I almost NEVER have to buy things in bulk; thus my limited familiarity with the ways of Costco. Today, however, I needed croissants, turkey, and cheese. And I threw some frozen fruit in there too since that's something I do want in bulk. Jenny came along to help me out with her Costco card.
One of the first things we found was a free sample table for some dried coconut that was actually pretty good. That scored Costco some points in my book. Next, we found the craisins on sale for $3.49 (down from $6.99. Note that it did not specify for the first one only). Jenny and I are both crazy about craisins, so I stuck one package in the basket and she put in four!
Finding the croissants and cheese were easy enough, but I was surprised to find that the kind of meat I wanted could only be purchased three packages at a time. That's like, 42 pieces of turkey! I really didn't want any leftovers since I don't even eat meat, so I felt blessed when I found one of the packages all on its own; someone before me had ripped it from the other two. "Aha! It's here just for me!" I thought. Jenny warned me that I may not be able to buy it that way but I thought that was ridiculous.
We did have good luck at check-out because the man let me use Jenny's Costco card even though it was clear from Jenny's picture on the card that it wasn't mine. He just kind of laughed and rolled his eyes. But when he saw the lone package of turkey he told me I couldn't purchase it that way. I explained that I hadn't torn it off myself but had just found it that way, but he insisted I would have to buy a whole 3-pack. "Ok, nevermind," I said. And then--out of curiosity--I asked him what he was going to do with it and he replied that they would have to throw it away. I made a face: "But that's wasteful!" He smiled at me and said, "Well, some of the rules we do have to keep." I realized he was already letting us slide by letting me use Jenny's card and that was a pretty great blessing by itself! I figured I could just get turkey at Smith's.
When it came time for me to pay, I pulled out my credit card and swiped it. Then the machine asked for my pin number: "Um, it's asking for my pin number but this card doesn't have one!" In reply he said, "That's because we only take debit!" Whoops!
After our cashier swiped Jenny's four packages of craisins, Jenny asked, "Sorry, were all four of them on sale or just the first one?" Just the first one. What the heck?! The guy behind us in line (whom Jenny knew) made a joke about it and our cashier responded (jokingly, of course), "Are you their parole officer? Because they need one!" Oh, my.
It wasn't until we got home that I realized no one had bagged our purchases. Thank goodness they save on plastic to compensate for all the meat they must throw away!
It wasn't until we got home that I realized no one had bagged our purchases. Thank goodness they save on plastic to compensate for all the meat they must throw away!
Thanks for an eventful experience, Costco.
