Denying at time of purchase would be a significant (depending on frequency of occurrence I guess) additional workload on staff. The guests certainly aren't going to be restocking all the stuff they grabbed.

As for the customer friendliness of the proposed scanner, in my mind it depends on how quick and easy it is. If it's not too much of a slowdown relative to the current "flash my card at the staff person", then I don't think I'd mind it. However, if it starts causing lines to get in, yeah that's going to be a problem.

Additionally, I agree with the other commenter that, just from the details as provided, I don't even see how the proposal will solve the problem. A scanner will check that the card is a valid card, but unless it's paired with some kind of facial recognition, I'm not sure how it will prevent card sharing.

They have your picture on file. The reader at the entrance shows your picture to the employee. No need for facial recognition. And its practically no different then what they do today. Years ago the club warehouses used to do a quick look at the picture side, not a huge change in friendliness in my opinion.

My card has my picture. If an employee is going to look at it, then no reader needed. And you point out that they used to do this. What is the reader accomplishing then?

You are creating a scenario that does not even exist. The card readers are already implemented in stores, they have tested the time savings. The card reader process is essentially the same. You flash your barcode to the reader instead of the person. Why would there be a line, its not like you are crossing the Berlin wall, its just a check a more rigid check at entrance instead of checkout.

Of course your picture is on your card but I think we would all agree that a picture on a 3x2 credit card that can be B&W is inferior to the color picture displayed on an ipad. Having an associate look at a picture on the back of a credit card is slow.

It depends on store location but they have always had varying degrees of checking that you are the owner of the card. Costco makes a majority of their profit from Membership fees, hence the desire to enforce the long standing rule.

They already deny at checkout if your picture doesn't match.

Just a guess but maybe denying at time of purchase costs them more than it's worth. Lots of go-backs from a cart full of stuff, and some of it is perishable and you don't know how long it's been in the cart, so more shrink. Cheaper just to deny at the entrance.

Even the cashier checking is ridiculous. The picture on my card is from over 20 years ago and was printed in low resolution b&w on my current card over 10 years ago. It is a giant smudge that looks like no one.

Mine is so old that it doesn't have a picture on it and it's never an issue at two warehouses in the Silicon Valley that I frequent. No one has even mentioned the lack of a picture.

Something changed at the top with costco a year or three ago. The friendliness seems gone, and replaced by some really strange/hostile policies.

I ended up in a shouting match with the tire center manager who claimed I was in a "car accident", and thus my road hazard warranty was void after I took a nail on the freeway. I was not in a car accident, I would have known -- I was there.

30 minutes of my life I'll never get back grappling with him and the store manager -- for them to try saving a $90 pro-rata credit. My tire business has been pulled out of costco after like 25 years. It's getting tough to justify the rest of the membership. It's always a shopping hellscape there, and everyone is rude/grumpy.

The card check at entrance and “club” concept serves another purpose: it deters random people from going to Costco to steal or cause problems. Retail theft is a major problem for most stores these days, unfortunately.

Isn't it more friendly to let the customer know in advance instead of wasting their time browsing the store only to be stopped at the cash register?

The cashier will deny at purchase time at well.