Re: gift cards – I rarely ever use those. Wasn’t even aware it was a thing at Costco. I might check it out but we just buy locally for most things (except Costco and Trader Joe’s) so I’m not sure there would be anything I’d want.
They get local chains. Usually $100 for $80. Sometimes $75 or $70. Lots of national chains too.
I don’t shop at chains much outside of Costco and other grocery stores. Like I would not be interested in Domino’s or TurboTax (they screwed up out D22’s taxes and we now take hers to our accountant too).
ETA: I logged into my account and checked their online gift card offerings and saw zero that I would want. Nowhere I shop besides Costco. I mean I wouldn’t turn down a Krispy Kreme, but it’s probably been 3 or 4 years since I’ve been to an actual Krispy Kreme location. Next time I’m in our Costco I’ll see if they have anything local I’d want, but I doubt it.
My state (Maryland) has weird wine laws, and my Costco spend would likely be much higher if I could buy wine there.
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Costco hearing aid support has both positives and negatives. My initial post listed the positive aspects and positive end result, but skipped over the challenges I overcame along the way.
The full experience was when I my hearing aid failed, I called the nearest Costco Hearing Aid Center at which I purchased the hearing aids. I got an answering machine, like I do every time I call. They apparently are too busy to answer the phone. I expected that it would be a few days until I received a reply to my answering machine message, and I depend on the hearing aid to function, so I also called the 3rd nearest Costco, which has a far smaller and less busy Hearing Aid Center. The other Costco answered and setup the appointment to drop off my hearing aids for repair the next day.
After driving out of my way to the 3rd nearest Costco, the woman at the counter seemed quite friendly and helpful. She said they could do the repair for $53, which was outstanding. She also gave me a temp, but it was quite uncomfortable for reasons that were unclear to me at the time. Minutes before closing while at the dog park, the woman from Costco called me. She told me that she forgot to charge me $53, and I had to make a long drive back to the store. She said that it was impossible to charge my credit card over the phone, and I needed to instead make the long drive back to come in person. She also told me that I needed to make an appointment for them to charge my credit card, and she’d be out for a few days, so that appointment would need to be later in the week. They couldn’t ship the hearing aid for repair until this appointment to bring in my credit card.
When I arrived at the store, there was a different hearing aid employee. She successfully charged my card. Upon inspecting my temp hearing aid, she found the reason why it was so uncomfortable. The other Costco employee gave me a left ear cable, even though the hearing aid was on my right ear. This resulted in the cable pressing uncomfortably on the top of my ear.
I received the hearing aid back from repair a ~3? weeks later, and it was better performing than it had been for years. This time I had the first employee who put the wrong cable in. Again she was quite friendly and seemed to go out of her way to help, including giving me extra back up filters.
In summary… positives include low cost repairs, employees going out of their way to help, and successfully getting the job done. Negatives include being too busy to answer phone, being unable to do anything online including set appointments or charge credit cards, and having some less skilled employees who may mistake left ear cable with right ear cable.
Regarding paying for membership, when I purchased the hearing aid, my understanding was that I could get service on my purchased hearing aid regardless of whether I was an active member or not. I confirmed this before my purchase, and this was one of the reasons I chose to buy from Costco. I do not feel obligated to pay for a membership for this service that was part of the purchase agreement, but I am still grateful to receive it.
The Christmas before the pandemic shutdown, my FIL took us all on a Christmas cruise (22 of us!) He booked through Costco, which was the best group deal plus he got about $1k in Costco gift cards as a perk. It was a great deal for him. He loves Costco and goes several times a week. Also gets their gas.
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Slightly off topic…
My son related a question he once had during a consulting job interview. What are the benefits for a company selling discounted gift cards?
He named several:
Brand recognition
Immediate cash vs. future delivery (time value of money)
Broadens customer base
Some cards are lost/never used. Pure profit.
I’m probably forgetting a few others.
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I don’t get the dislike of “chains.” Two or more under the same ownership is a chain. Our costco sells gift cards to a local chain of restaurants. Chef owned “chain” that has a pub, a seafood restaurant, and a steakhouse. All three are completely different and awesome.
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Interesting about the milk. We buy a set of three half gallon milks they last for months - admittedly we keep them in an old dorm fridge in the basement. I’m okay with Costco vegetables, but the selection is bland and limited, though some things like avocados are a steal.
Interesting. Our Costco sells quite a variety of vegetables: bell peppers, avocados, cucumbers of 2 types, 2-3 types of mushrooms, corn, bok choi, cabbage, carrots, asparagus, squashes, eggplants, celery, several types of tomatoes, onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes.
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I’ve never a seen a standard milk with sell/use by date more than 3 weeks after time of my purchase. 2 weeks is more common. I can usually notice a change in taste before this date, with taste turning more sour. You could extend the sell/use by date, by freezing, but I wouldn’t expect it to last months in refrigerator temperatures.
This relates to why I purchase lactose free milk, in addition to standard milk, despite not being lactose intolerant. Lactose free milk is ultra-pasteurized at very high temperature, which dramatically increases both sell/use by date and time until milk goes sour. This also leads to a slightly different taste. I prefer the lactose free milk on most cereals with low/no sugar content, such that a slight sour aftertaste would be more noticeable. However, Costco doesn’t sell lactose free milk.
Ours does periodically.
Our Costco milk is ultra pasteurized. I’ve been drinking ultra pasteurized since living through Chernobyl in Germany.
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Interesting. My Costco appears to sell standard milk, including having standard sell/use by dates of ~2 weeks after time of purchase. The package says “pasteurized”, not “ultra-pasteurized”. Minimum purchase size is 2 gallons.
I wonder if that’s regional. I drink ultra pasteurized milk but I haven’t found it at costco
I see what you are saying - sort of a local or regional chain. I don’t know that our Costco sees any “local” gift cards.
When I think of chain I’m thinking Red Lobster, Panera, Starbucks…
Our Costco standard gallons of milk always have a longer dated shelf life than our other big box stores. At least 2 weeks. One gallon costs like $2.89.
Ours also has lactose free - those may be sold in 2 1/2 gallon packages? Not sure, I don’t buy it
I suspect you are buying this ultra-pasteurized “organic milk” product – Kirkland Signature Organic Whole Milk, Half Gallon, 3 ct | Costco, which is sold in 3 half-gallon containers, like your post mentions. I was talking about standard milk. The link lists a price of $9 per gallon for the organic milk – much higher price than ultra-pasteurized lactose free milk I buy at supermarkets.
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According to the link in my post above apparently my Costco Business Center also sells lactose free but only in 2%, which I don’t want; only in 1.5 gallon size, which is larger size than I want; and at a price of ~$9 per gallon, which is more expensive than what I pay at supermarkets.
Kroger sells an ultra pasteurized that has insanely long dates. Like months. But I don’t know if time is limited after you open it.