Costco Wholesale — Local services in Bozeman

What a mess of a store.

The management here very likely does not have the leadership and status quo skills required to navigate running a commercial business in difficult times.

Here are some key points why Costco, isn't it. The hourly wages are being stated as "high" in their marketing but it's still nowhere near enough to match inflation at all -NERVERMIND even the local job market. Taco Bell pays more. Investing years in Costco is more worthwhile? Their pay cap is 31$. Every other company from Walmart to USPS, is higher. Have to please the shareholders first, right?

Terrible scheduling hours. People work for almost a decade before being able to work reasonable hours. Even though the store closes "earlier" than other retail outlets people are scheduled to work into the night and this is not made clear at hire ever it seems. Work/Life Balance? Forget that here.

To save money Costco does not have security. Management expects people to police, guard & survail indoors and outdoor, and stop theft with no training or additional pay.

Toxic employee favoritism - one of their staff members even created a fake account attempting to slander this review. Well, buddy, which review still stands and which one was removed for guideline violations? Just like you store, violation after violation and no one cares : ) Sorry that all you'll ever do, and be good for, is pushing carts and putting items into boxes. All while doing it in the most inefficient manner!

Many workers have severe physical disabilities from the hard physical labor like arthritis, CT, back/spine problems, etc. Lack of reasonable accommodation for employees disabled from the job.

They claim to have flexible hours but that is not true. You must work 5 days a week minimum 5 hours a day. There is no flexibility in hours.

If you are a student, management will use manipulative tactics and tell employees they don't need to go to college to keep staff.

They are lying about turnover. The turnover is incredibly high.

They deny workers comp claims like crazy when there is scientific evidence that repeat physical labor is damaging to the body.

I have met people who experienced SA at work and their perpetrators were never fired but instead transferred to other locations.

Breaks are not given on time or at all.

No training, serious work injuries. Working in the industrial kitchen area is incredibly dangerous and the risks are not made clear at hire.

People state that they were "conned" into doing work that was not contractual once hired. The duties are significantly more than what is stated on the paperwork and you are being significantly underpaid to work at Costco. You are required to do customer service, security, janitor, etc. three or more jobs and not getting paid for it.

Racial segregation in duty assignments. People of color outside/back and white people inside/front.

Same goes for sexism, you will most likely never see any female staff pushing carts or having to help customers load the most absurdly heavy items.

No harmony amongst employees - you will either see employees with less than a year of employment or people with 10-20+ years, there's very little in-between. These two groups, don't really like each other. Most employees will quite literally, ignore eachother. The new group, has a turnover rate so high, that they lose almost every employee within 2 days to 3 months because those employees quickly realize everything...

Construction: As of April 2021 they have a lot of construction going on. The entrance and exit are still easily accessible, but if you go on a cold day, the open portions of wall make the building even colder than it typically is. If you're sensitive to the cold, or have little ones, bring extra coats/sweaters if you're shopping on a cold day.

Foodcourt: The Food Court is also all self order now and you can't order without a credit/debit card, so I thought I'd mention that just so people know to expect that. You order at one of the little kiosks on either side of the food court and wait for your order. Due to covid you have to ask for any condiments or Napkins so make sure you ask, or you won't get any. I didn't get a straw or spoon for my sundae either, so just check carefully that you get the necessary utensils as well.

Shopping/Membership: As far as the store itself? Overall it's an excellent place to shop for bulk items for our family. They have great prices on large items, a pretty good return policy and will adjust prices if you purchased within the past 30 days and an item goes on sale. The store is huge, with lots of items, clean and organized. The membership is pretty reasonable and if you get the highest one you earn cash back on your purchases so i definitely recommend getting or upgrading to the higher membership if you are making large purchases. We bought 3 computers, 3 tablets, one diamond ring, 2 smart watches a big screen TV, a Nintendo Switch and a security system all within the past 6 months and after a lot of big purchases the membership basically pays for itself.

Other Services: Costco also has their own Gas stations which save members a lot on gas, a pharmacy, photo center, vision center, tire center and you can shop online where they have furniture, cars and I believe even travel packages.

Employees: Almost all the door greeters, cashiers and cashier assistants & managers are incredibly kind, friendly and helpful. The employees around the store are also all almost always really great. Ironically I've had excellent customer service everywhere except the actual customer service desk. I've had quite a few negative experiences there, including employees arguing with me, refusing to honor a "$10 Gift card with Membership Renewal" promo and a older male employee who made me cry when I was pregnant for returning several unopened items, with a receipt. Again, all happening at the Customer SERVICE desk.

Self Checkout: Another negative here. I'd suggest avoiding self-checkout at Costco. They treated us like we're up to no good each time we've tried Self Checkout. I use self Checkout at other stores routinely and understand how to use it. I also understand they are trying to keep shoplifting down and prices low but the way they go about it is really rude, disrespectful and just too much. (Their tone of voice, the manner in which they approach you, hover over you etc) it's just really irritating so I suggest avoiding it and just going to the regular checkstands.

Overall, I enjoy going to Costco. My family spends quite a bit of money here and the membership has a lot of perks, but like anything Costco has...

Shout out to Rachel @costco for helping me get my phone that I dropped in the hardest possible place ever ! I was shopping one day & went to grab my Noosa yogurt fix out of the end cooler here at bozemans Costco & just had t o have my phone in my hand at the time & OOPS, I dropped if. I got the worst feeling when it was just completely gone underneath the pallet the Noosa was on & I couldn't feel it nor see it. What in the heck should I do !!!???? I walked around looking for an employee and asked Kyle for help, but he was busy he asked me to look for someone else to help me. ' & this is why my nickname is Mayhem. (Think Allstate) so I got a bit peeved but had to find someone who could go into the cooler & retrieve that phone, it was getting late & my family had been calling and I knew they would be worried when I didn't answer. I found another employee and asked her to help & without hesitating, she was ready to help. Yeah, she was busy also & I felt bad having to take her away from her work but I'm so happy that I did because this young lady whose name is Rachel worked on this "Mayhem move" I had made for somewhere around an hour until she retrieved that phone for me and she out worked and put 3 other guys to shame because she didn't just say "Well I'm sorry,i give up I don't know what to tell you" like 2 of the guys did who came to see what she was doing & pitched in to try & get my phone that I dropped in maybe the worst spot in the store . & of course the Kyle who was too busy. So I'd love to say thanks for trying to help Rachel guys, but Rachel gets my huge amount of respect & admiration for being so diligent & not giving up. It truly was in a bad bad spot . If all Costco employees were as damn wonderful as this young lady, this store would be the most AMAZING place I'd ever want to shop at ! Whoever Rachel's boss is, & store manager, this lady deserves something great , like a raise or possibly another raise or maybe a promotion & a raise & a paid 4 days off hahaha I got to admit I tried to tip her but she said nope & she couldn't take it anyhow as it's not allowed. So please can you do something really, really, really sweet for this ever so willing, so friendly & so very professional young lady ? She's truly deserves it ! She can tell you the guys' names who did pitch in for a few minutes here and there r returning & leaving. Just as it sounds, they weren't nearly the help that she had been to me. And if I recall one, maybe it was Bill & the other John ? Not even positive but guys you might just learn some good valuable work ethics from Rachel ! Hopefullly this review is taken seriously by the manager & her department manager because she's wonderful ! one heck of a great Bozeman Costco employee , I do. recommend if you find yourself in a pickle at Costco & need help that you just skip the negatives & look for Rachel, I bet you'll be thankful you dud ! Thank you Rachel ! I see running your own store one day. Maybe this Costco? I...