Sams club rant

[Brybo86]

Wife gave me her Sams club card and a big list of groceries for thankgiving
I enter the store showing the attendant my card. It has her name and member since "11/2015"
I walked around for nearly an hour collecting the list of things.
Get to checkout and they say the card is expired. Only way to checkout is to pay the full membership cost.
No grace period at all, apparently it expired 11/16/16. Yet they let me in the store
There is always a deal for a Sams membership for over 50% off on Slick Deals, no way am I paying full price to these scammers
I ask why there is no expiration date on card. Had I known it was expired I wouldn't have even come to the store.
I say I would like to buy the items in cart and talk to my wife about membership later.
B says no.
I say alright this is crazy
I ask why they just wasted 1 hour of my life and won't allow me to checkout even though they checked my card as I entered the store?
Lady refuses to give me my expired card back.
I leave the store.
What the eff?

 

[The Critic]

Costco is the same way. If your card is expired, you'll have to pay the fee in order to check-out. Don't ask me how I know this...

 

[Brybo86]

I hope the $200 in groceries spoil rotten in the cart, serves them right
Trying to call my bluff?
Probably most people would bend over and take it in the rear vs spoiling a bunch of food.
That is the gamble they have chosen to take...
Wow

 

[mrsilv04]

My boss was telling me last week, as to how many hoops that he had to jump through... just to get a set of BFG's put on his old beater '96 Taurus at Sam's.

It sure sounded like the rules had gotten a lot tighter since the last set of tires that I ever bought at Sams... a horrible set of Michelin LTX's.

I didn't renew my card several years back. Don't miss it one bit.

 

[Shrubitup]

I recently ordered bf Goodrich tires online at Costco site. Price and installation were a breeze.

 

[Leo99]

Your rant seems misplaced. How did they try to scam you?

Don't they send you emails or real mail about your membership expiring?

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: Brybo86
Yet they let me in the store


You dont need a membership card to enter the store. Any one can enter. Anyone can shop. You'll need a membership card to pay.

Some people hold up the entrance by whipping out their card and showing the door keeper, I just blow past them with an eye-roll for holding everyone up. They dont require a show of the card at the entrance to get in.

And Ive done exactly what the op did. Card expired a week prior. I left a full cart of groceries right there and left. I wont pay full price for a membership, when I can get one for free off a family member or half price.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Costco is the same way. If your card is expired, you'll have to pay the fee in order to check-out. Don't ask me how I know this...


If you're an Executive Member they automatically renew by taking the fee out of the check they send every year.

 

[CharlieBauer]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Costco is the same way. If your card is expired, you'll have to pay the fee in order to check-out. Don't ask me how I know this...


If you're an Executive Member they automatically renew by taking the fee out of the check they send every year.


Mine is auto billed to the credit card and I cash my check at the store at a different time of the year.

 

[CharlieBauer]

Originally Posted By: Leo99
Your rant seems misplaced. How did they try to scam you?

Don't they send you emails or real mail about your membership expiring?


I agree but there was a simple solution.

Sams Club have a no questions asked membership cancellation and refund policy.

OP should have renewed, taken his groceries to his car, come back to customer service and cancelled.

 

[69GTX]

I've been a BJ's member for 7 yrs and they never check cards at the door. And as my membership got within 2 months of renewal they reminded me of that every visit. Now if you don't visit every 1-2 months I could see where you might show up and your card is expired. At BJ's if your card expires in Nov you would get half way into Dec for "grace" period. I've pushed the expiration limit thing every year I've owned it. With a Costco coming to our area very soon I'm interested in seeing what they offer besides Tier 1 gasoline.

 

[JTK]

Bry, I hear you. It's frustrating and I've been through the exact thing, but an expiration is an expiration.

 

[montero1]

The BJ's near me runs a "free day pass" coupon almost every week in the local county paper. I don't see why they couldn't have let you slide that once. I can see if you were constantly shopping there.....

 

[NHGUY]

You didn't lose much but time.Sams/BJs are overrated and overpriced.Pay the membership fee and you'd have to shop every day to try to save enough to make that back.You have to buy large quantities that if you figure out,are just as cheap at Market Basket or even Shaws/Dollar General..etc when on sale.I used to go to Sams and BJs for years,and decided to dump them years back,the inventory went downhill and prices went up.Unless you are a family of 6 or more,you'd do well to go to Dollar Tree and buy only what you really need.

 

[dlundblad]

a.) You grocery shopped 1 day before Thanksgiving. (

)
b.) You didn't know when your membership expired?
c.) You wouldn't have wasted an hour of your life if you simply went to the local grocery store.. preferably not last minute.

I don't see a logical reason to be upset with the store.

 

[edwardh1]

is there a site for coco memberships for less?

 

[KzMitch]

Originally Posted By: dlundblad

I don't see a logical reason to be upset with the store.


Agreed.

 

[hatt]

Weak rant. Sams does a lot crazier stuff than that. They wouldn't let me cash a rebate check because my wife was the primary account holder. Even though I have a Sams credit cart on the account. I returned the $100+ worth of stuff I just bought and still had in my cart and didn't go back for six months. I've since returned but probably buy less than 50% of the stuff I use to buy. There are other options. When the next cash back check gets here I may be canceling the membership and credit account.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: dlundblad
a.) You grocery shopped 1 day before Thanksgiving. (

)
b.) You didn't know when your membership expired?
c.) You wouldn't have wasted an hour of your life if you simply went to the local grocery store.. preferably not last minute.

I don't see a logical reason to be upset with the store.


Simple-for some people it's never their fault. Even though the original poster should have planned better and was clearly in the wrong, he blames the store rather than his own incompetence and lack of planning. In a subsequent post he thinks they should "bend over and take it in the rear" because of his mistake rather than man up to his mistake and learn a lesson from it.

 

[eljefino]

I had this happen at BJs. They give you a receipt at membership time with the day it expires. I just sharpie that date on the card so I remember.

I also put my stuff back instead of giving in to their extortion. They obviously, psychology-wise, want you to commit to the stuff in your cart.

BJs is only cheapest on about 10% of my groceries after I crunched the numbers on their oddball unit sizes. So I only use them when they're free.