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Costco is members-only. This means shoppers are checked for card-carrying membership when they enter the warehouse and again when they leave.
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However, Costco employees have recently increased membership checks at self-checkout lines, angering customers who call the chain "criminal."
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Over the past few weeks, many Costco customers have shared experiences of uncomfortable employee interactions on Reddit.
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One Redditor said that an employee sought a membership card from her mother-in-law in the self-checkout line, even though she was just a guest.
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As long as only members buy products, Costco members can bring their children and two guests into warehouses.
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However, the Costco member who accompanied her mother-in-law stated she had to go through extensive "questioning" before buying groceries.
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"I was so flustered by the entire encounter and accusation that I can barely check myself out appropriately, but I went ahold of myself and got out there," she wrote.
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"If you're really serious about clamping down on people figure out a better system because erroneously accusing people and policing at a grocery store checkout line (that we pay for yearly) is just not it."
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This post has 1,800 comments, many from Costco members who relayed similar incidents and aired their emotions over being treated like a "criminal" when buying food.
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I was questioned at self-checkout yesterday. They asked me to say my name and show them my card. "It was awkward and the employee was digging for anything wrong while other customers walked right by," a Redditor said.
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In another Reddit post that generated debate, a customer stated that a Costco clerk suspected her of using someone else's card and refused to believe her identification even after providing her card and driver's license.
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In recent weeks, Costco has increased its assault on self-checkout fraud, although stringent membership enforcement is nothing new at the retailer.
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Before the new accusations, shoppers reported being dragged out of warehouses or having their accounts flagged for fraud after using their parents' cards to buy things. Costco did not promptly react to our membership check complaint inquiry.
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