"Show me some ID," is a standard line in cop movies, but it doesn't seem to be going over very well at Costco (COST) -).
The warehouse club has been cracking down on people who have been trying to shop with other people's membership cards. Costco is increasing efforts to verify whether people are actually members before letting them check out.
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"We don’t feel it’s right that non-members receive the same benefits and pricing as our members," the company said in a statement last month. "Costco is able to keep our prices as low as possible because our membership fees help offset our operational expenses, making our membership fee and structure important to us."
Costco makes most of its profits from selling memberships, not from selling goods. So, if people are getting around the membership requirement, they hit the company directly in the bottom line.
Checking ID
The company charges $60 for annual memberships and $120 a year for its higher-tier plan, called Executive Membership, which comes with 2% cash back on most purchases up to $1,000.
Some Costco members have been complaining that staffers have been asking customers to show their membership cards at the big box retailer's self-checkout machines.
Costco resumed using the machines in 2019 at select store locations after eliminating them in 2013. The devices didn't get the warmest reception and some customers have gone online to share stories of rude staffers.
Asking people to show their membership cards doesn't seem to be helping matters any.
"costco checking membership pictures at checkout like ok mein führer," one person commented on Twitter.
"Costco now has a person checking your Costco membership against that 2 megapixel photo on the back of the card before entering the self checkout," another tweet read. "I pay money to shop at Costco, I didn’t want self checkouts, I am a customer not an employee."
"You have to scan your membership card before you even scan items in the self checkout so having a person check before you start just seems overkill," another person said.
"The workers at Costco checking your membership card and receipts gotta have the easiest jobs ever I stg," another person tweeted.
Dissatisfied Customer
Well, maybe not.
Aleisalavida, a self-described Costco employee, described an unpleasant encounter with a customer in a Reddit post when asking for ID.
“It usually goes very easily and people don’t really have problems with me checking their membership,” the post read. “But today I asked this woman and she starts yelling and making a scene about how it is an inconvenience, stating she isn’t going to renew next year because of this.”
“She then yells how it’s bullsh@t how her husband can’t come into the warehouse and use her membership card to make purchases on his own,” the post continued. “I’m like ‘ma’am, I literally am just asking to see the image on your card because my managers are telling us to do this."
"Btw all of this is LITERALLY what you sign up to do when you become a member at Costco."
One observer noted on Twitter that when Netflix (NFLX) -) cracked down on subscription sharing, "they started signing up 73,000 new subscribers PER DAY."
"Costco is following their lead by checking ids with membership cards." the tweet stated. "This is a major win for these corporations. Paying customers won't leave and free-loading customers will be forced into paying for a membership or stop using the service.
"Expect more subscription and membership-based companies to do something similar."
Costco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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