Akin to a secret handshake. To make you believe your elite because you shop at Costco.

 

[PandaBear]

Paying membership fees for inconveniences…. ?

It depends on what your goal is. I am still on the line between whether I want a membership or not, but I do it out of spite because my ex-wife is having a membership from her boyfriend and keep asking our daughters if they want anything like pizza or snacks.

I don't want them to feel like they are dependent of their mom's boyfriend. So I have my own membership. It is still a net positive but I don't buy much due to lack of space and typically only buy eggs, frozen broccoli, strawberries, blue berries, pot roast, and gas. I know fully what I sign up for and I don't whine about their lines and just go to Safeway or Trader Joe's if I need something Costco is not good at.

 

[JHZR2]

It depends on what your goal is. I am still on the line between whether I want a membership or not, but I do it out of spite because my ex-wife is having a membership from her boyfriend and keep asking our daughters if they want anything like pizza or snacks.

I don't want them to feel like they are dependent of their mom's boyfriend. So I have my own membership. It is still a net positive but I don't buy much due to lack of space and typically only buy eggs, frozen broccoli, strawberries, blue berries, pot roast, and gas. I know fully what I sign up for and I don't whine about their lines and just go to Safeway or Trader Joe's if I need something Costco is not good at.

Even in NJ where gas is relatively cheap. The gas when bought with the Costco cc makes the basic membership worth it. If not that I’d think much harder about it.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I’ll add another fun little anecdote to this thread.

We went to Costco for gas tonight as my wife and I were going out. We wanted to check tire pressures since the car had sat a while. I had to go to the bathroom, my wife was going tire pressures and adding nitrogen.

This thread in the OP talks about going in the exit. Even though I could have since the bathroom is over that way, I went in the normal way, waited behind a few folks, scanned in.

Now here’s the thing. I don’t carry a Costco card or the cc. My wife had hers. I took hers and walked in. I scanned it, and the guy said go on in. Very welcoming. The photo on the cc is my wife’s.

Then I decided I wanted to buy some vitamin c on the way out. Again, only had her cc. Scanned it, let me check out.

So if they’re verifying anything, I’m not sure what it is…. If I can go in and buy something while using a card with a photo of my wife, they’re not checking much.

Of course I had to wait on the way out to get my receipt marked up for one item. So that worked.

When are the Kirkland police officers going to come to arrrest me for a bad transaction, and unverified walking around in the store??!?

A common security solution is to announce they are "gonna start checking", whatever that may mean. They may check a subset, but often the plan is to not check at all. And it works. Just the idea will change people's behaviour.