Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
FCKGW
May 21, 2006

Trastion posted:

Unfortunately it is the Costco Citi card and that is what we are already talking about...

You're still covered then since the tablet exclusion is just on Costco extending the original mfg warranty. So instead of 4 years coverage (2yr mfg + 2yr CC) you'd only have 3 (1yr mfg + 2yr CC).
Here's Citi's terms but it just says 2 years after whatever the mfg warranty is, no exclusions minus some big stuff like cars and boats.
https://www.cardbenefits.citi.com/Products/Costco-Extended-Warranty

FCKGW fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Jan 8, 2021

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Anaxite
Jan 16, 2009

What? What'd you say? Stop channeling? I didn't he-

priznat posted:

I went yesterday and dropped about $400 just on food pretty much and got talked into upgrading to an executive membership, lol.

They went hard on me, I guess some post-xmas push. Just gotta ensure I get the difference refunded if it doesn’t pay the for it with the costcobucks.

I hate the layout at my costco because it makes a post-shop dog and soda not worth the hassle of re-lining up to get in.

There is a push every so often. It's good for people who really do spend enough... so just watch how much you're spending. If you average over $250 of purchases (gas and stamps excluded) in a month, it's worth it.

There are some people who really don't want to take advantage of the executive membership. I once talked with someone who would have gotten a reward certificate of over $150 every year, had they upgraded; more than enough to cover their entire membership cost. Unfortunately they didn't trust rewards programs after another store had broken their trust. :(

If you spend enough, go for the higher membership and enjoy it. If not, you'll know soon enough.

Trastion
Jul 24, 2003
The one and only.

FCKGW posted:

You're still covered then since the tablet exclusion is just on Costco extending the original mfg warranty. So instead of 4 years coverage (2yr mfg + 2yr CC) you'd only have 3 (1yr mfg + 2yr CC).
Here's Citi's terms but it just says 2 years after whatever the mfg warranty is, no exclusions minus some big stuff like cars and boats.
https://www.cardbenefits.citi.com/Products/Costco-Extended-Warranty

Ok i will have to check that out when i get home from work. Link doesn't go to the page unless signed in I guess.

FCKGW
May 21, 2006

Trastion posted:

Ok i will have to check that out when i get home from work. Link doesn't go to the page unless signed in I guess.

Oh huh. Looks like it works if the referrer is from Costco.com. Try this

Jingleheimer
Mar 30, 2006

priznat posted:

I went yesterday and dropped about $400 just on food pretty much and got talked into upgrading to an executive membership, lol.

They went hard on me, I guess some post-xmas push. Just gotta ensure I get the difference refunded if it doesn’t pay the for it with the costcobucks.

I hate the layout at my costco because it makes a post-shop dog and soda not worth the hassle of re-lining up to get in.

If you do need to get the difference of your upgrade fee refunded, make sure you do it before you renew your membership. I'm pretty sure it's less of a hassle that way.

They do an executive push a few days a month or so and it's really annoying. If your account gets flagged for being beneficial to have the executive membership and you're not interested, it's likely to get flagged again in the future because Costco is constantly changing the parameters for how accounts get flagged. I mean, it's mostly based on spending habits, but there are a handful of other reasons the system flags accounts that the person trying to sell you on it probably isn't even aware of.

sandball
Jan 6, 2006

Trastion posted:

Ok i will have to check that out when i get home from work. Link doesn't go to the page unless signed in I guess.

Basically the terms are going to work out with the Citi stuff as: for the two years after the last non-Citi warranty has expired you have to send it out to a shop that can do the repairs (or the manufacturer), get a quote for repairs, and file that invoice with Citi for reimbursement.

The nice of this is if the repairs are too costly they will just cut you a check for your purchase price and you can use that to buy another tablet (or something).

Anaxite
Jan 16, 2009

What? What'd you say? Stop channeling? I didn't he-

Jingleheimer posted:

They do an executive push a few days a month or so and it's really annoying. If your account gets flagged for being beneficial to have the executive membership and you're not interested, it's likely to get flagged again in the future because Costco is constantly changing the parameters for how accounts get flagged. I mean, it's mostly based on spending habits, but there are a handful of other reasons the system flags accounts that the person trying to sell you on it probably isn't even aware of.

If you keep getting flagged but the upgrade isn't worth it for you and you're not interested, let Membership know. They can do something about it.

Gaius Marius
Oct 9, 2012

I mean if your getting flagged consistently then you should probably just upgrade, you'll almost 100% get the money back.

Trust me though e blocks sucks for the employees too, but we do get candy so that's a plus.

ArbitraryC
Jan 28, 2009
Pick a number, any number
Pillbug

poisonpill posted:

Do a stock up of staple food: rice, flour, sugar, coffee, pretty much anything you’d take on the Oregon Trail. Frozen veggies: Normandy blend, broccoli. You’re insane if you don’t buy all your meat from Costco: get a six pack of chicken, and a hundred dollar beef loin and freeze it all. Pretty good prices for pharmacy/toiletries
This is all absolutely terrible advice if you’re trying to shop on a budget. Costco stuff is in bulk but it’s also usually more expensive per pound than the same at of a decent grocery store even when sold in smaller portions.

What Costco does well is sell you premium items in bulk cheaper than you could get elsewhere. With some stuff where the label makes a big difference this is a good deal, with others it’s not at all. As an easy example getting chicken or pork at Costco is dumb outside of good sales, but getting a bulk pack of prime steaks is gonna be cheaper.

Uncle Lizard
Sep 28, 2012

by Athanatos

ArbitraryC posted:

This is all absolutely terrible advice if you’re trying to shop on a budget. Costco stuff is in bulk but it’s also usually more expensive per pound than the same at of a decent grocery store even when sold in smaller portions.

What Costco does well is sell you premium items in bulk cheaper than you could get elsewhere. With some stuff where the label makes a big difference this is a good deal, with others it’s not at all. As an easy example getting chicken or pork at Costco is dumb outside of good sales, but getting a bulk pack of prime steaks is gonna be cheaper.

This is not true, at least not in my area. Everything that Fred Meyer (Kroger) or Walmart carries that Costco also carries is always cheaper at Costco, by unit. Safeway is the most expensive of everyone. Costco just doesn't have the selection that regular grocery stores have.

ArbitraryC
Jan 28, 2009
Pick a number, any number
Pillbug

Uncle Lizard posted:

This is not true, at least not in my area. Everything that Fred Meyer (Kroger) or Walmart carries that Costco also carries is always cheaper at Costco, by unit. Safeway is the most expensive of everyone. Costco just doesn't have the selection that regular grocery stores have.

Safeway and Fred Meyer and such is a poor comparison because those sorts of stores are basically only good to shop at on weekly fliers. You can easily get chicken at Safeway for 50% less than Costco on their coupon price but you gotta check out the weekly sales ad for that which I understand some people don’t wanna waste the time on doing.

Something like winco or presumably aldi’s though, it’s literally always just cheaper. I can assure you as a person who both shops aggressively for deals and can juggle numbers in my head easily, Costco is for the most part more expensive even by weight despite buying in bulk because it goes for more premium quality, organic labels etc.

I’m not saying that’s a bad trade necessarily, you get onions or such at Costco and they will last longer than cheap grocery stores, but they’re also literally 2x as expensive.

About the only thing I’ve consistently found to be cheaper at Costco in terms of fresh food is dairy and expensive protein (prime cuts of beef, fish, along those lines).

Now if you live out of boxed/frozen foods yeah it’s a utopia.

moller
Jan 10, 2007

Swan stole my music and framed me!
At least in my area the quality and availability of fresh meat and produce at Safeway or even Sprouts has fallen off a cliff as of late but mysteriously everything from Costco has still been high quality.

Pre-pandemic I swear I was noticing a strong correlation between discount chicken and woody breasts although that’s purely anecdotal.

Edit: Grocery store tomatoes and green onions have been going off before we can use them up which is mental because we're cooking even more than before. Garlic has also been tiny lovely useless cloves for like almost a year now.

moller fucked around with this message at 05:37 on Jan 9, 2021

Gaius Marius
Oct 9, 2012

You can throw some water in a glass and plop the green onions on a windowsill and they'll keep growing. Usually get a couple weeks outta then that way. Tomatoes are bullshit right now though. You have to buy the greenhouse grown ones, otherwise they're flavorless mush that rots in a day

Uncle Lizard
Sep 28, 2012

by Athanatos

ArbitraryC posted:

Safeway and Fred Meyer and such is a poor comparison because those sorts of stores are basically only good to shop at on weekly fliers. You can easily get chicken at Safeway for 50% less than Costco on their coupon price but you gotta check out the weekly sales ad for that which I understand some people don’t wanna waste the time on doing.

Something like winco or presumably aldi’s though, it’s literally always just cheaper. I can assure you as a person who both shops aggressively for deals and can juggle numbers in my head easily, Costco is for the most part more expensive even by weight despite buying in bulk because it goes for more premium quality, organic labels etc.

I’m not saying that’s a bad trade necessarily, you get onions or such at Costco and they will last longer than cheap grocery stores, but they’re also literally 2x as expensive.

About the only thing I’ve consistently found to be cheaper at Costco in terms of fresh food is dairy and expensive protein (prime cuts of beef, fish, along those lines).

Now if you live out of boxed/frozen foods yeah it’s a utopia.

No Aldi here, and WinCo is much cheaper on some things, but I'm not talking about comparing trash tier to what you can buy at Costco. I'm taking about buying equal quality goods. What I buy at Costco that they carry at WinCo is the same or ever so slightly cheaper at Costco. WinCo's hot sauce selection is awesome, and they beat everyone else's price on hot sauce. Unfortunately, it's worth the little extra money to not set foot in the WinCo in my city because the people there are rude as gently caress. It's like an entitled Walmart, but I still go for hot sauce a couple of times a year.

KakerMix
Apr 8, 2004

8.2 M.P.G.
:byetankie:
I like shopping at Costco, and pay for the privilege.

thathonkey
Jul 17, 2012
in da club

poisonpill
Nov 8, 2009

The only way to get huge fast is to insult a passing witch and hope she curses you with Beast-strength.


ArbitraryC posted:

I can assure you as a person who both shops aggressively for deals and can juggle numbers in my head easily, Costco is for the most part more expensive even by weight despite buying in bulk because it goes for more premium quality, organic labels etc.

I swear I'm being trolled here.

Did this person say they were on a strict budget? Aren't we talking about buying prime cuts of beef and organic milk itt? We're comparing things with what you can get at the discount supermarket chains? Let's just agree to disagree on what a food budget should be for people who aren't at poverty level.

Suxpool
Nov 20, 2002
I want something good to die for...to make it beautiful to live

poisonpill posted:

I swear I'm being trolled here.

Did this person say they were on a strict budget? Aren't we talking about buying prime cuts of beef and organic milk itt? We're comparing things with what you can get at the discount supermarket chains? Let's just agree to disagree on what a food budget should be for people who aren't at poverty level.

tbf "you're insane if you don't buy all your meat at costco" is a dumbo thing to say

2.99/lb chicken breasts in 6 packs vs 1.99/lb all day every day at kroger, and i very frequently find other meats cheaper in kroger/meijer as well like ground beef, pork shoulder, pork loin. costco does sales on these comparatively infrequently

i buy the 6 packs anyway bc they're real convenient to cut apart and freeze but i'm apparently as dumb with money as you are

also PBUC

Suxpool fucked around with this message at 14:25 on Jan 9, 2021

poisonpill
Nov 8, 2009

The only way to get huge fast is to insult a passing witch and hope she curses you with Beast-strength.


Suxpool posted:

tbf "you're insane if you don't buy all your meat at costco" is a dumbo thing to say

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VALi82vwDow

e: irony? in MY comedy forum??

poisonpill fucked around with this message at 14:48 on Jan 9, 2021

Jaxts
Apr 29, 2008
This could also all come down to the general prices of things in your area. When I was in california and ny it was much cheaper for me to go to grocery stores for milk and meat because the sheer abundance of choice when it came to their availability. Now that I'm in Michigan, Costco is almost always cheaper, even if just a little, unless I want to drive for twenty minutes or drastically lower the quality of what I'm buying.

Captain Beans
Aug 5, 2004

Whar be the beans?
Hair Elf

Suxpool posted:

tbf "you're insane if you don't buy all your meat at costco" is a dumbo thing to say

2.99/lb chicken breasts in 6 packs vs 1.99/lb all day every day at kroger, and i very frequently find other meats cheaper in kroger/meijer as well like ground beef, pork shoulder, pork loin. costco does sales on these comparatively infrequently

i buy the 6 packs anyway bc they're real convenient to cut apart and freeze but i'm apparently as dumb with money as you are

also PBUC

1.99/lb chicken breasts at kroger? are you posting from 2002?

im legit very envious of those prices

AreWeDrunkYet
Jul 8, 2006

Captain Beans posted:

1.99/lb chicken breasts at kroger? are you posting from 2002?

im legit very envious of those prices

Just spot-checked a few Krogers (Texas, Illinois, and Virginia), and all of them had boneless skinless chicken breasts from $1.79-$1.99/lb

Joke Miriam
Nov 17, 2019



Going to Costco again. I’ve had the hot dog. Should I get a chicken melt this time or is the hot dog better?

StormDrain
May 22, 2003

Thirteen Letter

Joke Miriam posted:

Going to Costco again. I’ve had the hot dog. Should I get a chicken melt this time or is the hot dog better?

I had a dog last night and it came in a paper bag instead of wrapped in foil. I was startled when I went to slide it out. Be careful out there.

ArbitraryC
Jan 28, 2009
Pick a number, any number
Pillbug
I literally just bought chicken breast from a yokes here (which is a p spendy place like Whole Foods unless you specifically shop their weekly flier) and it was on sale this week for 1.69. It’s not on sale every week no, but inevitably some part of the chicken is, last week it was thighs for 99/lb.

Before the plague I frequently hit a cycle of yokes/albertsons(basically Safeway)/winco based on weekly ads cause they were all on my way home from work and MrsC and I would swing by Costco once or twice a month because it’s 5 minutes away.

We’d be the people who’d show up to checkout with like 5 items because there simply wasn’t much leftover to buy. Costco produce even when it’s on sale was just generally more expensive, and while I’ll give you it lasts longer that wasn’t an issue for us.

For reference the things we regularly buy at Costco (and these alone still make the membership worth it, though less so now that we minimize shopping)

Paper products
Mushrooms
Cheese
Fish
Yogurt

And of course, the 1.50 hotdog and drink.

With how close we live even gas probably pays for the membership I’m not knocking it I’m just saying that for the most part it’s more about premium things at a reasonable price than it is about everyday good value. There’s a reason people itt joke about going to pick up a couple things and rolling out with a cart over 300 bucks.

BONGHITZ
Jan 1, 1970

gently caress those upgrading clowns, trying to hook me for double what I pay to get in the door. gently caress that. I told them NO!

SirPablo
May 1, 2004

Pillbug
If you've got kids, Costco is worth every drat penny. Just the cereal, snacks, and chips alone (carbs lol).

And $5 rotisserie chickens that don't look like game hens.

thathonkey
Jul 17, 2012
the primary reason i keep my membership is dog food, cat food, paper products, and allergy medication. easily pays for itself. anything else i find there is just a bonus

we only have 2 in our household (plus 3 pets!) but i can imagine the more people/kids you have the better the deal it is

Cartoon Man
Jan 31, 2004




Dog (and people) toys...
:3:

pacerhimself
Dec 30, 2008

by Fluffdaddy
Nice 'we swear it's not a Pepsi' cup

its all nice on rice
Nov 12, 2006

Sweet, Salty Goodness.



Buglord

SirPablo posted:

If you've got kids, Costco is worth every drat penny. Just the cereal, snacks, and chips alone (carbs lol).

And $5 rotisserie chickens that don't look like game hens.

My wife is a nanny for a family with three kids. The mother refuses to get a Costco membership for some crazy reason. Before the pandemic, they would make daily trips to the store for groceries. Now they're buying in bulk, but from places like Safeway and Whole Foods. It's completely :psyduck:

fizzymercury
Aug 18, 2011

Cartoon Man posted:



Dog (and people) toys...
:3:
Be careful with those toys. My dog tried to choke on one of the hog dog eyes that came loose. They're not held on by much and the stuffing is hard to get out of their teeth. What's fun is she's gentle with every single other toy, but the Costco toys get murdered in minutes.

SirPablo
May 1, 2004

Pillbug

its all nice on rice posted:

My wife is a nanny for a family with three kids. The mother refuses to get a Costco membership for some crazy reason. Before the pandemic, they would make daily trips to the store for groceries. Now they're buying in bulk, but from places like Safeway and Whole Foods. It's completely :psyduck:

Buying in bulk from Safeway must be crazy expensive.

thathonkey
Jul 17, 2012
buying in bulk from whole foods lol

StormDrain
May 22, 2003

Thirteen Letter
Hello they're called "bulk" bins.

SirPablo
May 1, 2004

Pillbug

StormDrain posted:

Hello they're called "bulk" bins.

Why would I buy a large bag of beans from Costco when I could make my own bag, scooping the beans out of a big communal bin like a rat fishing trash out of the gutter?

ArbitraryC
Jan 28, 2009
Pick a number, any number
Pillbug
Last I checked the 25 bag of pintos at Costco was 14.99, or like .60/lb which is a confusingly not good deal. Bulk bins at winco are like 0.4X for however much you want and even just the 2 pound bags or whatever tend to be less than 1.20.

I mean 60 cents a pound isn’t a bad deal for pintos but you’d think buying a giant 25lb sack would carry a little more savings.

Their rice is a good deal though.

ArbitraryC fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Jan 10, 2021

marcopolo
Oct 24, 2010

Cartoon Man posted:



Dog (and people) toys...
:3:

Is this what everyone is talking about with the whole "dog and soda"?

marcopolo fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Jan 10, 2021

The Slack Lagoon
Jun 17, 2008



ArbitraryC posted:

Last I checked the 25 bag of pintos at Costco was 14.99, or like .60/lb which is a confusingly not good deal. Bulk bins at winco are like 0.4X for however much you want and even just the 2 pound bags or whatever tend to be less than 1.20.

I mean 60 cents a pound isn’t a bad deal for pintos but you’d think buying a giant 25lb sack would carry a little more savings.

Their rice is a good deal though.

I've never seen dried beans at Costco :(

I did get the dog toys and our dog so far loves the pizza and membership card. Pepsi and hot dog are in reserve. Our dog has been carrying the pizza around the house, including into her bed with her while she's napping

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Duck and Cover
Apr 6, 2007

Gaius Marius posted:

You can throw some water in a glass and plop the green onions on a windowsill and they'll keep growing. Usually get a couple weeks outta then that way. Tomatoes are bullshit right now though. You have to buy the greenhouse grown ones, otherwise they're flavorless mush that rots in a day

Grow your own. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3856830 It might be cheaper to just buy the greenhouse ones though.

edit: Don't actually grow your own as it's kind of a hassle.

Duck and Cover fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Jan 12, 2021

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5