In these times of high inflation and a difficult economy, people are looking for ways to make their money work. Some are resorting to using Costco memberships that aren’t theirs to get better prices, but the store has already noticed the increase in that practice and is taking steps to prevent it.
The Dallas Morning News reported that Costco is cracking down on increased “sharing” of the membership card with insiders, as it has noticed violators in its self-checkout lines, particularly.
Costco recently confirmed that its membership policy hasn’t changed, meaning shoppers need an active membership of their own to shop and that membership isn’t transferable.
And just like the streaming platform, Netflix, now Costco will be more aware that membership is not shared because it considers that it is being abused.
People who use this practice have been warned, and if they regularly take the Costco membership card from a relative or acquaintance, the next time they shop with it they could be stopped at the checkout.
Costco notes that as it has installed more self-checkout lanes, it has noticed that non-member shoppers have been using membership cards that do not belong to them.
Given this fact, the retailer will apply a more aggressive control posture.
“We do not believe it is right for non-members to receive the same benefits and prices as our members,” the retailer said in an email. “Since we already requested the membership card at checkout, we are now requesting to see your membership card with your photo in our self-service checkout records.”
And to make sure each shopper complies with the policy, employees will ask shoppers for their photo IDs and driver’s licenses, just like they do at random checks at Costco clubs in Rockwall and Dallas.
“Costco is able to keep our prices as low as possible because our membership fees help offset our operating expenses, which makes our membership structure and fee important to us,” the company said.
Costco has about 124.7 million cardholders from 69.1 million households, according to company information.
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