The issue in my local (12 miles away) Costco is cart theft. I don’t mean people stealing them from Costco — I mean other shoppers taking your cart even if it’s got a number of items in it, and your cloth bags. Valuing their convenience over the work I’d put in to find those items. And it’s somehow OK that they took my bags.

I spoke multiple times with management at that store. Apparently, it’s pretty common for shoppers checking out to say “Oh, I don’t want that” about most of the items in their cart. But, hey, the customer is always right, so they couldn’t (really wouldn’t) do anything.

I got tired of having to keep an eagle eye on my cart — and let my membership lapse. If I need something that I can only get there (e.g. Kirkland organic EVOO), I’ll go in, buy a gift certificate, and then shop for that item. I don’t get the ‘member discount’ that way, but I also haven’t been in a Costco in about a year. For me, it’s also love/hate, but mostly hate.