I go to Sam’s Club weekly and it makes no sense to me that I have to dig my card out and show proof of my membership when I walk through the door. Why? If I didn’t have a membership, I wouldn’t be able to purchase anything anyway. Why not let non-members in and let them look around. They would probably gain more members that way.
Just a small irritation in the grand scheme of things.
Probably so they don’t get people who don’t how it works (or forgot their card) get all the way to checkout and go “what do you mean I have to be a member??”
Although, are they actually stopping you? I almost never show my card when going to Sam’s Club. There’s the greeter there but he doesn’t ask to see it.
With Costco, I do have to typically flash something that looks like a card for the greeter to wave me by. And, at least here in Illinois (or perhaps it’s just Chicago), there are some things they are required to let you in for even in you are not a member: I believe alcohol sales and prescription drugs.
Yeah. As much fun as it is to dig my card out an extra time, I just tell the person I’m going to the pharmacy.
Yeah. People at the front door will be annoyed to be turned away, but people with a cart full of stuff are going to be far more disruptive at the cash register
When CostCo first opened near where I live, “Hey, I just want to look around and see what this place is like” was enough to get in the door. No reason to turn away a potential new customer, and if they see something they want right now, the booth to sign up is right there.
Yes, if I don’t have my card at the ready, they always ask me for it. But since my Sam’s card is a Mastercard, I don’t know how they would know if I flashed any MC at them. I think Sam’s also allows non-members to use the pharmacy.
The cash register flagged me for a expired card. I had to pay the renewal before it would let me proceed.
Yeah, I think as long as they know that you know you can buy anything until you become a member it’s not a massive deal. The issue would be, as folks have mentioned, if you have a cart full of food and then are told you can’t buy it unless you become a member - which at best lead to the person paying for a membership right there or at worst causing a scene and abandoning their cart, meaning folks have to wait longer on line and workers have to put all the stuff back.
I’m pretty sure that non-members can also purchase items at t he food court.
I once made that mistake at the Costco gas station. I just happened to be in the area and needed gas, so I got in line, pulled up to the pump when it was my turn, and was like “You mean I have to be a member to buy gas?” In my defense at a competing warehouse club (B.J.'s Wholesale Club) where my parents were members when I was in college, non-members could still buy gas, but members got a substantial discount. So I mistakenly assumed Costco worked the same way.
There was a Costco near where I worked years ago that never asked to see my card. Just went to a local one a year or so ago, and I was stopped immediately. Different neighborhood, so I don’t know if that was the reason.
In any case, I was picking up a prescription for my dog (needed a compounding pharmacy), so I got in anyway.
I imagine they don’t want people coming in just to snack on the samples, too.
Sam’s Club also used to have a rule where there was an hour of shopping just for business members in the morning. Maybe they still do, but I haven’t been a member for years ;-). One time I took my car in for an oil change (the garage opened earlier) and it was also early enough that the store had not opened for regular customers yet, but was for business ones. While I was waiting for my car, I realized that my membership was going to expire soon, so figuring I had time to spare, I walked down to the main customer entrance intending to visit the service desk and renew the membership. The door guard absolutely REFUSED to let me in no matter how clearly I tried to explain that I wasn’t going to shop and I just need to renew! I could see the service desk from the entrance and there were no business customers waiting to be helped. I eventually snapped my card in half in front of him and made it clear that his stupidity just cost them a customer.
My Sams Club is inconsistent on whether they want to see a card. They used to want it all the time but I would generally just dig in my wallet and flash the card as I kept walking, they couldn’t possibly the expiration date and probably couldn’t even compare my face to the photo in that brief second. If you act like you know what you’re doing they just want to see something. Then for a long time they didn’t have anyone at the door and didn’t need to see the card. Now it’s back to usually wanting to see a quick flash of a card.
I have memberships to both, and I never flash my card when entering, and have never been stopped by the person manning the door.
It seems to me that you can buy from Costco without a card by paying a 5% premium. And, as stated you can go to the pharmacy. In any case, they never look to see if it is current.