Costco Wholesale — Local services in Champaign

My visit was very frustrating. I normally don’t leave bad reviews but this was uniquely bad.

I wanted to start a membership since I’m new to the area. I get in and head to the member center. I was told I should go for the Costco visa to get cash back and a potential 50$ gift card. I decide to get the gold membership and sign up for the Visa card. I’m approved and while I’m filling out the paperwork, I’m told I will get my card in person that day, and the paperwork I file states the membership will be put on the card I just opened. I thought that was great. Then I get a very confused employee telling me she doesn’t know what happened it’s not letting her print the card. The two floor employees try to figure it out for 15 minutes. By this point I am here for 30 minutes. They call a manager and the manager says they can’t figure out why but they can’t get me my card. I tell them alright what should I do. They say you’ll need to pay with another payment type and we will mail you your card. I tell them the paperwork I read clearly said the membership would be put on the Costco visa and how I wanted the card to get points for my purchase that day. The manger says I don’t know what to tell you that’s on citi bank. She also asks me to show her where it says that the membership would be put on the Visa card. I told her in the terms of service I just signed and she asked me to pull them up even though I signed up on their iPad. This was frustrating because I was literally just told by an employee that I would get a physical card and that the membership would be put on that card and now the manager is making it seem like I made this up. They then tell me I’ll have to pay with another card or cancel the credit card they just ran my credit for. I tell them okay and get another card out that I could use. They tell me we can’t take that because it’s a Mastercard. I tell them it’s the only other payment I would be willing to use. They said sorry you’re going to have to pay with another card or we will have to cancel your card. At this point I’m very frustrated I’ve been here for 40 minutes and the manager is putting their system errors on me and forcing me to find a solution. Eventually I go to the atm and take out cash from my card which I did not want to do at the time to avoid having my credit pulled for no reason. Then when I get my membership started they tell me I need to verify online. After trying a few times my account continuously says membership not verified and they take my phone and try several times before it starts working. I’m an hour in at this point and I finally get my membership.

By this point I want to go home since it’s late but the whole reason I came there was to shop for a few items. At this point I decide to get some liquor. I scan my items and am prompted to show my ID to a worker at the self check out. I try to flag down several workers to check my ID. No one helped me until one worker finally came and started looking for the person in charge of the cashier. This process took another 15 minutes and one of the membership workers who was working on my account earlier walked by several times and did not assist. This was a very frustrating trip as I planned to stop in and buy a few things and I ended up being in this store for near three hours. I still don’t know when I will get my card and I was not able to get rewards on my purchase which was the whole reason I wanted the card. On top of the fact that I still didn’t have a payment method that wasn’t a Mastercard to use.

I really don’t leave reviews like this often but I really didn’t enjoy having my time wasted and the blatant lack of care or help from the workers was upsetting. I really thought about quitting and refunding the membership but at this point my credit was already pulled and I didn’t want that to be...

Yep. This is a great place to get bulk stuff and some things not available elsewhere. The chocolate granola cereal that I've never seen anywhere is addicting. It's chocolate granola with a slight peanut butter taste, along with chunks of semisweet chocolate and peanuts! OMG.

Anyways, if you're a big guy looking for clothes, forget it! But the rest of the store is for you & everyone else. Dadgum near everything you need is in this store or will be at one time or another. This a superstore on Roids! Stop by the sample tables and you might like something you didn't know existed. Meat department is Great! I got some beef ribs with meat on them! (unlike at walmart where the meat cap is cut off and there's 70% bone and what little meat is edible is between them bones). These Costco ones were like brontosaurus ribs, where one rib was a serving alone. Rotisserie chicken and wings are bomb! Premade meals. All kinds of Ethnic foods. Produce. Toilet paper. Water. Too much to list. Not amazing prices on everything, but you will find great deals now and then.

The only 1 thing I don't like about this place is that they only take Visa credit cards (they may not know the secret handshake with the other ones), but they do take debit cards from all others. JUST NOT OTHER CREDIT CARDS... VISA ONLY!

Another thing you need to know is the fresh bakery stuff molds kinda fast. If you don't plan on it being consumed in the near future, wait & then get it. This is not the stuff you get in the refrigerated section that lasts for weeks.This stuff is good-n-tasty, well priced and fresh! I got bagels & don't eat them every day. So when I went to grab one to throw in the toaster some time later, the ones remaining were molded. If you have a need for lots of fresh bagels now/soon, get these and feed your family, sell them to customers or whatever you do. This is a testament of freshness and few preservatives, which is good. THE ONES I GOT WERE NOT EXPIRED, I JUST DIDN'T USE THEM FAST ENOUGH! I just want to make you aware. I've said enough, bye!

Update: cant find that granola again. Not sure why. Must've been a special buy or something. Not a...

Save $$$$ while getting Great Service at Costco

I'm a long time hearing aid user and offer the following info based on my personal findings having bought five pairs during the last 25+ years.There are currently FIVE hearing aid manufacturers on this planet - that right - FIVE! All aids come from these five producers and are available from a variety of variety of retail sellers including local hearing aid "stores" with their brand names on them. These brands are those you frequently see in advertisements on TV, in newspapers, and mailings to your home. Aids are also available from medical related facilities, other retail stores, and on internet sites. Some Costco stores also sell hearing aids. I started using Costco eight years ago because because the price was thousands of dollars less for essentially the same product. I just bought my second pair from Costco and found the same savings - $6000! I paid $2000 instead of $8000! Costco handles high end models from several manufacturers that are sold for significantly less than at other "stores". They also have their "KIrkland" brand made for them at at an even lower price point. The service I get at Costco has been great and the followup care, adjustment, and service are included at no additional charge.The staff at Costco is very customer service oriented and and I have only good things to report about my experience with Costco...