Costco Wholesale — Local services in Winter Garden

So we signed up for a Costco membership after having Sam's for over 15 years. It is out of our way but we thought we would still give it a go after seeing some new products that they carried on social media. I really like the gas station setup and the different varieties of products that Costco has to offer way more than Sam's to be honest.

BUT somethings I feel like are missing though..like a generic brand of paper plates and plastic/ paper cups. They only carry Dixie plates and cups which is more expensive than the Sam's ones I used to get. Also, specific brand name products/packaging and other items like Horizon Dha 2% milk Carton pack, Kerry's soft butter tub (they have only sticks), Philadelphia Cream Cheese packets (they only have huge tubs), bag of red onions doesn't exist, and body wash/shampoo/conditioner/ toothpaste variety is completely lacking.

Costco's website is far less superior than Sam's... very difficult to get any search results and to see if products are available at the local Costco. The website keeps freezing and is basically almost useless.

The lines to the register are ridiculously longer at Costco. The self-checkout seems like it's only for a couple of items..God-Forbid you bring like 25 items there you get the stare down by the employees who overlook the section..one even commented how we should go to a cashier next time! The self-checkout employee(s) carries a scanner if you have larger items to scan in the cart. Yesterday, we asked the employee if she could scan the rest of the items in the cart (like 7 items) as the area where you put the already scanned items was full on the side of the register. She said "All of these you need me to scan?" And we said yes and she replied "Wow!!" with a disgusted look on her face. Like really... what was the big deal to scan 7 items? Look at your lines with the cashiers then... fix them..open up more registers! Sam's had this very convenient feature on their website called Scan N' Go. I would be able to simply scan each item that I was putting into my cart from my phone and bypass the lines by checking out on my phone. I would show a code to the lady checking receipts at the door and she would check maybe 3-4 items and let us be on our way...super quick and efficient. I would also be able to use this at the pump at Sam's. I would just need to scan the pump qr code and I wouldn't need my membership card or credit card. It would all be saved on my Scan n' Go.

The returns line at Costco is too long.. there has only been 1 employee twice that I've been there. I would end up leaving as I would wait for almost 10 mins each time.

The food court is an absolutely chaotic! We don't dare go there! However, when we were there yesterday I did see some new registers open up in the middle of the food court area. I don't know how that's going to help but ok.

If Costco maybe changed some of the above issues then we might consider staying. Otherwise, we feel like it's a hassle going there and kind of stressful. My husband is all ready to go back to Sam's..I'm maybe waiting for Costco to make...

I can think of 0 reasons to shop at Costco. Yesterday I finally canceled my membership after having it for the last 2 years and being disappointed with every trip we’ve ever made there. Yesterday’s trip was the last straw after many bad experiences and interactions, we finally decided it wasn’t worth it to continue attempting to shop there. I currently have a one week old baby who is learning how to nurse. I needed an electrolyte drink to help with nursing, and I saw that Costco had it. My whole family loaded up in the car and drove over to Costco, but when we arrived, my 1 week old daughter was hungry already and fussing, so I had to nurse her while my husband and son ran in to get me my drinks. A few minutes later, they came back to the car. They were refused entry. Despite being told that we were purchasing a family membership, they have only ever given an ID card to me. However, they put my son on my card—the picture is of the two of us. Despite the fact that I was just a few feet away in the car, despite the fact that my husband explained I was there but unable to come in, despite the fact that my son’s picture was on the card and he was there, the employee rudely insisted that my husband couldn’t come in. She didn’t professionally explain that it was against the rules, she condescendingly scolded my husband and treated him like he was trying to get away with a crime for trying to help me get what I needed. Ultimately, we left and went to Sam’s, where the drink was even cheaper for double the amount. We also later saw it at Target for a cheaper per bottle price than Costco. This experience is unacceptable and was the final straw after a long list of unacceptable experiences with bad products, bad employee interactions, bad customer service, learning about lies that were told to us at the pre-opening sales pitch where we bought our memberships, etc. Their website is terrible, corporate is terrible, app is terrible, checkout system is terrible, products are terrible and overpriced, gas is overpriced and chaotic, bakery is terrible. One of my biggest issues with Costco is that it is disguised as a big box store so you let your guard down and shop as if you are getting great deals. The point of any big box store is that you will buy things in bulk because the quantity allows you to get them for cheap. You trade off being a home storage unit for the discount. However, buying the bulk sized products at Costco doesn’t even offer a discount. You are just paying normal per item prices and you’re becoming a storage unit for nothing. Target has the exact items in reasonable quantities for cheaper per item pricing. Also, after you’ve spent hundreds of dollars for 4 items and are leaving Costco, you will be hounded by sales people asking if you want to add solar panels to your house. There are 0 reasons to...

My friends and I stopped by today to check out this new Costco store since I was considering getting a membership now that it is closer to where I live. My friend has a membership and was telling me how great Costco is and how I should join. Loved everything about this store except for the cafe, worst experience ever. I did not appreciate one of the ladies there talking and treating me like I was trying to get free food. I've eaten at Costco before with my friends in altamonte but I wanted to try the pizza this time so I ordered a slice of pepperoni. My first thought was well its smaller then the slices from Sam's, but I thought well this is Costco so they do things differently. It looked like they took a slice of an average pizza slice and cut it in two which was hard to share with 4 people. After eating my friends noticed everyone had a huge slice on their plate and I should say something so I did and I did not appreciate the lady treating me like a thief, I just paid for our food and unfortunately got scammed out of a pizza slice. Was confused when she told me it was a left over slice from a to go pizza, im a confused on why there would be a leftover slice when someone paid for that whole pizza. Then to be asked if I ate it and yes I did but how was I supposed to know how you cut the slices then told there was nothing she could do since I ate it already. So I did not appreciate that she didn't even try to make it right instead she chose to cheat my pizza slice that I paid for, treat me like a thief, give me a leftover slice that came from someone's to go order that they paid for. It wasn't about giving me another slice but a simple apology since it was my first time. Instead she chose to argue with me. I had to walk around Costco to ease my mind cause that was not right, you don't treat a customer that way. Ultimately because of this experience I don't want to join Costco if this is how customers get treated. I work in hospitality and rather I'm right or wrong my job is to continue to earn your business and see you walk away...