Costco is testing out a new system for entering stores
Costco is testing out a new system for entering stores
Bad news if you’re mooching off of someone else’s Costco membership: The retail giant is cracking down.
Bad news if you’re mooching off of someone else’s Costco membership: The retail giant is cracking down.
When you enter Costco, you need to show your membership card to an employee to shop. Costco membership cards are non-transferable, but the company allows members to give a second household card to one other person in their home. Anyone with a card can bring up to two guests to the club during each visit, the company stipulates.
But Costco has noticed that non-members have been sneaking in with membership cards that don’t belong to them — particularly since Costco expanded self-checkout.
Costco recently started asking for shoppers’ membership cards along with a photo ID at the self-checkout registers, the same policy as regular checkout lanes, to crack down. “We don’t feel it’s right that non-members receive the same benefits and pricing as our members,” Costco said in announcing the change.
And now, Costco is testing out a system that requires members to scan their membership cards at the store entrance — instead of just flashing the card to employees. Shoppers have spotted the new scanners at a store in Washington State and posted photos on Reddit.
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Admission is not membership. We are talking about membership. If I could pay an admission fee to shop at Costco, this would not be an issue. But I cannot. I have to buy a membership.
It’s the same. The only difference is the term length. A movie ticket gives you access until you leave. A membership allows you access for a year.
You’re just arguing semantics because your entire argument fell apart.
Fine, then why doesn't Coscto offer admission tickets?
Because they offer free trials for their memberships. Again, you’re just arguing semantics because your argument has no standing.
I didn't say anything about free trials.
I never said you did. Again, you’re arguing semantics rather than the point.
Nope. I made my point clear. You just keep deviating from it or ignoring it.
Yet again: You said that Costco charges a membership because, in your words: "they offer something that other stores cannot"
Yet again: A movie theater offers something that other places cannot- movies on a big screen. Therefore charging a membership fee before you can buy tickets should be equivalent.
Furthermore: If buying a ticket at a movie theater to get admitted is the same as buying a one-time membership, I should be able to buy a one-time membership every single time I go to Costco.
That is semantics. The only difference between a movie ticket and the membership is the term. Both movie theatres and Costco have areas that cannot be accessed or used unless you do whatever they deem to require for entrance. A movie theatre does not have to allow you to use their concessions or bathrooms or any other part of the facility unless you pay for something. If they wanted that to be a membership, they could do that. As I already mentioned, AMC has a membership program. If they wanted to, they could cancel all individual ticket sales and only sell memberships. The rules for access would be the same - you can’t buy a hotdog. You can’t buy one movie ticket and have 2 people use it. If you could, there would be no point in buying tickets and I would make the same argument if someone came in here saying that “verification of a ticket purchase” is an inconvenience and worth stopping support for.
Once again- if all of that is the case, why shouldn't I be able to buy a one-time admission to Costco?