Costco anyone?

[goodoleboy]

I am a recreational shopper to a point. I find costco and Sams to have only a few items I could save money on. Since Sams keeps odd hours and does not take visa I dont shop their often. When i do its a once or twice type of things but Ill admit, ill go with a friend and use their membership or a guest pass.

 

[ultrarunner]

I don't shop Costco often but when I do I spend.

Originally Costco had a partnership with Discover Card and years later Costco moved to American Express.

Never a problem with either and American Express has no preset spending limit so I did use it for large purchases which was convenient and provided cash back...

The most recent change was to Citibank Visa... seems as hard as I try to distance myself from Citibank it keeps coming back like a bad penny... the roll-out was a disaster but eventually got that squared away...

Have not had a credit charge denied in my life and now twice with Citibank Costco...

The new Citi Costco has very definite spending limit which has become a problem... even though I never ever carry a balance...

Contacted Costco and Citi and both said they would be happy to review a request for credit line increase after a Hard Pull... you can't keep a perfect credit credit score when Hard Pulls are made.

Looks like I will be getting rid of another card...

 

[ning]

I don't shop Costco often but when I do I spend.

Originally Costco had a partnership with Discover Card and years later Costco moved to American Express.

Never a problem with either and American Express has no preset spending limit so I did use it for large purchases which was convenient and provided cash back...

The most recent change was to Citibank Visa... seems as hard as I try to distance myself from Citibank it keeps coming back like a bad penny... the roll-out was a disaster but eventually got that squared away...

Have not had a credit charge denied in my life and now twice with Citibank Costco...

The new Citi Costco has very definite spending limit which has become a problem... even though I never ever carry a balance...

Contacted Costco and Citi and both said they would be happy to review a request for credit line increase after a Hard Pull... you can't keep a perfect credit credit score when Hard Pulls are made.

Looks like I will be getting rid of another card...

You can use any Visa card at Costco, it doesn't have to be a Citi visa.

 

[hawkeye08]

American Express got greedy and Citi was hungry. Large company I work for switched from AMEX to Citi also.

 

[fried1765]

I don't shop Costco often but when I do I spend.

Originally Costco had a partnership with Discover Card and years later Costco moved to American Express.

Never a problem with either and American Express has no preset spending limit so I did use it for large purchases which was convenient and provided cash back...

The most recent change was to Citibank Visa... seems as hard as I try to distance myself from Citibank it keeps coming back like a bad penny... the roll-out was a disaster but eventually got that squared away...

Have not had a credit charge denied in my life and now twice with Citibank Costco...

The new Citi Costco has very definite spending limit which has become a problem... even though I never ever carry a balance...

Contacted Costco and Citi and both said they would be happy to review a request for credit line increase after a Hard Pull... you can't keep a perfect credit credit score when Hard Pulls are made.

Looks like I will be getting rid of another card...

What is "a hard pull"?
I use my Capital One VISA (2%) for everything,..... except gas, groceries, and drug stores (have a 5% cash back VISA for those).

For information:
In September I charged $15,000 in one shot, for out of USA medical charges (Canada).
My VISA card max was $15,000, and I needed more, so requested an increase, but that was going to take more time, and I wanted the bills to be all paid.
Refreshed my card with a $5,000 internet transfer, and finished the bill off 3 days later.
TransAmerica Ins. holds the coverage, and required me to pay first (their out of country requirement), and then file with them for reimbursement. They are supposed to pay 80% of the total $18,250 bill (USD).
They have owed me $14,600 since September, and have not paid me one thin dime to date!

Yup!
You are correct!
I am venting about TransAmerica Insurance Co.!!

 

[MacLawn]

Bird, and any who balk at Costco membership fees, believe me, that fee will become free if you go there much! We get a check every year from Costco that covers our Excutive member fee. Costco sells more gasoline than any other place in America, its Top Tier gasoline and they change the pump filters every month, maybe more. Quality is better than Sam's. Easy returns/refunds. Get their Blue Mountain blend whole bean coffee. Just get it. First Costco I went in was in Japan, they're big there! We live mostly in Mississippi and no Costco at all, have to go to Birmingham, AL. Well, yes, we love Costco.

 

[dmccarty]

We are off to Costco today. I don't like going because the store that just opened "near" us is always packed. :laughing::laughing::laughing: Last trip, we had to drive around to find a parking spot. We plan on being there when the store opens this morning and maybe the traffic will be better but it is a Friday going into XMAS season so I am doubtful. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

We have saved a bunch of money at Costco however it is hard to quantify. Before we bought a membership, we walked around, looked at stuff we buy at the grocery store and figured we would safe 30-50% off the local grocery store prices. :shocked::shocked::shocked: Sometimes the package price at Costco is the same or higher than at the grocery store, but if you look at the package weight, you get 2-3 times more stuff. Eggs and milk are really cheap. We bought these snap lid egg holders to store the eggs we buy at Costco. The egg holders are air tight, or pretty close to air tight, and the eggs stay fresh for a very long time. Bagels are easily 50% less than at the local grocery store and I think bread is the same. We freeze what we don't need to use immediately.

We get money back on the Costco card which more than pays for the membership fee.

For big ticket items like TVs and tires we do compare prices. TV prices seem at least as good as Amazon prices if not lower. Tire prices are good but we have done a bit better at tire stores but we seemed to have timed tire sales.

You can buy a membership and if it is not working out for you, one can cancel and they will prorate your membership fee to you. Can't really beat that deal.

Later,
Dan

 

[Bird]

Bird, and any who balk at Costco membership fees, believe me, that fee will become free if you go there much! We get a check every year from Costco that covers our Excutive member fee.

We get the same from Sam's Club.

Costco sells more gasoline than any other place in America, its Top Tier gasoline and they change the pump filters every month, maybe more.

We do frequently buy gasoline at Sam's Club; don't know and don't care when they change the pump filters.

Quality is better than Sam's. Easy returns/refunds.

I don't know whether you're talking about the quality of the gasoline, or other things, but I've had no reason to complain about any of Sam's Club quality that I can remember. As for returns/refunds, I've never had a problem at all with Walmart, but can't remember ever returning anything to Sam's Club.

Now of course, nothing's perfect.:laughing: A few days ago I bought a case of 12 cans of green beans at Sam's Club for $5.98, so almost 50 cents a can. Then we went next door to Walmart for some other things and I happened to notice they had the same green beans (yep, same size cans, too) on sale for 44 cents a can.

IF we were not already members at Sam's Club, and have been since the first one opened in Dallas, and IF we didn't have two Sam's Clubs closer than the nearest Costco, I'd probably want a Costco membership. I've not heard anything bad about them, and we did visit the nearest one shortly after it opened and we got an invitation in the mail to join quite a few years ago, but after looking around there, didn't see any reason to pay for a membership. Since I've not been in Costco in more than 12 years, there's no doubt some things have changed.

 

[ultrarunner]

It is hard to get in and get out at my local Costco but I do appreciate the Business Costco... it has limited selection but mostly what I need... so it is convenient... the Lacey/Olympia WA Costco and Home Depot and Lowes are a dream compared to the SF Bay Area stores.

Tried twice buying tires for the Hospital trucks at Costco... didn't go over well... the price was good but having the truck out of service for better part of a day was not... the third time I got there an hour before it opened and the queue put me at 3 hours... so that was the end of that.

America's Tire is nearby and matches Costco and in and out in 30 minutes +/-

Hard credit pull will affect your credit score negatively in most cases... it may only be a few points but how am I ever going to get to a perfect credit score of 850???

My brothers and I have a family rivalry over having the highest credit scores... we are within points of each other and as mentioned... Discover and American Express or Mastercard never an issue... heck, my old B of A card was never a problem.

Citi is a different animal... and they are insisting on a hard credit pull prior to determining if my 5k credit can be increased.

Two insurance payments in the same cycle puts me over... just a paying the Waste Management bill on line is over 2k...

My other Citi Card is Master Card so it won't work it Costco... has 8 times the limit too...

 

[RobertBrown]

I don't shop Costco often but when I do I spend.

Originally Costco had a partnership with Discover Card and years later Costco moved to American Express.

Never a problem with either and American Express has no preset spending limit so I did use it for large purchases which was convenient and provided cash back...

The most recent change was to Citibank Visa... seems as hard as I try to distance myself from Citibank it keeps coming back like a bad penny... the roll-out was a disaster but eventually got that squared away...

Have not had a credit charge denied in my life and now twice with Citibank Costco...

The new Citi Costco has very definite spending limit which has become a problem... even though I never ever carry a balance...

Contacted Costco and Citi and both said they would be happy to review a request for credit line increase after a Hard Pull... you can't keep a perfect credit credit score when Hard Pulls are made.

Looks like I will be getting rid of another card...

I have had a costco membership for quite a while. I liked AMEX....but as soon as I saw CITI bank I was on edge. I dealt with them 20 years ago and cut ties then. I don't like CITI either. I have to keep on top of things....I don't trust them either.

 

[ultrarunner]

I wish I could say something positive about Citi but too many negative experiences...

I still have my Costco Discover Card but it is not accepted everywhere... and not Costco.

The Amex worked real well when I was traveling for business... and no preset spending limit is something I never appreciated until it went away with Citi...

As mentioned... the official letter I received from city was basically a form letter.

I now have a zero balance with no intention of ever using it again... I'm sure they could care less but some of my business charges for the Hospital add up... 10 to 15k were not unheard of on Amex... 5k with Citi isn't going to cut it.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I dont recall costco ever using discover card, sams club did.
The switch from amex to citi was smooth here. Overall i like costco.

 

[ultrarunner]

Discover was the first card... way back in the 80's... mine is 1986.

We shopped Price Club which became Costco...

Sorry to see it go but Discover said Costco members could keep it with no fee and cash back.. so I did.

Downside is not well accepted outside the US then and even now not everywhere.

The Amex was different... the company had incentives but you had to accept after the divorce from Costco... I would have kept it but was not going to jump through hoops for it.

Citi is Citi... the roll out was terrible from my prospective... but I guess the process was underestimated.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I had a Pace membership in the 80s, which later got rolled into sams club. The price club was too far away, so never had their card, although i went there a few times. Back then, some of them would let you buy without a membership card, but you paid something like 5% more.
Joined costco in early 2000s when they came to town.
For yrs i had both costco and sams cards, but as the fees increased, went with costco only. Our sams wasnt that great at the time, but now much bigger. Our sams just recently put in gas.

 

[EarPlug]

Visa is taking over as the exclusive credit card for Costco, which means all other non-Visa credit cards will no longer work. That said, you do not need to use the Costco-branded Visa card. ... You can also still pay with cash, checks, debit cards, Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) and Costco Cash Cards.

I use my Chase Ink (VISA) for business card at Costco. It is rated as one of the best small business credit cards. Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card | Chase.com

 

[EarPlug]

but some of my business charges for the Hospital add up... 10 to 15k were not unheard of on Amex... 5k with Citi isn't going to cut it.

Why in the world would you be using your PERSONAL credit card for $10-15k charges for the Hospital? What happens if you don't get reimbursed? There goes YOUR CREDIT!

 

[TheMan419]

Why in the world would you be using your PERSONAL credit card for $10-15k charges for the Hospital? What happens if you don't get reimbursed? There goes YOUR CREDIT!

Many companies do not hand out a corporate card to employees. You pay the expense up front and company reimburses you.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Many companies do not hand out a corporate card to employees. You pay the expense up front and company reimburses you.

Maybe for travel, but i would never buy company stuff on my credit card.

 

[ultrarunner]

Why in the world would you be using your PERSONAL credit card for $10-15k charges for the Hospital? What happens if you don't get reimbursed? There goes YOUR CREDIT!

Good question... I was project manager during construction and the final 6 weeks before opening was a mad rush as change orders rolled in because the Docs changed several very important specs for imaging and sterile processing... the normal procurement would have taken weeks... so I was given the green light to get it done... things like a special air dryer or ordering a compressor which was never in the specs...

If time is of the essence and you want it done right the first time... I am the one to get it done... amazing what can be done when red tape is done away with... really.

Plus... with full CEO approval I was getting the miles... so it wasn't totally philanthropic.

The charges and prompt payment also boosted my credit score a lot...

 

[ultrarunner]

Many companies do not hand out a corporate card to employees. You pay the expense up front and company reimburses you.

Yep... this is how it was done... but most have several hundred to a couple of thousand if traveling and they need to re-book a flight or something similar on a monthly bill.

It just seems as a company there are more and more reasons to say no then yes... it is not my job

A few weeks back a delivery came of a critical part... it was air freight... I was not there nor did I order it.

The driver would not unload without payment of $128.40 so no one paid him and he took it away.