Costco review: Harassment in the store

Good day,

I want to leave negative feedback and even file a complaint.

Our family has been loyal members of Costco for over 8 years, from the first week we moved to Canada.

Last Friday (February 4th) my wife and I went to Costco Langford to buy groceries and other things. We planned to spend our cashback voucher, which last year allowed us to get $485 back.

In our past, we lived in a place with not very good ecology, so we both have medical exemptions not to wear masks. We are exempt.

We've gotten used to being treated like second-class citizens, but we didn't expect what happened that Friday.

We, as usual, were asked about our situation by 4 different store employees and thanks to them for their vigilance. We are already used to it.

We know that people without a mask are not allowed to be served by cashiers and are required to go to the self-service area. We went there with our cart and a woman with blond hair said not very politely that we should (!) have masks. We said that we had an exception, to which she asked if we had coordinated our visit to the store with the administration.

I was a little surprised and politely asked if we need to get permission from the administration in order to go to the store and buy groceries as members? She did not answer but called the "manager".

A young man in a yellow vest came up and I said that we had no question for him, except for one thing - how should we use the cashback coupon at the self-service checkout. He said that no way and we have to go to the cashier. I asked if it was necessary to wear a mask at the checkout and he said yes. I was a little frustrated, but I can be in a mask for a few minutes, although then it greatly affects the work of the lungs.

We went to the checkout and I put on a mask. My wife can't be wearing a mask and she just stood by. Despite the fact that all cash desks are equipped with plastic shields and the staff wears masks, the cashier and assistant constantly pulled us back and said "stand there, stand here." Please understand, after the nightmare that we experienced in childhood in the USSR, this was not new for us, but unpleasant and my wife could not stand it and said, without raising her voice - "why do you treat us like prisoners in a concentration camp? We are just buyers".

The manager who happened to be nearby said that we are a 'danger for them' since we are not wearing masks and we must leave as soon as possible. He said 'go, go'.We paid for the goods and left.

It was the worst experience in the 8 years we have been living in Canada. Nobody has ever humiliated us as this happened on Friday in your store.

I would like some sort of response from customer service before we cancel our Costco membership.

We moved to Canada planning to forget what the Police State is, but we faced them in your store only because we can’t wear masks for health reasons.