Costco

05/07/09

If you need a cake tomorrow better go elsewhere!

by Memo

I called Costco today to order one of their delicious cakes for an work party I am holding tomorrow afternoon. I live some distance away from Costco so I my plan was to call and order it today and then make the drive to pick it up tomorrow before the party. To my amazement, when I called the Costco bakery, the woman on the phone informed me that they do not take any orders over the phone and that I must come all the way in to place my order, 24 hours in advance, and then, of course, come all the way back in the next day to pick it up. Needless to say this was not going to happen. I am a busy woman and making one trip out to Costco was going to be difficult enough to pull off not to mention trying to find the time to go out there another time just to place an order!? That's just crazy! Time to step it up Costco.

I have since ordered my cake from another bakery that actually takes phone orders (wasn't hard to find - pretty much all of them do). When I told the woman at Costco that it was my plan to do so she simply said, "ok" and hung up the phone so clearly customer service is not one of their strong suits either. Maybe they just feel that they are doing so well in today's economy that they don't have to focus on customer service or convenience, but let me tell ya, their cake may be good, but it isn't that good! When a retailer treats a customer like they are inconsequential they really don't deserve the business and the few dollars more I may have spent going elsewhere was absolutely worth it for the time it saved me with convenience of not having to make two trips. Thanks Rosauers!

• Pros: Delicious cakes
• Cons: Incredibly inconvenient ordering policy