Costco Shoppers Say This Is the Worst Part of Being a Member

For all that Costco members love about the warehouse club—like its free samples, food courts, and cheap gas—there are also some parts of the Costco experience that shoppers widely despise. Recently, customers have been sounding off against what they say is the absolute worst part of shopping at Costco: dealing with the retailer’s overzealous salespeople.

Earlier this week, a Costco shopper took to Reddit to voice frustration with the salespeople who approach customers inside warehouses to sell phones and phone plans. The customer complained that the workers have become overly pushy and disruptive with their sales pitches, and it’s detracting from the overall shopping experience.

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“I’ve grown sick of the sales associates at the phone kiosk. It’s the number one negative thing about Costco and I wish they would just get rid of all of them,” the shopper wrote. “They like to try and bait you in with a simple greeting if you walk by or even glance in their direction. If you reply to the greeting at all, you almost always get the ‘by the way…’ spiel. No more! I’ve started to just walk by and 100% ignore/refuse to acknowledge them or their greeting as if they don’t exist.”

The shopper added: “They seem to be annoyed by this and I can sometimes hear them comment about it amongst themselves.”

This is far from the first time that Costco’s phone salespeople have faced scrutiny online. Customers have devoted numerous Reddit discussions to slamming the sellers in the past, particularly the ones who represent AT&T. (T-Mobile representatives are also stationed inside some Costco locations, though shoppers say they tend to be less aggressive with their sales pitches.)

However, the latest Reddit complaint has triggered a fresh wave of ire for the phone salespeople. The post has already received more than 900 comments, many from shoppers and other Costco employees who shared similar complaints.

“Having worked 10 years at Costco, I can confidently say the cell phone kiosk is the worst part of the member experience. No question,” one comment read.

“I hate all the heckling salespeople. Stop calling out to me. Absolutely doesn’t make me any more likely to buy from you,” another customer wrote.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Some shoppers have even admitted to taking drastic detours just to avoid interacting with the salespeople.

“I literally have no idea what’s even sold within a 20-foot radius of them because I plan my shopping route to avoid them,” a Redditor shared.

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That’s not to say that pushy salespeople run rampant at all Costco locations. Some Redditors shared in the comments section that they’d never been approached or had a poor experience with the phone kiosk workers at their local warehouses. Still, the sheer number of complaints against the salespeople shows that the issue has become pretty pervasive nonetheless.

And although many pointed out that Costco shoppers are free to ignore or bypass aggressive salespeople, others said they’d prefer to just be left alone in the first place.

“I know it’s easy to ignore them or go around them, but all the solicitors definitely make the Costco shopping experience much worse. Easily my least favorite part about the Costco experience, and it’s not close,” a Redditor lamented.

Zoe Strozewski