Costco Wholesale — Local services in Pflugerville

What is going on at this Costco?? I am a diehard, decades long Costco member. I love their offerings, customer service, I love the way they treat their employees, I've got the executive membership, the CC, I am just a fangirl over all. But I'd noticed the last few months every time I left this Costco location I left frazzled and annoyed. Ridiculous lines, even in the middle of a weekday, but no effort to add more lanes. Random issues with bakery items being inconsistent (for ex: before they switched muffins, they kept coming out undercooked. Now it's a toss up with the new ones. They're either really yummy or stale and dry despite being in date). Really backed up, slow food court. Messy bathrooms and food court.

But last night, 9/22, they honestly reached a new low. We walked in to return a small appliance that was dead right out of the box. The line for returns was out the door. On a Monday night. Why? No one was helping that area of the counter. We stood there for 15 minutes and the people in front of us said they'd been there 5 minutes and had walked up behind someone already standing there. No calls for more help, not even any acknowledgement that they would get to us soon. I could see lots of coming and going back towards the little desk that tends to have the people who can make these choices, but I guess they couldn't be bothered to help out.

Finally, we got through the line and went to eat a quick dinner before shopping. As usual of late, the food court was crazy busy. There was exactly ONE person trying to put together all the food at the front counter. One other, super slow, guy moving at a glacier pace to handle pizza orders. We would go for long long spans of time before any numbers were called. Again. This was a Monday night. Not exactly a busy store.

When I went to get our drinks, they were out of 3 of the sodas. At all 3 machines. The condiment/utensil section was a mess, with trash and smeared food. Then we tried to get a table and even though there were plenty of available ones, they were all filthy. Caked on, dried out filthy. No one had cleaned that entire area in a really long time. We finally found one clean-ish table at the back (next to one with spilled ice cream that had set in).

The apathy continued when we went to get food from the prepared food section. They were down to 2-3 of a few things and things like the take-bake Salmon were all sell by dated for that day or the next. It was pretty clear that no one had prepared food that day at all. I've never not been able to get the street tacos, for instance, but there was only 2 of those. One with an escaped sliced lime sitting on TOP of the box. The two people working in the rotisserie area were both on their phone. Just openly standing there scrolling, in a food prep area. I honestly just kept saying out loud, "What is happening??" because this entire visit was not Costco. Had I accidentally gone to Sams?

And of course, they line for self-checkout was all the way past the clothes, and the 2 open lanes for regular check-out were completely backed up. On a Monday night. We chose self-checkout this time, because last Friday I went to Costco during the day and the checkout person never even made eye-contact, there wasn't a helper moving things from carts to belt (despite the major lunch time lines), and no boxes were offered for my $400 of products. When did they stop offering to do that?

What's evident to me is that this store was not taken care of after the weekend rush. It felt a lot like no to little cleaning was done. nor food prep and restock. But mostly this store feels very very understaffed. And whoever is in charge isn't managing the people who are on clock. There seemed like no effort or presence by the people I could see who looked to be responsible. They need to get it together because they're looking and acting more and more like any regular old big box store. And there's zero reason for me to keep paying a membership when I can go to Walmart and be treated like trash for...

We visited Costco around 2:30 pm today, July 30. This is our neighborhood Costco and we visit it quite often... several times a month, sometimes twice in one week. My husband and I have been members of Costco for many years. Usually, everyone here is very nice but today, their customer service was subpar. Upon entering, my husband walked in with our baby first to get him out of the heat. I went to grab a cart with my 3 other kids and followed him shortly after. The employee at the entrance looked at me and threw her hands up in the air, as if motioning to me asking where my membership card was. I told her I was with my husband stating that it was the gentleman over there and pointed in his direction. She responded rudely asking me which guy. I told her it was the guy in the blue shirt and walked towards him. Now I know that they have to check for membership cards but really, you shouldn't be so rude and let's be real, nobody can buy anything without it anyways. There is no reason for that kind of attitude.

Next, when we were in the self checkout lane, one of the employees standing at one of the registers was telling the other employee who was directing traffic something about us. She clearly didn't want us to be in the coveted self checkout line. For some reason, on certain days Costco allows you to have a full cart in the self checkout while on others they don't allow that. I guess today was one of those days we weren't allowed to. On some days, they also have employees helping at self checkout since the other registers get so busy. I'm guessing what dictates this is how many customers and how many employees they have during that time... which again is fine in regards to their policy, but they should do it in a way that isn't rude to their customers. I have in the past stood in line for the self checkout with my 4 kids alone and then when it is my turn to go, one of the employees tells me rudely that I can't checkout at self checkout because I have a full cart.. and makes me go wait in another line at the registers with a cashier.

Anyways, the guy directing traffic at the front of the self checkout line didn't ask us to go to the registers with the cashiers because we had a full cart. He asked if we wanted boxes and my husband politely answered, "No sir." He then told us to proceed to the self checkout and that other employee was complaining to him that we shouldn't be checking out there. Mind you, she was just standing at a self checkout register that wasn't functioning. During the time that she complained, she could have been helping a customer check out. Then, the line directing employee told another employee standing at the self checkout register right by us to keep a close eye on us checking out.

The self checkout wasn't busy at all. If anything, the registers with the cashier were more busy. They only had 2 registers open anyways and as a family with multiple kids and a baby, we don't want to stand there waiting to checkout. If Costco is really worried about a family stealing from them at self checkout, they should have the employees always helping at self checkout.... or they should have asked us nicely to go to the registers with a cashier.

What a disappointing experience at our neighborhood Costco. If we find ourselves near a different warehouse, we will shop there.... or maybe this is our chance to switch to Sam's Club or whatever it's...

This is my primary Costco and I have been since it's opening every weekend (July 2018) when I joined for the first time. Costco has changed my whole perception of bulk shopping and changed my life, in that it has completely changed the way my husband and I eat. I know that sounds dramatic but it's true.

Before I explain why, I'd like to let anyone reading this post know that this change to my life would not be possible without a freezer. I highly recommend anyone in my situation (a married couple with no kids) consider getting a freezer to help absorb and keep fresh all the wonderful items one can buy at Costco. Now on with my review...

The Pflugerville location is quite nice and clean. They staff are friendly and although the store is still trying to figure out its customer preferences, it is very reception to customer feedback and requests. For example, I went to this particular store a few weeks ago (right before Thanksgiving) and noticed that they were not stocking tofu. This was annoying to me, because I love to buy tofu in bulk and although I was preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday, I was hoping to use tofu to make a recipe. I immediately went on the Costco Facebook page and put in this request, and someone responded promptly stating they would be adding tofu back to their list of items to carry for this location. Brilliant and easy.

Since joining Costco, I have visited a few other locations and noticed they are substantially more crowded and have longer lines. I am hoping this locations' shorter lines are not just the result of this being a new location. Nevertheless, I have never waited more than 5 minutes to put my items on the conveyor belt and I have been very happy with the cashier's service. They always ask me if I want boxes for my items and are friendly and helpful.

I have been particularly impressed with the Kirkland brand of products I have purchased, including but not limited to: trash bags, dog food, olive oil, chicken breast, nuts (all kinds!), eggs, shredded cheeses, bacon, bulk produce, and wines. I find the quality of their food and brand to be superior to many of my favorite brands of products, which is surprising. I am also very impressed with the high quality of brand offerings I have never used or heard of before. And this in and of itself is how Costco has changed my life.

I thoroughly enjoy having high quality ingredients as part of my meal prep, which has resulted in my husband and me eating and cooking more at home and going out less. This change alone is has had a huge impact on my wallet, my diet and my health. In other words, my Costco membership and this store makes...