Last week, I wrote about how moving out of the U.S. made it clear which cultural aspects I wanted to keep and let go of as I settled into London. One of the aspects that I have absolutely kept is my love for Costco. I will tell anyone who will listen how amazing it is to buy 2kg bags of black licorice, and oh so much more, in a giant warehouse. It's so over-the-top gigantic that it seems like it's not just American, but perhaps even Texan; though in truth, it's from a much smaller state.

But that's not the only thing I love about Costco. Behavioural economists have coined the term Paradox of Choice to describe a situation in which having too much choice actually negatively impacts a chooser's (consumer's) experience, thereby leading to a drop in purchases as well. A major competitor, Target, has nearly 20x the SKUs (75,000 for Target vs. 4,000 for Costco). When I walk into Target, I have to put on blinders and focus on my To Buy list lest choice overload kick in. But when I walk into Costco, my choices are much simpler. I love pistachios so I know I'll buy them, and my simple choices are to pistachio with salt or not, and with shell or not. No need to compare brands and figure out which is healthier or tastier. No need to compare pack sizes to work out the cost per licorice stick. Most importantly for me, the fewer blinders that I have to put on, the more present I can be. And the more present I am, the happier I am.

So I went to Costco tonight, but due to an unbelievably-boring administrative issue around global memberships and GDPR, I wasn't able to get a new copy of the card I still have in storage after moving house last month. And I'm writing this because the manager provided some of the best, and most fun, customer service I've experienced in years.

When the first attempt didn't work, she kept problem-solving before I even had a chance to ask about alternative ways to sort the issue out. At one point, she was checking store-level purchase history by date for items I had recalled buying and then calling out the number to another employee who would check on another computer if the anonymized number brought up a record which matched my name. I flashed back to the series 24 with intense espionage and hacking scenes.

What amazing customer service! And even though the solution was out of reach tonight and I'll have to sort it tomorrow, I appreciate all the help and the fun of problem-solving like that. +10 for Costco

With thanks to: I wish I had asked the manager for her name so I could give credit where it's due!

Written from: the suburbs


While listening to: my freezer working overtime to cool down all the bulk items I purchased while out.