I think I am done with sams club.

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Dec 18, 2016
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United States
I haven't been to Samsclub since January, There are a few things there that are unbeatable values such as garden hoses and a few other things, however I get turned off because I got a sales pitch about upgrading our membership. Not interested. I go 4 times a year on average, spend 4 to 5 hundred dollars and im done. I have gotten the sales pitch many times over the past few years. Tired of it.

My membership expired in march and im over it. Tired of being pushed by to upgrade memberships, sign up for this blah blah blah. We buy TP and Paper Towels on Amazon now among many other things delivered right to our door, just as cheap or cheaper, no sales pitch.

Im sure someone will mention Costco, im sure its great, the nearest one is over an hour away on a good day, Sometimes its an hour and a half.

Not that it matters to Sams. but thier never ending push to make an extra buck with their annoying sales pitch, which may save some money, but overall has people breaking even or loosing on the deal, has completely turned me away. I cant fault the cashier, they obviously have some sort of quota.

Plus if I were to go back I have to go to customer service desk to get a new membership my membership otherwise it will be backdated to may when mine expired if I pay at register and I will "waste" several months of membership. And Im sure they will push their B.S. savings programs on me.

I dislike amazon for various reasons but not enough to not use them. Its easy, fast and efficient. And do they really treat employees worse than walmart/sams?

Yes I know costco is the greatest thing since sliced bread and treat employees better but I dont want to tie up almost 3 hours driving round trip. I would rather just get paper towels at walgreens at that point.

Can you tell im getting old and cranky?
 
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Sam's Club sucks. I'm lucky I have Costco nearby, but I joined Sam's to buy a Black Friday TV online last year. A few months ago I drove to the other end of town to shop at Sam's and the store is so poorly run they don't even bother to collect the carts! I walked to the front door and asked the membership checker where the carts were, and she points to the parking lot! The shopping trip went downhill from there.

On the plus side my $599 75" TV I joined for has worked out well and I have ordered a few other things for delivery that worked out well. I do like their self checkout with the handheld scanner gun too.

I feel like Costco offers a better shopping experience, TopTier gas, higher quality items and an overall better value.
 
Not everything at sams is a bargain. If you live near by, the gas is cheap.

Certain things are worth it, and their butcher shop has excellent meat. The bakery has excellent cakes and cupcakes.

Even a lot of their clothing is pretty good deals.

Many of the big package items aren't worth it to us. Two person household doesn't need mega sized stuff.

The laundry soap is decent and the dishwasher pods as well.

I have never been offered a plus membership ever.

Also the past few years, I haven't paid a cent for my Sams membership. They have been giving gift cards back if you "buy" a membership for the year.

So for the cost of nothing, its worth it to me.
 
I was lured in a couple of years ago when they were building a new club near my house - first year membership was $25 after a gift card promotion for signing up while construction was under way. Renewed for a year after that but then decided it wasn't worth it. My big savings there came from stocking up on Allegra and by timing sales with the $8 coupons that seem to come out every other week in the spring, I think I was money ahead by buying at regular stores vs going to Sam's. I think I gassed some of the fleet there a few times, but even though the club was "near" my house, it was out of the way and traffic to get there was a pain so it wasn't worth it.
 
I always reply "I'm trying to quit!" lol Both stores you referenced have totally different business models.
 
Sounds like your only real gripe is the membership sales pitch. Do all the stores pushing their store credit cards turn you off too? You must have very limited shopping options by now.

I'd say > 75% of the stores I shop at give some sort of sales pitch-- some perk "club", store credit, text alerts, etc. I quick interruption of "no thanks" usually ends it and I'm on my way. Not that big a deal to me.

I have a Sam's club membership but rarely use it because I'm hardly ever on that side of town and their hours suck. I do most of my grocery shopping in the late evening and IIRC, they close at 7 or 8. It's in a crowded shopping plaza loaded with traffic, so it's not a good option for gas either unless I happen to be there shopping. My dad got it for my wife & I for Christmas one year, and it's auto renewed by itself since, so I assume he's picking up the yearly tab. He hasn't mentioned it, so neither do I.

They have good prices and selection on meats, though I can get the same prices at the grocery stores if I limit my meat purchases to their weekly sales items, which I always do. We do use Sam's religiously for TP in bulk and a few other odds and ends. I have four kids that are quickly approaching their teen years, so I would probably continue the membership even if I was ponying up the money.

We had Costco for a couple years prior to Sam's, and aside from the food counter, I prefer Sam's.
 
Sounds like your only real gripe is the membership sales pitch. Do all the stores pushing their store credit cards turn you off too? You must have very limited shopping options by now.

I'd say > 75% of the stores I shop at give some sort of sales pitch-- some perk "club", store credit, text alerts, etc. I quick interruption of "no thanks" usually ends it and I'm on my way. Not that big a deal to me.

I have a Sam's club membership but rarely use it because I'm hardly ever on that side of town and their hours suck. I do most of my grocery shopping in the late evening and IIRC, they close at 7 or 8. It's in a crowded shopping plaza loaded with traffic, so it's not a good option for gas either unless I happen to be there shopping. My dad got it for my wife & I for Christmas one year, and it's auto renewed by itself since, so I assume he's picking up the yearly tab. He hasn't mentioned it, so neither do I.

I live in a rural area, my shopping options have been limited since I moved here, we do have a home depot, they ask if I want to open a home depot credit card, I say no and its done.

The last 3 times I got hassled at sams club they kept up as if thier jobs depended on it.....a simple no wasn't sufficient. I actually got curt with the person the last time. Not in the mood to deal with that.

Even the Sams club is 45 minutes away, if I had one nearby I might be more inclined to go there, and even more so if I didn't pay for the membership. Our Sams has never offered the giftcard deals others have mentioned as far as Im aware.
 
Does Sam's club refund your membership if you are not satisfied like Costco does?

Sam's club used to be in Canada a few years back, but they couldn't compete with Costco and Walmart decided to pull them out of Canada.
 
Never could understand why anyone would pay to shop at Costco, Sams or BJ’s. Crazy.

The first “Membership “ clubs I remember were GEM and before that, GEX. Could not understand it back then and still don’t understand it.
 
I don’t have a Costco within around 200 or so miles from me. Sam’s Club is 35 minutes away and BJs is also 35 away I much prefer BJs over Sam’s we use Sams because we have the plus membership and get free prescriptions because both my parents have medicine and it being free really helps a lot. And we go because of the steak selection but that’s it. We go to BJs for everything else now including tires since Sam’s tends to break wheel studs on our stuff and try to blame us.
 
Sam's Club sucks. I'm lucky I have Costco nearby, but I joined Sam's to buy a Black Friday TV online last year. A few months ago I drove to the other end of town to shop at Sam's and the store is so poorly run they don't even bother to collect the carts! I walked to the front door and asked the membership checker where the carts were, and she points to the parking lot!
So you walked right by a few dozen carts in the parking lot on your way IN to the store, correct? You never thought to push one into the store to do your shopping? I can not believe how few people bring in a cart. The same people who complain when a loose errant cart gets wind blown into their car I guess.
 
I don’t have a Costco within around 200 or so miles from me. Sam’s Club is 35 minutes away and BJs is also 35 away I much prefer BJs over Sam’s we use Sams because we have the plus membership and get free prescriptions because both my parents have medicine and it being free really helps a lot. And we go because of the steak selection but that’s it. We go to BJs for everything else now including tires since Sam’s tends to break wheel studs on our stuff and try to blame us.
What about Harrisonburg and Charlottesville. Not 200 miles.
 
I'm happy with Costco. I've got their credit card which gives me 4% back on gas, so around $100. Their gas is also way cheaper. Also 2% back on Costco purchases and another 2% back because my membership is the "Executive" membership at $60 a year.

My grandpa got an $8k air conditioner this year with a company contracted through Costco, so we're getting back $320 for that.

I don't think the cashiers are sales people at Costco.
 
So you walked right by a few dozen carts in the parking lot on your way IN to the store, correct? You never thought to push one into the store to do your shopping? I can not believe how few people bring in a cart. The same people who complain when a loose errant cart gets wind blown into their car I guess.

The stores I commonly visit; Trader Joes, Safeway, Costco, Target all collect the carts and sanitize the handles. I'm fine collecting the carts from the parking lot if they add me to the payroll.
 
Never could understand why anyone would pay to shop at Costco, Sams or BJ’s. Crazy.

The first “Membership “ clubs I remember were GEM and before that, GEX. Could not understand it back then and still don’t understand it.
There's not a Sams near me anymore. But the Costco and BJs are decent. You do get slightly better prices than the grocery stores and I'm not a big coupon cutter or sale hunter so decent regular low prices are good enough for me. Costco primarily for their lower tire prices and included 5 year road hazard warranty. BJs has better food and they're closer to me and the gas is cheap although Costco is sometimes cheaper but that particular gas station is further away. Produce is also decent at the clubs. Costco food court and food samples were good too. If you were bored one day, you could just go around getting food samples. None of that lately though. There is an old trick for Costco though that I think still works but is somewhat of a pain. You get a Costco gift card from a friend, say $100 or $200 worth. That gets you into the club without requiring a membership, but when you go to check out, using the card requires a manager as you don't have a membership card.
 
Costco pitches their "Executive" membership in a similar way. We get a "bonus" check which is worth roughly our annual membership fee most years. I can see it not being worthwhile for people who don't buy as much there. A lot of our grocery bill is spent at Costco about three hours away from where we live, as the local grocery stores are pricey.
 
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