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jimmydoreisalefty ,
@jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world avatar

I visited a local Costco and they have started scanning memeberships, I forgot what the person told me but I think they have been doing it for a couple of weeks, not sure though.

I wonder how they will get around the alcohol only non-members.

While this legal side-step is great news for state residents hoping to save money on alcohol, it’s not as simple as merely walking into the store and heading to the liquor section. Since greeters often check for membership cards at the door, someone hoping to take advantage of this loophole will likely need to tell the greeter they are there to purchase alcohol. Once inside, they will typically be given a temporary number by the membership desk, but will not be allowed to grab extra grocery items or hit the food court for a snack during their shopping spree; aside from the pharmacy and liquor, everything else at Costco is out of bounds.

In states where this alcohol loophole exists, additional limitations may apply. According to My Bartender, Costco stores in Delaware, Indiana, Texas, and New York are only allowed to sell wine and beer; other states permit the sale of hard liquor, while the state of Vermont insists that club stores sell their spirits to members only. Consumer Reports notes that these same policies apply to other club stores including BJ’s Wholesale Club — but not to Sam’s Club stores, which already have a nationwide policy of allowing non-members to purchase alcohol.^[[1] tastingtable.com/…/non-members-buy-liquor-costco-…]

Costco Wholesale is installing membership scanners at the entrances of all of its locations to discourage non-members from shopping at the stores.

Guests must also be accompanied by a valid member in order to enter a store, Costco added.

The discount retailer began testing the technology earlier this year, with Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti relaying that more people had been sharing memberships since the pandemic in 2020.

Costco earlier in the year cracked down on who uses its food court to ensure that only members can capitalize on its famous $1.50 wiener-and-soda deal.

Costco said last month it was hiking its basic membership fee for the first time since 2017, increasing the annual charge to $65 from $60. The roughly 8% cost increase takes effect on September 1, the warehouse club announced. The cost of a premium membership is rising to $130 from $120. Costco also said the maximum annual 2% reward for its executive membership will rise to $1,250 from $1,000.

hddsx ,

Did they change the rules? I thought there were two things you could access without membership:

-Food court -Alcohol

mrbean343 ,

Food court rules have depended on the location for years now. Where I live the rule is typically, if the food court is outside you’re good, but if it’s inside you need a membership. Never knew about the booze rules.

littletoolshed ,

Oh that makes another comment I made sound ill informed 😅All of the states I have shopped at Costco have allowed non members to access food courts no matter where they were located, inside or out.

mp3 ,
@mp3@lemmy.ca avatar

-Pharmacy too

QuarterSwede ,
@QuarterSwede@lemmy.world avatar

Pharmacy is accessible to public in some states as well.

dariusj18 ,

I am confused, don’t they scan your card before you check out?

CatsGoMOW ,

It’s just a person standing there glancing at your card as you enter.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

They do at the register, yes

Botzo , (edited )

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.

partial_accumen ,

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.

Botzo ,

Yep, totally get it. I’ll squeeze by as long as I can for the sake of privacy.

protist , (edited )

To be frank, it’s foolish to think your face isn’t already attached to your name in innumerable databases, public and private. Costco even has cameras looking at you throughout the store and at the registers. You are not anonymous

Botzo ,

Oh I have no preconceptions about anonymity here, I just don’t want yet another hackable database with my PII that I don’t need to give up. It’s more of an op sec kind of issue (I say as a former cyber security dev).

Fewer is better!

Makeitstop ,

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.

littletoolshed ,

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!!

littletoolshed ,

I just saw below it maybe varies from state to state on the food court - lemmy.world/comment/11638385

Zikeji ,
@Zikeji@programming.dev avatar

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.

SchmidtGenetics ,

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.

cynthorpe ,

They don’t need their business, and no one at Costco wants them in the store.

BakedCatboy ,

Then what stops anyone from just never getting a membership?

SchmidtGenetics ,

I’m talking specifically about the self checkout loophole that only came when they made self checkouts….?

Was that not obvious from responding to someone taking about that same thing?

BakedCatboy ,

The person you responded to does not mention self checkouts fyi

ShepherdPie ,

Everybody knows you need a membership to shop there so why would these people (or anyone else for that matter) buy one if you let them shop and make purchases without it?

LordKitsuna ,

It’s literally not more profit for them, especially depending on what the person is buying. Costco is able to offer lower prices than a lot of other places specifically because the memberships help make up for what would otherwise be losses on margins

AFKBRBChocolate ,

They’re are two stores close to me, and I’ve been to both of them this week. One of them had the scanner, the other didn’t. I’m not really sure how it helps them, but it didn’t hold me up any either.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Velcome to Costco. Your papers, please.

motor_spirit ,

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/9365b2b9-d934-4f44-8e9d-ebfa1eee6940.gif

hddsx ,

It’s a paid membership system. What makes you think you have the right to go in without a membership?

Do you bust into private gyms and demand to work out without paying?

Get outta here

FlyingSquid , (edited )
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Because browsing isn’t buying. You absolutely can go into a gym and check it out without a membership.

Edit: Expecting me to buy a Costco membership before I can see things like whether or not they’re keeping the place clean and their produce fresh is unreasonable in my opinion,

hddsx ,

You can go as a guest with someone who has a membership. As far as I know, if someone gives you a Costco gift card you can go in without a membership. If you tell them you are there to consider a membership, they at least used to let you in. But you can’t buy anything without signing up.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

If I don’t know anyone with a membership, I can’t do that. But maybe they’ll agree if I say I’m considering. It doesn’t sound like it.

hddsx ,

They certainly did before. Maybe that policy is changing

cdf12345 ,

You cannot have alcohol or pharmacy locked behind memberships. So they have to let you in.

Lemming6969 ,

They cannot enforce this unless they remove the pharmacy. Just refuse and walk in.

OsaErisXero ,

This is dependent on local law. For ours, only the food court and customer service are accessible without a card, and you use a different entrance for it.

Lemming6969 ,

Their website states

You don’t need to be a Costco member to purchase Costco Pharmacy prescriptions online or at our warehouses. Our Pharmacy counter will accept several different forms of payment, including cash, debit/ATM cards, Costco Shop Cards, and Visa®.

You can just go in, everywhere.

Also you can get a gift card of any value and keep it forever to get in.

hydrashok ,

Or don’t be an ass to the person just trying to do their job and tell them you’re there for a prescription.

EmpathicVagrant ,

Are they changing policy that the food court and pharmacy are accessible to everyone? That’s in my membership agreement.

itsgroundhogdayagain ,

Anyone can go in to buy liquor too, if your Costco sells it.

afox ,

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?

cynthorpe ,

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.

ShepherdPie ,

Agreed. The only change is a machine scanning your card rather than a pair of eyeballs.

sirspate ,

They’ve already been doing it for a month up here in Ottawa, Canada

sunzu ,

Serious Costco vibe in these comments

Transporter_Room_3 ,
@Transporter_Room_3@startrek.website avatar

Yeah usually it’s very anti-corpo here, this thread is making me feel gross.

scottywh ,

People are rabid fans of Costco and will rush to defend any little criticism of it but I can’t stand the place personally and never could.

hesusingthespiritbomb ,

I wonder if this is a way to get rid of the two greeters at the door.

criticon ,

How will it work in Michigan where you can get alcohol without a membership?

When they ask for my membership at the entrance I tell them that I’m just buying alcohol

this_1_is_mine ,

Don’t they scan the card at the register?

criticon ,

If you are only getting alcohol they can scan something else, and I think it’s the same for medicines

I do have a membership, but I hate having to maneuver the cart and pulling out my wallet and look for my membership card at the entrance. It’s one of the small inconveniences in life that I can’t stand

AlDente ,

The same as other states where you can buy alcohol without a membership, like Kentucky. They have you wait while a supervisor comes over to override the membership scan.

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