Wholesale and retail giant Costco is taking action against the sharing of memberships, which resembles a recent move by Netflix.
If you are a Costco member in Canada, you’re probably familiar with the requirement of presenting your membership card when entering or checking out. However, likely, you’ve also had relatives and family members ask if they can use your card to enjoy the benefits without paying for them.
This is precisely the issue that Costco is addressing.
First and foremost, unlike Netflix, Costco’s membership plans and prices remain unchanged.
A spokesperson from Costco confirmed via email to Daily Hive that Costco’s membership policy remains the same: “Costco’s membership policy has not changed. Costco can 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.”
However, the company has introduced a new rule to combat membership abuse.
“Our membership policy clearly states that our membership cards are not transferable, and with the expansion of our self-service checkout, we have observed instances of non-members using membership cards that do not belong to them,” the spokesperson explained.
“We believe it is unfair for non-members to enjoy the same benefits and pricing as our members.”
Management has confirmed that they are now requesting to see membership cards with the customer’s photo at the self-service checkout registers.
“If a membership card lacks a photo, we will ask for a photo ID,” they added.
Therefore, when you visit your nearest Costco for a significant grocery shopping trip, be sure to have your photo ID readily available if you need to use the self-service option.
Failure to provide it may result in being denied access.
Please note that this response has been rewritten in English.
