Yesterday we went to Costco for the first time. I didn't know what to expect but I'd been looking around for two floor rugs and they had what I wanted for the best price. So in we went at opening time and it looked like people were there to do grocery shopping. I thought it was like a department store warehouse but it's got a bit of everything, including fish, meat, groceries, giant baked goods, electronics, clothes and shoes.
After finding the rugs, we couldn't see the pattern I saw on the website so we went to get an assistant. She was useless and told me I couldn't have seen the rugs online because they don't have a website. Well, I did see them online and I asked if she could help us get to the rugs at the back. "They're all the same," she said, reminded me they had no website, and left. So Hanno and I kept looking and found the pattern we wanted but it wasn't the right size. We talked about it for a while, then decided to buy two that we managed to find in the disorganised heap.
Here is a bucket of "multi purpose" cake mix. LOL
We wandered around for a while looking at what else they had. I saw massive apple pies, huge muffins, giant packets of chips and chocolates. It was like being in a kid's fantasy. We bought some fresh snapper, smoked salmon, a big box of Quaker oats, a tray of croissants, six cans of Edgell corn and some spices. We'd been walking around for nearly two hours so on the way out we bought some morning tea. I asked for an iced coffee but Hanno came back with two hot dogs! I never eat hot dogs. :- \ When I asked what had happened, he said he asked for ice coffee and they gave him hot dogs. He went back to get two coffees and came back with one, although he said he asked for two. LOL The four people sitting next to us at the snack stand - people about our age, were all holding a quarter of a large pizza in one hand and an ice cream in the other. It was such an odd place! I'm still not sure what happened in there. I like the rugs though.
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And here they are. One for the lounge room and one for my work room. I'll show you photos of my new work room new week. It's taking me a long time to get it ready, there are too many other things to do.
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Hi Rhonda
ReplyDeleteit sounds like you and Hanno were fish out of water!!
I thought of you here:
A few days ago I had to do the dreaded food shop and as I was walking around there was a couple with a baby in a buggy. The man turns to the woman and says " Who's cooking the roast dinner on Sunday" to which the woman replies "Someone in a pub" - how sad is that!!! The couple were probably in their early 20's. They have obviously not found your blog and the joys of home cooking and the pleasures of fluffing their nest!!
So glad that you eventually found those lovely rugs with no help from the staff - why are people so unhelpful and rude??!!
Take care Rhonda
xx
I think you deserve a medal for braving a Costco. I know we have them here in the UK but have never been to one, even large supermarkets leave me feeling in need of the fainting couch!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rhonda, a good early morning chuckle at your bewildering, surreal and eventually successful experience. Both rugs are nice. :)
ReplyDeleteThe rugs are lovely, Rhonda.
ReplyDeleteCostco is quite the place; I wouldn't know how to describe it to someone who has never been there.
Of course Costco has a website. How else would you have seen the rugs? But it may be that some online items aren't available in their stores. I would complain to management or corporate about this rude, condescending, and obviously clueless salesperson.
ReplyDeleteSo, now you have experienced Costco. Is this new to Australia? I live very near the flagship store (Kirkland, WA), and they are getting like Starbucks, popping up in every city. Well, not quite as bad as Starbucks, as there are probably 20 of those in every town!! That, too, got it's start here in Seattle. Costco isn't always the best deal and it manages to bring out the worst in me. They recently published an article in our paper about 'cart rage' taking place in Costco -- just not worth the headaches it brings. I go only a couple times a year. I'd rather not have 10 times more than I need of everything anyway. I suppose when I was raising 4 kids it would have paid.
ReplyDeleteTrust America to come up with this. We seem to fob off a lot of junk to the world.
DeleteI like the rugs too. Good choice
ReplyDeleteI love COSTCO but sadly the closest one we have is 1200 miles away so we rarely get there anymore. They have the best prices for bulk purchasing that I have found so far. They are basically a warehouse and their only concern it keeping the shelves stocked to if you are wanting help it is not easy to find. But I have always found the staff very polite and helpful. I trained staff for retail stores for years and all I can say is the girl who contradicted you about the web site would have gotten a puppy smack from me. How rude - and uninformed.
ReplyDeleteThey are very savvy merchandisers and cater to peoples appetites and greed. Biggest muffins I have ever seen in my life and when we first bought a package I wondered why we bought soooooo many. They were delicious and we simply cut each one into quarters and froze a whole bunch of them. I always found the dairy, frozen products, fruit, veg and meat sections to be exceptional and have excellent prices. And if you need to stock up because you are not close to stores then their super size
items are great. I use a lot of baking soda for my cleaning products and I remember buying a container that was so big that it gave me the giggles.
Hot dogs vendors at COSTCO are kind of a trademark. I have never been to one without a hot dog stand or cart. In Canada they are mostly run by service organizations like the Kinsmen, Humane Society, Boy Scouts or Red Cross. And they make a fortune for their projects.
I've never been to Costco, but I've certainly been to our local Sam's Club. Big stores like that can be overwhelming. fortunately I haven't run into anyone at my store like you did. But if you got suitable rugs at a price you like then it was worth it.
ReplyDeleteWow, Costco sounds like Ikea but with groceries! (Though in fairness to Ikea their staff have always been helpful to me!) Sounds like they were lucky to get your money!! There are two Costcos that I know of in Melbourne, they never seem worth the trip to me!!
ReplyDeleteA staff at ikea suggested that I carry a single mattress off the shelf and to the register while I was 6 months pregnant and pushing my 2 year old in a pram, despite me telling them that I was willing to pay for it to be picked and delivered.
DeleteSorry not suggested... INSISTED!!!
DeleteYou are a braver woman than me!! I shudder at the thought of Costo....multi purpose cake mix gave me a chuckle...Out of curiosity I had to double check they had a website - of course they do!!! I never doubted you Rhonda, but a staff member sprouting they didn't have one?? I especially love the rug in your lounge room.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Jan
I think you are very brave going to Costo......Woolies is about my limit and then I am glad to get out of there. Love your choice of rugs, one to each purpose. Looking forward to seeing your new work room. Have a top day Ronda, what ever you are doing.
ReplyDeleteI don't suppose you'll be going back there anytime soon. How Bizarre!
ReplyDeleteI remember our first major shopping trip to Kaufland, here in Bulgaria, whereby the checkout woman was astonishingly rude. I waited until she had rung up 2 trollies worth of goods and just walked off. I've never been back.
Nice rugs though!
I will have to remember this one. Ha!
DeleteThat sounds like very poor service to me, and worthy of a letter to management.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember where I saw/read an article about Costco, but it was all about being very careful to be sure you really are saving money. The unit price i.e. price per 100g frequently is no better than what you can get in other supermarkets particularly when they are on sale at other supermarkets. Then you have to consider storage for such enormous packages of food, waste issues, and waist line issues!
I for one am not a fan of this type of consumerism.
Agreed!
DeleteDitto. I have never been to a Costco store and have no interest in going to one. Even less interested after reading Rhonda and Hanno's experience!
DeleteYes. I do not like Costco, either. And it seems that people nowadays just don't care about being of service to anyone, let alone polite.
ReplyDeletethanks for the giggle to start the day Rhonda.
ReplyDeleteYou are not paying for service at Costo. They really don't pretend to provide service. You go there because you want cheap, bulk and there really isn't another reason (given the membership fee, it's the only way to 'get your money's worth'). They make their money because so many people buy far more than they need because of the 'deals' so it's about as contrary to the DTE ethos as it gets because it makes profit out of overspending and waste. I have about a dozen friends who are members and they all end up eating too much to finish big packs or end up pitching out stuff that's past it's 'use by' date.
ReplyDeleteRhonda do you have to be a member to shop there? They are just up the highway from me and I've often wondered if you can just pop in for a look.
ReplyDeleteLovely rugs by the way.
Lisa, you have to be a member. We paid $60 membership for a year, yesterday. We had to show our card on the way on and it had both our photos on it.
DeleteThanks for that, looks like I'll have to convince my friend to show me around one day.
DeleteLisa, at least at the one here (I'm in FL, USA) you can go in for a look if you check in with the customer service desk first and let them give you their sales spiel and a brochure on memberships. You can also shop with a friend if you know someone who has a membership, but if you want to buy anything the friend will need to make the purchase and then you can reimburse them--non-members aren't supposed to purchase on a member's card, even if paying in cash.
DeleteHopefully you just caught a misinformed person on a bad day. I've popped in to get a few things and show my best friend around, and we had more than one team member ask if they can get us a trolley or help us out. I must admit to being a fan because buying things in bulk makes my life easier, especially since I have a large pantry and an extra freezer. Less shopping, more time for fun things.
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda, I just thought to mention to you that Costco Australia doesn't have a website that you can look through for items - it is very basic. A quick google reveals that perhaps you were at the Costco.com site (which is the American one) so might be the cause of the misunderstanding.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, it is nice that you found some rugs that you liked.
I really don't like to go to Costco much, but I did get a membership which cost me $60 for the year but saved me hundreds in new tyres.
Funny, I do like their hotdogs though. The pizza slices are massive :/
The thing is Jay, that when you google "costco au" it takes you to the Australian website but if you search for items, you automatically go to the US website but they don't tell you that. I didn't notice the price of the tyres but the petrol price was the same as we could buy it locally and so was a lot of the meat and veg. I think their real value is that the competition helps reduce the prices in other supermarkets.
DeleteI have been to Costco, in Sydney, once. It was hugely busy and the staff had no chance as they were outnumbered. We could barely move. Like you I was astounded at the size of the baked goods. Having said that I had to buy a new suitcase to come home! I liked some of the things I found. I haven't been to the North Lakes store as it is so far from home.
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda, I really enjoy Cosco! My husband and I will meet out there for “date night” to shop our list and eat hot dogs, ( cheap dinner and we like hot dogs). The staff at our Cosco has always been fantastic ( Why I go back and do not use SAMS Club). I’m sorry you had a bad, bizarre experience at your Cosco. One reason I like Cosco, here in the US they pay a fair working wage with benifits and the company is rated well by their employees.!
ReplyDeleteSomething SAMS Club cannot boast about. Oh and their petri is the best price in our town…..I’m a Cosco fan, run away from Sams, Target, Walmart. After Cosco I support local small markets!
Dear Rhonda. How bizarre, sorry I laughed at your expense!
ReplyDeleteAre you and Hanno members of Costco? I have a membership with my daughter. I go in to buy dog food, because they have the best price for the brand we buy. I do get canned goods that I use a lot of by the case and I buy my bagged tea there only when I go for the dog food. Other than that all that bulk stuff seems a waste. There are only two of us here!
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda. I've been to Costco in LA , Hawaii and the New Taylor's Lake store ! They are all set out the same and I've always come home with bargains in my suitcase ! I'm sorry to hear about your experience with the staff member though ! My daughter actually works at THE store and I WILL be passing this information on to her to follow up with management as I feel they should be informed of both the staff member issue and the food court bad experience so they can address the issues !! The rugs look great by the way ! I brought a small non slip one for my kitchen from there in March when I visited my daughter !
ReplyDeleteToo bad your first experience of Costco was not as good as it could have been. I go to Costco every so often to stock up, and when I have a large group of people to dinner, etc.
ReplyDeleteOh Rhonda - you poor love, what an experience. I have never been to Costco and now I'm not sure that I want to....LOL....what a bizarre place. Love your rugs though.
ReplyDeleteGood heavens, it sounds like "Rhonda and Hanno in Wonderlandland"! I've never been there and, after this, I don't think I'll bother. I'm glad you got your rugs though.
ReplyDeleteWe are members of Costco here in Cheshire, UK and shop there often.
ReplyDeleteThings shown on our website are only available to order on line, there's no guarantee that they'll be available in the warehouses.
We're sensible when we use Costco, splitting purchases with our son and daughter in law, thereby saving all of us cash!
The staff at our local Costco are lovely, although they're also very busy, perhaps you were just unlucky to get an ignorant slip of a girl!
We bought our TV at Costco, which saved us almost £1000-00, so that particular purchase was most definitely worth the annual membership fee!
Heck Rhonda - it is not like you to take rude service without anything to say (or maybe you did!). Luckily the nearest costco is too far away from us to make it worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for making me laugh at your Costco adventure. Here in the states I shop at SAMs club and certainly have similar experiences...there are certain things I purchase over and over and I try my best to get out of there without the large packages of items I don't need. Customer service is non existent. The thing that causes me a chuckle every time I go is the sign on the ladies room saying what pride they take in its cleanliness and I truly believe the tiles / sink have never ever been wiped Down since the store opened probably 18 years ago!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry your first experience with Costco was so bad. I live in TX and our Costco is not like that. IF the person who treated you like that with the rugs would have done that here I am sure they would not be working there long. If a sales associate can not find what the customer wants in a Costco here they go up the chain of command right there in the store to see if the item is in another store etc. Then they will get it for you and call when it is in to be picked up. (or even delivered, my sister got 2 big pieces of furniture delivered)
ReplyDeleteWE no longer have a Costco near us. We have a Sam's club. I would like a Costco better. More items in a Costco that I use. As a small business owner some things I buy in bulk. Costco has better house brand items (at least to me) and for a better price than Sam's Club.
Your rugs are very pretty.
In the US, Costco competes with Sam's Club, which is part of the WalMart empire. I despise WalMart with all the stuff arranged in the middle of the aisles to grab your attention, their labor practices, and the whole atmosphere is chaotic. In that range I much prefer Target. Also, Costco is well known for treating it's employees as valued people, rather than the serfs that WalMart/Sam's believes it employs.
ReplyDeleteCostco here has the best trained, most helpful staff. I hope the one you encountered was truly an aberration. Costco bills itself as "wholesale" and is thus somewhat directed at business owners. The large sizes can be an attraction that some cannot resist, but if you keep your head, or arrange to split with someone, it can be a great deal. For some items, they even provide instructions as to how to manage it so you can use the entire amount and not waste it - as they do for avocados, for example.
On Saturday morning, they've got a ton of staff at kiosks with samples of food products. The joke then is that you can go and graze lunch while you shop. Also here in the US, the lunch counter is very well run, and offers salads, pizza, yogurt with fruit, and a few other items, as well as a large hot dog or sausage with a large drink with refill for $1.50. You absolutely cannot beat that price. The other night on our way to a baseball game with friends, we joked we should stop there to eat, because you can't even get a hot dog for that price at the stadium.
I like your choice of rugs!
Many years ago I worked at a Walmart. It was in Nov. of 1982 in Round Rock TX. I actually got to meet and talk with Mr. Sam Walton too. He was a very nice gentleman. He was proud of Walmart. When I met him he was sick, you did not need to be a doctor to see that, but he still took the time to go to every grand opening of a new store. I admit I was impressed by HIM.
DeleteI lasted 9 months with the company. The business practices were just awful. Some of the things we were asked to do turned my stomach and being in the meetings where they actually made fun of other area Mom and Pop businesses and talked opening about putting them out of business made me mad.
Also, they lied to me. Before I took the job I asked if it was going to be a 24 hour a day business or a close at 9:00PM business, If they were going to be closed on Sunday. Some things like FAMILY time was important to me. I also was a "manager" of 3 departments. Everytime someone in one of my departments called in sick, got caught stealing (there were cameras everywhere and some people were just dumb) I got the call to come in and finish the shift or fill in. Nothing else mattered. Then when the 40 hours were worked we were fussed at and called on the carpet for 'over time' because we were working "too" many hours. I was just going nuts. If my family wanted to see me they came to Walmart to visit me and we had dinner together in the Walmart snack area. My husband was not happy, but we had a lot of bills back then.....I finally could not take it any more when I was yelled at for asking a customer to take her child to the ladies room to change a dirty diaper. The woman was actually changing a dirty diaper on a table top in the snack area of the store. Customers all over and she thought nothing of putting a baby on a table top in front of other customers to change the diaper.
My areas were the snack bar area, the smoking area (at the time Walmart sold cigs, cigars, and tobacco products in a separate area) and I had the snack item part of the store. (our store was not a super store at the time and we had no groceries, just snack items, soda, chips, cookies,) WE also had cash registers in the snack bar and the Tobacco area. That is where the cameras are and people were on film stealing and getting fired all the time. What a nightmare job it was.
I too do not like Walmart. The only thing we really buy there is gasoline. I do shop at Sam's club for a few business supplies because I have such a small business I have to watch every penny.
Funny view of Costco!!! We love Costco; just for the experience of free samples, huge supplies of whatever, people watching, and we love the pizza and hotdog deals! lol We usually start by eating our 'lunch' there (pizza or hot dog) and then leisurely walk around the store. Our sales associates have always been very helpful. Costco has been named as one of the best companies to work for in the US.
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda if I knew you were going I would have come and helped you. I go about once a month (sometimes more frequent). I love it but that's just me :-) MrsDean x
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda, I live in the US and I go to Costco about once a month. I love shopping here, and I have to think it's because I know what I'm there for and when they get new things it's just a nice surprise. Over the years they have been getting more and more of what I want, like healthy oils and grains, sausages, household items, and Kerrygold butter. I have to admit that I've never asked anyone for help here or eaten any of the ready made food.
ReplyDelete