20 July 2023 , 13:33
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A woman has been banned from shopping at one of her favourite supermarkets all because she used her husband's membership card. In a TikTok video, her son Angelo Castillo, who created the personal finance coaching service Profit Plug, shared how his mum tried to buy groceries from Costco - but came out with a ban because she broke their policy.
Angelo, from San Mateo, California, said: "My mum got banned from Costco for using my dad's membership card to buy groceries. My mum likes to go to Costco sometimes to just look around, and one day she tried to buy some groceries at the self checkout area.
"As soon as she scanned the card, employees rushed to her and started asking for her ID and membership. After confirming that it wasn't her card, they later told her that she can never go back to that location again." He went on to explain how his dad has the $60 Gold Star membership, which is Costco's lowest membership tier, allowing only two authorised users to benefit from it.
His dad made him a member instead of his mum when he went to college, filling up the second slot. In a statement, Costco Wholesale spokesperson said: "Costco is able to keep our prices as low as possible because our membership fees help offset our operational expenses, making our membership fee and structure important to us."
"Costco's membership policy has not changed. We have always asked for membership cards at our registers at time of checkout. Our membership policy states that our membership cards are not transferable and since expanding our self-service checkout, we’ve noticed that non-member shoppers have been using membership cards that do not belong to them.
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"As we already ask for the membership card at checkout, we are now asking to see their membership card with their photo at our self-service checkout registers. If their membership card does not have a photo, then we ask for a photo ID."
Commenting on his video, one user said: "Not Costco acting like Netflix." Another user added: "Costco usually gives you a few warnings before completely banning you or taking away the membership." A third user said: "They're doing too much. I went with my mum and I was buying her groceries. she has a membership but I don't. They wouldn't let me pay for her groceries."