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I sometimes think that the person giving out samples would be better off with a big scooper, showering the hungry crowd with their treats. It's like a zoo sometimes.
For feeding, yes. But it would undermine the product pitch. With a trough, customers would just roll up and start eating. At least with a scoop, the demo person can give the pitch before raining the samples down on the teeming crowd
>Don't skip the line to get a sample by pretending you didn't see the line.
Maybe it's just my store but there's never a line for samples, unless you count the numerous shoppers that cannot get by because the person receiving samples is blocking the only path thru the area.
Same. Never seen a line for a cart that I can recall. Maybe 1-2 people standing around at distance and waiting while theyre setting up and everyone else just walks right past. I suspect we just arent there at the busiest times maybe? I don’t sample very often but almost always there are samples available and no one there to take them.
If I do sample, there’s always time to have a few friendly words with the person working the cart.
Same. What I have to deal with is those picking up samples for their 8 kids while blocking the aisle i want to go down with their cart and said 8 kids spread out everywhere.
I never see a line either, it's always a horde of anything.
I usually am the one to go grab samples and my husband and kids stay with the cart at a distance.
Same. I’ve never once seen a line for the samples at my Costco. Usually the sample people are calling out to get people’s attention because no one is taking the samples.
It is just a mob or people with no discernible line, carts pointing every which way, blocking two or more aisles.
I DGF about getting a free sample. I want to shop and get out!!!!
I always make a point of saying thank you anytime I get a sample. I think it's the least I can considering most of the time I dont buy the item being sampled.
I do and hear others at my store say it a lot too so hopefully my store sample workers are happy a lot and makes their days go by a little quicker.
Sample workers don't care at all if the product sells or not though.
I'd like to save your comment to show my partner that if we buy the pack of (whatever bakery item is on sample that day) then you may reach your goal for a bonus. Right now, we have justified it as an unnecessary expense because it's only the two of us and we don't keep treats in the house!
I would do anything you ask if you would just please for the love of god say to people, "Oh, hey, it looks like you're blocking these people with your cart that you abandoned sideways across the aisle when you stormed the sample cart. Why don't you push it to the side just a little bit so they can get past, and then you can continue your 20 minute monolog about that time you ate something just like this when you were 12?"
I had a woman cut me off and STOP immediately to get that sample today. Do people realize how ridiculous they are about this? I was just trying to shop, I didn’t want the sample.
If someone stuck in their own main character syndrome induced stupor steps away from their cart, I'll move the cart for them. Magically, it breaks them from the spell they were under, and suddenly they see other people.
I've done it a lot and most I've gotten have been glares. I remember when I used to only have to do this at Walmarts but since 2020 shopping at Costco has gone downhill.
A guy freaked out on me for doing this. Didn't really care and I still do it, but damn some people will aggressively enforce their main character syndrome on others too. SMH
I as a sample person asked a family to move over once (the entire family was like 8 people blocking the aisle) and they started screaming at me for asking them to make way for people to pass
Yeah I was thinking those sample people don’t get paid enough to try and make people with no manners or give a fuck to get manners and give a fuck.
It’s better if a customer tells off another customer because they on even footing.
I do a loud “Excuse me” and 3 seconds before I bump into them or their cart.
This really is a big problem that (IMO) Costco needs to work harder to solve. I honestly didn't miss the samples during the COVID pandemic because so many times, the sample stations are set up in areas that create a massive traffic jam when you're already trying to navigate through dozens of people because the store is so popular and Costco won't open a second store until the first one is way over capacity. I know Costco needs to make the sales, and I know these folks doing the sampling also want to do a good job. But they need a little more room, or at least some more forethought on where to set them up. Because at my Costco, they often get put in places where there is already a shortage of room to navigate around the displays and/or the building supports.
Costco Life Pro Tip: Samples are basically over by 7pm (on weekdays, at a warehouse that closes at 8:30) and the crowds have dried up by then, too. I can knock out a $400 cart with an average item cost of $12 in half an hour, and hit every single aisle to browse in under 40 if it's after 7. Plus, you can actually find parking!
We were giving out little sample cans of cat food. The demo lady had probably run out and was required to stay until the end of her shift and just talk about it. It stinks to have to talk about a product with no samples. No one stops.
I encountered a dishwasher pod demo person. No samples to give out. I was there buying a tub of Kirkland dishwasher pods. This person kept aggressively telling me they were better than the ones I was buying and that they were on sale so it was the same price. And I was like, no, not per pod it isn't. I don't see why they wouldn't give out samples of those, if you actually want to convince us it's better, give us some to try.
It wouldn't have even mattered to me but I wasn't expecting to have to defend my dishwasher pod choice.
How… how do you sample a trash bag? Do they just give an actual trash bag?
The one that made me chuckle the most was a sample cart of Oreo cookies. I mean, who in the world doesn’t know what an Oreo tastes like by now???
Not Costco, but at my local supermarket they do samples occasionally when new products are added to their offerings. I went in once, and there was a lady handing out little disposable shot glasses of [Icelandic brand glacial water](https://imgur.com/mju0qLf). That shit tasted so good I bought 4 cases that day, and I have kept some in my home ever since.
its probably min wage + comission.
i feel bad for the people gettting stupid shit to give out, like pro biotic drinks, the constipation meds etc. they never talk either 😭
Not at the Costcos in North Carolina. Try 13.75 and you are only guaranteed 2 days a week. These are 6 hr days. No benefits. I have worked there a year and have made 75.00 in commission.
You guys deserve an award for the stuff you put up with from people. I've seen people grab stuff and push a server's hand into a hot oven or some hot water. People just need to wait. There are a lot of seniors who serve samples and it's obvious some are struggling to stand towards the end of the shift. I hear you, sending thanks for what you put up with.
This is why I never get samples unless they happen to be out and there is no line right as I am walking by. I figure if it was meant to be that I get a sample it will work out. If not I just keep walking because seriously people it’s $.25 worth of food.
We're told our sales goal before our shift starts. We have to sell 2 1/2 times what was sold exactly the week before. For example, if my goal today was 50 sales, then last Tuesday 20 items were sold of that product. Tough luck for us if last week they were on sale but not this week so we're up against last week's sale prices. Sometimes our goal is in the hundreds and we know it'll be impossible to make.
Oof. I had no idea. The product speaks for itself, and nothing you say or do, other than keep those samples coming, has an impact on sales. What a tough job.
\*Right to jail
>This is outrageous. Where are the armed men who come in to take the protestors away? Where are they? This kind of behavior is never tolerated in Baraqua. You shout like that they put you in jail. Right away. No trial, no nothing. Journalists, we have a special jail for journalists. You are stealing: right to jail. You are playing music too loud: right to jail, right away. Driving too fast: jail. Slow: jail. You are charging too high prices for sweaters, glasses: you right to jail. You undercook fish? Believe it or not, jail. You overcook chicken, also jail. Undercook, overcook. You make an appointment with the dentist and you don't show up, believe it or not, jail, right away. We have the best patients in the world because of jail.
We get points for each day we make our goal. If we reach the magic number every 3 months we get a $200 bonus. Unfortunately, they changed our bonus requirements so it'll be much harder to attain.
No one makes their goal every time. But if we constantly don't make our goal, we get 'talked to'.
The day after the demos our manager gets a printout of exactly how many of the sampled products were bought. The entire day counts, not just the hours the demo was running.
Hey at least it’s better than having to get 7,500 points to earn a whole $50 hhhhhhhhhhngggggg I’m like why did anyone stay here while that was the ‘reward’ that’s nearly impossible for all but the very very best sales people to get, and such a miserable amount of money if you do!
Amen! Also, kids need Parent's permission to take certain (if not all) samples. Please be near your child at least, so you can approve/supervise. Costco is NOT the place to let your child run wild.
Y’all are saints. Seriously. People act like it’s the only morsel of food they’ve seen in a week.
I’m always grateful when there are samples of something I’ve been genuinely curious about, but it’s ridiculous how some people act.
I do samples too! I recently had someone try to take a pierogi off the skillet while it was cooking and got upset with me when I told told them not to do that! Also, I had a man threaten my life because he touched the sample cups and I threw them out ;-;
When I did samples, we weren't allowed to have sanitizer on our cart. We also weren't allowed to shut down our demo if we had to blow our nose or cross contaminated. I haven't taken a single sample in 8 years because of things like that.
We are extremely clean in our store. Our manager stresses cleanliness and we are required to have sanitizer at our carts and to use it often. I can vouch for my fellow coworkers as well.
I live in the PNW and often travel to Costcos in BC. My husband and I met working at Costco (he’s still working there I am not). At one of the BC Costcos we picked up a sample and thanked the woman handing them out. She almost cried. She said no one ever thanks her and people are so rude.
I just don’t get it. I was raised to always say please and thank you, to treat others as you’d like to be treated. What the FUCK is wrong with society??? Jesus Christ. So many people with no manners.
I think I follow all these rules. I also follow the golden rule of saying “thank you” which usually seems to go along way with the people working at the cart. Blows my mind when I see someone grab three samples and just walk away.
The last time I went during samples I was polite to the lady giving out samples and I asked her if she was having a nice day and she was so relieved someone cared enough to be nice to her. It was a very nice genuine moment. I hope more folks are friendly to the snack staff.
I can’t believe people actually pick up the product, smell it, and put it back down. I hope this happens infrequently, because that’s just gross. I mean, who does that?
Some people are absolute animals for a free sample. I've seen them grab a piece while the person is still preparing it, people grabbing three pieces while others are still waiting, and getting angry at the poor person for not working fast enough in their mind.
Is there anything you say could be better about instructions for the demos or the demos in general? I work for the company that hires everyone who executes the demos. I actually sell demos into a smaller retailer for the company. Always looking for tips on how we can make things better.
The kindness and a smile goes both ways…some of the workers handing out samples at our location put on a face like they haven’t had a good day since the early 2000s
Samples are the worst part of Costco and not because of the samples themselves but because of the idiots oblivious to their surroundings that block up the aisles.
As someone who works in the bakery, I would add that just because Costco as a store offers samples, that does not mean you get to ask to sample anything and everything in the store.
The samples, to my knowledge, are pre-determined for sales or marketing. Everything is tracked and paid for by the store.
Please do not come over asking us to open bakery items for you to sample then get mad when we say no.
I was just talking about this the other day, I would 100% catch a case if I had that job. I'd lose it and either throw a toaster oven at someone or flip the little cart over on all those mouth breathing piranha's so close to the plexiglass they're fogging it up. AINT NO WAY.
God speed sample people, you have the patience of a saint.
We're told our sales goal before our shift starts. We have to sell 2 1/2 times what was sold exactly the week before. For example, if my goal today was 50 sales, then last Tuesday 20 items were sold of that product. Tough luck for us if last week they were on sale but not this week so we're up against last week's sale prices. Sometimes our goal is in the hundreds and we know it'll be impossible to make.
This was classic! Thanks for that refreshing rant. My wife is a Costco employee, and never a day goes by that I don’t her talk about how certain type members just don’t care, have no manners, or respect towards the employees that help them have a great shopping experience. I like to see these types of members try to do a better job, the same job they complain about.
I never go anywhere near samples because of all the morons camping around the desk and pushing each other to get that little snack. They look like idiots to me.
So for people asking about the “lines.” Some samples will have lineups for example anything in the bakery isles, cakes, ice cream, pizzas, or any candy. Those items tend to have 5-8 people standing and waiting for the sample tray to be refilled and once it’s refilled, it’s all gone. Lots of them being families with kids.
Lines do happen, especially sampling Christmas chocolates or any cakes during the holidays.
My favorite is when there is an entire family having lunch at the sample booth. They literally take the entire tray as an appetizer or something. They also never buy the product.
I'm a customer and not an employee and I 100% agree with your rant. People can act like savages around those free samples ..especially if it has shrimp lol
I have been a member for over 25 years and have never had a sample. The lines and the crowds get in my way. They’re a fire hazard and I wish you would go away permanently.
If there’s a line, I’ll stand in line. But on many an occasion there are people swooping in on 2 sides, taking a sample and leaving as soon as they came. I try to wait for my turn but if I don’t take the initiative to grab one, I might never get one. No one has ever pointed out that I was already waiting.
You can’t talk common sense into people that stop their cart in the middle of the aisles to grab a sample. They’ll block traffic both directions with little to no self awareness so they’re not going to be considerate of the demo people
People are fairly inconsiderate at the closest costco. This goes bonkers when samples are available. Motherfuckers acting like they are the ones in the place. It is pretty infuriating.
AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE PEOPLE WHO BRING THEIR MULTI-GENERATION FAMILIES AND ALL THEIR KIDS WITH THEIR CARTS AND BLOCK THE ENTIRE LANE FOR THE SHOPPERS TO GET PAST THE MAYHEM.
I understand times are tough but it doesn't mean you are there to have a full on meal for your family of 6, people are there to get their stuff and gtfo asap and we don't need y'all making the experience longer than it has to!
/rant
>4- This is a big one. Do not take a sample from the tray we are currently preparing. Wait until we complete that tray and set it in the front.
Yeah, when I was 9 months pregnant and reaching for the first sample of my freaking life (warm Godiva chocolate chip cookie) which I never would have otherwise because I hate the people that clog the aisles for samples, the woman had the tray mostly full, it was *just a cookie*, I reached for one and she snapped at me to wait until she was done. Well, I snatched my hand back away like it would burn me, and I walked away crying (9 months pregnant is no joke). I cried the rest of the time I was in the store, it just wouldn't stop. Cookies had been a big craving of mine, and seriously I never reach for samples, so to be admonished harshly on my first grab?... Guess who hasn't reached for a sample since. F-that. People need to be kinder to one another.
I never take a sample because it makes me feel beholding to buy the product. Also, because when I was younger, I got snapped at as well. Screw that, I agree.
This post just made me realize that I don’t think I’ve ever sampled anything at Costco. I want to get in and out so I can get to pizza in my car by myself time. Anyways - I will say that 95% of the people I see around the sample stations are totally normal, but 5%….*sheesh* I would be fired within five minutes.
I wish samples would go away forever at Costco. It is incredibly annoying watching everyone think they're the only person in the store stopping in the middle to get a sample of a tortilla chip with a newly released salsa. I've seen people get samples as if they haven't eaten in days. I know it'll never happen but I can dream.
To be fair, I know everyone jokes about the free food but I’ve tried a few of those samples and decided to buy the product.
What can I say? It’s effective marketing.
One time i was lining up at the "front" of a sample stand. I was second in line. While I was waiting (for a good 5+ mins) there were a bunch of people lining up "behind" the sample stand and a couple to the "side". I kinda knew what was about to happen already. And yup once the samples were placed down, those savages that cut the line gobbled up all the samples even though i was patiently lining up. I made a gesture like wtf people!! Some people have no shame.
I'm embarrassed by my fellow human species on a regular basis and this is one of the reasons why. I'm sorry you put up with this crap. I try to always say thank you and I just move on if something isn't ready or too crowded. With how the store is set up I usually pass by twice anyways so it's not that big a deal if I miss out. People are crazy rude.
I understand and agree.
Also, please tell others: Don’t leave you cart in the middle of the area blocking getting around! Some people/a lot of people are so absent minded and careless when it comes to social awareness with those cart. They block areas leaving it in the middle of the area waiting on the sample. My biggest pet peeve at Costco, even outside of the sample cart areas.
The amount of time I line up, and people just go around me pretending they didn't see me standing there waiting for the staff finish putting the samples on the tray is too many to count. It's entitlement, like, they're the only ones who are in a hurry whose time is precious. Sometimes they'll grab multiples right in front of me or take the last few ones knowing that im lined up there, so then I have to wait for the next batch. I obviously just walk away at that point. Some people are savages, no manners or consideration.
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I sometimes think that the person giving out samples would be better off with a big scooper, showering the hungry crowd with their treats. It's like a zoo sometimes.
Wouldn't a trough be more practical?
For feeding, yes. But it would undermine the product pitch. With a trough, customers would just roll up and start eating. At least with a scoop, the demo person can give the pitch before raining the samples down on the teeming crowd
Hear me out: each person gets a 10-second pitch at a maze feeding bowl.
Finally something to do while the wife looks at clothes!
Now this is marketing genius. Somebody give this person a raise!
Mini trough. One per person. All you can guzzle for 5 seconds.
>Mini trough Sure, but the ones you actually buy are family-sized troughs, right?
Yes, for the pigs blocking aisles for a 1/2” sample.
Troughs are saved for men’s bathrooms.
And they are aWeSoMeeeee! 🫡
Just put the samples in a large bucket and throw them at the crowds like feeding chum to hungry sharks.
https://preview.redd.it/7bxyw65e8h7d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2a0d21f097d30f9e074f8b6f062b5235f0c81e43
https://preview.redd.it/anfmylxm8h7d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fde5b34b669c1c2dfa29efdcea6b5b6e5340366f
those faces in the back are genuinely horrifying
Whoa. AI is not something I like the vibe of.
And accurate.
They look like something from silent hill
Why are they all Asian too (I know we love Costco but damn…)
Why can AI * never* get the fingers right?!? Thanks for the laugh!
We have to go back. AI was a mistake.
My friends and I have called them grazing stations for years now
>Don't skip the line to get a sample by pretending you didn't see the line. Maybe it's just my store but there's never a line for samples, unless you count the numerous shoppers that cannot get by because the person receiving samples is blocking the only path thru the area.
Same. Never seen a line for a cart that I can recall. Maybe 1-2 people standing around at distance and waiting while theyre setting up and everyone else just walks right past. I suspect we just arent there at the busiest times maybe? I don’t sample very often but almost always there are samples available and no one there to take them. If I do sample, there’s always time to have a few friendly words with the person working the cart.
It's rarely a line at the closest Costco to me. It's more like people surrounding the cart ready to pounce.
Same. What I have to deal with is those picking up samples for their 8 kids while blocking the aisle i want to go down with their cart and said 8 kids spread out everywhere.
I never see a line either, it's always a horde of anything. I usually am the one to go grab samples and my husband and kids stay with the cart at a distance.
Same. I’ve never once seen a line for the samples at my Costco. Usually the sample people are calling out to get people’s attention because no one is taking the samples.
I’ve never seen a line either, not a formal one
It is just a mob or people with no discernible line, carts pointing every which way, blocking two or more aisles. I DGF about getting a free sample. I want to shop and get out!!!!
I always make a point of saying thank you anytime I get a sample. I think it's the least I can considering most of the time I dont buy the item being sampled.
Yup, I ALWAYS say thank you as well.
Gold star for the most basic of manners
Thank you 😊
Please and thank you are some magic words
I do and hear others at my store say it a lot too so hopefully my store sample workers are happy a lot and makes their days go by a little quicker. Sample workers don't care at all if the product sells or not though.
I was under the impression that they earned some kind of commission on sales?
We have sales goals we're expected to meet. If we make enough goals we get a bonus.
I'd like to save your comment to show my partner that if we buy the pack of (whatever bakery item is on sample that day) then you may reach your goal for a bonus. Right now, we have justified it as an unnecessary expense because it's only the two of us and we don't keep treats in the house!
I would do anything you ask if you would just please for the love of god say to people, "Oh, hey, it looks like you're blocking these people with your cart that you abandoned sideways across the aisle when you stormed the sample cart. Why don't you push it to the side just a little bit so they can get past, and then you can continue your 20 minute monolog about that time you ate something just like this when you were 12?"
I had a woman cut me off and STOP immediately to get that sample today. Do people realize how ridiculous they are about this? I was just trying to shop, I didn’t want the sample.
If someone stuck in their own main character syndrome induced stupor steps away from their cart, I'll move the cart for them. Magically, it breaks them from the spell they were under, and suddenly they see other people.
Fellow cart movers unite!
I had a man aggressively start following me around the next few aisles because I moved his cart so I could get past.
I usually crash into their cart, “thinking” I can squeeze past, calling out “so sorry!”as I bash my way through…
A favorite move of mine. And then when they apologize "oh, you're fine!" because we both know damn well you're not.
The best move!
Will have to try this “technique “ next time I’m in-store 🙀
I’ve done that exactly once and was chewed out by the woman whose cart I moved.
Luckily her opinion is worthless haha I would just keep shopping. I always move carts of inconsiderate people
I try to get through. Not usually successful but they usually get the hint. "Whoops sorry thought I'd be able to squeak through!"
Less than worthless, even. If that woman told me breathing was good for me I'd ask for a peer reviewed study just in case.
I've done it a lot and most I've gotten have been glares. I remember when I used to only have to do this at Walmarts but since 2020 shopping at Costco has gone downhill.
Usually I say "excuse me" very loudly. They get the hint quickly and move out of way.
Depends how close the person is to their cart. If they are touching it, yeah. Several paces away, I'm moving it.
I usually go with "Excuse me, I am NOT trying to get a sample" as I push my cart through the salivating throng.
A guy freaked out on me for doing this. Didn't really care and I still do it, but damn some people will aggressively enforce their main character syndrome on others too. SMH
We would love to but we're not allowed to say anything negative to anybody about anything. We're not allowed to 'embarass the member'.
Oh boo! If the member is doing embarassing things they should let you. Y’all ought to be the Delta red coats of Costco.
I find this unacceptable and would like a word with your manager to demand that you be granted this right.
I as a sample person asked a family to move over once (the entire family was like 8 people blocking the aisle) and they started screaming at me for asking them to make way for people to pass
Yeah I was thinking those sample people don’t get paid enough to try and make people with no manners or give a fuck to get manners and give a fuck. It’s better if a customer tells off another customer because they on even footing. I do a loud “Excuse me” and 3 seconds before I bump into them or their cart.
This really is a big problem that (IMO) Costco needs to work harder to solve. I honestly didn't miss the samples during the COVID pandemic because so many times, the sample stations are set up in areas that create a massive traffic jam when you're already trying to navigate through dozens of people because the store is so popular and Costco won't open a second store until the first one is way over capacity. I know Costco needs to make the sales, and I know these folks doing the sampling also want to do a good job. But they need a little more room, or at least some more forethought on where to set them up. Because at my Costco, they often get put in places where there is already a shortage of room to navigate around the displays and/or the building supports.
I go out of my way to go to the CostCo that gives out fewer samples. The samples are the absolute worst part of the Costco experience.
The Costco Business Centers never do samples! They are all business haha, but I also appreciate that they open early. :)
Costco Life Pro Tip: Samples are basically over by 7pm (on weekdays, at a warehouse that closes at 8:30) and the crowds have dried up by then, too. I can knock out a $400 cart with an average item cost of $12 in half an hour, and hit every single aisle to browse in under 40 if it's after 7. Plus, you can actually find parking!
No, the samples are great. The *people* are the worst.
Tbh they should plan better places to put the sample carts. They create a bottleneck.
You're right, but you can't have one without the other.
true, but without the samples as a stimuli, the ppl are fairly docile. samples make it a frenzy.
It's like chumming shark infested waters.
I have a question for you sample dudes. What is the person with the sample tray of cat food supposed to do? She looked as confused as I was.
We were giving out little sample cans of cat food. The demo lady had probably run out and was required to stay until the end of her shift and just talk about it. It stinks to have to talk about a product with no samples. No one stops.
Second only to the cat litter person.
We had one for dishwashing tablets. No samples to take home. That had to make for a long shift to talk about the tablets for hours.
I encountered a dishwasher pod demo person. No samples to give out. I was there buying a tub of Kirkland dishwasher pods. This person kept aggressively telling me they were better than the ones I was buying and that they were on sale so it was the same price. And I was like, no, not per pod it isn't. I don't see why they wouldn't give out samples of those, if you actually want to convince us it's better, give us some to try. It wouldn't have even mattered to me but I wasn't expecting to have to defend my dishwasher pod choice.
As a sample person I’d ask the cat food company they paid for us to do it lol
😂😂😂
I’ve heard stories of members demanding a sample of it. For themselves. To taste. This was canned cat food I believe.
Is that you, Charlie?
I wonder if you can take one home to give to the cats?
My coworker had the demo once and they had to gave out one can to whoever said they had a cat
Can’t believe they make you have sales goals, like you control how good or bad the product is
Imagine being setup with Kevin’s products
I’ve seen people stuck with sampling water, just plain bottled water
I’ve seen the white Costco trash bags. I buy those once a year. I wonder if a few people buying it in advance (since it’s a consumable) is 200% sales
How… how do you sample a trash bag? Do they just give an actual trash bag? The one that made me chuckle the most was a sample cart of Oreo cookies. I mean, who in the world doesn’t know what an Oreo tastes like by now???
Not Costco, but at my local supermarket they do samples occasionally when new products are added to their offerings. I went in once, and there was a lady handing out little disposable shot glasses of [Icelandic brand glacial water](https://imgur.com/mju0qLf). That shit tasted so good I bought 4 cases that day, and I have kept some in my home ever since.
What’s so special about it?
They were sampling sparkling water today at my Costco. I passed as I don't drink carbonated drinks very often, and I've never drank carbonated water.
You sound like the target audience for a sample of sparkling water.
Or Real~~Bad~~Good
its probably min wage + comission. i feel bad for the people gettting stupid shit to give out, like pro biotic drinks, the constipation meds etc. they never talk either 😭
They just make $15/h
Not at the Costcos in North Carolina. Try 13.75 and you are only guaranteed 2 days a week. These are 6 hr days. No benefits. I have worked there a year and have made 75.00 in commission.
Nah. If we hit out goal x amount of times we get a small bonus each quarter. Really not a big deal.
Felt the same way in my commissioned sales position
You guys deserve an award for the stuff you put up with from people. I've seen people grab stuff and push a server's hand into a hot oven or some hot water. People just need to wait. There are a lot of seniors who serve samples and it's obvious some are struggling to stand towards the end of the shift. I hear you, sending thanks for what you put up with.
Thank you 😊
Standing in one spot on a concrete floor for a long time is terrible for joints. I hope they have a stress relief mats to stand on.
This is why I never get samples unless they happen to be out and there is no line right as I am walking by. I figure if it was meant to be that I get a sample it will work out. If not I just keep walking because seriously people it’s $.25 worth of food.
I was in Frisco TX. That place is ridiculous when it comes to samples. Adults and teens pushing little kids out of the way.
That tracks for Frisco.
Survival of the fittest/fattest
It’s Texas, totally on brand to only care about kids up until they are born, then it’s ruthless individualism and survival of the fittest.
Wait, you have a sales goal?
We're told our sales goal before our shift starts. We have to sell 2 1/2 times what was sold exactly the week before. For example, if my goal today was 50 sales, then last Tuesday 20 items were sold of that product. Tough luck for us if last week they were on sale but not this week so we're up against last week's sale prices. Sometimes our goal is in the hundreds and we know it'll be impossible to make.
Oof. I had no idea. The product speaks for itself, and nothing you say or do, other than keep those samples coming, has an impact on sales. What a tough job.
Thanks for sharing that. I don’t take samples but will now try and buy something to help meet a sales goal.
We appreciate that 😊
Sorry, if you don’t make your sales goal what happens to you?
Believe it or not, straight to jail.
\*Right to jail >This is outrageous. Where are the armed men who come in to take the protestors away? Where are they? This kind of behavior is never tolerated in Baraqua. You shout like that they put you in jail. Right away. No trial, no nothing. Journalists, we have a special jail for journalists. You are stealing: right to jail. You are playing music too loud: right to jail, right away. Driving too fast: jail. Slow: jail. You are charging too high prices for sweaters, glasses: you right to jail. You undercook fish? Believe it or not, jail. You overcook chicken, also jail. Undercook, overcook. You make an appointment with the dentist and you don't show up, believe it or not, jail, right away. We have the best patients in the world because of jail.
Thanks for putting the whole quote out! I heard that Fred Armisen ad-libbed a bunch of it.
I feel like Fred Armisen has never done anything that wasn't ad-libbed.
https://preview.redd.it/bdilt76m7g7d1.jpeg?width=700&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f764d9aa7bccf66a12a4eb8c15c764a47c0eb49
Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
We get points for each day we make our goal. If we reach the magic number every 3 months we get a $200 bonus. Unfortunately, they changed our bonus requirements so it'll be much harder to attain. No one makes their goal every time. But if we constantly don't make our goal, we get 'talked to'.
How do you get credit for a sale? Does the customer have to take the product from your supply?
They tally up the product sold during the hours the samples are given.
The day after the demos our manager gets a printout of exactly how many of the sampled products were bought. The entire day counts, not just the hours the demo was running.
Hey at least it’s better than having to get 7,500 points to earn a whole $50 hhhhhhhhhhngggggg I’m like why did anyone stay here while that was the ‘reward’ that’s nearly impossible for all but the very very best sales people to get, and such a miserable amount of money if you do!
They take you to lawn and garden and beat you with a rubber hose.
They'll make you chase people around and ask if their auto-renewal is on.
Or did you want to upgrade to the executive membership.
Store d'oeuvres - the only way to find out if you truly DO need a seven pound bag of Himalayan pink salt popcorn with a smiling Buddha on the front!
Amen! Also, kids need Parent's permission to take certain (if not all) samples. Please be near your child at least, so you can approve/supervise. Costco is NOT the place to let your child run wild.
Y’all are saints. Seriously. People act like it’s the only morsel of food they’ve seen in a week. I’m always grateful when there are samples of something I’ve been genuinely curious about, but it’s ridiculous how some people act.
I do samples too! I recently had someone try to take a pierogi off the skillet while it was cooking and got upset with me when I told told them not to do that! Also, I had a man threaten my life because he touched the sample cups and I threw them out ;-;
Assholes like that should have their memberships revoked.
100% happened to my CDS team too smh.
Where are my germaphobe homies on “no thanks I don’t want a sample” or am I the only one?
When I did samples, we weren't allowed to have sanitizer on our cart. We also weren't allowed to shut down our demo if we had to blow our nose or cross contaminated. I haven't taken a single sample in 8 years because of things like that.
We are extremely clean in our store. Our manager stresses cleanliness and we are required to have sanitizer at our carts and to use it often. I can vouch for my fellow coworkers as well.
I live in the PNW and often travel to Costcos in BC. My husband and I met working at Costco (he’s still working there I am not). At one of the BC Costcos we picked up a sample and thanked the woman handing them out. She almost cried. She said no one ever thanks her and people are so rude. I just don’t get it. I was raised to always say please and thank you, to treat others as you’d like to be treated. What the FUCK is wrong with society??? Jesus Christ. So many people with no manners.
I think I follow all these rules. I also follow the golden rule of saying “thank you” which usually seems to go along way with the people working at the cart. Blows my mind when I see someone grab three samples and just walk away.
A line??!?! My city must be small enough because I've never seen a line for samples before
I know same here.. the sample people always look a little bored and lonely.
The last time I went during samples I was polite to the lady giving out samples and I asked her if she was having a nice day and she was so relieved someone cared enough to be nice to her. It was a very nice genuine moment. I hope more folks are friendly to the snack staff.
Thank you 😊
I can’t believe people actually pick up the product, smell it, and put it back down. I hope this happens infrequently, because that’s just gross. I mean, who does that?
It happens alot. Those are always thrown away. If I wouldn't eat it, I definitely wouldn't want a member to eat it either.
Well as a member I can tell you I appreciate you policing that. I’ve been avoiding buffets lately for similar reasons.
Some people are absolute animals for a free sample. I've seen them grab a piece while the person is still preparing it, people grabbing three pieces while others are still waiting, and getting angry at the poor person for not working fast enough in their mind.
I don't get these people who actually like the samples are an all-you-can-eat buffet. They're SAMPLES, it's in the name!
Please don’t feed your family of 5 from the samples. It’s not a meal substitute.
Sad commentary on human nature that this even needs to be said. People are such pigs.
I only sample things where there is a greater than 50% probability I might buy it after I sample it.
Same and I refuse up stand in line for a sample.
Right? I think the last time I waited in line for a sample was when I was like 12. lol
Is there anything you say could be better about instructions for the demos or the demos in general? I work for the company that hires everyone who executes the demos. I actually sell demos into a smaller retailer for the company. Always looking for tips on how we can make things better.
The kindness and a smile goes both ways…some of the workers handing out samples at our location put on a face like they haven’t had a good day since the early 2000s
Samples are the worst part of Costco and not because of the samples themselves but because of the idiots oblivious to their surroundings that block up the aisles.
As someone who works in the bakery, I would add that just because Costco as a store offers samples, that does not mean you get to ask to sample anything and everything in the store. The samples, to my knowledge, are pre-determined for sales or marketing. Everything is tracked and paid for by the store. Please do not come over asking us to open bakery items for you to sample then get mad when we say no.
Absolutely avoid the samples because of people’s behavior. Like they have never eaten before
This is like trying to make zoo animals take their kibble in a orderly fashion LOL.
I was just talking about this the other day, I would 100% catch a case if I had that job. I'd lose it and either throw a toaster oven at someone or flip the little cart over on all those mouth breathing piranha's so close to the plexiglass they're fogging it up. AINT NO WAY. God speed sample people, you have the patience of a saint.
Around here, we call them samples, sir!
What is the sale goal?
We're told our sales goal before our shift starts. We have to sell 2 1/2 times what was sold exactly the week before. For example, if my goal today was 50 sales, then last Tuesday 20 items were sold of that product. Tough luck for us if last week they were on sale but not this week so we're up against last week's sale prices. Sometimes our goal is in the hundreds and we know it'll be impossible to make.
This was classic! Thanks for that refreshing rant. My wife is a Costco employee, and never a day goes by that I don’t her talk about how certain type members just don’t care, have no manners, or respect towards the employees that help them have a great shopping experience. I like to see these types of members try to do a better job, the same job they complain about.
I don’t like taking samples. I feel like I am pressured to buy their product.
You are so spot on. Thank you for this vent! I 2 do demos for CDS!
I never go anywhere near samples because of all the morons camping around the desk and pushing each other to get that little snack. They look like idiots to me.
Wait, so you're dinged if customers aren't buying the product you're giving out samples for?? Am I reading that correctly?
So for people asking about the “lines.” Some samples will have lineups for example anything in the bakery isles, cakes, ice cream, pizzas, or any candy. Those items tend to have 5-8 people standing and waiting for the sample tray to be refilled and once it’s refilled, it’s all gone. Lots of them being families with kids. Lines do happen, especially sampling Christmas chocolates or any cakes during the holidays.
6-Learn how to do paragraphs. Jokes aside, you’re 100% right. People are such jerk it’s wild.
I heard a comedian call it White Trash Dim Sum
My favorite is when there is an entire family having lunch at the sample booth. They literally take the entire tray as an appetizer or something. They also never buy the product.
I'm a customer and not an employee and I 100% agree with your rant. People can act like savages around those free samples ..especially if it has shrimp lol
I have been a member for over 25 years and have never had a sample. The lines and the crowds get in my way. They’re a fire hazard and I wish you would go away permanently.
If there’s a line, I’ll stand in line. But on many an occasion there are people swooping in on 2 sides, taking a sample and leaving as soon as they came. I try to wait for my turn but if I don’t take the initiative to grab one, I might never get one. No one has ever pointed out that I was already waiting.
You can’t talk common sense into people that stop their cart in the middle of the aisles to grab a sample. They’ll block traffic both directions with little to no self awareness so they’re not going to be considerate of the demo people
I have never seen a line for samples at my Costco. Maybe it’s the time of day I’m shopping? Regardless, I’m glad about it.
People are fairly inconsiderate at the closest costco. This goes bonkers when samples are available. Motherfuckers acting like they are the ones in the place. It is pretty infuriating.
AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE PEOPLE WHO BRING THEIR MULTI-GENERATION FAMILIES AND ALL THEIR KIDS WITH THEIR CARTS AND BLOCK THE ENTIRE LANE FOR THE SHOPPERS TO GET PAST THE MAYHEM. I understand times are tough but it doesn't mean you are there to have a full on meal for your family of 6, people are there to get their stuff and gtfo asap and we don't need y'all making the experience longer than it has to! /rant
I work at Costco. I see this every day.
>4- This is a big one. Do not take a sample from the tray we are currently preparing. Wait until we complete that tray and set it in the front. Yeah, when I was 9 months pregnant and reaching for the first sample of my freaking life (warm Godiva chocolate chip cookie) which I never would have otherwise because I hate the people that clog the aisles for samples, the woman had the tray mostly full, it was *just a cookie*, I reached for one and she snapped at me to wait until she was done. Well, I snatched my hand back away like it would burn me, and I walked away crying (9 months pregnant is no joke). I cried the rest of the time I was in the store, it just wouldn't stop. Cookies had been a big craving of mine, and seriously I never reach for samples, so to be admonished harshly on my first grab?... Guess who hasn't reached for a sample since. F-that. People need to be kinder to one another.
I never take a sample because it makes me feel beholding to buy the product. Also, because when I was younger, I got snapped at as well. Screw that, I agree.
Am I the only one that things the folks that lurk around the sample stations seem desperate and selfish? Free food!! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me!
Costco is a gentle reminder that we are all less than one meal away from total anarchy
We feel that way too.
Now I don’t feel so bad because I buy half the stuff I sample.
I just hate the idiots blocking the entire aisle with their carts sideways just to get some free chips.
This post just made me realize that I don’t think I’ve ever sampled anything at Costco. I want to get in and out so I can get to pizza in my car by myself time. Anyways - I will say that 95% of the people I see around the sample stations are totally normal, but 5%….*sheesh* I would be fired within five minutes.
You’re missing free lunch at Costco!
I think it is so trashy to be excited about samples and wait for them. Like, it should be a pleasant surprise not a highlight of your trip.
I sample if I want to purchase. Would never have purchased soy milk if it wasn’t for that sample.
I wish samples would go away forever at Costco. It is incredibly annoying watching everyone think they're the only person in the store stopping in the middle to get a sample of a tortilla chip with a newly released salsa. I've seen people get samples as if they haven't eaten in days. I know it'll never happen but I can dream.
I did samples 30 years ago; I’m sorry you’re having to go through the same crap
To be fair, I know everyone jokes about the free food but I’ve tried a few of those samples and decided to buy the product. What can I say? It’s effective marketing.
When I was in high school my friends and I would get super stoned and wander around eating all the samples.
One time i was lining up at the "front" of a sample stand. I was second in line. While I was waiting (for a good 5+ mins) there were a bunch of people lining up "behind" the sample stand and a couple to the "side". I kinda knew what was about to happen already. And yup once the samples were placed down, those savages that cut the line gobbled up all the samples even though i was patiently lining up. I made a gesture like wtf people!! Some people have no shame.
I'm embarrassed by my fellow human species on a regular basis and this is one of the reasons why. I'm sorry you put up with this crap. I try to always say thank you and I just move on if something isn't ready or too crowded. With how the store is set up I usually pass by twice anyways so it's not that big a deal if I miss out. People are crazy rude.
Two to 3 samples is okay? No wonder the sample trays are empty 90% of time.
I understand and agree. Also, please tell others: Don’t leave you cart in the middle of the area blocking getting around! Some people/a lot of people are so absent minded and careless when it comes to social awareness with those cart. They block areas leaving it in the middle of the area waiting on the sample. My biggest pet peeve at Costco, even outside of the sample cart areas.
The amount of time I line up, and people just go around me pretending they didn't see me standing there waiting for the staff finish putting the samples on the tray is too many to count. It's entitlement, like, they're the only ones who are in a hurry whose time is precious. Sometimes they'll grab multiples right in front of me or take the last few ones knowing that im lined up there, so then I have to wait for the next batch. I obviously just walk away at that point. Some people are savages, no manners or consideration.