Costco Wholesale — Local services in San Diego

Hostile Customer Service at Mission Valley Costco Location

I’m writing to formally express my disappointment and frustration with the repeated poor experiences I’ve had at the Mission Valley Costco location. I live in North Park, and this is the closest Costco to my home, but after several negative encounters, I’ve decided I will no longer shop there.

This location consistently provides the worst customer service I’ve experienced at any Costco. The environment feels hostile, and as a long-time member of over 15 years, I’ve never felt more unwelcome.

The first incident occurred when my husband and I went shopping as we regularly do. I used my membership card, but since he usually pays, he handed over his card. The cashier refused to proceed with the transaction unless the card came directly from my wallet. We explained the situation, but she insisted. We were told, “If you want, call the manager—he’s right there—but I can’t process your payment.” It was extremely stressful and humiliating. My husband had to transfer money to my card just so we could pay. The interaction made us feel like we were being treated as if we weren’t actual members.

Another time, we were eating at the food court, and I entered through the customer service door to quickly use the restroom—which is located very far. An employee blocked my path and asked, “Where are you going?” I told her I was going to the restroom, and she said, “You need to go around and come in through the main entrance with your membership card.” This was completely unnecessary and made me feel harassed, especially considering I had already completed my shopping and was just trying to wash my hands before eating.

On a different visit, I brought my service dog. At the entrance, I was told dogs were not allowed. I calmly explained that my dog is a service animal. The employee asked what task my dog performs, and I replied that he is an alert dog. With a disapproving look, she said, “If your dog barks, we’re calling 911.” The way she said it was completely inappropriate and offensive.

Most recently, I purchased a carton of eggs that turned out to be spoiled. I returned at 9:00 a.m. to resolve the issue. A young man began to assist me, but then an older woman interrupted and asked, “Do you have an Executive membership?” I showed her my card, and she said, “That’s a regular one—we’re only helping Executive members at this hour.” I was literally in the middle of being helped, and I was told to leave and wait outside for an hour, even though the store was empty and the staff had nothing else to do.

I fully understand that policies must be followed, but at this location, customers are constantly questioned, scrutinized, and made to feel like criminals. It’s emotionally draining to deal with this kind of treatment—especially on top of the already long lines typical at Costco.

Because of this, I now drive to La Jolla or the Business Center, both much farther from where I live. But at least there, the customer service is excellent, the staff are friendly, and you’re made to feel welcome as a member.

I sincerely hope that these concerns are taken seriously. No member should have to endure this type of treatment, especially...

I had an incredibly embarrassing experience at this location that I feel compelled to share—not out of anger, but in hopes it helps improve training and customer awareness.

I stopped in quickly to grab a few items to make dinner. While shopping, an employee approached and offered to pre-scan my items to speed things up. He explained that all I needed to do at checkout was hand the cashier my membership card along with a slip confirming my items were already scanned. He also told me he couldn’t scan the steaks because the cashier needed to manually input the serial number, which made sense, so I trusted the process.

At checkout, I did exactly as instructed and left with my groceries—but on the way out, the receipt checker stopped me, stating that I had six items in my cart but only five items listed on the receipt. I explained that the sixth item was the steak that should’ve been manually entered by the cashier. Together, we reviewed every item on the receipt. Turns out, the pre-scanning employee had only scanned 1 mushrooms instead of 2.

I was then pulled aside in front of everyone and told to wait for a supervisor. I stood there for several minutes, feeling extremely uncomfortable while other shoppers looked on as if I’d done something wrong. I was mortified.

When the manager finally arrived, I calmly explained the situation. He took my membership card and the mushrooms saying he would charge me and bring it back. When he returned, I asked: “Does this happen often? This was really embarrassing for me.”

His response? “It’s ok. It happens. Do you see that chart? These are all the items that weren’t scanned—it happens about 20%- 30% of the time.”

No apology. No ownership. Just… “It happens.”

I left feeling gaslighted, as though I should just accept what happened and move on. But the truth is—it wasn’t my mistake. I followed their system, I trusted their staff, and I still ended up feeling like a criminal at the exit.

Mistakes happen—I get that. But when they do, a simple, sincere apology goes a long way. And if this issue occurs 20–30% of the time, as the manager admitted, then it’s time to reassess the pre-scan system. No customer should have to feel humiliated over a process they were encouraged to follow.

Costco usually delivers a great experience, but this one left a bad taste. I hope...

I will never make a large purchase at Costco again.

I purchased a Blackstone today. I debated purchasing one for about 6 months and eyed them every time I was in Costco. I recently overcame a few medical conditions and wanted to treat myself so I went up there today with the sole intention of doing so... it's pretty heavy and I was by myself so they helped me load it onto the cart and into my car, so I do appreciate that. I purchased the Blackstone with a shelf on the front, which was 100% the model that I wanted. I assembled the entire thing and the very last step is to loosen 2 factory-set screws so you can slide the shelf over them to hang from the front. One of the screws was torqued down so hard at the factory that the screw head stripped when I tried to loosen it. Now, this is not Costco's fault. I'm extremely disappointed on how they handled it, though. I went back up to the store to go over my options and they told me to bring it back and they'll swap it out. The issue is that I spent an hour and a half putting it together and had to destroy the box to get it unpacked. Bringing it back would require me to disassemble the entire thing and put all these loose components in my vehicle. The cooking surface and lid, however, weigh about 80 lbs and have jagged metal, so with my seats folded down to fit it, it would completely destroy the upholstery on my car seats. When you purchase from Costco online, there's an option for them to deliver and install it for you. I asked if maybe one of those guys could come out and see if they could look at it and maybe fix the issue, bypassing the return. They told me that's not an option, only for online purchases. So, basically, I paid $400 for a Blackstone that's defective, have no viable way of getting it back for return without damaging my vehicle, and Costco couldn't care less. I now get to live with a dysfunctional product that doesn't have the features I wanted and paid for. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, they say. I'm not the least bit satisfied, I'm out $400 and hours of my time and the only way this thing is making it's way back to Costco is if I go rent a pickup truck and lose more...