If someone were to ask you to hand over $5 to walk into a supermarket for groceries, would you agree to pay an entrance fee? Or would you look the gatekeeper in the eye, mutter “no thanks,” and head to a different store?
Chances are, you’d do the latter.
Yet when it comes to Costco, consumers are more than willing to open their wallets and pay an annual fee for a membership.
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And those fees aren’t cheap, either. Costco recently raised the cost of a basic Gold Star member from $60 to $65 a year. Compared to Sam’s Club basic $50 membership, that’s a much higher price tag.
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Costco also recently raised the cost of its Executive membership from $120 to $130. That’s $20 more per year than the cost of a Plus membership at Sam’s Club that comes with comparable benefits.
But there’s a reason Costco members are willing to pay those fees. The Costco name has long been synonymous with not just low prices, but high-quality products.
When you bring home Costco purchases, you expect to be pleased with your haul. And if not, you know you can simply bring your purchases back for a refund.
Costco members are angry over a personal product change.
Image source: Shutterstock
Costco’s Kirkland brand is known for its commitment to quality
Costco takes a couple of different steps to maintain its commitment to product quality.
First, it limits its inventory to about 4,000 SKUs (stock keeping units). Having a smaller selection allows Costco to keep better tabs on its product lineup.
Secondly, Costco takes quality matters into its own hands by producing different products itself under its Kirkland brand.
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The Kirkland brand has a solid reputation not just among Costco members, but across retailers as a whole.
In fact, Costco has been commended for its strategy of housing all of its store brand products under the Kirkland name. Other retailers, by contrast, commonly create unique brands for different product categories.
Take Target, for example. The store’s Cat & Jack brand is a well-known source of apparel for children. But food products are produced under different brand names, like Favorite Day and Market Pantry.
Costco prefers to take a more unified approach to its Kirkland brand because it’s so confident in the level of quality it connotes.
Costco members are upset over a Kirkland product change
While Costco members tend to be pleased with Kirkland products on a whole, one common household item is getting unwanted attention due to a recent decline in quality.
Costco shoppers took to Reddit to vent about the warehouse club giant’s Kirkland Signature Bath Tissue.
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“The TP absolutely sucks now,” said the original poster. “I’m at the point that I’m ready to throw away what’s left of the pack.”
Another user pointed out that Kirkland toilet paper “used to be fantastic” but said “it’s been on a slow decline the past few years.”
A third user commented, “I’m really sick of looking like I sat on a snow globe. What is with all the debris?”
Costco’s Signature Bath Tissue is available online at a cost of $24.99 for 30 rolls, bringing the price per square foot to $1.75. Warehouse club prices vary by location.
But members who are frustrated with their Kirkland toilet paper insist that the savings aren’t enough to make up for the lack of quality.
Of course, the silver lining is that Costco’s generous return policy gives customers who are dissatisfied with their Kirkland toilet paper plenty of recourse. All they need to do is bring back their remaining rolls for a refund.
But it begs the question as to whether any other Kirkland products are experiencing a decline in quality.
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The good news is that Costco takes product quality seriously. If it gets wind of the issues members are having with its Kirkland bath tissue, it will likely take action.
Until then, members may want to choose a different product for their toilet papering needs – or prepare for an unwanted snow globe effect in their nether regions.
Maurie Backman owns shares of Costco.
