By returning carts I mean to the corral. I know very few people who bring them back to the store, it is actually a bit awkward in most places to do so especially if they are sanitizing them.


I have love hate with costco. Its a madhouse around here. There food is generally very good though. Especially their meat and frozen foods.

I always return the carts and I'm usually parked the furthest away I can. This is a form of exercise and my car does not have any dings (call me selfish)

As far as job creation....I don't support excessive minimum wage increases as that seems to eliminate jobs. As an employer, I have seen our company automate as much as possible to combat high wages.

You should.

Certain days and times of the week will be worse than others but that's with most things.

You don't need to buy bulk and a lot of the stuff that is bulk, none perishables, makes sense to buy.

We go once a month, works for us.

Their meats are outstanding both in quality and value.

Their Kirkland branded products are all first rate, their Extra Virgin Olive Oil is one of the few actual Virgin Olive Oils, most of your popular "big brands" don't really qualify as they are cut with other cheaper oils.

About the only thing that really annoys us is you get hooked on a product and one day "poof" they just stop carrying it for seemingly no good reason.

We used to buy bags of their Kirkland oriental rice cracker mix. Then one day, no more.

Odd because it was / is so popular entire websites dedicated to finding it, or a reasonable replacement, sprung up.

My weekends usually start with the Saturday morning ritual, the Costco run. I can blaze through there in no time whereas the Wife likes to go up and down all the aisles.

My list is usually the same although some items bought in bulk (like eggs, TP) can last us a month. I usually get baguettes of bread, 3 rotisserie chickens (for the dog, don't ask), Pepsi, meats and cheeses and water.

On Saturdays Costco opens at 9:30 but if you're there at 9 they usually open by 9:15 and I'm out by 9:35.

They did used to carry cases of Techron injector cleaner but i haven't seen it in over a year.

The clothing section is my wifes Achilles heal.

Never shopped Costco - we don't have one close by.

I have returned items to Amazon but only when they failed to perform - except one item I ordered but right afterwards realized it was too large for me (a canopy enclosure). It was less than 1 hour later when I hit the "cancel order" button. Message back was it was too late - already sent to ship mode. The kicker was - the expected arrival time was over 2 weeks away, so I didn't understand why the order couldn't be cancelled. I let it ship anyway but left it in it's box here. Still couldn't figure out how I could use it so went through the "return" process and they wanted to charge a fee. I called customer service and the rep took care of everything for me - no charge. I apologized and explained to him I tried to cancel the order - and he said he saw that. Also said I was a very good customer and was happy to take care of this. So I guess they do have an internal rating system for customers.

What's nice about Amazon returns is you just drop the item off at your local UPS store and they take are of the rest. Doesn't even have to be wrapped or packaged. You do have to bring with you the return paperwork with the bar code for UPS to scan, but that's no biggie.

I have another story I will share later.

If it's from a 3rd party seller things aren't as easy. And it's not always easy to see if what you are buying thru Amazon is coming from a 3rd party or not. However, I have never had much of a problem with refunds from A if the shipment is more than 3 days late or there is something obviously wrong with it. I even cancelled an order and got a refund from a 3rd party pet supply when I found the exact thing for 25% less on a search 2 days later and it was Prime with free shipping. The 3rd party nicked me for return shipping so I'm even more cautious about 3rd parties. I still came out a couple days ahead on delivery AND price.

For that there is eBay. The advantage is always in the buyer's court on the flea.

Shame.

My favorite Costco purchase.

Picked up 6 of them at $50 a pop, they all fit in the back of the Tahoe.

That was 8 years ago.

They are majestic 30 footers now and still going strong.

Going to miss them when I move.

If I could take them with me I would.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623871883.jpg

We have Amazon prime and I know that my wife has returned things many times that weren’t what she expected. She drops it off at UPS (don’t even need the box it came in), shows UPS some return code on her phone and account is credited immediately.

One of our daughters and her family buy EVERYTHING from COSTCO (remember when it was called Price Club)? Anyway we got a dog and named him Bosco and their 6 year old son thought his name was Costco!

You do that too? My dogs love Costco chicken, or Sam's chicken. One is particular and only eats it when it is fresh, won't eat leftovers.

Here's what you'll be missing. Mine were planted at least 50 years ago:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623874852.jpg

Very nice, Scott! Those are very cool trees!!!

We have those here too at various wholesale nurseries, which I am able to shop from.

For example, I just checked and can get these for $29 each. They are in 7 gallon pots and around 5' in height:

https://www.plantant.com/supplierima...1497942180.jpg

It's odd, Cypress are not uncommon here but none of the nurseries carry them.

Our pup (Choco Lab) had a cold/ cough so I told the Wife to warm up some chicken broth for him. Fixed him right up.

Next weekend she hands me the Costco list and it has 2 chickens on it. I asked what we were having and she said "He liked the broth so much I gave him some chicken at 11:00 and now he expects it everyday".

So, at 11 everyday he bugs me or her for his chicken. At $5 a bird (it's their "loss leader") I figure it's no big deal, he's a good boy!

The "Chickenmeister"....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623878107.jpg

I saw quite a few wholesale nurseries in my search who carried them, but Texas is so big, maybe those just aren't in your area.

Still, it's a legitimate landscape tree and seems like they would be available throughout the state, as they are here, as well.

This is one of the reasons I'm happy to be out of the business. Getting material was always a challenge. Not only certain species but in decent condition. It's not like going to the store and grabbing a gallon of milk off the shelf!

Awww....love that pic, Craigster!

I give my girl chicken as well but just not Costco. Along with rice. Supplements her regular kibble diet. :)