I shop at Costco. I don’t mind scanning my card. I suspect anyone who shops at Costco does not care one way one another. This isn’t news, and anyone getting irate about this should find a new topic.
Agreed. The only change is a machine scanning your card rather than a pair of eyeballs.
Doesn’t the card go into a machine at the checkout anyways? They’re just changing the location of the machine, really, not introducing something new.
I literally don’t see the difference. My card gets checked by a person up front anyway. Who cares if it’s now digitally scanned?
Now give me the option to skip the line by scanning and paying for my stuff via phone and the only person I absolutely have to interact with is the one who checks my cart as I’m leaving.
Who cares if it’s now digitally scanned?
I do. It will be a massive annoyance for me because instead of just flashing my card as I walk in and starting shopping, I’m probably going to have to queue up and wait to be scanned if there’s any kind of a rush.
I try to get there near open because it’s less crowded over all and I don’t want to deal with shoulder to shoulder shopping, but that means I’m going to have to get in line with 40 other people before I can get to shopping.
The other day I paid for pizza, and they didn’t have any ready. I had a 10 minute wait so I took my groceries to the car and then returned to pick up my pizza I’d already paid for. I was literally outside the store for 2-3 minutes. On my way back in, I ignored the receipt signers like I always have since I’m going to the food court and they literally shouted at me for walking past them because they forgot I’d just left the building. They made a big stink about me not showing my membership card when I exited the second time. I guess you can’t access the food court without a membership anymore?
because they forgot I’d just left the building.
Or because they see hundreds of people leaving and don’t bother trying to remember faces? Why on earth would you expect them to remember you haha
I hated that shit when I worked in food service
“What can I get you?”
“I’ll have my usual haha”
“… Idk what that is”
“What?! I’m here every week!”
As if I didn’t see a hundred people who were there every week lol
Whether or not they remembered me was irrelevant to the story frankly. In the 10-15 years I’ve been shopping at Costco, I’ve never once been hassled at any location ever for walking in the exit to go to the food court.
Well, at least until this incident happened a few weeks ago.
Hell I didn’t even have a membership for the first couple years. I just happened to work very close to a Costco, and I would sometimes go get a slice of pizza for lunch.
You were never supposed to be able to get to the food court without a membership. Some places care more about it than others but that’s the policy.
You entered the exit door to get in. You’re supposed to enter from the entrance door and then you can cross over to the food court from there. When you enter always go in through the entrance door that’s common sense.
The receipt checkers see literally thousands of people per day and they aren’t generally looking at faces they’re checking receipts and carts. Expecting them to recognize you out of the hundred people they’ve checked through in the last 10 minutes is insanity.
For as long as Costco has existed, a membership was not required at any location to buy from the food court.
I am confused, don’t they scan your card before you check out?
Yes, but you’re more likely to run into an irate person when you turn them away with a cart full of groceries then you are if you turn them away at the door. Plus it reduces the wasted time of employees who have to unload said cart.
Yep, I think this is part of the answer.
I’m guessing another is identifying which members are primarily using membership card and cash, membership attached to an alternative FOP from their in-house charge (Citi currently), and digital native customers who are all in on the ecosystem.
Those data points can be used in several manners as Costco can glean valuable marketing insights into their customer base, their shopping habits, and their frequency. More than likely it will be used in ongoing in-house charge provider negotiations to ensure favorable terms for offering their services exclusively.
Makes more profit to let them through than to refuse them at that point.
Also, let them through and they may get a membership for next time, refuse them and they are never coming back.
Apparently the issue is cheaters using the self-checkouts according to the employee I talked to.
So now we all have to jump through more hoops instead of having another cashier or two. Ironically, there were extra staff at the door enforcing the scanning.
The scanning is also supposed to bring up your picture for identification.
They don’t have a picture for me on file and gave me crap when I scanned. I just showed them my license and went on my way. I don’t need my face linked to my name all over the internet when they get hacked next year.
They don’t have a picture for me on file and gave me crap when I scanned. I just showed them my license and went on my way. I don’t my face linked to my name all over the internet when they get hacked next year.
I get that, but its a private club. If its part of their membership rules your choices are comply or not be in the private club.
Yep, totally get it. I’ll squeeze by as long as I can for the sake of privacy.
The article makes it sound like they are doing this to speed up check out, and also to stop people from abusing the cheap hot dogs.
The only other thing I can think of is the possibility that people are getting in with expired cards to bypass the single guest per member limit, and then pooling their purchases once they’re inside at the self checkout. Seems like a bit of a stretch, but it could happen.
But you do not need a membership card to access the food court, and in some states the food court is actually outside of the entrance. So I am going to have a little bit of doubt in the idea that this has anything to do with hotdog abuse. No offense intended!!
I just saw below it maybe varies from state to state on the food court - https://lemmy.world/comment/11638385
Hot dogs aren’t wrapped anymore and buns got smaller. Fuck the new guy.
still a really good deal imo. changing the price is absolutely off the table but it’s still a solid price for what you get given the current state of fast food prices.
It’s 1000% a bellwether of the general state of approaching enshitification at Costco. Light justify all you need, the hot dog and the rotisserie chicken are sacred idols in that space and frankly, maintaining the exact experience and price of those, COMPLETELY in tact, should be factored in indefinitely as the basic cost of doing business for Costco - they know that. There is no way they do this unless they have decided that they want to send a clear, “fuck you, we’re the new guys and we’ll do what we want to boil you fucking frogs in the pot!”
The scanners also spare Costco employees from having to ask shoppers for membership cards at registers and self-checkout, speeding up the process of entering and checking out, the Galanti told CNN.
Wait, one of the things is that Costco has is that it actually stores purchases on your account (this is especially useful for returns).
How do they connect purchase with your account?
Does this mean that they will use facial recognition? That’s not that cool…
You scan your card before you purchase any items, so that’s how that works. It’s not facial recognition.
But if you’re not scanning your card with the checkout, how do they know what you purchased? Scanning on entrance just confirms that you entered the store, while scanning with checkout was used to confirm what you purchased on that trip.
Unless you’re using a Costco-issued card at checkout, too, I would have same question. And if you are still scanning at checkout, then this isn’t the time-saver they’re purporting.
The only things you can get without a membership card are prescription medications and alcohol. Someone would have to approve the purchase in order for it to be made in the first place. You have to scan your card at checkout, otherwise.
It may not be a timesaver, but whenever I go to Costco I just keep the card in my pocket, outside of my wallet, anyway. Also they check your receipts and count your items before you leave.
I mean. Target already did/does facial recognition. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/shoppers-hit-target-with-privacy-suit-over-facial-recognition
Are they changing policy that the food court and pharmacy are accessible to everyone? That’s in my membership agreement.
Saddest day of my life not being able to get a hotdog without a card. Woman literally laughed in my face and said well if you’re too cheap… I wanted to go home and sic my wife on her. But I’m petty like that. A month a ago and I’m still so but hurt. Like why insult me and my finances?
That’s a shitty way to treat someone, sorry that happened to you.
If you have storage space though and look for good deals, ironically a Costco membership could help with your finances, and you could have cheap hotdogs again.
The trick to Costco is that, while everything they sell is normally of very good quality, only some of it is a good deal. I’ve yet to encounter particularly bad deals at Costco, something where I feel like I’ve been ripped off. That said, some things are a better bargain than others.
If you happen to have storage space, which isn’t the case for everyone, you might find that by purchasing some items in bulk and storing them that you end up saving more than the membership costs.
Some items that I find Costco normally has stable good pricing on that you can easily calculate out if it would make the membership worthwhile
- eggs
- milk
- toilet paper
- paper towels
- soda
- beer (depending on brand, there’s normally something that’s a good deal but it might change month to month)
- fruit
- meat (depending on cut, ground beef is normally a pretty good deal if you have freezer space for a few pounds)
Although if your bad experience with the food court person put you off that’s reasonable too. Anyways, just thought I’d share what I’ve found having a Costco membership for like a decade, I didn’t really want to pay upfront to go to a store but when I sat down and ran the numbers I came out ahead. But I have enough budget flexibility and storage space to make that viable and so I’m in a privileged position in that way so your mileage may vary.
Anyways still sucks that the person decided to belittle you, no one deserves to be treated like that. Hope your days ahead are filled with nicer people.
