Getting The Most From Your Warehouse Store Membership

RE: Getting The Most From Your Warehouse Store Membership Post By Bob T. (Guest Post) (02/28/2008) I was in the Sam's Club on West Broad St. in Richmond, VA last Tuesday picking up a few things when I observed an incident that disgusted me. An older gentleman, maybe 70, was checking out. He asked the clerk to explain why he was charged more than $11 for bagels. The clerk said, "That's the number she (the next clerk over) gave me." The item description didn't match so an adjustment was made. Upon hearing the total, the customer handed the clerk some money and then looked at the receipt. He pointed out that another of the items he had in his basket was marked $2 less than he was charged and asked what was going on here. The clerk, who apparently was only scanning the items and was not the cause of the problem, called someone to check the price for him. Meanwhile the line is getting longer and longer. Another employee, maybe a supervisor or manager, came and was asked to check the price. He asked, "What's wrong here?" The customer started to explain but was interrupted with another question. He gave up and said, "Just give me my money back. There's too much wrong with this transaction." The bossy one said, come over to customer service. I'll take care of you. The customer said, "I'm in a hurry. The clerk took my money. He can give it back. The transaction is cancelled. I'll just co over to Costco and buy the stuff there." The bossy one said, "That's the way you have to do it. I'll give you your membership fee back too. The customer said, "Do not stall me and make me lose more time. The bossy one, a much younger and larger guy leaned over the customer in a threatening manner and shouted with his face just inches from the customer's, "Don't threaten me! I'll throw you out! No body talks to me like that!" Now IMHO, it doesn't take much to make this jerk feel threatened since he was half the customer's age or less and half again his weight. The customer replied, "If you lay a hand on me I will call a cop." The bossy one screamed, "Then do it! Do it now! I want you out of my building!" The customer followed to the customer service counter where the bossy one barged in and told a clerk to give the customer his money back and give him his membership fee back too. The customer stood quietly until she handed him his money, the customer thanked her and walked out with the bossy one yelling after him, "I'll mail this to you." I guess he meant the membership fee. I abandoned my basket and left too. I saw the gentleman later in the Costco store about a block down the street. I certainly won't spend any more time or money in Sam's club. That must have been illegal and I will gladly be a witness to the whole thing should the gentleman need one. There were at least 50 more people standing around and several of them walked out empty handed also. While looking for the best place to get this word out I found dozens of other complaints about several Sam's clubs. Not surprising. One almost exactly matched an experience I had with their tire department. See http://www.complaints.com/directory/2005/december/2/1.htm There were two differences, they didn't strip my lug bolts/nuts but they insisted that I had the wrong size tires on my car according to their computer and they wouldn't sell me more of the same size. I had to take a photo of the tag inside my door that specified the correct tire size and get a manager to tell them to mount and balance the correct tires. (Turns out that they didn't have my size in stock. They had to order them.) And when they came in, they didn't call me. I had to go by and see if they had come in. Then, when they installed them, they slapped wheel weights at the incorrect points so I had to come back for them to balance them again (with the assistance of the manager.) And yes, I watched them stick the wheel nuts in the airgun socket and slam them onto the studs with the gun running. No torque stick and no second person check. The only reason I ever came back Sam's was because I hadn't had a bad experience in the rest of the store. So much for that! It is no wonder Costco has so many more customers. Does anybody have a number for a high-level executive within Sam's organization? My membership will not be renewed nor will anybody else's that I have any influence with. I'm going to place this in as many places I can find. Bob T. Richmond, Va. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Getting The Most From Your Warehouse Store Membership Post by Cindy S. (112) | (04/23/2006) Profile | Contact I worked at a Sam's Club for fourteen years. It's been five years since I left. I used to buy quite a bit when I worked there (no membership fee for me) and I used to think I would always shop there. Since I dont work there anymore, it is amazing to me how much I dont need to shop there anymore. I save more money by shopping at Aldi's and following sales. My mom has a membership so when she goes I have her get me the Eggo waffles, my husbands razors, and other things that I KNOW are the best price. As for the persons who received poor service, I know that I would have NEVER gotten away with treating a member like that. Let me tell you that the LAST thing any club manager wants to get is a call or email from the home office in Bentonville Arkansas saying that they received a complaint. If you were named in that complaint you were in BIG trouble. So. if you dont get help---go over their heads until you do. That card mixup in Florida was probably do to the way she was looking up the name --it has to be very exact. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Getting The Most From Your Warehouse Store Membership Post By Becky (Guest Post) (04/22/2006) I loved going to Sam's, Costco, and BJ's. We've never had a problem with anyone being rude. We found the prices at BJ's to be a little better, and as one writer said if all we did was get milk it would have been worth the membership. May I make a suggestion to the readers who had people be rude to you at your different Sam's? Call those warehouses and ask for the corporate offices phone number and address. Either write or call and complain to the corprate office. Tell them the problem, most company's do not want to lose customers and will generally do whatever to make a customer happy. We have complained before to corporate offices of different company's and it always works. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Getting The Most From Your Warehouse Store Membership Post by sshep (20) | (04/22/2006) Contact After reading Matthews' complaint about Sams Club in Fl. I have a different type of complaint about them in MA. My husband and I have had a bjs membership in our city; but, we wanted to check out sams club in a city not too far away to see if it would be worth while to change or to keep both. When we walked in to go to check the store (I had called the store and they had sent me a pass so I could do this) the woman at the door was not smiling and made us both feel like we had done or was going to do something wrong....anyway we went through the store and put things in our cart and when the time came I went to the service desk to get the card. It was pretty much a hard sell to try to get me to upgrade my card over a basic membership....I prevailed! At the check out there was confusion about needing to buy two packages of muffins instead of the one we wanted. There was no sign saying that and they were rude about it. they did let us get the one but reluctantly. They next time we went in we were at the check out and this guy comes up to us and whisks the card from my husbands hand and takes it up to the desk without giving any reason and finally comes back with the card and tries to get us to upgrade. we were shocked. The reason we did not at this time protest was we need to purchase as much organic items as possible and they do have some at reasonable prices. But we have made a decision to speak up and make a loud complaint. bjs never treated us like that ever. Our membership will be up for renewal at sams in July. I am going to see how they treat us until then. It is a shame that you can only get some items at certain store. customer service in not their top priority. I always feel they think I am going to steal something. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Getting The Most From Your Warehouse Store Membership Post By (Guest Post) (04/21/2006) I love Sams and Costco. I have memberships at both! I buy everything there. Milk, birthday cakes, wines, meats, veggie burgers, french fries, canned chicken, canned tuna, frozen veggies, orange juice, butter, toilet paper, paper towels, bath bar soap, liquid soap, asprin, cashews, you name it. It's also a nice, cheap place to take the family out to dinner LOL. You can't beat the dog/pop for next to nothing! We have two houses, one up north, so I just split everything and have both homes stocked. I also purchase socks, capris, jeans, shirts, books, whatever I need. I don't like to shop so stocking up once a month suits me just fine!! My time is worth more than coupon clipping and running all over town with gas $3/gallon to save a dime. Report Spam or Abuse Complaint about Sam's Club Customer Service Post By Matthew Groelinger (Guest Post) (02/22/2006) The reason that I am writing is to offer my feedback from my most recent visit to Sam's. I was actually visiting the Sam's club location in Wesley Chapel Fl, off of state road 56. Upon arriving to this store, my intention was to receive a new card because I had misplaced my old card that I had had for years. I went to the customer care center and was helped by a lady with 12 years of experience named Marie. Marie, whom seemed to be very matter of fact, told me after looking at her records that I did not have a membership and that the computer system would have told her if I did. Having many years in a technical field of work, I knew that this computer system was fallible to human error and that it was wrong. I am not the primary owner of this membership so I let Marie speak on the phone to my 75 year old grandmother to clear this up. Marie then proceeded to roll her eyes and have the same short nonunderstanding attitude with my grandmother and told her that she could not explain the situation to her and that she would just talk with me again. Marie was very rude to my grandmother and treated her like she was not able to understand, which really surprised me because Marie has had 12 years of customer service. So, after getting off the phone with my grandmother, Marie told me that there was no numbers that I could call, no other means of fixing the problem, did not believe anything that I was telling her and told me that my grandmother was going to have to go in person because she could not talk to me on the matter. -WOW I was dumbfounded by this and just left the store. But, upon thinking about what had happened, I decided to return to the store to speak to a manager. I told the manager of this situation, and how all I wanted was a resolution to the obvious problem. It was ridiculous that again, I was told that I was incorrect and given no means to help my situation. The manager also did nothing to address the way that I was treated from Marie, and gave me no means to contact anyone to help aid me in my situation. I have been a customer of the Sam's club for over 5 years and my grandmother for even longer. I have never been treated this way before and feel that there should be something done to slap the hands of both Marie and her manager. I was treated like a second rate customer and it was an outrage. This email is a cry to have something done and to find an outlet to take some course of action. Please email me back at mgroelinger @ primeplus.net (remove spaces. Thank you Report Spam or Abuse RE: Getting The Most From Your Warehouse Store Membership Post By Jessica (Guest Post) (01/25/2006) I buy my meats at my local wholesale club (Sams). I can buy a six lb tray of 90% lean hamburger for about $1.99 a lb. This is cheaper than my local stores. I bring home the tray, and then cut it into six 1 lb chunks, then freezer wrap them and store them. Sometimes I make 1/2 lb chunks instead, and then use them for things like tacos which don't require as much meat. Also, I buy the pork tenderloain for about $15, I then split into two good size roasts and about six pork steaks. Also, I purchase the Tyson frozen chicken tenderloins in the bag. They are smaller, and you can bake them without defroasting for 30 min in the oven at 350. With some nuked baked potatoes and a salad, you have a meal. Hope this helps. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Getting The Most From Your Warehouse Store Membership Post by phishphan98 (59) | (01/20/2006) Contact BJ's Wholesale has a website that has coupons on it that you can print out. They are member only coupons but sometimes they have coupons to save on your entire order or just regular items. They accept other coupons as well, which can really save you money. But of course as always with the warehouse stores know your prices of items so you know if you are getting a deal or not. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Getting The Most From Your Warehouse Store Membership Post by marinewife5 (40) | (01/19/2006) Contact If the only thing I bought at my wholesale club was 1 gallon of milk a week, I would still be saving $.40 on each gallon even if I figured in the cost of my membership onto that gallon of milk. All other savings I had over the year would be "gravy". Some prices fluctuate quite a bit so it is good to have an "eye" for the best unit price, or keep a book of those for reference on staples and weekly purchases. Splitting your membership fee with a friend would save you money and allow them to share the savings with you. Even if they only had you buy milk for them once a week...they would still save money over buying at the local grocery. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Getting The Most From Your Warehouse Store Membership Post By chml (Guest Post) (01/19/2006) Know your prices of things you buy at other stores first. If you use coupons at other stores, Sam's isn't always cheaper. Among the things I don't buy at Sam's; Tide, toilet paper, paper towels, some canned goods, foam plates-- with coupons stores are cheaper. Things I buy at Sam's club; Downey,Clorox 2, Cascade, Cat food, Planters nuts,Hershey's syrup, spices, bakery muffins, cheese, Uncle Ben's rice, Sweet & Low, Ziploc bags, most frozen food,everyday silverware (36 in container), everyday or work jeans,batterys, salsa & nochao chips. I also keep all my sales slips in my purse, even from years ago, looking over these helps me make a list and to check prices of things that have gone up in price. Sam's really saves me money, but you must have a list and only plan on a few necesities extra. GOOD LUCK Report Spam or Abuse RE: Getting The Most From Your Warehouse Store Membership Post by smcarney (104) | (01/19/2006) Profile | Contact Go with a LIST and stick to it RIGIDLY! If you don't, odds on you'll end up spending more money than you want. Also, check the per ounce or per unit price. Sometimes you are getting a "steal of a deal" but other times you are overpaying for an item you could find cheaper at your favorite grocery store. Also, don't forget that you are paying a fee for the privilege of shopping there - add that amount into your total cost as well, even if the yearly fee is only $35 (like here). Report Spam or Abuse RE: Getting The Most From Your Warehouse Store Membership Post by cherilgs (5) | (01/18/2006) Contact Get a co-op group together. Even if it is just one person. Splitting things is a lot more thrifty. Also, it is best if you know your prices. Wholesale is not always cheaper. Report Spam or Abuse