Costco

Costco as a whole is very convenient when you need items in bulk and at a cheap price. However, be careful when you are shopping here because you may buy things that you may not really need. There are many times when my family buy food that goes to waste because we cannot finish the food that are in bulk. This Costco is average at best. The customer service in the store is subpar. I find several workers who just stand around, some just minding their own business and talking to each other when we needed help particularly at the merchandise pickup counter, and they don’t greet us when we came in or asked us if we needed any help.
However, the worker that helped my family at the wireless center at this location is very accomodating and patient. We came here three times inquiring about the different phone carriers, phone plans, and the phones themselves that we were interested in. They never showed any frustration but were able to answer all of our questions and lead us to the best option available for us. In addition, the man stayed with us an hour after closing. However, of course there would be another mix up, the man ordered the wrong phone for me but he did get the rest of the phones of my family right.

Pop quiz–
Your brother, who lives far away, calls to tell you that he has bumped out his layover so that he can spend one precious night at your house.
He also tells you that he’d love to have a meal with all of your mutual friends in the area.
And that he will arrive the next day.
What do you do?
You go to Costco! Of course you go to Costco. You spend two hours running from aisle to aisle, hoping that you will hit the right balance of foods for the various dietary issues.
Rotisserie chicken for the diabetic.
Cheese for the vegetarian.
Tabouli for the vegan.
Chicago mix popcorn for the young at heart. (Or at least for those who have remembered to take their cholesterol pills!)
Grapes and other fruit for the under 10 crowd.
And don’t forget plastic bags for the leftovers!
This Costco has everything you could ever want from a Costco, which is everything. Why only four stars instead of five? Because this is the not-​best Costco in the general area. One half star off because this location actually feels like a warehouse, and at times it feels that I, as a customer, am in the way of the warehouse work being performed. It isn’t as sparkly clean, and the staff seems smaller. The other half star deduction is because of the snack bar situation. It is tucked in a corner inside, squished between the registers and the bathrooms. This makes it really difficult to just run in and grab salads* (a favorite to have on hand for lunch at work and school) and just as difficult to swing by on your way out the door with a full cart.
*I swear I just go for the salads! Not the churro, not the mocha latte, JUST the salads. You believe me, don’t you?

This is a very busy store with some good prices. It’s possible to get similar or better prices by hitting sales at nonwholesale grocery stories, but this store does sometimes have some good deals.
The customer service is poor. There are never enough checkout clerks. On the busiest day of the week, there will be long lines and several checkout lines closed. When returning a bag of substandard produce the other week, I was told I couldn’t exchange it for a good one; I had to get credit for return and then go and pay for a new one, which would require standing in a second long line that day!
Throughout the store, vendors offering free samples and hawking sales clog already crowded aisles at key points. And employees moving around the store inside and out typically show little sensitivity to customers, frequently just walking right in the way. After yielding way to another customer today, I was almost hit by an employee pushing a long bank of shopping carts. Such rude, cattle-​herding-​style treatment is no way to shop, and on balance it really isn’t worth the savings.
Similarly, the gas station has good prices but frequently poor service. Today one pump in one line was closed, but entering at the end of the line of cars, it was impossible to know that the line would be slower than the others. Also, previously when several pumps were being refilled with gas, customers purchasing premium gasoline were allowed to speed through to the disadvantage of customer purchasing regular. Very poor experiences here.

I go here all the time. I always try to go during the day when it’s not so busy, but the lines move quickly anyway.
I just wish people would keep to the right when pushing there carts down the isles.

I’ve lived all over the US (all four corners from NW to SE) in the last 20 years and this is the worst Costco for customer service of any Costco I’ve shopped!!! If it wasn’t the store that is closest to where I live, I would never go to this store. It’s like you, (as a paying executive level member) do not exist. I was waiting at the returns counter and when two male employees finished with the person in front of me, both of them turned immediately and walked away as if I didn’t even exist. I said «Hey, wait a minute, where are you going? You still have another customer to take care of». They both looked like people who had been caught committing a crime and one man reluctantly came back to the counter to take care of my (quick and simple) return.
They do not collect the carts from the parking area instead allowing them to accumulate in the handicap spaces, preventing the use of those spaces. They do not bring on new cashiers when lines are way back into where the merchandise is. None of their employees are friendly or courteous to customers. This is the only Costco I shopped that gives the company a bad name. (Only ONE employee in the meat/​fish department was helpful when I asked about a product that was no longer available).

Everyone from the meat department to the checker were rude. What ever happened to customer service or at least a smile. Non existing at the Costco.

I’ve been going to Costco for many, many years (even before they were called «Price Club»!). And yesterday, for the first time ever, I got an eye exam and the service I got was excellent! I’ll probably never go anywhere else for my optical/​vision needs.
I saw Catherine Madsen, the optometrist, and she was fantastic. I have a persistent problem in my right eye that my previous optometrist failed to solve so I wanted to get a second opinion for contact lens prescription. Catherine spent a lot of time with me to try and resolve the issue in my right eye. And it wasn’t straightforward. I had previously been going to MyEyeDr. and was not at all satisfied with the prescription I got and the optometrist there didn’t seem too invested in finding me a better prescription. Catherine, on the other hand, seemed to have done everything possible to get me the right lens/​prescription for my right eye. The result: I walked out of there able to see better than I have in nearly a year.
I normally don’t associate getting an eye exam at Costco, but after my appointment with Catherine Madsen, I’m not going anywhere else!

Gas station only:
The line was ridiculously long and the price difference compared to 7 – 11 or Wawa was 6 – 7 cents different. Since we got in the long line we couldn’t back out.
However, we really appreciated the guy who was directing traffic to move is along.
Anyways, will I come back? Probably not. I shall try out the store next time.

Came to get tires put on. This is the most disorganized tire place I have ever taken my vehicles to for tire service. If it wasn’t for the $ 200 difference in cost of my tires I would not have the patience for this idiotically run establishment. 5 minutes means an hour to them. They don’t tell your vehicle is done and you are left wondering around the store hours. They also do not honor anyone who stands in line. If someone else comes in to pick up a car those in line are left waiting for 30 minutes for assistance. Very disorganized.

As far as Costco goes, this one is OK. Not great. Not terrible. OK.
It’s the rare occasion that I can get here and it’s not packed wall to wall both at the gas station (always a line) and in the store. Every now and then, if I get there at 10 (when it opens) and have just a specific number of items to get, it’s an OK experience.
Usually, though, I’m playing bumper carts with all the other customers going up and down the aisles and then waiting in a line at the cashier. I know this is great for Costco. For me, I like a little bit more of a relaxed experience which I can get at the Arundel Mills location or even Largo.

This Costco has a nice big parking lot and wasn’t nearly as crowded as others in the area.
They have all of the usual Costco things. I came here in search for alcohol… but apparently only the DC Costco has that.
The gentlemen at this Costco spoke with me about upgrading my membership. He was very nice and answered every question I had. I decided to upgrade. Now I have a sleek and sexy black card.
I’m gonna pull it at out at really awkward times now and pretend like it makes a difference.
Police: Can I see your license and registration?
Mike: Yeah here you go
Police: Ummm sir, this is a Costco card.
Mike: Yes… a Costco. black card.
Waiter: ok, thank you so much for dining with us tonight.
Mike: Hey everyone! This ones on me tonight
** The table of 20 erupts into thank yous
Mike: Here ya go
Waiter: Ummm sir, this is a Costco card.
Mike: Yes… a Costco. black card.
White House Guard: ID sir
Mike: Oh, but of course
White House Guard: Ummm sir, this is a Costco card.
Mike: Yes… a Costco. black card.
White House Guard: Thanks, go right ahead.
Parking is crucial here– I see myelf stopping by in the not too distant future.

Good prices on Gas, pharmacy and food… produce can be lacking at times. Way too crowded. Courteous employees but seriously understaffed with cashiers… lines are always wrapping around and spilling into shopping aisles… rude customers… savings is usually worth the hassle…

Back when I was naïve enough to actually put the junk they call «gas» into my poor car, the lines were always ridiculously long — no matter what day of the week, or time of day. I’ve never experienced anything near as bad at any other Costco stations, but I don’t use Costco gas anymore — so not too much of a problem for me.
I tried out their tire center when my ’96 Integra needed new tires. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to have anything in stock in my size. They had one or two they could order, but I would have to wait several days for them to come in, and for a brand I had never heard of, they were ridiculously expensive.
Luckily, an employee named Isaiah was there to help. Since Costco couldn’t service me, he was happy to recommend another business in their place, which ended up working out great for me.

Store is great. They have good quality stuff. Cheap. There is no express lane (that I could see) so don’t bother coming here if you only need 1 or 2 things.
Customer service isn’t great though, especially at the tire center. They only have 1 person working the store at any given time, and this 1 person has to answer phones, ring sales, order tires, and check people in when people drop off their cars. Also, don’t believe their time estimates. I came by one day when there was only one other person. They told me it will take them an hour to get the tires on. Sure, I told them I’d come back. 2 hours later, they’re nowhere near done. The garage had only 2 cars including my own.
In the end it took over 4.5 hours to do a simple tire change. Mind you, I’ve taken old cars to drive through tire places before and it literally takes 15 minutes to remove and put on tires. (4 of them)

It’s a costco. Exactly what you expect. However, this one is EXTREMELY unpleasant to go to on the weekend. Parking is a nightmare. It will take you a while to shop because its so difficult to navigate the aisles with so many people and carts. Then, checking out takes about 20 minutes because the lines are 7 – 8 carts long at the least. It’s so busy that you can’t go through the first few aisles because the checkout lines are blocking them. Want some of the hot food they sell at the front of the store? Forget about it. I stood in line for 20 minutes just to get a hot dog. Absolute. Nightmare. It will ruin your Sunday.
All that being said, it isn’t the stores fault (in my opinion). They seem to be well staffed and none of the staff are just sitting around. They are all working hard. It’s just the area — way too many people.

If you have other Costcos in your area, I would definitely think about going to another location before hitting this one up. I visited this one for the first time on a Sunday afternoon. What was I thinking?! The place was an absolute zoo! It was a hard time finding a parking space, and the checkout lines were almost backed up to the produce area. The gas line looked to be at least an hour wait. I gave up hope of getting cheapet gas.
BOTTOM LINE: Its Costco. You already know what to expect to an extent. Visit this one, however, if you are brave enough to fight crowds.

Hate to say it, but the only reason this Costco stands out to me are two reasons, but one in particular…
First, the lesser of the two reasons (but always an important aspect of a business): Customer Service. Staff are completely nice, respectful, helpful, courteous, and serving with a smile.
Now the main reason this Costco stands out compared to others… SAMPLE SIZES ARE HUGE!!! Did not expect that (while waiting for tires on a car) but a very welcome sight.

We all know what to expect from Costco. Good Gas Prices and Free food samples… lol Seriously though unless you enjoy standing in long lines make sure you get here early. I love Costco but I used to love them for only their seafood. Once the prices of their seafood went up I mostly go there to pick up Chinet Paper plates and Kirkland Paper towels… lol No matter which Costco you frequent there seems to be one thing they all have in common and that’s long lines. That’s why I always recommend for people to go as soon as they open.
Your focus should always be to get in and out. Point Blank Period!!!

I have a Love-​Hate relationship with Costco. I love the prices and the quality of products. I hate trying to get in this store and the long lines. But let’s be real. I’ve been to a couple of Costco and the ones I’ve been to all have the same issues.
I have to have a plan of attack for this store. Write down exactly what I want. Try to go on a Mon-​Thurs or the weekends first thing in the morning. And never, I repeat never go to the store right before a major holiday… unless you have taken your chill pill. I like that it has the gas station next to it. They have really good gas prices. The flower selection is really good with great prices. The fruit is delicious especially the strawberries and blueberries. And most important is the steak. Yum! They have the best steak around. I use to think you had to have your coupon book to use their coupons, but you don’t even need to bring it anymore. And did I mention booze? Yes, I wish they sold liquor at this store. Some of the other Costcos do sell wine and I wish they did here.

This is a specific review for the PHARMACY inside the store itself.
I would give 0 stars if I could.
I had the worst experience here yesterday. My mom called earlier at around 1 PM and they said the 2 prescriptions she requested would be ready by 4:30. We got our stuff — battling the crowds and lines and all. At around 4, my mom went to stand in line for the pharmacy and it wasn’t ready — the chick said it’d be 20 more minutes. Fair enough, so we decided to check out, put the goods in the car, and come back.
The line was now ridiculously long and we stood for a total of 40 minutes as 2, ONLY 2(!) people in front of us were served.
First off: How hard is it to scan/​ring up one prescription? The girl out front (there were only 2 total working, on a BUSY Saturday) looked like she was walking through sludge, without a care in the world, oblivious to the snaking line.
My fears regarding her oblivious nature were confirmed as a patron behind us confronted her about the length of the line and she said «We’re doing the best we can» — and then she turned to the person she was ringing up (for about 10 minutes now) and said, «It’s always like that. I’ve seen the line go all the way back down there. It doesn’t even bother me anymore.»
Boy, was I positively SEETHING by now!
Finally, it was our turn. We went up and she said that one of the prescriptions was out of stock, and the other wouldn’t be filled until 90 days after the previous filled date.
Okay, let’s analyze her statement piece-​by-​piece.
1) One was out of stock. And she didn’t know this about 1 hour before? I was appalled.
2) It wouldn’t be filled until 90 days after. How could this be in place and yet; when my mom had called way earlier in the day — they nonchalantly said that the prescriptions would be ready?
I could barely contain myself as I let her have it — there were a few choice words thrown in my tirade for good measure. Can I just say that the look on her face was priceless? :)
She finally said, literally shaking, that both would be ready on Monday. My mom conceded that she’d be back on Monday but I wasn’t about to leave without the last word! «We’ll pray it’s ready by THEN,» I snapped before leaving.
Seriously, Costco, shape up, or do something about your pharmacy services.