Costco food court will require showing a membership card now

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

As an offshoot to this discussion, does your Costco require you to show the card to purchase gasoline? In my state they can’t limit gasoline sales to members so anyone may purchase it.

You have to insert your membership card before you can begin the sale at our Costcos here.

 

[Skippy918]

At our Costco, you enter for customer service through the "out" door, where they do not check membership...nor would you want to, since that is the door you enter to purchase a membership. Just past customer service, is the food court. So, if they are checking membership, it would have to be AT the food court. And, our food court now has "self service" kiosks. I wonder how that would work? Is it going to be an extra step? No concern for me as I have zero issue with them making the food court "member only." I'm a member and will be so long as I'm upright and breathing.

Ours is set up this way too.

The only area where you don’t need a membership is the liquor store and you can use any credit card too.

 

[DLgal]

Every article I've read said it was an existing policy that they just never enforced. Now they will be enforcing it.

We have been Costco members for over 20 years. At no point have they ever asked to prove membership to eat at the food court. It has never been the policy. Those articles are inaccurate. In fact, I saw 2 articles today that when reporters reached out to Costco Corporate, they said they had no plans to change the "open to the public" policy at the food court.

This seems to be a store or region specific "new policy" and this whole story is the result of one Costco IG account sharing a sign seen at a local store.

It has not been confirmed by Costco that this is indeed a new corporate policy being implemented. I visited my local Costco food court today. No sign up at the outdoor food court.

 

[cvjw]

We just got a brand new Costco about 10 miles from my normal Costco. At the newest Costco, the food court is self service only and you must scan your membership card at the kiosk to place an order.

At my current Costco, they just placed 2 self serve kiosks at the food court that require a membership card to operate.

Maybe Costco is going to the self serve kiosks in all the stores.

In Georgia, you must scan your membership card before you can pump gas.

Our local Costco is so busy, I could not imagine fighting the crowds for a $1.50 hotdog combo

 

[bcla]

Ours is set up this way too.

The only area where you don’t need a membership is the liquor store and you can use any credit card too.

Really? How does that work out? I thought that no business is required to accept all credit cards. I thought that Costco now only accepts Visa and debit. I doubt they would be set up to accept MC or Amex.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We have been Costco members for over 20 years. At no point have they ever asked to prove membership to eat at the food court. It has never been the policy. Those articles are inaccurate. In fact, I saw 2 articles today that when reporters reached out to Costco Corporate, they said they had no plans to change the "open to the public" policy at the food court.

This seems to be a store or region specific "new policy" and this whole story is the result of one Costco IG account sharing a sign seen at a local store.

It has not been confirmed by Costco that this is indeed a new corporate policy being implemented. I visited my local Costco food court today. No sign up at the outdoor food court.

I'm just saying what I've read. I haven't seen an article where Corporate has responded. I've seen multiple that said they reached out but hadn't heard a response or that Corporate hadn't responded the instagram post with the sign. But totally could have missed an article.

I can see individual stores allowing especially open air ones (which aren't done around here because no way jose with the weather) but corporate policy being different.

The policy IS that you have to show your card to enter Costco (and by that they define "entering any Costco warehouse and when checking out at a payment register"), there's no sign indicating that you must do that but that is technically the policy. Despite that the person at the door does not 100% of the time look at me when I enter Costco. I have my card out and present it for them to see but they don't always glance my way.

One could interpret "entering any Costco warehouse and when checking out at a payment register" to mean food courts as they are inside the warehouses. Open air ones may be iffy on that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We just got a brand new Costco about 10 miles from my normal Costco. At the newest Costco, the food court is self service only and you must scan your membership card at the kiosk to place an order.

At my current Costco, they just placed 2 self serve kiosks at the food court that require a membership card to operate.

So this makes me think they may do that then to ours that they just installed. If they already are doing it at some it's seems they could easily do it to others.

 

[Skippy918]

Really? How does that work out? I thought that no business is required to accept all credit cards. I thought that Costco now only accepts Visa and debit. I doubt they would be set up to accept MC or Amex.

The no membership for the Costco liquor store is a state law thing. Not sure about the credit cards. Our Costco liquor store has a separate entrance.

 

[bcla]

I can see individual stores allowing especially open air ones (which aren't done around here because no way jose with the weather) but corporate policy being different.

There are different open air food court layouts. Most seem to be recessed maybe 20 ft into an area near the entrance and covered. One of the older ones has the area around the windows, condiments, and fountain drinks covered by an awning, but the tables might have patio umbrellas. I’ve been to an outdoor one in the Central Valley of California when it was 100 degrees F and indoors with A/C would have been preferable.

 

[wilbret]

They switched to Pepsi, so I don't even bother eating there. Yuck.

 

[bcla]

The no membership for the Costco liquor store is a state law thing. Not sure about the credit cards. Our Costco liquor store has a separate entrance.

Not in California. They’re in the same large warehouse space as almost everything.

https://www.consumerreports.org/con...at-costco-and-sams-club-without-a-membership/
This even says that Sam’s Club policy is that anyone can buy alcohol regardless of the state.

 

[Skippy918]

We eat there whenever we have to shop. I love that the 4 of us can eat for $8-10. Dh gets the hot dog, kids get pizza, and I switch between the pizza and chicken bake.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

There are different open air food court layouts. Most seem to be recessed maybe 20 ft into an area near the entrance and covered. One of the older ones has the area around the windows, condiments, and fountain drinks covered by an awning, but the tables might have patio umbrellas. I’ve been to an outdoor one in the Central Valley of California when it was 100 degrees F and indoors with A/C would have been preferable.

Yeah open air would be torture here with the heat and humidity, the rain and storms and the winter with the cold,ice and snow.

When my husband was out in LA last year he ate at one of the outdoor ones and thought it was a nice change though.

 

[Feberin]

Our local Costco is so busy, I could not imagine fighting the crowds for a $1.50 hotdog combo

We're members but I've definitely gone to Costco just for the food court especially if we were doing something else nearby. One pizza will feed six of us for $10.

 

[DLgal]

We just got a brand new Costco about 10 miles from my normal Costco. At the newest Costco, the food court is self service only and you must scan your membership card at the kiosk to place an order.

At my current Costco, they just placed 2 self serve kiosks at the food court that require a membership card to operate.

Maybe Costco is going to the self serve kiosks in all the stores.

In Georgia, you must scan your membership card before you can pump gas.

Our local Costco is so busy, I could not imagine fighting the crowds for a $1.50 hotdog combo

The costco I went to today also has the kiosks in the food court. I did not have to scan my Costco card to order a slice of pizza.

We also have self checkouts. I DID have to scan my card before I scanned my items.

 

[bcla]

The costco I went to today also has the kiosks in the food court. I did not have to scan my Costco card to order a slice of pizza.

The kiosks don't take cash though. I know some restaurant kiosks like McDonald's allow the customer to order via the kiosk and then pay cash. I remember one McDonald's (Seattle across the street from Seattle Center) where they required everyone to order via a kiosk unless the customer had some sort of disability that prevented use of the kiosk. The customer could still take the ticket and pay in cash at the counter.

 

[3 MEN AND A BOAT]

I’d be glad if it all(gas, food court, and liquor) was members only. Otherwise what’s the point of a membership?

 

[bcla]

I’d be glad if it all(gas, food court, and liquor) was members only. Otherwise what’s the point of a membership?

Alcohol and/or prescription sales often run into state laws that don't them to be sold to members only. I'm pretty sure gas runs into similar issues.

 

[Bella Paige]

The Florida ones are outside. You don’t have to enter the store.

The two locations near us in Florida both have indoor food courts.

 

[bcla]

The two locations near us in Florida both have indoor food courts.

In some parts of Florida I think being indoors would be preferable. Like when it was raining buckets or when it's hot and humid outside.