# Why must you be so controlling, Costco? (Lame) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 22, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289 "2010-03-22T00:17:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/41 "2010-04-06T22:08:00Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Netbook. That sounds about right šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/42 "2010-04-06T22:48:49Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > No, no way. They wouldnā€™t let us beyond the door unless one of us signed up for a full membership. I asked why I would buy a membership to something I canā€™t even look at first (the whole store) and they said thatā€™s just how it works. They said they MIGHT be able to get a manager to escort us, but weā€™d need to sit down and wait outside (in the cold wind and rain) until they were available. I asked why and they said loss prevention. I got a membership with my girlfriend once. We browsed around and discovered that based on what weā€™d be buying, things werenā€™t really cheaper at all than they were at Wal-Mart. They happily refunded us our money. Iā€™m pretty sure they would have let us look around, too. I think the people at your store are just assholes. > [@](#): > > Oddly, Samā€™s Club was more than happy to let us look around- sans manager-, thus they got our business for both memberships and both products. I was always under the impression that Samā€™s Club was just a subsidiary of Wal-Mart and that things werenā€™t any cheaper there than at their parent store. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/43 "2010-04-06T23:07:27Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I was always under the impression that Samā€™s Club was just a subsidiary of Wal-Mart and that things werenā€™t any cheaper there than at their parent store. I got a super kick ass deal on a TV that I couldnā€™t even come close to matching at any other store, so it was worth the $40 or whatever it was for me. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/44 "2010-04-07T00:11:35Z")
Huh, Costco was more than happy to let me look before getting a membership, but I had to buy a card before purchasing. I could, however, get poutine and a smokie without a membership šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/45 "2010-04-07T00:27:50Z")
AIUI, Costco will give you a day pass if you ask. Might be based on store, though. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/46 "2010-04-07T01:10:26Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > The clerk probably DID know whether or not that size was in stock, because sheā€™d already helped half a dozen people look for it. Today. And she knows that they didnā€™t get a new shipment in with that size in stock, because she processed the shipment and put the new stock out. Today. > > And if ONE MORE PERSON goes through every single stack, and dumps the clothes on the floor, sheā€™s gonna go ballistic. Seriously. If the OP had told her what he was looking for in the first place, she could have told him that that size is out of stock, and itā€™s been out of stock since \, and sheā€™s waiting for the next shipment to come in. Instead, he has to root around in every stack and mess up the whole jeans section. Probably the OP wasnā€™t as rude as to dump the jeans on the floor, but folding up clothes and putting them in orderly stacks gets very tiresome. The job probably isnā€™t hellish so much as it is extremely boring and repetitive. > > As for those who say that folding up clothes is what the clerk is there for, actually, no, itā€™s not. That clerk is there mainly to prevent shoplifting. Yes, sheā€™s expected to keep the section tidy, too, but loss prevention is her main concern. Itā€™s still part of her job description, or she wouldnā€™t be doing it. And the fact that she was about to blow is her own problem. If she needs anger management classes, so be it. Also, it still kills me that people donā€™t communicate what they want, and then get mad when people donā€™t understand. If she acted like a human being and told me that she was upset, and couldnā€™t take having to clean things up again, I know I would have been much nicer to her. But by acting like the automaton who can only ask one question, she gets treated like said automaton. The other thing that bugs me is that stores that have things out expect you to ask for help. Itā€™s a self serve store, so Iā€™m going to try and service myself. Iā€™m not going to ask for help until Iā€™m sure I canā€™t do it on my own, or maybe when Iā€™m in a big hurry. The people working there have no right to get mad at me for using the store as it is intended to be used. If they want you to use the help, then they again need to communicate this. But I suspect the whole thing was a lady who is too OCD to handle working at a place where things will not stay perfectly arranged all day. Or her boss is. Either way, they get no sympathy from me. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/47 "2010-04-07T02:15:43Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > But I suspect the whole thing was a lady who is too OCD to handle working at a place where things will not stay perfectly arranged all day. Or her boss is. Either way, they get no sympathy from me. Youā€™ve never had to work in a shit, menial job because you literally had a choice between said shit job or starving, have you? ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/48 "2010-04-07T10:13:06Z")
I was hoping this was a rant on their ineffectual security at the door, where they read my 4ā€™ long receipt to see if I have a contraband 12 pack of watermelons hidden in the cart somewhere. Then draw a smiley face on it! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/49 "2010-04-07T13:25:00Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > AIUI, Costco will give you a day pass if you ask. Thatā€™s a relief. I can only stay caged up there for so longā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/50 "2010-04-07T13:57:28Z")
If you had a retail job, **BigT** , you might find out exactly why she was angry. Not that she should be taking it out directly on customers, but I more than understand how she felt. Perhaps if the general public and their employers treated retail workers better, she would never have been in such a mood. Yeah, I wish. And Iā€™ve heard that Costco is pretty good to their people, considering. But Iā€™ve also been in charge of straightening the clothing tables, among othe tasks, at Wally World. _shudder_ One woman came along right behind me one day and started yanking the shirts she had _watched me fold_ off the table, looking at them, and flinging them back down. And I couldnā€™t even ask her to stop or Iā€™d have been the one in trouble. Rude bitch. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/51 "2010-04-07T14:56:12Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > If you had a retail job, **BigT** , you might find out exactly why she was angry. Not that she should be taking it out directly on customers, but I more than understand how she felt. Perhaps if the general public and their employers treated retail workers better, she would never have been in such a mood. > > Yeah, I wish. And Iā€™ve heard that Costco is pretty good to their people, considering. But Iā€™ve also been in charge of straightening the clothing tables, among othe tasks, at Wally World. _shudder_ One woman came along right behind me one day and started yanking the shirts she had _watched me fold_ off the table, looking at them, and flinging them back down. And I couldnā€™t even ask her to stop or Iā€™d have been the one in trouble. Rude bitch. God yes. I was filled with rage after this woman came to the shirt table I had just spent over an hour stacking with nicely freshly folded shirts.. and she unfolded _every single one in her size_, even in the same color! Iā€™m not cut out for retail (so thank god Iā€™m not in it anymore), but you donā€™t always have a choice when you canā€™t find another job. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/52 "2010-04-07T16:51:01Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Youā€™ve never had to work in a shit, menial job because you literally had a choice between said shit job or starving, have you? If it was really between working there and starving, youā€™d think she would be grateful enough for the job to do the bare minimum required of the job (and yes, I have been in that position - retail is annoying, but you know what is expected of you). ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/53 "2010-04-07T18:35:27Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Also, it still kills me that people donā€™t communicate what they want, and then get mad when people donā€™t understand. If she acted like a human being and told me that she was upset, and couldnā€™t take having to clean things up again, I know I would have been much nicer to her. But by acting like the automaton who can only ask one question, she gets treated like said automaton. Yeah, because if she made that comment to a customer, they totally couldnā€™t get her in trouble with her manager, probably written up, and possibly fired. Seriously? You fucking expect someone to be \*honest \*with a customer about the fact that the customer is annoying them? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/54 "2010-04-08T02:49:53Z")
> [@Meyer6](#): > > If it was really between working there and starving, youā€™d think she would be grateful enough for the job to do the bare minimum required of the job (and yes, I have been in that position - retail is annoying, but you know what is expected of you). See **whiterabbit** ā€™s excellent post on why, after hours of folding clothes or setting up a display, only to have customers come along and tear it apart and leave stuff all over the shop, it becomes increasingly difficult to put on that Happy Smiley Face. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/55 "2010-04-08T05:27:04Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > See **whiterabbit** ā€™s excellent post on why, after hours of folding clothes or setting up a display, only to have customers come along and tear it apart and leave stuff all over the shop, it becomes increasingly difficult to put on that Happy Smiley Face. Like **whiterabbit** , I have also worked in the salt mines that make up the Walmart empire. Believe me, I know exactly where she is coming from, I donā€™t need the annoyances of retail explained to me. I worked retail because I needed the job and I needed the money. Even on the worst day I knew that continuing the recieve that money was contingent on continuing to be at least passingly pleasant to customers, even if that meant faking it. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/56 "2010-04-08T06:02:15Z")
> [@Meyer6](#): > > Like **whiterabbit** , I have also worked in the salt mines that make up the Walmart empire. Believe me, I know exactly where she is coming from, I donā€™t need the annoyances of retail explained to me. > > I worked retail because I needed the job and I needed the money. Even on the worst day I knew that continuing the recieve that money was contingent on continuing to be at least passingly pleasant to customers, even if that meant faking it. Iā€™ve been in Retail Management and there is, IMHO, a point at which even the most reasonable and well-adjusted person simply cannot ā€œfake itā€ any more, because theyā€™ve already gone well pas the ā€œfaking itā€ threshold some time earlier. You, personally, might be able to do that for an indefinite period of time. Most people, IME, canā€™t. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/57 "2010-04-08T12:18:43Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > The real problem here is the scarcity of 32x34 pants. > Tall, skinny people actually exist, Costco! Hello. How _you_ doing?\* Seriously though, I once worked in a large retail store and loved itā€¦ in November and December. Once Christmas was over I was told never mind customer service, shut up and clean, stack and organize. I quit in February. First last and only time I ever worked for a big box retailer. \*Juliefoolie who likes tall lanky guysā€¦and judging from her sonā€™s proportions will be the mother of a tall lanky guyā€¦ but is currently attatched to a tall meatier guy. Donā€™t mind looking thoughā€¦ _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/58 "2010-04-08T16:54:11Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > God yes. I was filled with rage after this woman came to the shirt table I had just spent over an hour stacking with nicely freshly folded shirts.. and she unfolded _every single one in her size_, even in the same color! > > Iā€™m not cut out for retail (so thank god Iā€™m not in it anymore), but you donā€™t always have a choice when you canā€™t find another job. I worked at local department during the holidays but didnā€™t last long. I was in the housewares department where sometimes the toaster overs, food processors were kept way up high for some reason. One woman decided she wanted one (some heavy thing or other) but needed to see it and opened the box I handed down to her (which, technically wasnā€™t allowed). After doing that, she asked for another one that wasnā€™t opened, 'cause she didnā€™t want her gift to be open already. I hand down another one, which had been re-taped and closed. She complained that she didnā€™t want one that had been opened and asked that I find one for her. ā€œNo, theyā€™re all like that.ā€ Wonder why. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/59 "2010-04-08T21:49:37Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Iā€™ve been in Retail Management and there is, IMHO, a point at which even the most reasonable and well-adjusted person simply cannot ā€œfake itā€ any more, because theyā€™ve already gone well pas the ā€œfaking itā€ threshold some time earlier. > > You, personally, might be able to do that for an indefinite period of time. Most people, IME, canā€™t. Sure, everyone has a limit, and anyone can reach a point at which they freak out and are rude towards customers. But, IMHO, that point should be ā€˜customer wonā€™t stop yelling at meā€™ or ā€˜people are demanding that I do something impossible for themā€™, not ā€˜customer is looking at the merchandise and _not putting it back correctly_!ā€™ ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289/60 "2010-04-09T06:54:29Z")
> [@Meyer6](#): > > Sure, everyone has a limit, and anyone can reach a point at which they freak out and are rude towards customers. But, IMHO, that point should be ā€˜customer wonā€™t stop yelling at meā€™ or ā€˜people are demanding that I do something impossible for themā€™, not ā€˜customer is looking at the merchandise and _not putting it back correctly_!ā€™ All I can say is that while something like that _seems_ minor at first glanceā€¦ well, Mr. Straw, Iā€™d like to introduce you to Mr. Camelsback. šŸ˜‰ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-you-be-so-controlling-costco-lame/533289.md?page=4)