Costco Wholesale — Local services in Simi Valley

Dear East Coast Costco shopper’s; beware the B.S. that comes with Cali Costco… LINES oh the LINES (it’s like they’ve purposely gone out of their way to ensure that no part of your experience is expedient… Gas pumping is woefully mismanaged and weirdly oriented in a way that can only create congestion (even on a seemingly slow day)… Que’s inside are brutal, with no one organizing or coordinating checkout dispersion… Oh and then there’s the Food Court (like the one thing at Costco that’s supposed to be your reward at the end of your congested nightmare; well that was the crown jewel of day f*ckery from this place!) … So there’s a line for the kiosk to place and pay for your order; but the special perk is that that terminal doesn’t actually submit your food order, it only gives you a receipt. You then get to wait in a second 100ft long line, just to walk to the counter {with only two attendants}, to then physically hand in your receipt (which is the very first indication to that employee) showing that you actually ordered something. And so one item at a time, a single person fulfills your order (including beverages; because that’s not a DIY)… No BS, after 7 minutes of seeing that nonsense and realizing that nightfall was approaching, I went to Customer Service (to confirm that what I was seeing was real)… And let me just say that the delightful CeeyUoNextTuesday manager that immediately took a reviled approach that my [legitimately calm] breakdown of confirmation questioning followed by the comment of, “that’s the most asinine arrangement I’ve ever witnessed at a Costco” was apparently so offensive to her that she tried to put me to the end of a separate return line for $1.61 hot dog… and then when I walked away, noting that I’ll cut my losses, she actually sent Loss Prevention after me (because I had two items, and my receipt in my hand, but apparently I hadn’t taken enough time to validate the feelings of the guy checking receipts: who subsequently was the exact same person who had checked my receipt only a moment prior when I walked to the desk)… like no joke, I literally called Costco corporate; and I just said, I want nothing out of this, other then from someone with sanity to tell me that what they’re doing in Cali Costco’s is a unique breed of stupidity that doesn’t exist elsewhere… And to her credit, the customer service rep was on the line openly admitting to fighting back laughter because [the call was recorded] she had never had someone repeatedly refer to the multiple points of failure this store had as “sparks of insanity”. (Note: I had that experience while entirely dead sober, so i guess the shock and awe of stupidity on clear display was that much more alarming… No joke; all that because someone was like “oh go to Costco when in Cali because they have sushi… Seriously, spicy tuna rolls and some Açaí drink led to that spout...

20 years ago this month when I was about a week away from giving birth to my first child, I did one last pre-delivery Costco run, rolled my cart out to my car, unlocked the door, got inside and then promptly drove away --- leaving my entire shopping basket full of stuff sitting in the Costco parking lot! When it finally occurred to me what I had done, I raced back to the store, hoping against hope that I would find my undisturbed cart sitting precisely where I had left it. But of course it was gone. Ever the optimist, I explained my situation to customer service, hoping that some kind soul had witnessed my absent-mindedness and returned the items to lost and found. But no such luck. Just as I was about to walk away, the manager asked for my receipt and told me to wait while he excused himself. When he returned he had a cart full of the items that I had previously purchased, which he then proceeded to give me, free of additional charge.

All these years later I still remember his kindness and have recounted that story on NUMEROUS occasions when asked to give an example of extraordinary customer service. But still, it came as a shock to me today, to see a Costco employee running toward me in the parking lot after I had finished my shopping, holding a bottle of Kirkland water in his hand. Catching up to me, "Dave" explained that he had found the bottle on the ground, looked around, and had seen that I was the only customer with water in my cart. A quick check revealed that indeed a water bottle was missing from one of the two cases I had purchased. Dave then proceeded to load the broken case into my car.

As an HR manager by profession, I can talk to my own work team until I'm blue in the face about the importance of customer service. But these two examples tell the story far better than I ever could. By virtue of its customer service alone, Costco earned my loyalty twenty years ago, and it still continues to earn my loyalty today. Keep up...

This is my Costco. I worked nearby when they built this store, so I was able to see a vacant lot turn into the amazing enterprise that it is today. I admit to having a sense of fealty to this Costco.

I enjoy visiting Costcos across the country when I travel. There is a sense of familiarity with the products and the layouts of the different stores being so consistent, but not identical. It's fun to see what's different between other Costcos and mine.

At the Simi Valley Costco warehouse, I know the greeters by name as well as many of the checkout staff.

So it is that I never feel quite at home at other Costco locations the way I do at Simi Valley. A large part of what makes this possible is the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff in every department of the Simi Valley Costco. I am not sure if the training is different for the associates at each individual Costco location, but I suspect that it is. The associates at Simi Valley Costco all show the same sense of helpfulness and genuine concern for the shopper's experience.

I don't think I need to review the quality of the merchandise being sold by Costco, since there are thousands upon thousands of reviews for the products that Costco sells.

I have never had an issue with returning a product to Costco. They do not ask for any justification, and the process is very well organized and carried out.

In summary, I am very happy with the Simi Valley...