Costco member fumes as she’s blocked at checkout when shopping for sister despite remembering card

A COSTCO member raged after she was blocked from shopping for her own sister.

This customer shared a rant after she was not able to check out her items despite having a membership card.

Erin Francis (@franerin87) shared her anger over a specific aspect of the chain's membership policy, in a X post.

Francis was mad that she was unable to use her in-law's membership card to shop on behalf of her sister.

She questioned what impact this would have on families and people that work for them.

"@Costco think about all the families out there who have other family members or even Nannies do their shopping using the membership of the family they are shopping for," she wrote.

"Before changing your membership rules.

"I went shopping for my sister,I was denied use of my in law card."

The warehouse retailer has strict rules on membership sharing.

Costco does not allow its membership IDs to be shared, even among family members.

Francis has not been the first Costco customer to share their complaint about this rule online, The U.S. Sun has previously reported.

One person slammed the store after they saw another shopper get turned away.

"The lady at @Costco self checkout was literally “papers please”-zing everyone and literally stopped a woman from buying her groceries with her mom’s Costco card despite her reasonable pleas that she was running an errand," they wrote in a post.

"We’ve gone too far."

Another shopper said they abandoned their cart in the store and walked out after they experienced this rule.

The customer said she used her mom's card but was blocked from buying her items.

Costco membership sharing guidelines

Costco has strict rules for membership use that shoppers must follow and they've been cracking down on offenders in recent years.

• Primary Member Use: Only the primary cardholder can use this Costco membership card. Sharing it for purchases is not allowed as the photo on the card must match the person using it.
• Household Card: Each primary member can add one free household cardholder who lives at the same address. This person will receive their own membership card and can shop at Costco independently.
• Guest Policy: Members can bring up to two guests per visit to Costco. However, only the member can make purchases. Guests must be accompanied by the member.
• Authorized Cardholder: For an additional fee, you can add an authorized cardholder, such as a family member or friend, who doesn't reside at your address. They will receive their own card and can shop independently.

Credit: Costco

"I had my mom's Costco card and they gave me such a hard time they literally wouldn't let me buy anything," they wrote on X.

"The lady in front of me offered to use her card, [but] they wouldn't let me.

"I left that cart right there in line."

WAREHOUSE RULES

The retailer has introduced a new rule at some of its stores in response to ID sharing.

Costco has now required people at some locations to scan their ID cards as they enter the store.

This rule has proved to be controversial among some shoppers but the chain's CEO Ron Vachris defended the move.

"They're speeding up our registers significantly when we get all the scanning and memberships verified at the front door," Vachris said.

Despite this, some shoppers questioned the policy altogether.

"I still don't understand what's the need to show it when you enter, if everyone knows you can't purchase without a membership," one person wrote in the comments of a Facebook post.