What Costco Employees Wish You Knew

Costco occasionally clears an old product off its shelves to make way for a new product. The company also stops selling items that no one wants to buy. Both of these are totally normal practices in the retail and grocery worlds, usually initiated somewhere in the corporate side of the company. Yet according to this Reddit thread, that doesn't stop customers from getting upset at employees on the sales floor because a favorite product disappeared.

The customers' behavior can sometimes reach a very weird pitch, such as the one time a customer threatened to cancel their membership because the company no longer sold the coffee he wanted, or when, during the beginning of the pandemic, someone asked if Costco no longer carried Kirkland products. However, as the posters point out, none of them are responsible for any of these products going away, so please do not stop your local Costco employees and demand to know why the store no longer has this or that product. They most likely don't know. 

Even though the people giving out samples aren't Costco employees, they are part of Costco as far as customers are concerned. A customer admitted in this decade-old Reddit thread that they weren't too sure of the hygiene at the sample stations. One of those sample workers confirmed that the sample stations are actually very clean and said that while they couldn't vouch for anyone else, the stations had strict rules about changing gloves, sanitizing, and keeping products fresh and safe.

The free samples disappeared at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, but when Costco brought them back, the company continued its commitment to hygiene. Crowds of people descending on a platter of free food, grabbing at it with their bare hands, does not seem like the cleanest situation to find yourself in when dealing with a contagious virus. So, Costco changed how the samples were handed out. When the stations reopened, the workers gave out premade and prepackaged samples to one person at a time (via Krazy Coupon Lady). The workers at the stations also had plexiglass barriers between them and the customers (via the Motley Fool).

Workers who are limited to specific areas of the stores, such as the sample carts or the rotisserie-chicken counter, are often a captive audience for customers who want to talk to someone. Whether the workers actually like it when customers try to chat depends on the customer's motive and attitude. This was discussed in a few Reddit threads, such as this one where a sample worker says they hate "forced" small talk but like it when customers genuinely want to talk with them. Another sample worker even said that conversation was welcome — and the customer letting the sample worker complain was even more welcome.

One employee in the rotisserie-chicken section, however, did express annoyance at the repeated question of when the next batch would be ready, as well as questions about preparing items from other departments, such as how to sous vide a roast. Despite those irritations, the employee said they actually really like it when people stop by to talk, calling the rotisserie section one of the roughest in the store. Their one request was that you not block the case with your cart.

Some customers really have a warped sense of how to treat the physical store around them, according to employees. When Insider interviewed Costco employees about bad shopper habits, one complaint was that people would constantly leave trash in their carts. One employee claimed to have seen customers taking trash out of their cars and placing it in carts, rather than in the trash receptacles around Costco. This ties in with another complaint the employees told Insider, about how some of the customers treat the employees like garbage. Unfortunately, that type of customer is all too common in retail, and Costco isn't immune.

Costco employees on Reddit added to the complaint by noting how the overnight merchandising crew would have to clean up cups and plastic utensils that were randomly placed around the shelves by customers who finished up a sample or two. They noted that Costco consistently has trash cans in each aisle, and they really want you to place all your trash in those cans — not in the carts, and not on the shelves.

Costco memberships and membership cards are for specific people, not families. A common mistake people make is giving their card to someone else to use or grabbing a spouse's card and attempting to use that instead of their own card. While Costco employees have told Insider that it's not always possible to stop everyone at the entrance and see their card, a few say they put their foot down and do not let anyone in unless they have their own membership card or are a guest of a member. (Or, one presumes, if they're trying to access services that don't require a membership.) Someone attempting to walk into one of these stores using a parent or spouse's card, for example, would be stopped from entering.

But that doesn't mean that if you don't have a membership, you can't come in the store. In addition to the non-membership services that Costco offers, the company allows Gold Star members to have a second card issued for free to one person. If you have a basic membership, that means you can request a second card in another person's name, such as that of your spouse. But again, these cards are issued to specific people. Members can also bring two non-members with them when they shop.

If you have a Business membership, you can also add people to your membership and get them their own card. However, you have the opportunity to add more than one person, and each card will cost you a discounted fee.

With all the warehouses around the country and all the workers needed to keep those warehouses running, you'd think submitting an application would be all that you'd have to do to get a job at Costco. According to a few Redditors, however, getting hired at Costco takes a little more footwork because as one of them points out, thousands of people apply online. Your application isn't lost, of course, but a manager at a busy warehouse likely wouldn't be able to wade through every single application. Instead, the job-landing advice leans toward a few different tactics.

One is to apply online and give a physical copy of your resume to a manager or supervisor at the warehouse where you want to work. A Redditor who claimed to be in management advised applying online every month and emphasizing any retail experience, as well as speaking to a manager if you're able to. A lot of Redditors noted that Costco has two main hiring seasons — around September and October for temporary holiday help and then again in April for permanent positions — although a couple of people pointed out that employees can quit at any time, and to keep applying even outside those hiring seasons.

Retail and food service are not seen as a career choice by many, and that's understandable; most of us have at least one summer retail or food-service nightmare story in our pasts. Yet at Costco you'll find employees who do consider Costco to be their preferred employer. They like what they do, or they like the atmosphere overall, and they want to stay. One Refinery 29 writer who used to work at Costco, wrote in 2016 that she actually liked working at Costco and, should she once again need to find a job, she'd go back immediately.

The writer pointed out that the job that makes someone happy isn't going to look the same for everyone and mentioned that she even knew a manager who had started there in a job that would normally be short-term. And that's actually not uncommon. Costco has a policy of trying to hire from within, helping employees move up the ranks instead of bringing in higher-ups from outside the company. In an interview with the Motley Fool, Costco founder Jim Sinegal said that, when the company wants to hire a store manager, they deliberately hire only those who have been with Costco for years.