Sniff out the Chowhound for a dogpile of food advice

Don’t you love it when someone does all the hard work for you? There’s an excellent thread going on at this blog where people are sharing the best (and sometimes less than best) food they’ve found at Costco. I’m going to bookmark this discussion and keep returning to it. This is one of the reasons I love me some Inter-tubes.

Flat repair – worth the hassle?

I’ve come away from a less-than-pleasant transaction at Costco. Yes, I know – hard to believe coming from me. But I gotta be real here. It was a learning experience, to be sure, but it left me aware of a few chinks in the armor. Allow me to explain.

My wife was stranded with a completely flat tire Thursday afternoon. I left work early to get the emergency spare on for her. I’m heroic like that. So I knew I’d have to cut into work today to get the tire fixed since my weekend is already booked. And who wants to wait in line at the tire center on a Saturday? Not me. What happened next is a study in expectations-management, patience, and perseverance.

Props to my birthplace for free backpacks

The Costco in Wooldand, CA has donated 550 backpacks to two area schools. I’d post the link but the Woodland Daily Democrat has moved the story to their archive. Noteable because it’s just a really nice thing to do, and I was born there. At the hospital, not the Costco.

I’ll take my licorice unleaded, please

If you live in Monterey county and you’ve bought licorice from Costco lately, stop! The specific product is Lucky Country Aussie Style Soft Gourmet Black Licorice. That’s a really long name. I wasn’t aware Austrailans made licorice either.

The fall shopping challenge: Dell EPP vs. Costco

I just received the big C’s fall shopping special promo mailer. There’s something about getting anything from Costco in the mail that makes that 10-yard trek to the mailbox after work worth all the effort. If for some reason you don’t get this mailer, you can see all the fall promo items on teh inter-tubes. “Fall” into savings. Get it?

For some reason my eyes fell on a particular item in this offering – a Dell XPS computer bundle, including Word and PowerPoint. Now, it’s been almost four years since I bought my Dell Dimenson 8400 system through Costco.com. I’ve been very happy with it and I haven’t really kept up with Dell’s progress in marketing newer, better computing packages. I knew that the XPS line used to be the higher-end, gamer-friendly boxes. Now it seems it has entered more of a mainstream marketing target.

My employer offers discounts on Dell systems through the Employee Purchase Program. Last time after much research I opted for Costco because they had a better deal on the three-year warranty, plus the free customer assistance by phone. So I started to wonder if my computer tanked all of a sudden, which direction would I go now? Assuming I needed another new monitor (not likely) and I was looking to invest in another long-term PC system, which avenue would lead me toward a better deal on this exact package?

Give your Costco membership some ‘Leverage’

There’s a web site called LeverageCard.com that allows you to track and manage all your various gift cards, rewards memberships, loyalty programs, and other little plastic things that hang from your keychain. Good idea! But this site even lets you exchange gift cards and – by some freaky process I haven’t examined yet – earn interest on your memberships. Yeah, that’s what they say.

But here comes more news for you Costco members. Apparently through LeverageCard you can now purchase Costco membership certificates which you can then use to earn promotions and coupon booklets when you re-up each year. Sweet!

The first thing you need to do is register with the site, which is painless. Then you need to make sure your Costco membership is not automatically renewing and billing to your AmEx True Rewards card, if you have one. All you have to do is call Member Services to take care of that detail.

Then comes the uncertain part – using these fancy membership certificates to renew and get these coupons. Since I’m just learning about this myself, I’m going to try it and find out how it works. Then I will report back to you. I say, for free stuff, it’s worth a try.

Aussie retail laws make shoppers say ‘Oi!’

Australia’s getting it’s first Costco, don’t you know? Melbourne, on the extreme southern tip of the continent, is the location. The retailer is planning several more stores on the east coast. Syndey is a natural choice.

But what about the west coast? Austraila is a gigantic country. It’s not like western shoppers can just hop over to Melbourne for their weekly tub of margarine. The reason this matters to the citizens of Perth has to do with their antiquated restrictions on retail hours. The fact that Costco offers such a wide range of goods puts them in a binding situation. Grocers can’t open on Sundays or late on weeknights. Other kinds of stores can. Which one is Costco? Is that conundrum going to prevent them from establishing a presence in Western Australia?

And pardon my Amercian ignorance, but why does one half of the contient have shopping restrictions that don’t apply to the other? And what does that do to the price-controlling nature of competition among retailers that we Yankees enjoy? And finally, if you’re going to prevent one sector of merchandisers from doing business on Sundays, why choose grocers? My family is a lot more likely to need milk and bread on any given day than we are recliners and appliances.

Perhaps it’s an Australian thing that I wouldn’t understand.

Executive card & AmEx True Earnings card: The two shall become one

Okay, that’s my second biblical reference on this site. Can you spot the first? I’ve made it very easy for you.

But on to the topic at hand. I just got this odd little tear-off, pull-out ad in my mailbox announcing that my new AmEx True Earnings card will also be my Costco Executive membership card. Somehow the powers that be are going to fuse these cards into a single entity. The design is changing to make this duality more evident.

Here’s the thing, though: You can already get into the warehouse by flashing your AmEx card at the door guard. I’ve been doing it for years. You can also present your AmEx card to the cashier, and he/she will scan it and then hand it back to you so you can pay with it or put it away for another option. You can even have the customer service people print your mug on the back. Cool, eh?

So why the big deal about this “new” combined card? It seems to me Costco has not adequately communicated these facts until now. By sending out the new cards they’re making sure we Execs understand. All righty! I’m all for improved communication.

If you’ve ever considered signing up for one of these cards, go on over and check out the benefits. I will tell you that I like those rebate checks each year. I will also tell you I don’t like those interest payments when I choose not to live within my means. But that goes for any credit card. The AmEx card rate fluctuates with the economy. It’s lower now than it’s been in the recent past. The new 3% back on gas purchases (anywhere, not just Costco stations!) is nice.

It seems Costco might consider more benefits in the future. How about letting us “load” coupons onto our cards before we go shopping. My local grocery store does that. Any other ideas?

It’s official: ‘Costco cheese works!’

Good post on a really funny web site. I plan to visit here often now, seeing as I’m a man and I like grub. If you’re a pizza-place owner, you might want to know that Costco’s shredded mozzarella and Belgioioso provolone make for a great pie. The per-pound price quoted here is excellent. And even if you just make an occasional pizza at home, the advice you get on this page is worth bookmarking.

‘5 things you should know’ about warehouse clubs

Good report from the CBS Early Show. I learned a couple of things about how to spot a discontinued product. Watch for the asterisk next to the price on the white product cards! I would take issue with one comment from reporter Vera Gibbons. She said the service is where these clubs are lacking. Well, that depends on your expectations. Of course you’re not going to find express lanes or fitting rooms. But overall, I’ve always been satisified with the attention you get from employees when you need help.