One of the most beloved fixtures of any retail store in America is Costco’s food court. Praised for its generous portions and extremely low prices that haven’t fluctuated over the years— inflation or not—the food court is a reliable source of affordable food for many.
Some customers buy annual memberships to the chain just for the ability to get the aggressively-priced food court items offered by the store.
However, many contend that buying memberships isn’t necessary and that just about anyone can eat at Costco’s food court without shelling out the cash for the yearly fee.
TikToker Avery (@greenybeany420) says otherwise. Avery’s clip is currently going viral after relaying a story time delineating her experience at the chain’s food court. She says she was “tracked” and accosted by employees of the store to see if she was a legitimate card-carrying member.
What’s more, she says this occurred some 20 minutes before the store closed and was packed with people, so it’s not like employees weren’t preoccupied with other on-the-job duties or customers to assist. Presumably, it would be easier for folks to “slip through the cracks” so to speak, however, Marin says that this wasn’t the case at all.
@greenybeany420 im a real member i swear 🫡
♬ original sound – ave marin
“What are they paying y’all over here at Costco? Because I have never met someone who takes their job as seriously as the card-ID’ing people at the entrance and exit or Costco,” Avery says in the clip.
Avery explains how she thought she could she could go through the exit of Costco without a card to get to the food court.
“Boy, was I wrong,” Avery continues. “I just caused a nice little scene at the exit of Costco 20 minutes before it closes….I tried to walk in there without flashing my little card. I was flagged down and I was ID’ed but it’s OK I am a real member of Costco. Heaven forbid I try to buy a pizza without a membership, could’ve been bad.”
One commenter answered the first part of Avery’s clip, stating that Costco workers earn a fairly decent wage, which would presumably incentivize them to go above and beyond while on the clock.
“Costco employees are treated sooo well compared to other companies,” they shared. “Insurance + vision & dental. 401k.”
It also seems that the store’s workers are protecting a multi-billion dollar yearly investment—the company purportedly sold $4.2 billion worth of memberships in 2022 alone.
Another user echoed the sentiment that they thought Costco employees were paid well.
“$18/hr starting rate,” they wrote. “Moms been there for a couple years and she makes almost $30/hr working part time.”
But other people said the membership-for-food-court deal doesn’t apply to them at their local store, with a user writing, “Mine has the food court outside so you don’t have to go near the entrance at all.”
One TikToker said she was more-than-likely ID checked not for the food court but because they wanted to make sure she wasn’t attempting to grab some items at members-only prices.
“Yeah, the food is def a steal,” she said. “But they ID people because people used to sneak in just for member-priced food.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Avery and Costco via email for comment.
