Employees Reveal What You Should Never Do At Costco

It's understandable to get excited over $1.50 hot dogs and bulk-sized Kirkland Signature vodka. But when it comes to the hallowed aisles of Costco, customers are basically animals, apparently. Here are some tips from workers themselves, who wish you would just please stop secretly spilling things. First, stop forgetting your membership card. Tess Robison, a Costco employee, told Insider, "It can be a very time-consuming problem to fix. The cashiers don't actually have the ability to look up member information on the register, so we have to call a supervisor or manager over to get the member's ID." 

One user on a Reddit thread from subreddit r/Costco also mentioned that trying to find the card last-minute can also cause headaches. The user (presumably a Costco employee, although we can't confirm this), WolfHunter209, said, "They'll bring their whole family to the entrance, form a mob at the door, and then stand there for a good 3 minutes while they search for their card. Always causes a huge pileup."

Customers should also avoid coming into the store within minutes of closing. As anyone who has ever worked a service industry job can attest, this cardinal sin can make you want to rip your hair out. "I wish people would stop coming in right as we are closing and then not leaving when we close," Robison told Insider. Perhaps the biggest theme with employees: leaving a mess. If you decide you don't want an item after you took it off the shelf, just keep it with you until checkout. Costco stores put "go back" carts right by the registers for exactly this purpose, where you can drop off your discarded items before paying for the rest. Don't leave a pint of ice cream on a faraway shelf to melt away. 

And if you break or spill an item, don't just scuttle away in shame hoping no one will notice. They will. And the longer the spill sits, the worse it will be for the employee who discovers it. Costco employee Jacob Bilsner, told Insider, "Food messes become more disgusting to clean the longer they're left, and nine times out of 10 you won't have to pay for the item [if you broke it]." Costco employees' list of grievances against customers is extensive, but it isn't undeserved. Get your head in the game, okay, Costco shoppers?