Lingitz had violated “societal norms and common customer understanding regarding free-sample practices.”
Ha! Don’t bet on “societal norms” when there is money involved. Better put up a sign with a clear policy if you want to be able to stop anyone from loading up.
Great win-win for Costco (and similar palletized markerers) as the folks who make the product being given away pay for the product and the staff doing the ‘demo’.
Hmmmm, just think of the Obamadork’s America as a giant COSTCO for illegal aliens, liberal arts majors, and inept politicians.
-PJ
that's the best part! sampling at Costco has also shown me that i can be content with one potsticker... or a quarter of a cupcake... love when they have samples of Kinder's or Mortenson's--yum!
I go to Sams Club each Saturday.
For Lunch AND Dinner.
Whoo Hoo!
I’ve been a costco member since 1988. The two things I love about the samples are:
1. They’ve actually turned us on to stuff that we buy regularly, years after first sampling.
2. I can actually get an entire meal sampling and used to do that a lot. It wasn’t really a “save money” thing. Rather, it was a convenience and variety thing. I don’t like eating at restaurants that much. and one reason is that they give you too much food.
But the downside is that they cause huge congestion, and I’d REALLY like a “no kids” rule.
Thursday is my preferred day to sample. It seems there are more things offered. I always thank the server and sometimes ask questions like “where can I find that in a 55 gallon barrel size?” just for my own amusement.
Can't believe that someone from the Atlantic thought this deserved a full article.
Personally I detest the free samples, I go to the store to shop, and shop as quickly as possible. Costco is hard enough to navigate through the crowds without having to deal with all the third worlders feeding their kids at the sample tables and blocking the aisles, and yeah I am kind of a *ick.
“Pinky and the Brain” almost took over the world with free T-shirts.
Stay alert. Be aware of your surroundings. Carry with safety off.
The samples are nice but some of the shoppers are brain dead in their quest for free eats. They mill around and block the aisle and are too absorbed in it to notice others trying to go around them and get on with their lives.
Personally, I don’t get it.
Yes, if it’s some product I’m interested in and would like to taste before purchasing a month’s supply, okay, but to load up simply because it’s free?
Pffft... Know what? I can afford to buy my own food without resorting to some impulse of hoarding gibmedats because it’s “free”.
The ‘psychology’ seems to slow people to a cattle-like shuffle as they leave their carts, kids and immense backsides blocking the aisles.
I’ve gotten some of the nastiest stomach flus from eating those handouts. Pleh. < |:P~
There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
They don’t mind people lounging in the aisles, but have you noticed that they don’t serve coffee at their little restaurant? They don’t want people lounging around after they’ve paid for their merchandise.
Until they have enough courage to post a sign that says “One sample per person per day, maximum, or we have you arrested”
then you can take as much as you want.
Esp. if you are hungry when you get there!
We have bought things at least twice because we tried the free samples.
They have a jarred bruschetta that is delicious, hubby buys that all the time now.