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I stopped paying the $50.00 membership fee. I do not buy bulk nor do I impulse buy. I found I was buying too much stuff that I did not need when I went to Costco.
I stopped paying the $50.00 membership fee. I do not buy bulk nor do I impulse buy. I found I was buying too much stuff that I did not need when I went to Costco.
We have the Executive Membership ($100.00) and the cash back we get MORE than pays for the membership fees. We buy our Gas at Costco (cheapest in town), meats, fruits and Veggies and other items.
Location: In an alternate universe according to some
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greatday
We have the Executive Membership ($100.00) and the cash back we get MORE than pays for the membership fees. We buy our Gas at Costco (cheapest in town), meats, fruits and Veggies and other items.
We have it as well and have paid on average $15-$20 for it after rebates. Costco can save decent $$$ if you shop right. Take just one item that we've bought lately, shorts and pants. The cost of jeans at many/most stores is usually well north of $20 but not at Costco. Same with shorts and most times socks.
I guess they must be doing something right considering their high customer satisfaction ratings.
Where is the Costcos some of you shop at, in the hood? I have never shopped at one that wasn't clean, pleasant, and enjoyable just to walk up and down the aisles looking at all the different things. But I have usually lived in nice and newer parts of towns.
Being single, I probably don't buy enough now to know for sure that I save the $50 membership fee. But enjoy going there and eating one of the hot dogs or pizza slices enough to make it worthwhile. I have bought enough big ticket items like TVs and computers over the years to pay for the yearly membership costs on the years I don't buy much, I suppose.
You get an extra year of warranty on electronics charged on the Costco AMEX. That's good. The employees there work hard and are paid very well. I like that most of all.
Costco charges $99.00 for the same hand truck that cost me $54.97 at Home Depot yesterday. That being said, I like Costco and have reactivated my membership for a year since I now live close to one. I got some great towels there today, very plush, large and a great price: $7.99.
I stopped paying the $50.00 membership fee. I do not buy bulk nor do I impulse buy. I found I was buying too much stuff that I did not need when I went to Costco.
Hmmm...sounds like that is exactly what you do and why you decided not to have a membership to COSTCO.
I would consider Ultimate if I were purchasing something that needs to be installed, but I take care of my own computers, so that's not necessary in my case. Also, while the Ultimate in my city was able to match my Costco price, they did not have the on-going tech support or warranty upgrades that sold me on what I bought.
I also would like to say something about sales people who work on commission. I did it myself at a furniture store for two years, so I've been on both sides of that equation. I was totally honest with my customers, never promising anything I didn't believe would be upheld and it cost me in take-home pay. Some of the people I worked with would make outlandish promises to customers to get them to buy on the spot. With my own ears I heard them tell customers something would be delivered on Monday when we didn't even deliver on Monday. And, believe me, it works, especially with customers who are very eager to brag that they got a deal. I did not do that and I had fewer sales. So what does that tell you about the customers?
The store had no intention, or even ability in some cases, to support what these sales people would tell their buyer. If the buyer didn't pay for Scotchgard, the furniture didn't get Scotchgarded, no matter what the salesman told them they were getting free from him, nudge, nudge. But it doesn't matter to the sales person, since s/he isn't working in the customer service department that later has to deal with outraged people.
I know that every commissioned sales worker is not like this -- as I said, I was not. Not everyone is trying to rip you off, so don't be rude to people who are trying to help you make a wise choice. Once when I was trying to explain to a customer how an expensive down comforter differed from a cheap one, she said to me, "What do you know? You work in a department store."
Sales people do sometimes know more about the product than you do. But others are offering you things that will not be delivered, and buyers should take what is said to them by any sales person with some of skepticism.
Always remember, if a deal sounds too good to be true, it is. And nothing is free. Even "free delivery" is built into the base price of what you pay. Sometimes managers are willing to shave off their profit to move merchandise, but only under particular circumstances and they're making the decision, not the sales associate.
(1) Ultimate BEAT Costco. And when they beat them, it was by $100 at the very least per television and that includes sales prices. I bought an LED 46 inch at Ultimate. I saw the same brand 55 inch television selling at Costco Home for $500 less than the Ultimate price because the store was closing and had great prices. Utlimate not only took back the 46 inch television, they gave us the 55 inch LED and beat the same price that Costco home was offering. They came to our house, delivered and installed the 55 inch television and took back the 46 inch.
(2) The more you buy at Ultimate, the more you save. I bought a Blue Ray player too which was $50 less than the same one at Costco in addition to my television
(3) "on-going tech support"....why do you need on-going tech support for televisions, DVD players and appliances? They are pretty self-explanatory. I could understand that if I'm buying a computer but Ultimate Electronics does not sell computers. They sell big boxed electronics and appliances.
(4) Ultimate offers a 60 day full money back guarantee which is separate from the manufacturer's warranty. They offer protection plans which is the same as the "warranty upgrades" you are referring to.
(5) They never lied about delivery dates. They showed us the schedule and were upfront about everything.
(6) I get everything in writing so it doesn't matter to me what someone verbally promises. They aren't going to put it in writing if they can't honor it.
(7) Repeat business means everything. Companies are willing to cut deals if you buy in bulk or know you are a potential client who will buy again from them. Costco doesn't have this personal relationship because their salesman don't work on commission and thus the same salesman is unlikely to be there. I've bought multiple electronics from Ultimate from the same salesman for the last 3 years. If I'm a salesman working on commission and a guy just bought 3 televisions from me, I'm going to give him a deal knowing he will come back and buy from me again or refer his friends. This is why you should find someone who works on commission and stick with that person.
(8) They deliver their equipment themselves. They don't outsource their delivery to some third party company. When I had my televisions installed, the tech brought the televisions and installed them. He showed us how to use everything, cleaned up and brought the boxes back with him. That is service! Sorry but Costco and Sams don't offer that. At the most, they will outsource some third party to deliver them but not install them. We also had a Sony Playstation and a Wii and the tech set up the entire system, hid the wires and took care of the entire process. Again, this is service.
Last edited by azriverfan.; 09-29-2010 at 01:20 AM..
Hmmm, I wonder who has a stake in people shopping at Ultimate..
I've been to Ultimate and was not impressed. Yes they work on commission and that's the problem as it therefore it behooves them to sell you the most expensive thing instead of what you really need or want.
Secondly, warranty and returns. Free at Costco, non existant (unless you buy it) at Ultimate as far as I could tell. Thirdly, the last Ultimate I went to was staffed by people who had no better product knowledge than I.
I'm a physician so how would I have a stake in people shopping at Ultimate? Also, I didn't list a specific location so your theory makes even less sense than before.
They are salesman, how much more commission do you think they will make selling you something more expensive? If they make 10% commission, that's a $100 difference between a $1,000 television and a $2,000 television. And if you are shopping for a $1,000 tv, it's pretty unlikely they will try to sell you something that's a $1000 more. They are concerned with making a sale period. In my experience, they have recommended cheaper televisions. For example, I bought a new Samsung LED. They have a more expensive one that has the built in apps. The salesman explained that if I have a Blue Ray player that offers those apps then it's not worthy paying the extra $500 for the version with the apps.
Regarding product knowledge, do you not do your own research? How hard is it to look up something on the internet? I could care less if the salesman knows as much as me. I can research it's features on the internet and then decide if I want to buy something. Do you think the salesman at Costco knows more than you especially if he was just working in the frozen section the previous week. At least at Ultimate, the salesmen have some clue about their equipment whereas at Costco the salesmen wouldn't even know the year of the item or if it was discontinued or if there was upgraded model available. Unless you have an IQ less than a 100, you should figure out that you can take a photo of the model you are interested in at Costco and say "Beat this or I'm buying it at Costco". If they don't beat it, then leave and buy it at Costco. It's not difficult concept to grasp
Regarding warranty and returns, again to say that it's non-existant at Ultimate simply means you are not informed about Ultimate's policies. Also, I don't buy something with the intent of returning it. If that's your intention then perhaps you shouldn't be buying it in the first place. If your goal is to buy a $2000 television so that you can return it in a year then you shouldn't be buying a television.
Last edited by azriverfan.; 09-29-2010 at 01:57 AM..
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