Costco shoppers' 'membership card' habit called 'annoying' by employees despite some stores training them to do it

SHOPPERS at Costco have been called out by some employees over their membership card habit, but others say it's approved.

The controversy began after a customer took to Reddit to explain that when they check out, they'll often place their membership card on the divider between groceries for a cashier's ease of access.

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"Anyone else put their membership card in the divider? Do cashiers prefer it or hate it?" they asked others in the thread.

In the Redditor's post was an image of the card resting on the divider, splitting their merchandise from the person behind them.

The question posed by the shopper received a multitude of responses, with no definitive answer as to whether it was a preferred move by Costco employees or not.

A staff member responded and claimed they were "trained" at their former store to scan Costco membership cards and put them in the divider, although when they moved to a different location, it was the opposite.

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"I got trained at one store to put the credit card in the divider," they argued.

"I moved 200 miles away, and the Costco in my new area doesn’t seem to find it helpful."

"In fact, the cashiers get a little annoyed," they continued.

Others also said that the membership card placed in the divider was not a preferred method at their Costco stores.

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"Might be a store preference, but in the bay area, they want you to hold the card and they scan it," someone else replied.

"Yup - I wave the card in their general direction, they wave the scanner in my general direction, it works every time," a Costco member added.

Another employee chimed in that, with the membership card placed on the divider, it could fall off and even get stuck under the grocery conveyor belt.

"I don't necessarily like it because if it falls and slips under the belt (yes it can) it can be a pain to get it or if it falls somewhere now we both have to go find it and if we cant then... whelp," they noted.

A few other shoppers said they always had the membership card habit before the height of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, but afterward, everything changed.

Employees supposedly opted for the hold-and-scan to avoid physical touch and slow the spread of the virus.

"Pre pandemic, yes, for years. Now, no," a Redditor wrote.

"Used to pre pandemic then they just wanted me to hold it while they scanned it. Don’t know if they’re still afraid to touch it after I did," another said.

"I forgot about that, it was the standard pre-pandemic. Nobody does that now at my Costco," a third said.

MEMBERSHIP CRACKDOWN

As The U.S. Sun previously reported, membership cards at Costco may not be the most vital card for shoppers to ensure they have with them anymore when entering the store.

With anti-theft measures ramped up at Costco and other major retailers around the country, store locations have been requiring ID checks at self-checkout kiosks to verify membership consistently.

With required receipt checks as well, some customers have complained on social media that lines are getting far too long.

"Check your card on [the] way in, check your card and ID at checkout, check your receipt after checkout check your receipt at the door!" a Costco member fumed on X, formerly Twitter.

"Wtf, I think we are done with Costco.”

The ID checks began in June 2023 after CEO Richard Galanti said the company would be cracking down on the verification of memberships.

Galanti stressed the measure was necessary to assist Costco in the long run.

"When you're dealing with millions of transactions, even a very small percentage is something you would want to correct,” he told The Wall Street Journal.

Still, many said they feel uncomfortable about the additional security requirements aside from checking their membership card.

"Why is it new that Costco is starting to ask for your membership cards & photo ID’s at self-checkouts now, our photo is literally on the back of our membership cards,” another customer fumed on X.

“Checking my photo id in the self checkout is new. And it’s all pretty off putting.”

Costco's membership rates have remained consistent for customers since 2017, with slight increases.

A Gold Star membership is listed at $60, and the Executive membership runs for $120, per Costco's website.

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For more related content, check out The U.S. Sun's coverage of why a Costco shopper angrily called out an employee for being "condescending" during a receipt check.

The U.S. Sun also has the story on an urgent warning from Costco after at least 20 scams were recently found to be targeting customers.