COSTCO customers are furious over a seemingly brand new rule change at the retailer’s food courts.
Several shoppers criticized the change on Reddit, with one taking a snapshot of a sign posted inside their local store in Orlando, Florida.
The sign read that starting on April 8, 2024, only those with a Costco membership would be allowed to purchase items from the food courts inside store locations.
“Effective April 8, 2024, an active Costco membership card will be required to purchase items from our food court,” it noted.
“You can join today. Please see our membership counter for details.”
In the thread, one Redditor argued that even without the sign, a rule was supposedly always supposed to be enforced that food court items were strictly for Costco members.
“Previously, Costco employees have shared that the food court has always been intended for Members, but many warehouses have not been enforcing this policy, your mileage may vary,” they wrote.
A few others seemed confused, with some claiming that Costco locations with food courts on the outside of their store locations always required memberships while those inside did not.
“We needed a card to purchase food on the Big Island of Hawaii, but I thought it was because it was outside,” someone said.
Another replied, “Yup, that was the reason. The Costcos with an outside food court required memberships, inside courts didn’t.”
“Now it seems that they’re making it mandatory across the board.”
A Costco member from New Orleans, Louisiana, said they found the same signs at their location similar to Orlando earlier this month.
In the past, according to them, a membership rule at the food court was never enforced by Costco employees.
“Here in New Orleans, it’s outside and they don’t ask. It’s also in the middle of the city in a high traffic area and across from a University so i assume that also plays a role,” they wrote in the Reddit thread.
“They just put up signs saying membership will now be required. Same as the ones in Orlando pictured here.”
Even so, some hailed the rule change, commending Costco for the decision to honor members and block non-members from getting “freebies.”
“Hahahhahaha Costco ain’t f**kin around anymore. NO MORE FREEBIES!!!” someone wrote.
“MOOCHERS, BE GONE!!!”
IS IT LEGAL?
Others were fuming that they weren’t sure keeping the food court exclusively to members was legally acceptable in their states.
“This is illegal in some states. I believe in Oregon they are not allowed to make the food court exclusive,” one person suggested.
“I’m pretty sure this is the case in Minnesota too!” another exclaimed.
Given that Costco is membership-based, it would seem that it would not be illegal to restrict access to the food court for members only, given the store’s terms and conditions.
The U.S. Sun has contacted Costco for further comment and confirmation on its food court policies.
The retail warehouse giant has actually been trying to enforce the food court rule since before the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, per Food & Wine.
Signs were spotted outside several food courts in California and the unofficial Costco Deals account on Instagram posted about the change.
As The U.S. Sun previously reported, members at Costco have also been questioning the store’s return policy in recent months.
CUSTOMER COMMITMENT
Some argued that shoppers are supposedly abusing Costco’s commitment to honoring purchases if they are not satisfied.
One person claimed they saw a member return a half-eaten watermelon successfully, among other items.
They claimed the customer was essentially getting away with theft in the process.
“Costco I love you but you’ve got to do something about abuse of your return policy,” they wrote in a post on Reddit.
“Just saw a woman return 1/6 of a watermelon…just the rind… among other things.”
“Can’t help but feel customers end up paying for this abuse,” they added.
“It’s nice you stand by your products but this is just theft.”
The return policy noted on Costco’s website states, “We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell with a full refund.”
For more related content, check out The U.S. Sun’s coverage on why some Costco members say they prefer Sam’s Club after what they called rampant “rule-breaking.”
The U.S. Sun also has the story on why Costco’s founder said he’d “kill” executives if they increased the price of its famed $1.50 hot dog.