Comments on: A Look At Costco, Sam’s Club and Other Wholesale Shopping Clubs

By: SamBenzi

SamBenzi — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 06:25:30 +0000

I have had the worst experience at Costco Bellingham. The employees at the return desk were very arrogant and loud in front of other members. I had the original receipt of an item which I had purchased a few months back and wanted to return it. They kept telling me that the computer showed I had already returned it, (which is not true at all) I tried to explain to them that there must be a glitch in the system or someone accidentally punched the wrong key but he kept putting me down in front of other customers. I will be putting in a complaint.

By: Carl

Carl — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:45:37 +0000

The issue with payments being applied to the promotional balance is fairly common. It’s not just Sam’s Club. Home Depot, Sears, Best Buy, etc. all do that with their credit cards. Essentially, payments are applied to the oldest purchase and since most people first sign up for the card to get the promotion, that’s the oldest purchase. You need to call and have the payment applied to newer purchases.

By: Faye McClung

Faye McClung — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:01:09 +0000

Sam's Club 6 months, no interest, no payments sounds good, but the reality is not so good. It will probably work ok if you don't make any other purchases on your account. Is that what they want? We use a credit card for normal purchases to earn cash back (Discover) and pay the balance in full each month so that we don't incur finance charges. When I make payments, they apply it to the promotional balance, not my regular charges. How does that make sense when they guarantee you the promotional balance with NO payments. When I send e-mail from the website, I get very quick responses, but sometimes they do not seem to be related to most of my e-mail, rather a cut and paste response. I have been told a # of times that they apply payments to the lowest interest rate, so they apply to my promotional account, which has no INTEREST rate if paid off within 6 months. Explain that, Sams Club. Sometime I get someone who actually reads my e-mail and does what I ask, but most of the time, I get pre-fabricated answers. What good is an e-mail inquiry system that does that?

By: Sharon Girard

Sharon Girard — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:40:34 +0000

Thank you everyone for your comments. I was considering a membership but after reading about these complaints, especially the one about renewing late, I have decided against doing so. Hassles are not worth any savings and I have been doing pretty well with shopping bargains locally.

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:44:44 +0000

Beware Sam’s Club 6 month no payments deal. We have recently used the 6 month no pay on three separate occasions. The Sam’s Club clerk did exactly what they were supposed to do to key the coupon into the register. Our cash register receipts reflects the coupon. However, in all three cases, when the bill came, it was not set up and we had to call to get it fixed. I am not sure who is running this scam Sam’s Club or GE (credit card company), but check your bill before they charge you outrageous finance charges.

By: SVB

SVB — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:48:54 +0000

To be fair, I use Costco and I have been happy with their services and products. All companies have their share of complaints from disgruntled customers. So take all that you read in stride. And some, even with a grain of salt.

These companies wouldn’t be so highly praised or successful if they weren’t doing something right.

By: joe

joe — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:40:50 +0000

Costco does not have the common courtesy to include a return shipping label with merchandise ordered from their website. A shipping label can only be generated by printer using a download link from costco sent by email. This is not fair to the minority of people who do not have printers. No mention is made of this by costco prior to ordering. If you cannot return the merchandise to a warehouse you are stuck with it. I believe this is an evasion tactic by costco to avoid accepting returns from people without printers.

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