I was at one location with my mom who had sold out of the tickets. They gave me horrible directions to another Costco nearly 1/2 an hour away.

I wound up arriving at the other location only to be told I could not but the tickets because my name wasn’t on the costco card. What a f***ing waste of time and gas.

Not only were they not helpful but gave false information. I have told all of my friends this and none of them will be renewing their membership for the way I was treated, lied to, and had my time wasted.

In regards to Macs, they are superior to every other manufacturer’s computers, especially in longevity and reliability, as proven by many years of Consumer Reports studies. The OS is easier to use and less crash-prone – that’s just the icing on the cake. And they don’t charge you $50 to come into their store – you can actually go into any Apple Store and check your email or browse the web for free.

Although it may be all warm & fuzzy to believe that Costco is in business to stand up for the little guy… to protect us… but that is just foolish.

Costco is about ONE thing – money. And when I say money, I don’t mean small amounts. I mean LOTS of money. Tons of money. Truckloads of money. Like every business, Costco wants YOUR money and they want as much as possible. And, they sucker you into falling for their schemes and selling you this “illusion of savings” so, like a crack-addict, you just keep coming back for more. Oh, and throw in the emotional connection… you somehow think they’re sticking up for ‘you’… this gives you some “irrational loyalty” to go along with the perception of savings.

Meanwhile… all of this equals ONE thing for Costco: $$$$$$. That’s right. Your perception of savings and your emotional connection based on false understanding means money… your money… straight to Costco. They know. They play on it. They love it. And, they want you coming back time and time again.

Wal-Mart customers are like Microsoft computer users. We use our computer. We do what we need. We don’t make a big deal about it. Meaning, we go into Wal-Mart. Get what we want. Go home. Don’t need to fill this void of having to feel special.

Costco customers are like Apple users. These computer users have a quest to feel special, and for some strange reason, need to tell everyone they “own a Mac”. Speaking of, when a friend recently showed me his Mac, I simply asked, “So, what EXACTLY does that computer do differently than a Windows machine?” After stuttering for about 3 minutes because he had no viable answer, I let him off the hook and changed the subject.

The point is – Costco people want to feel like they’re part of some special, selective club. And they are. Just like Mac users. They both spend too much money for something they can get cheaper because they’re missing something in their personal life and they don’t feel special.

So Costco fans, Carolyn hit the nail on the head with this one. And, if you want to feel special, just remember – “You’re different. Just like everyone else.”

So stock up for a couple of months with one trip and save 5 smaller trips to your local grocery store. I don’t go for the big-ticket items like hockey tables.

TO STEVE: You can’t justify paying $50 to buy select few items at Costco, I am going to say this, get an executive membership. I get $500 every year. I saved soooo much money when I booked my vacation to St.Maarten last year, not a single travel agent was able to match the price even though they guaranteed me they WILL match ANYONE.

Also you claim you can get something cheaper at some stores even when its not on sale. First it could be that the company is doing a marketing promotion where certain items are just priced below the actual price. I had so many people make a claim that bowenty towels are cheaper at this store or that store, I made those people go there and buy it and bring it to me. When they came over to show me, we compared and learned that Costco towels were larger and if you calculate unit cost of material, Costco was cheaper. I am not going to argue with you, I am sure you can find few things that are cheaper in other stores but to me a lot of time saving is not worth driving to some store that’s out of my way to get this item for 30 cents cheaper.

I also got my Lexus through them, I have few colleagues that drive the same car as me but all of them paid more than I did and had to spend hours at dealerships to get their price, where I just filled out a form, applied for financing, came to dealership, talked my price a little more down and walked out.

I like to keep things simple,

The reason other places can sell stuff for cheaper is because they sell these items at a loss, taking a business class or 2 and perhaps you will understand what sale is.

The reason they have a “nazi” at the door is to MAKE sure you have membership. Think of it like this you at the register and you just took out everything out of your cart and cashier is asking you for a membership card and you realize that you don’t have it with you. You are going to have to put everything back into the cart, walk to membership and get a day pass. You are wasting cashiers time and most importantly time of other MEMBERS. Do you know how many times I got some idiots in front of me that sneak inside the store and tried to shop not understanding that they need membership first and NO customer behind can’t lend it to them. This is a done for your own well being just like seat belt law.

Your comment about air hockey table is funny. I drive a Lexus GS350, yes yes I know Toyota Camry is the same thing but “less-flashy” but I LIKE Lexus and not toyota.

I don’t buy everything at Costco. I sometimes want a cheap chair or a cheap sofa, I go somewhere else. Nevertheless I will say this with 100% certainty that everything they sell is very well priced.

One last thing, no one is forcing anyone to go to Costco and shop there, it is your own choice.

cjb comments–Perhaps more was read into the blog posting than was there. Obviously, I do not shop at Costco, and believe the people who think it saves them money are deluded. I do not teach at a public school nor do I send my children there any longer. I also added a link in the article to the urban dictionary definition for “door Nazi,” a term in common usage at least within my crowd in Silicon Valley. Beyond that, thanks for adding your opinion.