I told you Costco's free sample thingies are trouble ...

[kenny]

I hope Costco stops the practice.
They clog up already clogged-up aisles.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-costco-shopper-78-punched-in-fight-over-free-nutella-waffle-sample-20150921-story.html

 

[telephone89]

Uh thats not costcos fault, thats a f*&$ing psycho! WTF! Poor guy!

Samples are one of the only reasons I goto costco. I used to just go there to walk around and eat samples while killing time (waiting for my car, prescrip, etc) haha.

 

[chrono]

The blame lies squarely on the people with uncivilized behaviour.

 

[ennui]

I love Costco samples. I've gone to Costco for "lunch."

I've sampled things I liked and then bought, and I've sampled things that sounded good and I might have bought but the sample was yucky, so I saved money.

 

[missy]

The blame lies squarely on the people with uncivilized behaviour.

I absolutely agree. However I'm with Kenny 100% on this and I do wish Costco would stop with the samples as I find rude and uncivilized behavior everywhere that is just magnified with free food offerings. It's like some of the Costco customers haven't eaten in a week yet I know that is not true by looking at them. No it's not that they are starving anytime soon though they act like it with the way they rush to the samples and then block the aisles eating without moving to the side to get out of everyone else's way. People like me who actually want to shop efficiently and get on with the rest of their day.

People blocking the aisles making efficient and stress free shopping impossible and then they get all bent out of shape when you express displeasure at their rude behavior. Yeah I'm going there. Tired of being polite and gentle with these ruffians and while I say excuse me I no longer do it with a smile on my face. I hate being fake. Even with strangers. They're rude so I don't have to be super polite. IMO.

 

[momhappy]

Costco doesn't need to ban free samples. Free samples aren't the problem, a**holes are the problem. We shop at Costco a lot and I've never had an issue with samples clogging up the isles. If there is a sample that is particularly popular, then I go around it or wait until the crowd moves on. Crowds can also be avoided by shopping at times when crowds are typically lower (like weekdays).

 

[iLander]

Well, everybody, at least be polite to the sample people. They are not Costco employees and they work for $7 an hour. The independent company that they work for does not give them benefits or anything else, they just get a call and are told to be at work the next day, for a few lousy hours. They do it for a little extra income to supplement social security or their other job and most checks are about 50 bucks a week. I always at least say thank you.

It's a bit ridiculous, because the manufacturers pay quite a bit of money (usually over $50K to the sampling company) to do a 1 day sampling program.

 

[LLJsmom]

There are plenty of things I would never have bought at Costco if I didn't try first. I just wish people would at least use their common sense, if they can't be polite. Is a nutella waffle worth getting punched over??

 

[kenny]

Well, everybody, at least be polite to the sample people.

I'm very polite to them.
In fact, I never even interact with them since I boycott their booths and the products they hawk.
But I DO want to ram my cart into the butts of the rude customers who linger and clog the aisles around these pig troughs.

I don't agree that 100% of the blame rests with the public, any more than I accept the argument that Costco should allow smoking because it is the public who is doing the smoking.
It is the employer/store's responsibility to limit/ban behavior that negatively impacts employees and customers.
There is a decision to be made, it's the trade off between the pleasure of the partaker vs. the negative impact on everyone else.
IMO policy should default to preventing the negative impact.
But smart retailers know that nothing manipulates people and gives them an orgasm like the word, FREE.

Costco knows these things clog the aisles.
They know that unsanitary used paper cups are left in the carts and litter the floor, and are even placed on merchandise we all buy.
More sinister, they know pumping up customers with a carb-fix will raise their blood sugar and keep them shopping longer.

Nothing is free BTW ... the cost for the 'free' product and the wages for the hawkers raises the price we ALL pay.
But Costco doesn't care because freebies raise profits.

Almost worse than the freebie stands is the amplified blaring noise from the PA system of those blender hawkers.
I'm not the only one who hates and mutes commercials.
I can't mute these guys when I'm shopping!
Often you can hear them all over the store.
It makes Costco feel like a bazaar in a third-world country.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Imagine if they were passing out free samples of diamonds?...

 

[kenny]

Imagine if they were passing out free samples of diamonds?...

I'd fight and claw past you DF to get to the front of the line.

 

[iLander]

Actually, Costco makes 11 1/2% markup over the wholesale price of an item. This is the lowest markup of any retailer. The dollar stores (while making a smaller overall profit, because the quantity isn't there) have a much higher margin, well over 40%. The average retailer does what's called "keystoning", they double the wholesale price of an item. This is what Walmart does. The VAST majority of Costco profit is made by selling memberships. I know this because I am in the CPG (consumer packaged goods) industry.

As far as the brain-numbing blender guys go, they are employees of the blender company. They are specially trained and flown to various warehouses. I don't know what they make or what the blender company pays them. If you tell the Costco manager that the blender guy is too loud, he may be asked to turn down his speaker.

Here's an interesting Costco factoid; did you know each warehouse has to have a certified CPR specialist and a defibrillator? They also like to hire people that are ex-paramedics or healthcare professionals, in case one of their customers has a heart attack. They want to take good care of you until the ambulance arrives.

Another factoid: they sell more organic food per year than Whole Foods.

ETA: I also totally agree with you about the sample crowds. Move along people!

 

[kenny]

I know Costco is wonderful, overall.
I shop there often.

But the good things don't disappear the bad things.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Here's an interesting Costco factoid; did you know each warehouse has to have a certified CPR specialist and a defibrillator? They also like to hire people that are ex-paramedics or healthcare professionals, in case one of their customers has a heart attack. They want to take good care of you until the ambulance arrives.

.. Thanks for the warning. No more free food samples for me from now on !.

 

[kenny]

Here's an interesting Costco factoid; did you know each warehouse has to have a certified CPR specialist and a defibrillator? They also like to hire people that are ex-paramedics or healthcare professionals, in case one of their customers has a heart attack. They want to take good care of you until the ambulance arrives.

.. Thanks for the warning. No more free food samples for me from now on !.

Oh, come on.
Those cream puffs, cheesecake balls and Belgian Chocolate-Covered shortcakes are calling your name.

 

[momhappy]

There is no comparison between cigarette smoking and free samples. I honestly can't understand what all of the fuss is about over free samples... If I found something so offensive at a particular store, I simply wouldn't shop there any more, but that's just me

Found this interesting article on the psychology of free samples
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/the-psychology-behind-costcos-free-samples/380969/

 

[kenny]

Found this interesting article on the psychology of free samples
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/the-psychology-behind-costcos-free-samples/380969/

Thanks for the link, momhappy.

This jumped out at me, "Interestingly, people who took samples were less likely than non-samplers to have graduated from college."

 

[momhappy]

Guess I'm not the norm - I graduated from college and I've been known to partake in a free mini creampuff or two....

 

[kenny]

momhappy, are you calling me a cream puff?
Just kidding.

Yeah that's really thrown me for a loop.
I keep wondering why the less-educated are more likely to go for free samples.
I doubt it's because they are hungrier because of a lower income.

There must be something else going on.
I'm very curious.

 

[azstonie]

I've always wished Costco would put all the free samples and demos in a back corner of the store to keep the people who can't move and eat out of my way

 

[momhappy]

momhappy, are you calling me a cream puff?
Just kidding.

Yeah that's really thrown me for a loop.
I keep wondering why the less-educated are more likely to go for free samples.
I doubt it's because they are hungrier because of a lower income.

There must be something else going on.
I'm very curious.

 

[kenny]

I've always wished Costco would put all the free samples and demos in a back corner of the store to keep the people who can't move and eat out of my way

... but then without a college education they'd never find the free food.

 

[ennui]

I graduated from a university ranked in the top 25 nationally, and I love free samples, so I dispute the idea that it's mostly the uneducated who like free samples. What an asinine assessment.

I'm sorry that this topic disintegrated into cultural and financial stereotypes.

Gee whiz, it was just Nutella. And now we have comments about heart attacks and income and "the butts of the rude customers who linger and clog the aisles around these pig troughs."

If Costco is such a miserable experience, don't shop there. Problem solved.

 

[kenny]

I graduated from a university ranked in the top 25 nationally, and I love free samples, so I dispute the idea that it's mostly the uneducated who like free samples.
What an asinine assessment.

Legit studies have multiple data points.
One data point is not statistically significant.

Talk about asinine assessments.

 

[ennui]

I graduated from a university ranked in the top 25 nationally, and I love free samples, so I dispute the idea that it's mostly the uneducated who like free samples.
What an asinine assessment.

Legit studies have multiple data points.
One data point is not statistically significant.

Talk about asinine assessments.

Dear Kenny, you are the one who quotes "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. - Carl Jung", so if I am irritating you, I guess it's something you can learn from. No?

 

[kenny]

I graduated from a university ranked in the top 25 nationally, and I love free samples, so I dispute the idea that it's mostly the uneducated who like free samples.
What an asinine assessment.

Legit studies have multiple data points.
One data point is not statistically significant.

Talk about asinine assessments.

Dear Kenny, you are the one who quotes "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. - Carl Jung", so if I am irritating you, I guess it's something you can learn from. No?

I learn so much about myself from you I should mail you a check.

 

[ennui]

Kenny, you win. Pricescope is all yours. I haven't been here long enough to be invested.

Happy?

 

[kenny]

Kenny, you win. Pricescope is all yours. I haven't been here long enough to be invested.

Happy?

Huh? I didn't ask for PS to be all mine.

What does time here or 'investment' have to do with the price of eggs in Ethiopia?

I won't stoop to using your sigline to make you look bad.

 

[AGBF]

I won't stoop to using your sigline to make you look bad.

Thank goodness. Now I can rest easy and enjoy reading about cream puffs.

Deb, who only goes to Costco once every five years and who has found this thread highly educational

PS-I thank all of you who contributed. I actually learned a huge amount by reading this thread today. No irony now.

 

[LLJsmom]

I don't think I'm following the arguments going on here, or what seem like arguments. I've gone to plenty of school. Won't even get started. I just don't like to clog up freezer space and waste food if I am not sure I am going to like it and eat it. I can say I don't understand the why the article is trying to correlate level of education and likelihood of taking food samples. The author clearly has a purpose in trying to make certain implications, maybe just to stir up controversy. How pointless...