It took courage for me to go back to Costco Optical Schaumburg. I had a horrible experience for the third time now.
A few years back, I had been treated badly by a young white female employee. She helped white customers first while I was still waiting right next to them close to her. They came after me. Ensuing events on that day left an emotional trauma to me.
She finally helped me, but she told me to open a drawer in the doctor's office to get something. It was during the height of the COVID19 epidemic, so I told her I couldn't. She ignored me. My emotional voice was heard by a random white male customer who was there only in the later part of the incident.
He started yelling at me in vile language and he chased me around to taunt me. The same employee did not try to apologize or to help me or to tell him to stop harrassing me. A kind employee helped me, but damage was done already.
Later, at the same store, I was yelled at for standing in the wrong line by an Optical Manager. He yelled at me with an aggressive body language to make me move to the correct line. Even though there were many other customers on the same wrong line, only I was picked on - "unconscious" bias, but typical.
This year, I went back to the Optical for the first time after the two incidents. I had to go back to get the new glasses adjusted. The same manager was helping two customers, so I sat and waited for a while right across from them. I wanted to save time for everyone, so I started looking at frames.
A long line of several people formed, so when I saw a customer right after me, I let her know that I was there first. So, I was upset when I saw the manager helping her ahead of me. I protested, but they didn't care.
When he got to me, he "apologized" in an irritable, loud voice. He claimed he didn't see me. I was there quite a while by then. There was no way he didn't see me. I was the only customer at first other than the two customers he was with already.
Abruptly he stopped helping me, then he started to help the other two on the line after the woman who cut in. My husband and I asked for help again, but he claimed that I didn't let him adjust my glasses. A flat-out lie. I was standing right in front of him waiting.
Finally, he got to me. He couldn't fix my glasses to fit well becsuse the legs were too short, but he insisted that I keep trying them on. He said we still had to keep the lenses although the frame was too small.
While disappointing us, to add more salt to injury, he minimized my suffering by one-upping. We had to leave because I felt drained, disappointed, and sad. It was discouraging also that it did not even matter that my husband was there to help me.
East Asian women are often treated like pushovers because we are one of the smallest ethnic minority groups and because of unrealiatic stereotypes. I should be used to these microagressions, but it still hurts every time.
Why can they not have a sign-in sheet or a numbered ticket or a call number system? Why will they not ask themselves once in a while "would I have said and done the same things if she were a tall healthy white man or woman?"
I won't be going back to Costco Optical Schaumburg again. I cannot handle so much intentional meanness, inefficiency, and horrible...
Read moreWe have been a member with Costco for many years. The prices, location, store selection, cleanliness, and service has been excellent! HOWEVER....The aggressive sales tactics to upgrade your membership to a more costly one.....KNOCK IT OFF! STOP! TAKE A CHILL PILL! Going through checkout and being approached Every time we shop is a big turn off. And it's gotten much more worse with the pressure tactics. Saying "No thank you" and still being questioned and poking the bear, no thanks. This unwanted colonoscopy, every time a customer comes through check out, is pissing alot of people off. "Dont you want to save money by using the executive?" "Let me check your spending." Look, everyone wants to get their rotisserie chicken and other essentials, pay and leave. I don't need someone writing numbers on a paper and circling them like I am getting a mortgage. Oh yes, and tell your cashiers to stop telling customers their card is expiring and needs renewing, when it does not yet! Let them pay for their items and get the hell out of the store. Because as soon as they say your card is expired or expiring, their salesman to upgrade comes running over like he is got a timeshare sucker on the hook. ENOUGH! You are going to lose customers! When people are standing in long lines with their 10 pound glass pepper jars, giant peanut butters, and giant laundry soaps, they are stuck. They have to pay and get past the retiree checking receipts. Listen...asking for an upgraded membership with someone holding up the paperwork if fine. Constantly harassing people and embarrassing them to the point where some people make an upgrade is BS! If good customers have to get stressed out over something like this, it's not going to be good for Costco. By the way, this is not isolated at one store. There was just an article on Yahoo talking about these same tactics, I call them...
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I recently experienced a confusing pricing system for tomatoes at Costco. Although the price sign indicates a cost per pound, the way they charge does not reflect that at all. When I wanted to buy a small quantity of tomatoes, I noticed that I was being charged as if I were buying an entire box. For instance, today I picked up a full box of tomatoes, but at checkout, the staff removed some tomatoes from the box—even though the total price was exactly as marked.
It appears that there is either no proper weighing system in place or a lack of clear pricing guidelines. On one occasion, when only six tomatoes were left in my box, I was told that a specific line should be drawn, yet nowhere on the pricing information does it explain this method. Essentially, it turns out that one tomato could be costing around $1.20, based on a box price of $6.99.
If the pricing is meant to be per pound, then the store should either provide an accurate weighing system or clearly display the price per individual tomato. Alternatively, if they intend to sell by the box, the pricing should explicitly state the box price. This inconsistency is not only confusing but also unfair to customers who expect transparent pricing.
In my opinion, the issue is significant: if a sign indicates a per-pound price, customers should be able to buy any weight they want and be charged accordingly. The current approach, however, leaves too much room for misunderstanding. I believe that Costco should either install proper scales for accurate weighing or update the pricing labels to clearly indicate how the tomatoes...
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