Costco Bristol — Local services in Bristol

Similar to Rob Toogood's experience.

I ordered a set of 4 x 245 35 18 Michelin Tyres with installation online, to be fitted to my car. These tyres are factory fit size on the 8J alloys that come with the car. I have four 8J alloys instead of the 7.5J 8J "staggered" standard fitment.

I ordered on a Monday - I was called on a Tuesday as they wanted to query the tyre size(s) and ask what car they were going on.

I explained my setup, and they said that it was OK and they'd see me on the arranged installation day (the following Saturday).

When I turned up , after some faffing around they refused to fit the tyres because it "wasn't what was already on there" (I had a 225 40 18 tyre installed on the wider 8J rim and I wanted the manufacturer approved tyre size for that wheel width).

They said that, also, if they installed the "incorrect" sized tyres then I could later claim they fitted the wrong tyres, and then get another set for free (??)

I said I'm happy to sign a disclaimer where I obviously wouldn't be doing that, and they refused.

I said "OK so refund me the fitting cost, and I will take them away and have them fitted elsewhere".

They REFUSED this and said they weren't allowed to let them out of the warehouse (even though they were fully paid for) and they would have to issue a refund (which I am still waiting for).

As with Rob in over 10 years I've never, ever had a tyre refused to be fitted anywhere else. I can understand it if I was wanting to fit a dangerous size (for example a 205 40 18 on a 10J alloy)

but asking to fit a 245 35 18 on a 8J alloy (which is what the manufacturer recommend anyway) and the inability for the technicians to have any common sense other than "computer says no" (which seem to be different depending on what person you speak to!) is incredibly frustrating and a waste of time and money.

I was told that "this was clearly explained on the Costco website" , but it wasn't - the only mention of anything (hidden away on a buried away FAQ page within their "Help" section and certainly not where anyone would say "obvious" and only said "they will only fit tyres to manufacturers specifications" , which my particular case completely meets)

The shop itself I've used before and not had any issues but this was my first "Costco tyres" experience and it will absolutely be my last.

As for their "Michelin deal" , consider checking Camskill.co.uk as they also have some great deals which result in...

Me and my friends have been regular shoppers at Costco Bristol for a while now. We genuinely love shopping there — the prices are very reasonable and the quality of the products is excellent. On average, each of us spends around £200 every month, and it’s always been a positive experience overall.

However, our last visit on Sunday was unfortunately disappointing. We checked out close to closing time, but there were still plenty of customers inside, especially at the checkout queues. The food court was still serving and even taking last orders, so we decided to grab 2 hot dogs and 2 slices of pizza with drinks before heading out.

While we were sitting and enjoying our food, a lady named Zahira came over and, without any polite warning, rudely told us to leave immediately. When I explained that we were still eating, she replied, “Go out and eat outside.” It felt very abrupt and disrespectful, especially considering there were still other people around and the food court was still operational. Her tone and attitude were unnecessary and made us feel uncomfortable and singled out — and frankly, we couldn’t help but wonder if it was because we are Asian.

To add to the frustration, during the checkout process, Zahira didn’t even count the items in my friend’s trolley properly. Which seemed careless, especially considering how strict the store usually is.

On the other hand, the staff at the exit doing the receipt checks were friendly and professional, smiling and greeting customers as usual. a stark contrast to Zahira’s approach.

We hope this was a one-off incident, as we’ve always enjoyed shopping at Costco and appreciated the good service. But experiences like this really do leave a bad impression. We believe all customers deserve to be treated with respect, no matter the time of day...

There are too many members for one store as Costco has been greedy and set no limit. It is very often rammed with people and yet they have not the management sense to open lots of tills, and they have not trained the staff to speed through the checkouts. In Seattle, home of Costco, there are two staff on each till and trolleys are unloaded for you and then reloaded after. This is called excellent customer service, and it reduces the queues hugely. In England of course the apathetic staff expect the customer to do all the work and often they can barely bring themselves to push the items to be within your reach. One Indian woman once actually shouted at me to take the stuff out of my trolley. As to the Costco pricing and contents, prices for meat when they opened in 2005 were equivalent to American prices, beef was super quality and cheap. Over the years the prices have steadily gone up and up and meat and fish is much more expensive than Aldi & Lidl. The big bugbear with Costco has always been inconsistent stock. You find something you really like, and then next time it’s not there, and it never reappears. You can’t rely on Costco. Some items are good value, but only some. When it opened in 2005 it was an Aladdin’s cave for impulse buying and it was great to go there. These days it is massively overcrowded, and we hate going as it is such a chore. Never enough tills open, and ridiculously slow checkouts make any bargains not worth the while. They need to open another two stores and limit the membership, and management and staff need to be sent to Seattle for training on how to do...