Costco Wholesale — Local services in North Plainfield

Worth the pain.

There's something sinister about this place. I buy meat and a few other household supplies at Costco and everything else at my local grocery store. I have a chest freezer in the basement, and provided I put in some effort to maintain it, it's definitely worth getting big cuts at bulk rates, portioning, vacuum sealing, and freezing myself.

It starts in the parking lot. Otherwise rational and gentle people become stark raving wild animals. Blinkers are exchanged for horns and middle fingers. Patience is immediately stretched thin. "What is it with these god forsaken heathens..." I mutter as I troll for a good spot. I am not free from the hedonistic compulsion that drives us, the customers, onward with our cartoonishly oversized shopping carts.

The barbaric line at the gas station is the carbon monoxide glazed opium den to the carnival of delights on the inside the main edifice. "Welcome to Costco, I love you," I state aloud as I brush past the door checker. If you are not careful to keep a quick pace here, you will be accosted by salesmen of the finest highest prices items Costco has to offer. Pay them no mind.

Aisles aren't labeled. Most of them are homes to various succubi and incubi, and one must come prepared for battle. Map the layout and learn it. A trip down the wrong aisle could have bulk sized repercussions. The customers are intimately aware of this. There is great peril in the air.

I eat the free samples. I make a point of not buying the product. "I am here for meat and a few household supplies," I mutter to myself. Sometimes I buy the product anyway. The coffee was really good. I curse under my breath as a harrowed woman with her unruly brood crashes her cartoonishly oversized shopping cart down the aisle in blatant disregard to the world around her. There are others behaving the same way in the parking lot outside. She is not an outlier, she is the norm.

Having obtained my three year supply of plastic wrap and 50 pounds of meat, I make my way back to the front of the store, and the aisle spills out into a chaotic frenzy of capitalism. Rude passers by and death glares are common sights.

I believe it's the imposing architecture and the sheer enormity of Costco that make it such a tyrannical presence. I get the giant slice of pizza or the giant hot dog, and begrudgingly feed the beast.

Then on the way out, Dale the receipt checker is always pleasant. He seems to rise above it.

The risk inherent in traversing the parking lot on foot again is cast aside as my departure from this hell looms. I load my enormous SUV to the gills as a parking lot troll puts their blinker on to claim my spot the second I'm out of it. I debate whether this trip was brutal enough to make her wait. I try to shake the dark urges and remember it will all be normal again on the outside.

And for a while it is again. But...

Ordered Adult Multi Vitamins(ALIVE) on August 16th or so. Was informed via UPS Message on 21st August, that this would be delivered on Saturday, 22nd. Subsequently, , yet another message that it would be now delivered on Monday, 24th. On Monday 24th, a Envelope was stuck in my door by UPS, which was empty and not only that, it showed no sign of being interfered woth. I, promptly called UPS ref "IZMIR", who out right declined to listen to my complaint, saying, I should take this up with "COSTCO". which, I did., only to be on hold with your customer service department for nearly 75 minutes. Mind you, they had warned that a wait of 51 minutes was expected. Therefore, I went to your North Plainfield Location, where, (unfortunately I had forgotten wear a mask) to be told in rude no uncertain terms by a person, behind your refund/returns section, taht, I, should go home and get my mask, if I had to go into the store. This was totally surprising and annoying to say the least.. Fortunately, one of your associates,was kind enough to investigate and get a Front End Manager, "Tony", who promised to get back to me by Thursday the Friday following being the latest. Well, since then"Tony" has never even bothered to call me back let alone give what the situation is. Today he tells me, that, for my "FRUSTRATION

Costco is always evolving to remain interesting and provide meaningful products and services to its customers.

A few changes I've noticed recently:

Food payment kiosks have been added which allow you to order food. They are easy to use but still require a debit card or Costco Visa.

Self checkout lanes have been added and recently moved to the other side of the store. This is helpful when you only purchase a handful of items.

Bottled water in the vending machine in the food court is still 25 cents.

I did notice a number of holiday type products that seem to be left over from Christmas holidays, this is odd as any holiday items typically sell out well before Christmas.

A lot of furniture items are available and seem to rotate in and out of inventory

Upon entry you now scan your Costco card, membership barcode on your mobile phone, or your visa credit card barcode.

Two tire inflation machines that work pretty well have been added and Costco staff no longer will inflate your tires

A lot of international type foods and deserts are available, like items for the Chinese New Year and other cultures

I've been noticing carts are not very full over the last few months with carts often only 1/4 full or even people buying a handful of items. I also noticed a LOT of people buy cases of Kirkland bottled water and I'm not quite sure why.

If you have never tried Costco, you should as there are a lot of well priced quality products and services. It does require a membership. I'd recommend visiting with a member if you are not sure if it's...