I am confused, don’t they scan your card before you check out?
Apparently the issue is cheaters using the self-checkouts according to the employee I talked to.
So now we all have to jump through more hoops instead of having another cashier or two. Ironically, there were extra staff at the door enforcing the scanning.
The scanning is also supposed to bring up your picture for identification.
They don’t have a picture for me on file and gave me crap when I scanned. I just showed them my license and went on my way. I don’t need my face linked to my name all over the internet when they get hacked next year.
They don’t have a picture for me on file and gave me crap when I scanned. I just showed them my license and went on my way. I don’t my face linked to my name all over the internet when they get hacked next year.
I get that, but its a private club. If its part of their membership rules your choices are comply or not be in the private club.
Yep, totally get it. I’ll squeeze by as long as I can for the sake of privacy.
To be frank, it’s foolish to think your face isn’t already attached to your name in innumerable databases, public and private. Costco even has cameras looking at you throughout the store and at the registers. You are not anonymous
Oh I have no preconceptions about anonymity here, I just don’t want yet another hackable database with my PII that I don’t need to give up. It’s more of an op sec kind of issue (I say as a former cyber security dev).
Fewer is better!
Does your state sell driver’s license data and picture to private companies like mine does?
The article makes it sound like they are doing this to speed up check out, and also to stop people from abusing the cheap hot dogs.
The only other thing I can think of is the possibility that people are getting in with expired cards to bypass the single guest per member limit, and then pooling their purchases once they’re inside at the self checkout. Seems like a bit of a stretch, but it could happen.
But you do not need a membership card to access the food court, and in some states the food court is actually outside of the entrance. So I am going to have a little bit of doubt in the idea that this has anything to do with hotdog abuse. No offense intended!!
I just saw below it maybe varies from state to state on the food court - https://lemmy.world/comment/11638385
It’s just a person standing there glancing at your card as you enter.
They do at the register, yes
Hot dogs aren’t wrapped anymore and buns got smaller. Fuck the new guy.
still a really good deal imo. changing the price is absolutely off the table but it’s still a solid price for what you get given the current state of fast food prices.
It’s 1000% a bellwether of the general state of approaching enshitification at Costco. Light justify all you need, the hot dog and the rotisserie chicken are sacred idols in that space and frankly, maintaining the exact experience and price of those, COMPLETELY in tact, should be factored in indefinitely as the basic cost of doing business for Costco - they know that. There is no way they do this unless they have decided that they want to send a clear, “fuck you, we’re the new guys and we’ll do what we want to boil you fucking frogs in the pot!”
Are they changing policy that the food court and pharmacy are accessible to everyone? That’s in my membership agreement.
Anyone can go in to buy liquor too, if your Costco sells it.
I don’t think they are allowed to change the policy in the pharmacy. Pretty sure it’s a legal thing, you can’t charge a membership fee to access one kinda thing.
Food court is up to them though.
Saddest day of my life not being able to get a hotdog without a card. Woman literally laughed in my face and said well if you’re too cheap… I wanted to go home and sic my wife on her. But I’m petty like that. A month a ago and I’m still so but hurt. Like why insult me and my finances?
Actually saying “you’re too cheap” to your face is incredibly unprofessional and insulting. I would have immediately told them to get their manager over to talk to them.
That’s a shitty way to treat someone, sorry that happened to you.
If you have storage space though and look for good deals, ironically a Costco membership could help with your finances, and you could have cheap hotdogs again.
The trick to Costco is that, while everything they sell is normally of very good quality, only some of it is a good deal. I’ve yet to encounter particularly bad deals at Costco, something where I feel like I’ve been ripped off. That said, some things are a better bargain than others.
If you happen to have storage space, which isn’t the case for everyone, you might find that by purchasing some items in bulk and storing them that you end up saving more than the membership costs.
Some items that I find Costco normally has stable good pricing on that you can easily calculate out if it would make the membership worthwhile
- eggs
- milk
- toilet paper
- paper towels
- soda
- beer (depending on brand, there’s normally something that’s a good deal but it might change month to month)
- fruit
- meat (depending on cut, ground beef is normally a pretty good deal if you have freezer space for a few pounds)
Although if your bad experience with the food court person put you off that’s reasonable too. Anyways, just thought I’d share what I’ve found having a Costco membership for like a decade, I didn’t really want to pay upfront to go to a store but when I sat down and ran the numbers I came out ahead. But I have enough budget flexibility and storage space to make that viable and so I’m in a privileged position in that way so your mileage may vary.
Anyways still sucks that the person decided to belittle you, no one deserves to be treated like that. Hope your days ahead are filled with nicer people.
The scanners also spare Costco employees from having to ask shoppers for membership cards at registers and self-checkout, speeding up the process of entering and checking out, the Galanti told CNN.
Wait, one of the things is that Costco has is that it actually stores purchases on your account (this is especially useful for returns).
How do they connect purchase with your account?
Does this mean that they will use facial recognition? That’s not that cool…
You scan your card before you purchase any items, so that’s how that works. It’s not facial recognition.
Did you read the quoted text that provides context that makes your response not helpful?
But if you’re not scanning your card with the checkout, how do they know what you purchased? Scanning on entrance just confirms that you entered the store, while scanning with checkout was used to confirm what you purchased on that trip.
Unless you’re using a Costco-issued card at checkout, too, I would have same question. And if you are still scanning at checkout, then this isn’t the time-saver they’re purporting.
Yeah this is interesting. I might ask a manager about this on my next trip.
The only things you can get without a membership card are prescription medications and alcohol. Someone would have to approve the purchase in order for it to be made in the first place. You have to scan your card at checkout, otherwise.
It may not be a timesaver, but whenever I go to Costco I just keep the card in my pocket, outside of my wallet, anyway. Also they check your receipts and count your items before you leave.
Same way all the other stores do? With your card number
I mean. Target already did/does facial recognition. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/shoppers-hit-target-with-privacy-suit-over-facial-recognition
Boo. I’d been using an expired card to get in to buy pizza.
They’re are two stores close to me, and I’ve been to both of them this week. One of them had the scanner, the other didn’t. I’m not really sure how it helps them, but it didn’t hold me up any either.
what… they have been doing this for quite a while already
Probably depends on the store. The one near me scans them some days but not others. I’ve never understood what the policy is.
I wonder if this is a way to get rid of the two greeters at the door.
Costco in the UK have been scanning cards since covid. It started as a way to limit numbers in store then someone probably went and looked at the data.
I visited a local Costco and they have started scanning memeberships, I forgot what the person told me but I think they have been doing it for a couple of weeks, not sure though.
I wonder how they will get around the alcohol only non-members.
While this legal side-step is great news for state residents hoping to save money on alcohol, it’s not as simple as merely walking into the store and heading to the liquor section. Since greeters often check for membership cards at the door, someone hoping to take advantage of this loophole will likely need to tell the greeter they are there to purchase alcohol. Once inside, they will typically be given a temporary number by the membership desk, but will not be allowed to grab extra grocery items or hit the food court for a snack during their shopping spree; aside from the pharmacy and liquor, everything else at Costco is out of bounds.
In states where this alcohol loophole exists, additional limitations may apply. According to My Bartender, Costco stores in Delaware, Indiana, Texas, and New York are only allowed to sell wine and beer; other states permit the sale of hard liquor, while the state of Vermont insists that club stores sell their spirits to members only. Consumer Reports notes that these same policies apply to other club stores including BJ’s Wholesale Club — but not to Sam’s Club stores, which already have a nationwide policy of allowing non-members to purchase alcohol.[1]
Costco Wholesale is installing membership scanners at the entrances of all of its locations to discourage non-members from shopping at the stores.
Guests must also be accompanied by a valid member in order to enter a store, Costco added.
The discount retailer began testing the technology earlier this year, with Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti relaying that more people had been sharing memberships since the pandemic in 2020.
Costco earlier in the year cracked down on who uses its food court to ensure that only members can capitalize on its famous $1.50 wiener-and-soda deal.
Costco said last month it was hiking its basic membership fee for the first time since 2017, increasing the annual charge to $65 from $60. The roughly 8% cost increase takes effect on September 1, the warehouse club announced. The cost of a premium membership is rising to $130 from $120. Costco also said the maximum annual 2% reward for its executive membership will rise to $1,250 from $1,000.
They cannot enforce this unless they remove the pharmacy. Just refuse and walk in.
Or don’t be an ass to the person just trying to do their job and tell them you’re there for a prescription.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/costco-membership-cards-warehouse-club-scanner/
Wait you guys got conned into paying to go shopping?!?
All those leaded petrol fumes really did a number didn’t they lol
I guess you don’t know how wholesale club stores work, eh?
I guess you don’t realise when someone’s profiting off you left, right and centre lol
Think about it; what does the membership fee actually cover?
Employee benefits and wages, mostly. The membership fees are the primary profit of Costco. Without that wages would go down, and prices would rise. You do know that businesses need to turn a profit to stay in business, right?
The fee might be an upfront cost, and if you don’t buy enough goods during the year it may not be worth it, but I can tell you from my experience of just my wife and I being empty nesters, we have an “Executive” membership which costs even more than a regular membership (gasp!)with the added benefit of getting a small percentage of our annual spending coming back to us as essentially a gift certificate. That gift certificate pays for our membership, so, yeah, it’s worth it.
Dear god.
So you think that your paying the employee benefits and wages should be in advance, regardless of whether you shop there?!? They actually convinced you of that?
They blackmailed you into thinking that prices would rise and wages would go down… Yes, by approximately the fees you pay for membership, whether you shop there or not
Then you actually, genuinely think that you’re getting a “gift certificate” without any idea that you already paid for it
Holy shit 😂
It’s honestly scary how gullible the average consumer is
They didn’t “convince” me of that. I’ve looked at their earnings report and could see that their profits are roughly the same as their membership revenue. They convinced me to buy a membership by having lower prices than other retailers so I buy most of my dry goods, electronics, and other sundry goods from them
My wife and I saw how much we were spending there annually and realized that an executive membership would pay for our annual fees in the rebate we’d get each year, so it made the membership essentially free. I’m not a sucker who got tricked into some “scheme”. I’m maximizing my purchase power, you dolt.
☝️The capitalist’s wet dream 😂
The normal supermarkets gouge you for every penny, so you now believe that you’re being gouged less by paying an annual fee
Fuckin hell mate 😅
Ah. I see now. You’re a tankie. Well that explains why you’re an obtuse moron. Blocking you now
Wait you got conned into enabling the exploitation of your grocery store’s employees for the profits of a corporation?!?
Velcome to Costco. Your papers, please.
