Chat thread – Wednesday 2nd April
Discuss today's stories:
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I think we had one at one time, possibly it didn’t accept Amex which is why we stopped going!
Costco uk have been accepting Amex for many years now, it’s the Costco stores in the US that don’t surprisingly, luckily we have a Barclaycard as back up in these circumstances.
Someone did explain why the US Costco do not accept Amex, something to do with the interchange rate I believe?Someone did explain why the US Costco do not accept Amex, something to do with the interchange rate I believe?
I think also in the US Costco they also don’t accept Mastercard, and only take VISA so all my backups wouldn’t work
I think we had one at one time, possibly it didn’t accept Amex which is why we stopped going!
Costco uk have been accepting Amex for many years now, it’s the Costco stores in the US that don’t surprisingly, luckily we have a Barclaycard as back up in these circumstances.
Someone did explain why the US Costco do not accept Amex, something to do with the interchange rate I believe?
@Gordon they have a deal with Visa that’s paid them lots of cash for it just to be Visa. I don’t have a Visa card so take in a wad of cash everytime I go to the States which they do acceptWould it be worth getting a Costco membership purely for online shopping? Unfortunately we don’t have any Costco stores here in NI, and it is something I’ve been wondering about for a while now.
Bicester is the second most profitable shopping “street” in the UK, after Bond Street. It is incredibly successful, like it or not.
I managed the construction of the new Holiday Inn Express there, and we had to factor in costs to the OPEX budgets for cleaning rooms of suitcases and clothes that we anticipated people would be leaving… to replace with their new purchases.
Would it be worth getting a Costco membership purely for online shopping? Unfortunately we don’t have any Costco stores here in NI, and it is something I’ve been wondering about for a while now.
Remember if you’re a chartered professional, you get discounted membership. I have never had reason to sign up myself. However, as you say worth it if for online shopping if there is a particular deal you hear of in store. Not sure on NI angle – i.e. more restrictions on shipping etc.
Costco uk have been accepting Amex for many years now, it’s the Costco stores in the US that don’t surprisingly, luckily we have a Barclaycard as back up in these circumstances.
Someone did explain why the US Costco do not accept Amex, something to do with the interchange rate I believe?They had a very public falling out. Costco didn’t like the percentage that Amex demanded, Amex lost around 10% of its cardholders (co-branded Amex) and around 8% of Amex’s charge revenue globaly.
Would it be worth getting a Costco membership purely for online shopping? Unfortunately we don’t have any Costco stores here in NI, and it is something I’ve been wondering about for a while now.
You don’t get accress to the travel (cruise and car rental stuff) with the online membership and you’d need to make sure they’ll deliver to NI 1st.
If you can make use of it and you have some large ticket purchases ahead such as a TV etc then it’s worth it. Also if you like the bulk groceries.
I was fascinated to see Kirkland brand product for sale in random supermarkets all over South America, and also in the duty free shop on the Buquebus ferry between Buenos Aires and Montevideo – They had Kirkland herbs and spice jars, very random indeed.
Would it be worth getting a Costco membership purely for online shopping? Unfortunately we don’t have any Costco stores here in NI, and it is something I’ve been wondering about for a while now.
I can’t give a definitive answer to your question, but in order to get maximum benefit from your membership, you would also need to shop in store, and benefit from their discounted fuel prices, there are a number of new stores planned in the uk with Costco planners looking for sites to build on, I’ll be surprised if there is not a Costco store or two in NI soon.
I would say that I always buy my TV’s from Costco, as they come with a standard 5 year no quibble warranty, and I’ve found that Costco is second to none in accepting returns with a full refund, just to add, they sell cars, and cruises also.
Costco uk have been accepting Amex for many years now, it’s the Costco stores in the US that don’t surprisingly, luckily we have a Barclaycard as back up in these circumstances.
Someone did explain why the US Costco do not accept Amex, something to do with the interchange rate I believe?They had a very public falling out. Costco didn’t like the percentage that Amex demanded, Amex lost around 10% of its cardholders (co-branded Amex) and around 8% of Amex’s charge revenue globaly.
Ahh i see, a lot of retailers that I have been using, that didn’t accept Amex, actually do now, saying they have better terms, so maybe Amex are becoming realistic that they need to soften their mark up.
It was also quite amusing to see George at Asda items on sale at Walmart in Mexico and the US! I bought a few t-shirts and other bits at considerably less than UK prices.
It was also quite amusing to see George at Asda items on sale at Walmart in Mexico and the US! I bought a few t-shirts and other bits at considerably less than UK prices.
Walmart originally owned Asda, but sold a majority stake to the Issa brothers and TDR Capital in 2021.
It was also quite amusing to see George at Asda items on sale at Walmart in Mexico and the US! I bought a few t-shirts and other bits at considerably less than UK prices.
Walmart originally owned Asda, but sold a majority stake to the Issa brothers and TDR Capital in 2021.
Er., not exactly. Walmart bought Asda in 1999. British heritage.
Walmart originally owned Asda, but sold a majority stake to the Issa brothers and TDR Capital in 2021.
And they are still having major problems untangling the IT systems. The project is years overdue. So they’re seperated but not completely divorced yet.
I can’t give a definitive answer to your question, but in order to get maximum benefit from your membership, you would also need to shop in store,
Not necessarily. There’s an online only membership these days and it’s cheaper than the instore version. It has no restrictions on who can join either.
My in store trade membership cost from the mid 90s, is covered many times over just by the saving on my glasses from the optical dept. Just that purchase saves me several hundred pounds a year and the service is exceptional. Just a PITA to get to the store on the M60. I often have to get the bus which takes an hour each way.
It was also quite amusing to see George at Asda items on sale at Walmart in Mexico and the US! I bought a few t-shirts and other bits at considerably less than UK prices.
Walmart originally owned Asda, but sold a majority stake to the Issa brothers and TDR Capital in 2021.
Er., not exactly. Walmart bought Asda in 1999. British heritage.
Ok, Yes Walmart bought and originally owned Asda from 1999, before their sale to Issa brothers and TDR Capital in 2021.
I would say that I always buy my TV’s from Costco, as they come with a standard 5 year no quibble warranty, and I’ve found that Costco is second to none in accepting returns with a full refund, just to add, they sell cars, and cruises also.
Best service I ever got was 4 years and 10 months into the warranty on a Sony TV from Costco. The built in DVD player (that I’d never tried to use before) didn’t work. They initially tried to get parts and couldn’t so gave me a full cash refund of the original price.
Bought a camera in a Virginia branch because mine broke just before heading down the Blue Ridge Parkway. Didn’t like it, returned it in Atlanta and ended up with a refund of more than I paid for it due to the USD falling over the 2 weeks. 🙂
I can’t give a definitive answer to your question, but in order to get maximum benefit from your membership, you would also need to shop in store,
Not necessarily. There’s an online only membership these days and it’s cheaper than the instore version. It has no restrictions on who can join either.
My in store trade membership cost from the mid 90s, is covered many times over just by the saving on my glasses from the optical dept. Just that purchase saves me several hundred pounds a year and the service is exceptional. Just a PITA to get to the store on the M60. I often have to get the bus which takes an hour each way.
I disagree, especially with executive membership, with 2% cash back, shopping in store for your 12 month membership reaps great rewards, Kirkland products like toilet paper, kitchen roll, that equals the quality of the premium ones at a discounted price, case of 40 bottles of spring water for a few pounds, also always good deals on vehicle tyres, or as Americans say Tires! the list goes on, I found the in store optical dept expensive compared to the likes of spec savers, or online contact lens companies funnily enough, so don’t use them. I know you don’t drive, but you can save hundreds of pounds a year using the fuel stations.
Apparently we have an online membership, which is how we got the multi-gym which sits in the garage, unused. (Switches screen to look for bargains on loo roll) …
Apparently we have an online membership, which is how we got the multi-gym which sits in the garage, unused. (Switches screen to look for bargains on loo roll) …
Could be worse, you could have a motor cruiser worth a couple of hundred thousand pounds sitting unused in your garage, Costco sell them too!
I disagree, especially with executive membership, with 2% cash back, shopping in store for your 12 month membership reaps great rewards, Kirkland products like toilet paper, kitchen roll, that equals the quality of the premium ones at a discounted price, case of 40 bottles of spring water for a few pounds, also always good deals on vehicle tyres, or as Americans say Tires! the list goes on, I found the in store optical dept expensive compared to the likes of spec savers, or online contact lens companies funnily enough, so don’t use them. I know you don’t drive, but you can save hundreds of pounds a year using the fuel stations.
Not everyone qualifies for membership in store but everyone can get an online one. Not everyone lives within easy reach of a store either. The comment about driving there, it’s less than 8 miles is because it can easily take 40 mins on the M60.
I do drive, just done 2000 miles in South Africa, (world’s most dangerous roads in Lesotho,) and around 1800 miles on Top Gear style flooded roads and mud in Argentina and then Uruguay but when I go to the opticians I have to ditch my contacts and wear my glasses so that they can test accurately. I don’t drive in my glasses, (hence the bus) due to poor eyesight and when I wear my contacts I have to wear distance glasses over the top to drive. I also have to have drops quite often to dilate my eyes, so can’t drive for a couple of ours afterwards.
Costco save me roughly £300/year over high street opticians prices. My optical bill for glasses, contacts, distance glasses for driving, and fluids is over £1000/year and my sight changes on a whim, sometimes twice a year.
I can confirm this. Most trips to or from MAN involve crawling very, very slowly past the Trafford Centre. Not helped by the lunatics who are prepared to sit in their cars *queuing* in the inside lane of said motorway to get into said retail complex, at particularly busy times. (I know some of these people, they see it as a fun day out!)
I disagree, especially with executive membership, with 2% cash back, shopping in store for your 12 month membership reaps great rewards, Kirkland products like toilet paper, kitchen roll, that equals the quality of the premium ones at a discounted price, case of 40 bottles of spring water for a few pounds, also always good deals on vehicle tyres, or as Americans say Tires! the list goes on, I found the in store optical dept expensive compared to the likes of spec savers, or online contact lens companies funnily enough, so don’t use them. I know you don’t drive, but you can save hundreds of pounds a year using the fuel stations.
Not everyone qualifies for membership in store but everyone can get an online one. Not everyone lives within easy reach of a store either. The comment about driving there, it’s less than 8 miles is because it can easily take 40 mins on the M60.
I do drive, just done 2000 miles in South Africa, (world’s most dangerous roads in Lesotho,) and around 1800 miles on Top Gear style flooded roads and mud in Argentina and then Uruguay but when I go to the opticians I have to ditch my contacts and wear my glasses so that they can test accurately. I don’t drive in my glasses, (hence the bus) due to poor eyesight and when I wear my contacts I have to wear distance glasses over the top to drive. I also have to have drops quite often to dilate my eyes, so can’t drive for a couple of ours afterwards.
Costco save me roughly £300/year over high street opticians prices. My optical bill for glasses, contacts, distance glasses for driving, and fluids is over £1000/year and my sight changes on a whim, sometimes twice a year.
The selection process for in store membership is tighter, as it offers the best benefits all round, but I’m not surprised that the online membership is open to all, as the membership fee all round is the biggest earner for Costco, far higher than their mark up on goods, I was aware you drove on your trips, but didn’t realise you drove in the uk for some reason? I am short sighted with an astigmatism, so my lenses are a lot dearer than standard ones, hence using online companies, and getting tests regularly at my local optometrist.
as the membership fee all round is the biggest earner for Costco, far higher than their mark up on goods,
Anecdotally Costco’s ‘profit’ is over 90% made up of membership fees, they barely break even on the store sales.
I was aware you drove on your trips, but didn’t realise you drove in the uk for some reason?
Because I live in Manchester, I hate it, I’m sick of the road rage, dickheads and sick of being verbally assaulted by idiots who don’t understand what white lines, traffic signals and rights of way mean. Just had my car MOTd and it did 483 miles over the last year, which is laughable. I think I probably did 9000 miles last year on holidays. In those 9000 miles apart from the utter lunatic pickup truck drivers in South Africa and Argentina I can’t even count the number of issues I had on one hand. In Manchester I’d run out of fingers on an average journey. For context I was for a long time a service engineer covering 25k/year in the UK (in the days before speed cameras)
I am short sighted with an astigmatism, so my lenses are a lot dearer than standard ones hence using online companies
Ditto but online companies can’t cope with anything over -10. I’m -15. Very limited manufacturing at those levels. I also have to my PD measured and marked manually against my frames. In fact there’s nobody who make small enough frames (they’re out of fashion) any more so that the weight doesn’t become an issue, so Costco will happily reglaze my frames every year.
My eyes are just ***ed. Ever had your astigmatism change from 165 to 120 overnight? I have… my optician says it’s unheard of but he has the evidence as he measured it.
Looking for a family friendly (4 and 7 year old) hotel in NY, ideally with a kitchenette and rooms that are junior suite/studio size and above. Have the Amex plat hotel statuses (hilton, marriott etc.) plus IHG AMB/plat so would prefer to stay with one of these brands if possible but open to suggestions. Thanks!
When my kids were young we had a great holiday in New York (and Boston & Marthas Vineyard) we stayed in the Millennium Hilton (it was Millennium & Copthorn in those days) at the UN Plaza. When the UN isn’t sitting its prices were really good but what my kids absolutely loved was the swimming pool on the 27th floor – which was a huge novelty.
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