Costco Shoppers Have Major Complaints About a Popular Perk: 'Never Again'
Paying for a Costco membership gives you access to all sorts of tantalizing shopping perks, from its popular travel site to its super affordable gas stations. But recently, one of the warehouse club's popular services has been garnering major complaints from members—and some say it's best avoided altogether.
A Costco shopper took to Reddit this week to sound off against the retailer's tire centers, which are conveniently connected to warehouses, sell several premium tire brands, and offer installation and upkeep services to members. The shopper explained that they've been buying tires from Costco for about 25 years and always thought the service was "good enough." However, a recent negative experience with the tire center changed the shopper's perspective on the membership perk.
"My wife's car needed tires and Costco didn't have the size we needed. I asked the guy at the counter if they could be ordered, and he kind of shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't know. (They are available on the Costco tire website.)" the shopper wrote. "I said screw it and went to a small tire chain down the street that started as a mom-and-pop [shop]. As I sat there listening to the interactions between the employees and customers, it hit me hard that Costco's level of tire service is far inferior. I must have forgotten what it was like not getting tires at Costco."
As it turns out, poor experiences at Costco's tire centers are far from uncommon among members. The post has already racked up a whopping 1,400 comments from other shoppers, many of whom complained about the customer service and lengthy wait times.
"The worst Costco experience I had was at the tire center. It was busy, so they said it would be a bit. Not ideal, but ok, so we shop. And then wait. And wait," one Redditor wrote. "SIX HOURS later they call me up. They didn't have the tires. They reluctantly suggested sending someone to another Costco where they were in stock.
The Redditor continued: "So, eight hours later, they finally finished, and I got a $50 gift card for my trouble. Never again."
Some have gotten so fed up with Costco's tire centers, in fact, that they refuse to give them their business anymore.
"I avoid Costco tires because I don't have half a day to wait just in case they have time to sell and install tires for me. I'd rather drop the car off at my local shop and have them do it. They know my car and can tell me when something else besides tires needs attention," a Redditor noted.
"I have made the switch as well. Tires are the one item I would never recommend someone buy from Costco," another commented.
To be fair, not all Costco shoppers have had poor experiences with the retailer's tire centers. Some have even praised their employees and the speed at which they work.
"My Costco must not have that many customers for tires. I asked them to look at a leaking tire and they patched it for me within the hour (not their tires). I bought tires from them, made appointments for the same weekend, and I was out within an hour and half," one Redditor wrote.
"Maybe I'm an anomaly but my spouse and I have used Costco for tires (just one location) for multiple cars over nearly ten years and have only had positive interactions," another said.
Still, the fact that so many people have complained about Costco's tire centers indicates that it's far from a limited issue.
As one Redditor noted: "If there's one aspect of Costco that I anecdotally consistently hear is bad with poor service, it's the tire department."
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