So I went to COSTCO yesterday... (Austin: for sale, real estate, apartment complex)

[xsloane]

This is my first experience in Costco here in Austin (recently moved from Seattle).

1) My girls were sampling some soymilk and one of them spilled some on herself, so I went to ask for a napkin. I didn't see any on top of the sampling counter, but saw that its drawer was full of them, so I asked the demonstrator "May I have a napkin?" She looked at me and said "I don't have any" So I pointed at the ones in the drawer and she says "Those are only for emergencies" (!!!) I explained that my daughter spilled some milk on herself and she says "oh! then let me see if I find something..." and started rummaging in her things - not the drawer!!... I could not believe it! I turned around and walked away.

2) They have this new organic coffee for sale there, and they were giving samples of it. I went and looked at the bag to find out where the beans were from, but the info was not on the label. So I went to the demonstrator and asked "Do you know where the beans come from?" She looked at me as if I had asked the stupidest question ever. She says, "I don't know, the bag doesn't say so" I said "I thought you might know" She responded "no, I don't, but I guess from somewhere in the MIDDLE EAST because it says here -arabica-"

[jhwest]

The people who give out samples are not Costco employees. They are usually employed by a company that specializes in that sort of thing and they work at all sorts of grocery stores. So if you want to complain, find out what company the "sample ladies" work for.

[TheHarvester]

Welcome to Austin, xsloane from Seattle.

I've lived here for 17 years and just joined Costco about 5 days ago. My location was on South Mopac. Where's yours?

So anyway, my upstairs neighbor (in a tiny apartment complex) is a Costco employee and he's been telling me to join for months now. He's smart. I had no experiences such as yours at the store, but what's funny to me about your post is that you would expect college grads to be on staff at the lowest levels of the food chain in a cost-cutting mega-store. How do you think they got their prices so low, by hiring PhD's as sales clerks? Their PhD's are all working in the marketing, accounting, outsourcing and purchasing departments. Nothing comes without a price. The price we pay for low prices is very high, and it is constantly biting us in the rear. Ouch!

p.s. --- jhwest is correct. Many of the people you see working the floor are not Costco employees. They're indentured servants. And you thought this was the 21st century? LOL...

[Phisch]

Nah. It's illegal child labor, but they work them so hard you can't really tell their average age is 15.

Seriously, who hires them? Is it the company of the products they're selling, or Costco?

[TheHarvester]

Phisch -- agreement, but we can't bash Costco without bashing nearly every retailer in the USA. Our entire economy seems to be based on cheap labor in developing nations. That's why we have terrible low-paying jobs but tons of cheap stuff to buy with our low wages here in the United States of Accumulation.

Children's birthday parties are really depressing in recent years... Best not to buy them a gift, just spend 5 minutes actually listening to them and playing with them. That's the one gift they don't seem to receive, but it's the most precious of all.

Am I still on topic? Can you hear me now? Cost-On: Apply directly to the Costco... I like that store. It's better than Sam's, that's my basis of comparison.

[mimimomx3]

This is my first experience in Costco here in Austin (recently moved from Seattle).

So, are you saying the demonstraters from Seattle are better

[swaushorn]

Originally Posted by TheHarvester

Phisch -- agreement, but we can't bash Costco without bashing nearly every retailer in the USA. Our entire economy seems to be based on cheap labor in developing nations. That's why we have terrible low-paying jobs but tons of cheap stuff to buy with our low wages here in the United States of Accumulation.

Am I still on topic? Can you hear me now? Cost-On: Apply directly to the Costco... I like that store. It's better than Sam's, that's my basis of comparison.

In fact it is FAR better than Sams. On average they pay their employees about 1.5 times what Sams pays and have a great benefit package (as I understand it), which is why they have less turnover. I also find their products to be a bit better than Sams (of which I don't have a membership anymore).

One of the BEST REASONS to celebrate Costco here in SW Austin was their ability to negotiate a tract of land which was destined to be developed much denser with more bigger boxes and offer up (with the developer) the design that is there today (less dense development and a better product line). It was a far cry from the supercenter those idiots at Walmart and Endeavour Real Estate proposed for Slaughter and MoPac (for all you newcomers - they backed out of that one - thus the expansion of Walmart at MoPac/290). For that Costco is to applauded and we should all be patronizing the store (and no I'm not an employee - just a fan)!

[love roses]

We love Costco too, and haven't had any bad experiences. (Note)They have napkin holders in the refrigerated food section on the walls at the ends of the aisles...Just in case that happens again. The only thing we didn't like about it is that it is just a tad bit too far for us, so we had to switch to sams because it's closer. It does have better quality than sams.

[jwb123]

Costco is opening, closer to us *somewhere* this year. Credible info from a Costco mgr!

[newrrmom]

"rumor" is it is going to be on 1431?