TRANSCRIPT of Episode 70: "Costco Wholesale"

Review That Review with Chelsey Donn & Trey Gerrald

Episode 70: "Costco Wholesale"

Transcription

*Please Pardon any spelling errors!

THEME SONG: [00:00:00] Everybody's got an opinion.

Every Californian and Virginian.

It's so hard to tell who to trust and who to ignore.

Someone's gotta settle the score.

Trey and Chelsey will help you choose!

Whose views win, which ones lose.

Online haters are comin' for you!

Baby, it's time to Review That Review!

[00:00:30] Chelsey Donn: Hello.

[00:00:31] Trey Gerrald: Hi and hello to all of you. Listen, welcome once again to Review That Review, we are the podcast that is dedicated to reviewing

[00:00:42] Chelsey Donn: reviews. We're just like Siskel and Ebert only instead of reviewing cinematic masterpiece, we re review those hilarious scathing and sometimes suspicious online reviews.

[00:00:55] Trey Gerrald: that is your host Chelsey Donn.

[00:00:57] Chelsey Donn: And that is your host. Trey Gerrald.

[00:00:59] Trey Gerrald: And together we are your hosts, AKA

[00:01:03] VOICEOVER: review Queens.

[00:01:07] Trey Gerrald: Cheerio to all of our Patreon members. They're helping us wait. That was Australian.

[00:01:12] Chelsey Donn: Yep.

[00:01:15] Trey Gerrald: Well, just so you know, our Patreon members, they're really helping us over here because they are paying a little nominal fee for additional content. And it helps us out when we're producing the show. They get access to our companion after show podcast, and we love them. So if you wanna feel the love, show us love.

[00:01:34] Trey Gerrald: Yeah.

[00:01:35] Chelsey Donn: Yeah.

[00:01:36] Trey Gerrald: Go to Patreon dot com slash Review That Review. You can also find it at our homepage. Review That Review dot com Chelsey goose. Bagga how are ya?

[00:01:47] Chelsey Donn: I'm? Good. I'm good. We have a handyman outside doing a little bit of work, so hopefully that's not gonna be an issue he's working on the water cooler and a little bit of a leak situation, but.

[00:02:00] Trey Gerrald: little hammer hammer, tap,

[00:02:01] Chelsey Donn: Yeah, I think, I think we're gonna be okay. I always hate it when there's a handyman outside my room and I haven't been alerted of that fact.

[00:02:10] Chelsey Donn: And I just have like the curtains open and there's a stranger out there, but more on that at the after show. We could talk about that more there, but anyway, how are you doing Trey? It's so good to see. How's your.

[00:02:24] Trey Gerrald: I'm good. Life is good. You know, as all of our Jewish friends are aware today is yam Kipper. So we are obviously wishing all of our Jewish listeners, uh, safe and, uh, meaningful

[00:02:40] Chelsey Donn: fast

[00:02:41] Trey Gerrald: Yes,

[00:02:42] Chelsey Donn: an easy, fast, let it be easy.

[00:02:44] Trey Gerrald: yes. Or let it be really hard and

[00:02:48] Chelsey Donn: contemplative of.

[00:02:49] Trey Gerrald: Yeah. Consider are you gonna get in the book of life? What could you do better?

[00:02:53] Trey Gerrald: Where have you send.

[00:02:55] Chelsey Donn: You are, if you're, if you're listening to the show, I think we, uh, we're good peeps,

[00:03:00] Trey Gerrald: Yes. So that's enough of that. Let's, let's move on to fun, happy things so that like we can get our minds off of the fast. My week's good. You know, we're, um, chucking along the Jewish holidays are always a great opportunity to be around loved ones, which is so nice. And so lovely. I get to experience that with my large mush Booka.

[00:03:20] Chelsey Donn: Oh, good Yiddish. Look at you.

[00:03:23] Trey Gerrald: Ah, yeah.

[00:03:26] Chelsey Donn: Very good. Very good. Yeah. It's always a good week. I'm in LA. So I'm with my, my Jewish fam out here. Do a little FaceTime with the kids on the east coast and it's, it's a good time. It's a, it's a good time of year. Things are amping up. It's uh, it. I dunno. That's it

[00:04:00] Trey Gerrald: It

[00:04:01] Chelsey Donn: I think we've said it all, but we haven't said it all because we always have things that we wanna complain about as you know, I'm Jewish. I have all the fetches,

[00:04:11] Trey Gerrald: I've got, I've got some too.

[00:04:13] Chelsey Donn: I mean, I think between the two of us, I'm sure there are things that we wanna Lodge Complaint about. So do you wanna jump in Trey?

[00:04:20] Chelsey Donn: Do you wanna start us off?

[00:04:22] Trey Gerrald: I would love

[00:04:23] Chelsey Donn: Okay.

[00:04:24] Trey Gerrald: today, listeners, I really need to

[00:04:28] VOICEOVER: Lodge Complaint.

[00:04:29] Trey Gerrald: against ice cream machines being broken at the fast food drive through.

[00:04:34] Chelsey Donn: Or the UCLA dining hall. I mean, USA.

[00:04:39] Trey Gerrald: Oh, that's right from a few weeks back. Oh yeah.

[00:04:42] Chelsey Donn: forgot already.

[00:04:43] Trey Gerrald: I did, you know, now with my job, sometimes I'm driving home and I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna swing through fast food. I'm a trash person. I grew up trashy. I love fast food. It is something I really love, love, love. I love, and I know there's this whole cultural conversation around the.

[00:05:03] Trey Gerrald: McDonald's ice cream machines are all the McFlurries are always down because they have to clean them and it takes too long. And so they're always down and then there's this whole conspiracy theory, but I don't even know I'm not a big McDonald's person. I don't really partake in McDonald's per se, but I was coming home late from work one night and I did stop at a burger king.

[00:05:23] Trey Gerrald: And, you know, they have seven different like stickers on the windows. And like at the little menu, it's like get an Oreo shake. And I was like, you know what?

[00:05:31] Chelsey Donn: I

[00:05:31] Trey Gerrald: Screw my little body screw nutrition. I want an Oreo shake. So I asked for an Oreo shake. You know what diet screwed machine was down. I hate this. Why?

[00:05:44] Trey Gerrald: Like, like I understand like, oh actually we're out of tomatoes. So none of our burgers are gonna have tomatoes today. Sorry. But like, they would never be like, oh, our French fry machine is down 12 times out of the month. You know what I mean? It's very bizarre that there's just this understanding that like, you may not be able to get the dessert, but they're still gonna advertise

[00:06:05] Chelsey Donn: It's like roulette. Maybe, maybe not.

[00:06:08] Trey Gerrald: Yes.

[00:06:09] Chelsey Donn: and also, I feel like, again, not that like we should ever be ashamed of what we're eating. I'm a full advocate for like you do you girl, and we should all be a little bit more worried about ourselves. However, that moment when you've like decided you're gonna go through the drive through, and that moment when you're like, you know what?

[00:06:29] Chelsey Donn: Yeah, I am gonna get the milkshake and then you vocalize it, like you've said it, and then they're like

[00:06:34] Trey Gerrald: no, you're not.

[00:06:35] Chelsey Donn: the machine's down. You're just like, what. What I had to have a whole conversation with myself before I decided to turn in here in the first place. Now it's not available after I've like gone through that whole rigamarole in my head.

[00:06:52] Trey Gerrald: And oftentimes when you're getting late night drive through, you're usually in a long line. I don't know if anyone else has experienced that. So then there's extra buildup. Like, Ooh, I, I want that Oreo shake and then you can't get it. I hate that. And it happens a lot. I think it happens a lot more than it probably should.

[00:07:10] Trey Gerrald: And that's my Complaint.

[00:07:12] Chelsey Donn: Do something about the ice cream machines

[00:07:14] Trey Gerrald: Yeah. I Donn Donn. I don't

[00:07:16] Chelsey Donn: think they're really out or like, like broken or do you think they just like run out of ice cream and they're like, well, that's it for ice cream for.

[00:07:23] Trey Gerrald: Well, we're talking about these weird, soft serve things, which isn't even real ice cream. It's like random bags of chemical that

[00:07:29] Chelsey Donn: Right. But maybe they ran out of the chemical bags.

[00:07:32] Trey Gerrald: guess I Donn know there is this whole conspiracy that it's like it it's so involved to clean them, that they just say that they're broken.

[00:07:39] Chelsey Donn: oh. It's like a lie because they Donn don't wanna deal with it. Well,

[00:07:43] Trey Gerrald: one theory. Then there's also a theory that they say that they're broken because it makes people talk about the rest about McDonald's more and more. And so then people like are going, cuz they wanna see if they can get it. Like, you know, it's like people are weird and they have all these conspiracies about nothing.

[00:07:55] Trey Gerrald: But I do like if I go to Wendy's I want a frosty. So give it to me. Don't tell me

[00:08:03] Chelsey Donn: to me, baby

[00:08:05] Trey Gerrald: Or if it's down, be sorry about it. Don't be like, no, it's, you know, it's down. Uh, anyway,

[00:08:12] Chelsey Donn: it's just another day at the,

[00:08:14] Trey Gerrald: And they're probably telling everyone

[00:08:15] Chelsey Donn: Right. And they're just like, it's down. Yeah, you too, sir. You're gonna be disappointed. Did you get something else instead?

[00:08:23] Trey Gerrald: no, I mean, I feel like the next time they tell me no, I'm gonna be like, but it's my birthday. And just see what they say.

[00:08:30] Chelsey Donn: They're gonna still be like, sorry, go somewhere

[00:08:32] Trey Gerrald: They're like, they're like, okay. You know, whatever. That's my Complaint. Chelsey. What about you? What do you want Lodge Complaint about today?

[00:08:39] Chelsey Donn: I don't even know who my Complaint is directed at, but like, I hate the process of picking something out on Netflix or Hulu or whatever. Like when there's someone else I'm also like, not that picky. And so sometimes I feel like I'm with friends that are like more picky than I am. I can't pick out something with you because we're gonna be here.

[00:09:00] Chelsey Donn: For an eternity and I have a few friends, it just like takes forever. And then by the time we pick something I'm, it's never like really that good. And why did I just like spend three hours so that, you know, I could watch something about Mary, which is great, but like, you know what I mean? Like

[00:09:17] Trey Gerrald: Mm-hmm

[00:09:18] Chelsey Donn: it, it shouldn't have taken that long.

[00:09:19] Chelsey Donn: And I just hate that whole process of like, do you wanna maybe like watch something on Netflix? Wanna watch TV? You wanna do? Oh yeah, yeah. I'll watch something. And then like, Four hours later or like, whatever, like the like yeah, such thing says like you finally pick something and I'm just like, I'm over it.

[00:09:39] Chelsey Donn: By the time I pick something, I I'm no longer in the mood. I'm not the same person that I was when I yes. Said yes before I wanna watch something. Now I Donn don't wanna watch something. Now I just wanna be alone in my room. With an Oreo McClury and my dog, and I just want everyone to go away so that I can watch like all of the like junky reality TV that I like to watch by myself and be alone.

[00:10:04] Chelsey Donn: I just

[00:10:05] Trey Gerrald: This just happened. When my friend Francis was in town, we were like, we spent like five, 10 literal minutes, which is a long time, like scrolling through Disney plus. And it's like, no, I Donn don't wanna see that. What about, no, I Donn don't

[00:10:16] Chelsey Donn: Well, maybe we'll go back to that one. If we think like we'll put it on the maybe list, like, Ugh, enough. I'm done. I'm done.

[00:10:23] Trey Gerrald: in the day, you just turned the television on. You watched what was on

[00:10:27] Chelsey Donn: Exactly. I kind of like, I missed the good old days when it was like, do you wanna watch step by step or do you wanna watch the like rerun of the Brady bunch? Cuz like that's

[00:10:36] Trey Gerrald: that's it?

[00:10:37] Chelsey Donn: what's on right now.

[00:10:38] Trey Gerrald: Yeah. How were we? So decisive when we were at blockbuster,

[00:10:42] Chelsey Donn: Because we didn't have this many options, like at blockbuster, sometimes when there were new releases and stuff, they would be sold out. So guess what? You're getting three men and a little lady

[00:10:53] Trey Gerrald: Oh yes, no, I hear that. That really is a Complaint. That really is like a whole thing. Mm-hmm

[00:11:01] Chelsey Donn: I'm just so over it. I don't, and I don't know like who to blame.

[00:11:05] Chelsey Donn: I know that I have like friends that are on differing, like levels of care. Like we gotta hit it outta the park every time. Like, I don't care that much. Sometimes I just like, want something on, in the background. But even beyond that, like, I don't know how we fix this. I know. Some of the algorithms I think are getting better with their suggestions.

[00:11:25] Chelsey Donn: Like even with Netflix now they're putting a lot of like the new releases at the top in accordance. Like I I'm really into documentaries, so they'll be like a new documentary will come out and that'll be at the top. And when I'm watching by myself and I'm not searching with anyone else, I'll usually just like, all right, cool.

[00:11:41] Chelsey Donn: I'm in for that, you know? So that, that's kind of helpful. Do you, you know, that choose something like button on Netflix.

[00:11:49] Trey Gerrald: Oh, yeah, I've never done that.

[00:11:51] Chelsey Donn: Yeah, I think I've done it like once or like, I was so desperate. I was like, whatever, we'll just do Netflix or we're like, let's go. Yeah. I don't know how we fixed the problem.

[00:12:00] Trey Gerrald: You know, I hear you. And it's really, that is really valid. And I think maybe it's just being our own Russian roulette.

[00:12:08] Chelsey Donn: Yeah, it could be, or like, it would be really nice if you could, like, if there was some sort of app again, shark tank. Hello. If there was some sort of like app or something where it would pull in all of the, like Netflix, like you would check off, like, I have Netflix, I have Hulu, I have Disney plus I have blah, blah, blah.

[00:12:26] Chelsey Donn: Like, whatever it is that like you have access to, and then you could fill out a survey. That's like, I wanna watch a romcom. And you know, that's like, is it new? Is it from like the nineties, eighties? Like you could like pick like different things. And then it could like flop out five, six options. And then you're probably closer.

[00:12:46] Trey Gerrald: Yeah, that's a good, I that's a great invention idea.

[00:12:49] Chelsey Donn: All right. Shark tank. You listening.

[00:12:51] Trey Gerrald: We've lobbied it over to you time to pick it up.

[00:12:54] Chelsey Donn: exactly. I mean, we have so many, so many inventions we're just given away here, given a given 'em away here at Review That Review,

[00:13:01] Trey Gerrald: Well, I feel, I feel a little bit, um, lighter. I'm glad we went through those

[00:13:05] Chelsey Donn: Yeah. Yeah, I do too. I feel like I feel seen in that, like you have this similar experience and I know that when I struggle, it's not my struggle. It's ours.

[00:13:15] Trey Gerrald: It's ours.

[00:13:17] Chelsey Donn: that's like lightning like that, like it's it lifts a little bit of the burden.

[00:13:21] Trey Gerrald: We are a family. All right, Chelsey,

[00:13:25] Chelsey Donn: Should we make someone else feel seen?

[00:13:27] Trey Gerrald: let's jump into some online reviews. Let's do it.

[00:13:29] Chelsey Donn: yeah, let's do it.

[00:13:33] VOICEOVER: Review That Review

[00:13:36] Chelsey Donn: All right. As you know, we are your trustee review Queens. We bring in reviews from the internet that we feel need to be inspected.

[00:13:43] Trey Gerrald: We read you a review, break it down and rate the impact of the review on a scale from zero to five crowns. It's a very Regal process that ChelseyBD and I call

[00:13:55] VOICEOVER: Assess that Kvetch.

[00:13:57] Trey Gerrald: goose. What have you got for us today on episode 70?

[00:14:01] Chelsey Donn: It is episode 70. And I was thinking where like, have we not, you know, really been mining late of late. And I thought we haven't really been on Trustpilot in a little while. So I decided to go over to Trustpilot and check out what the people were saying about Costco. Cuz generally speaking, I like Costco, you know, I like to buy in bulk every once in a while.

[00:14:25] Chelsey Donn: I know David is a big Costco shopper.

[00:14:29] Trey Gerrald: yep.

[00:14:29] Chelsey Donn: You go with him like Sundays or something like that. You guys have a Costco date

[00:14:33] Trey Gerrald: Yeah. We're executive members.

[00:14:35] Chelsey Donn: who that is really gonna come into play in this review. So I'm super glad that you are, cuz I didn't know what that was. So without further a Jew, should we hop

[00:14:45] Trey Gerrald: Yeah, let's do it.

[00:14:46] Chelsey Donn: All right. So as I mentioned, this is a trust pilot review of Costco wholesale.

[00:14:51] Chelsey Donn: Uh, it is a One-Star-Zinger review written by Linda L. And it was written six days ago or probably seven days ago. Cause I think I captured this yesterday. So with this is, this is, uh, hot off the presses fresh review from trust pilot written by Linda L. Here we go. Subject five stars. Are you kidding? I see a couple people with five star reviews questioning all the rest of us who are coming in with One-Star-Zinger review.

[00:15:26] Chelsey Donn: Have they ever shopped at Costco based on my experience, I believe the other One-Star-Zinger reviews the five stars. Not so much. Just look at it this way. There is no place on Costco's website to leave a review,

[00:15:45] Trey Gerrald: Hmm.

[00:15:46] Chelsey Donn: no way to contact them via email. Their feedback page is anonymous. And they flat out tell you, they don't want to know anything about you and they will not respond to anything you write.

[00:16:04] Trey Gerrald: Hmm.

[00:16:05] Chelsey Donn: In other words, they don't care about you. The only way to contact them is to call them and to do that, you have to set aside anywhere from half hour to an hour, usually more than an. I suspect most people give up before they ever speak to a person there. How do I know this? I have spent countless hours trying to get my problem resolved.

[00:16:41] Chelsey Donn: If you have a customer service issue, prepare to make solving it a part-time job, nothing about this experience has been. I paid $3,000 for an outdoor patio set when Costco delivered it and assembled it, they also damaged it. They didn't say anything about the damage at the time. And it was obvious. They took pictures of everything except the corner of the table that was smashed in, took the tip.

[00:17:15] Chelsey Donn: We gave them and they left. I noticed the damage immediately and called the delivery guys before they were even out of the driveway. They told me I had to call Costco. That's where my five month ordeal started my first call after taking picture. And providing proof that the table was damaged. I was told I'd get a replacement tabletop, or I could return the whole seven piece set, but it was on back order.

[00:17:53] Chelsey Donn: And I would have nothing in the meantime. So I agreed to wait for the tabletop. I got canned emails from them every two weeks, always telling me the item was back order. I got these emails for five months after the first two months, I started wondering if I would ever get a replacement. So I called them to see what, if any progress they were making nothing, but the same response it's back ordered.

[00:18:24] Chelsey Donn: Sun Villa would also email me to ask me if I still wanted a replacement.

[00:18:30] Trey Gerrald: Uh,

[00:18:31] Chelsey Donn: Yes. Who pays $3,000 for damaged goods. Of course, I want it replaced, but I had to confirm that each time or they were going to cancel the order, this wasn't even sun Villa's fault. So I couldn't figure out why I had to deal with them in the first place.

[00:18:52] Chelsey Donn: A couple times, sun Villa told me the order was ready, not the same information as Costco had. So I had to call Costco when that happened. I had no idea. When or what was going to happen when the tabletop appeared was Costco going to reassemble it for me? Were they going to take away the damaged tabletop?

[00:19:17] Chelsey Donn: I was told yes to all these things. After a few lengthy wait times and many transfers, five months later, I got the table.

[00:19:30] Trey Gerrald: Hmm.

[00:19:30] Chelsey Donn: Even the insulation of the new tabletop was a hassle. I was told to call the night before the guys were supposed to come out and they would give me a window of time. The next day, when they would be here after one and a half hours of being on the phone with them, they told me they would call me two hours before the guys were coming.

[00:19:51] Chelsey Donn: It doesn't sound like I was on the schedule at all. So I was doubt. My phone rang at 7:30 AM the next day. And they were on their way would get here in 10 minutes. So much for the two hour window. The whole process of replacing the tabletop took about five minutes, five minutes of work on their part. I have no idea how many hours of time on my.

[00:20:19] Chelsey Donn: I really wonder if I would've ever gotten a resolution. Had I not called as many times as I did. And someone else mentioned the scam executive membership. The same thing happened to me. I just got a $60 gift card in exchange for two years of the $125 membership. The only reason I didn't cancel it after the first year was because I was still waiting for my tabletop.

[00:20:49] Chelsey Donn: Here's the kicker. You can't cancel your Costco membership online either. You have to call them. There's another couple of hours of my life. I will never get back.

[00:21:05] VOICEOVER: Mm.

[00:21:07] Trey Gerrald: Linda.

[00:21:08] Chelsey Donn: Linda, Linda, Linda, what do you think of Linda?

[00:21:12] Trey Gerrald: Well, I feel for Linda,

[00:21:14] Chelsey Donn: I feel for Linda.

[00:21:15] Trey Gerrald: I, I do feel for Linda, you

[00:21:18] Chelsey Donn: Oh, I meant to mention also, sorry, this, so, so she's right. You know, Costco doesn't allow you to contact them and all that, this trust pilot page by Costco, which has a 1.6 total overall score

[00:21:31] Trey Gerrald: oof.

[00:21:32] Chelsey Donn: was not, and has not been claimed by Costco.

[00:21:37] Trey Gerrald: Oof. Well, it's interesting because I find myself listening to this review. Having had a very similar experience with west Elm, where. This was for our upper west side apartment. I ordered this table and it was a leaf extension table and it was deeply scratched and it was a white. Table. So the delivery guys were like, they said, like, you'll have to call, like we can't replace it.

[00:22:06] Trey Gerrald: You know, like our job is just to bring it. So like, then I was like, okay, cool. You know, I was able to like, get something in motion, but it was also back ordered and then Chelsey, they just shipped me the replacement, but they put it in a box with no bubble wrap. So it arrived completely smashed on all four corners, like exactly how Linda sang.

[00:22:31] Trey Gerrald: And I was like, so livid. So then I had to call again and they had to like send a new one.

[00:22:38] Chelsey Donn: And were you like, hello?

[00:22:39] Trey Gerrald: I was so mad. I was also dealing with like rejuvenation, which is like a new company under that umbrella. And there were so many problems that I was just completely fed up, but at least I was able to speak with people and the motion was going immediately.

[00:22:56] Trey Gerrald: I can't imagine five months of getting an email every two weeks. Like, it's very frustrating. I'm trying to tamper my judgment here because I I'm feeling a little judgemental.

[00:23:07] Chelsey Donn: Of Linda.

[00:23:09] Trey Gerrald: I'm feeling a little judgemental of buying such a huge product at Costco. So I'm just, I want to put that into the space,

[00:23:18] Chelsey Donn: people do that stuff all the time. Like that's like we think about Costco as like paper towels and bulk food items, but a lot of people buy this kind of stuff from Costco because the whole idea is that it's supposed to be cheaper.

[00:23:34] Trey Gerrald: Yeah. And it doesn't seem like it works very well.

[00:23:37] Chelsey Donn: But that is the ultimate question. That was my ultimate question. As I was reading through this is like, is this just the hell? Of ordering large products online to be delivered because you know, we've read reviews like this from like best buy. And we read reviews like this from Ikea. And you had this experience with west Elm.

[00:23:59] Chelsey Donn: Is this just like par for the course comes with the territory when you're ordering these big items. It somebody's gonna have something smashed because like there's certain items that I've wanted to have shipped, like from best buy. Like I was thinking about getting a new mini fridge, but all of the reviews said that it was like smashed in.

[00:24:19] Chelsey Donn: So I was thinking fine. If I wanna get a mini fridge, like I gotta drive over to best buy and have them put it in my car. And then like, have someone take it out here because it seems like in the act of shipping it and it getting tossled around, they're all getting damaged.

[00:24:34] Trey Gerrald: Hmm.

[00:24:35] Chelsey Donn: right. So is this like a Costco specific thing, which regardless it's terrible.

[00:24:42] Chelsey Donn: And it, it speaks poorly of the company because it's representative of the company, but is this like something that just is happening now everywhere?

[00:24:50] Trey Gerrald: well, that was my distinction. Cuz if we sort of peel back the layers here, Linda purchased something at Costco, it was damaged maybe by the people delivering it, who is delivering it, is that a subcontracted company? And then it was back ordered. Okay. So. Like that's frustrating, but is that Costco's fault?

[00:25:11] Chelsey Donn: I think that the real Complaint here that was getting across, but obviously it was a lengthy review, but the real Complaint is that there's no way to contact this company. other than to pick up a phone, like during business hours, wait on hold for like however many hours to talk to someone that it, and there's no way to leave reviews on their website.

[00:25:33] Chelsey Donn: And there's nowhere to like, there's no contact form where you can, I self-identify like that is ridiculous,

[00:25:41] Trey Gerrald: You know, honestly, to me, that is the value of this review. And I think that goes back to my comment about feeling judgemental. If I'm gonna spend $3,000 on outdoor furniture. Go to west Elm, their outdoor furniture is $3,000 and they have many ways to contact them. Like that, I think is the huge takeaway for me here is like, this is not a

[00:26:05] Chelsey Donn: Right. That is, but like, I don't think that that's Linda's fault cuz she chose to buy something from Costco. I mean, like I think that this would happen to anybody in this situation. That's why it's valuable because anybody that buys something from Costco, that's a big ticket item, which. Does happen on a regular basis and has a problem is gonna have to go through this whole hoopla

[00:26:28] Trey Gerrald: Yeah. I mean, it has to become your part-time job.

[00:26:31] Chelsey Donn: you, yeah, you better have clear your schedule.

[00:26:34] Trey Gerrald: Hi. What do you do for work? Oh, I, um, call Costco every day.

[00:26:38] Chelsey Donn: customer service and wait on the phone until they pick up. It's just bad customer service to say it light.

[00:26:45] Trey Gerrald: Definitely. That's very clear. And, and I do think that is the value of reading Linda's review as a consumer.

[00:26:52] Chelsey Donn: Linda's pain because I feel like what she's saying is trust pilot, you are my last resort. I'm screaming into the ether. Nobody's listening. There's nowhere for me to write this down and send this as a direct Complaint to Costco. There's nowhere for me to write this as a review. There's nothing that I can do except for go to this unclaimed.

[00:27:15] Chelsey Donn: Page on Trustpilot and hope that somebody at Costco corporate reads this and changes their policy. I mean, that's ridiculous.

[00:27:23] Trey Gerrald: yeah, I was gonna say, and, and no one, they're not even claiming the trust pilot page, so they're not even gonna look at this, probably. So my question though, like if it isn't a big. Item, like if you bought something and it was damaged and you came back into the customer service counter, like I wonder if it's, that's more expedited.

[00:27:40] Trey Gerrald: Like, I feel like

[00:27:41] Chelsey Donn: I'm sure.

[00:27:42] Trey Gerrald: of this are so complicated.

[00:27:44] Chelsey Donn: I guess, but I just don't wanna like write off Linda's experience because yes, like there are so many items in the store that like, if you purchased a television and then like one of the pixels was broken or the glass was broken or something like that, then you probably yeah.

[00:28:00] Chelsey Donn: Put the television back in your car, go back to Costco and deal with it. People are buying like garage doors from Costco. I mean, there's like a lot of stuff you could buy from Costco. That's not the kind of stuff that you can just throw in your trunk and go back. And I think having your only customer service option be to go into the store.

[00:28:20] Chelsey Donn: Isn't right.

[00:28:22] Trey Gerrald: Yeah. I mean, again, that's the value I think here is like Donn. Don't be Linda, like learn from Linda's

[00:28:28] Chelsey Donn: Linda. Don't do what Linda had. Don't go through what Linda had to do. Maybe go somewhere else. But yeah, I really thought that that was okay. What do we think of at the top of the review, Linda saying, like, I see you five star reviews. I see you. And I challenge you and One-Star-Zinger my fellow one stars.

[00:28:46] Chelsey Donn: I believe you, my five stars. I'm not believing what you have to say.

[00:28:51] Trey Gerrald: I mean, I honestly, like, I think that's where the humor ended for me, cuz I was really like, all right, Linda is with us. She's real. She gets it. She.

[00:28:59] Chelsey Donn: Yeah. I mean, she was not joking around. She had a point.

[00:29:03] Trey Gerrald: She also Linda claims, like they don't care about you. They don't want to hear the complaints, which it seems like she's provided a lot of supporting evidence of that. Like, this is not a situation where if something goes wrong with delivery, you're gonna be able to wash your hands of it by the end of the next business day, which is really frustrating.

[00:29:22] Trey Gerrald: And I imagine that's probably common.

[00:29:25] Chelsey Donn: valuable, as you said, like as a consumer to like go in, you know, with that, not like even me, I like you am not the kind of person. Does buy these bigger ticket items, but now that I've read Linda's review, I'm gonna be like, well, maybe I should think twice if I'm gonna order something like that from Costco, it's not always better to get a little bit of a deal.

[00:29:43] Trey Gerrald: What is Linda's spelling a grammar like,

[00:29:46] Chelsey Donn: It's good. We did. We used the all cap. Sometimes I tried to emphasize that in the reading,

[00:29:51] Trey Gerrald: yeah, I think it calls for it.

[00:29:53] Chelsey Donn: I think. Yeah. And they divided everything up into like nice digestible. Paragraphs, which I personally like, like I get really dizzy by just the long rants that don't have any, you know, paragraph breaks and the falling in grammar through and through looks good to me.

[00:30:12] Trey Gerrald: I believe Linda. I do think they're being truthful. I mean, even.

[00:30:17] Chelsey Donn: think they're being truthful.

[00:30:19] Trey Gerrald: Even down to the point of being like I noticed immediately, I called them. They were still in the driveway. Like I literally believed that she got an email over two weeks.

[00:30:27] Chelsey Donn: I believe Linda. And I think that she really did a good job of like tearing down any of the attacks you might have against Linda. Cuz you might say like, well, you know, why didn't you notice it when they were still there? She's like, ah, They were in the driveway. Well, why wouldn't you try to email them or why wouldn't you try and do that?

[00:30:47] Chelsey Donn: Uh, uh, like I did. It's not a thing. What do we think Linda does for a living when she's not calling customer service?

[00:30:56] Trey Gerrald: I think she's a principal at a school

[00:30:58] Chelsey Donn: I think, yeah, I think Linda's a teacher or

[00:31:01] Trey Gerrald: vary by the books.

[00:31:03] Chelsey Donn: of some sort, maybe she's like a principal or like an assistant principal. She is pretty organized.

[00:31:11] Trey Gerrald: What about the humor entertainment level? I mean, it's pretty maddening the experience.

[00:31:16] Chelsey Donn: It is maddening, but I do feel like there was a little bit of fun in there. The job saw, like, I, I do believe that Linda has a sense of humor.

[00:31:26] Trey Gerrald: I wonder if Linda tried tweeting

[00:31:29] Chelsey Donn: I thought about that too. Cuz I feel like it's trust pilot or Twitter. Those are really like your only options. If there's nowhere else to contact. I don't know if Linda has a Twitter.

[00:31:40] Trey Gerrald: I know it just occurred to me about that too. I wonder also, I mean, it just makes me feel so angry that I think that I would go cuckoo and I would constantly, every day that it crossed my mind, I would just send the same email to like the blank email account. Of the same fucking thing, just over and over and over, over, and like a literal, crazy person,

[00:32:01] Chelsey Donn: Right. That being said, I feel like Linda did a really good job of expressing. You know, their anger at the situation and like the intensity of the situation, but they didn't really go below the belt.

[00:32:14] Trey Gerrald: Right. They really like kept it. Cool. I felt the anger and I felt on their side the entire time.

[00:32:20] Chelsey Donn: Right. Then that, that tagline thing about the, I thought it was very interesting to me that Linda was like, I am here to stand up for the one stars and, you know, like there was something like very community oriented. Like I wonder if like Linda also is very involved in the community because she feels very, like, I am talking for the people because in the end she was like, and that other One-Star-Zinger review that mentioned the executive membership, I.

[00:32:51] Chelsey Donn: Too Shay. I agree.

[00:32:53] Trey Gerrald: Yeah. I, I'm not really sure about any of that. I, I know that like the whole point of the membership is like, after you spend a certain amount of money, you get a certain like gift card or whatever. But I know that we got it. Like, I don't know about a scam or whatever, but, um, also the executive membership is like the lowest one and then it's like gold.

[00:33:12] Trey Gerrald: I think it's like the bigger one or something.

[00:33:15] Chelsey Donn: But there must be a BA like I think I, yeah, I think I paid the basic like family one, which I think is like $80 or like 60 or $80 a year.

[00:33:25] Trey Gerrald: maybe it's the middle one. Maybe gold is first. Yeah, it's black. It's a black.

[00:33:30] Chelsey Donn: Yeah. Mine's white.

[00:33:31] Trey Gerrald: So, okay. Maybe it's the middle or like the highest of the non-business, you know, I mean, it is all a really good point cuz you are paying a membership fee to be able to shop here and get things so like to not have a, a spectacular customer support seems pretty insane.

[00:33:48] Trey Gerrald: I mean, it seems pretty horrible.

[00:33:49] Chelsey Donn: then the only other thing that I feel like we, we do need to at least address, even though, like we're saying we're getting the overall takeaway is that Costco is, is very difficult to get a hold of somebody where was like the distinction between sun bean and Costco, cuz it was like, We started calling the manufacturer, I think at one point in Linda's review, like,

[00:34:13] Trey Gerrald: Yeah. I was confused in the narrative cuz it was in the conversation about getting an email every two weeks and then it was like sun Vela, whatever was also in the mix, which makes me think that it really was back ordered. But then they're saying that sun Vela said it was available and then Costco was saying, it's not available.

[00:34:29] Trey Gerrald: So maybe Costco hadn't received it yet, but like it's all very confusing why they were included.

[00:34:35] Chelsey Donn: Exactly. Like, it seems very strange that like sun Villa is emailing them to ask if they still want the replacement, which obviously they do, but every time they have to confirm, but then they're very quick to say that, but that's not sun Villa's fault. Cuz I shouldn't have had to like be communicating with them.

[00:34:51] Chelsey Donn: There should be a Costco employee whose job it is to like maintain the relationship with the manufacturer. Like why am I being looped into those kind of emails?

[00:35:02] Trey Gerrald: that does seem so weird. I think I can crown Linda.

[00:35:07] Chelsey Donn: I can, I can crown Linda let's do it.

[00:35:09] Trey Gerrald: Okay. So Chelsey and I each have our own set of zero to five crown cards and an effort to be fair and not influenced by one another. We will simultaneously reveal our writing.

[00:35:20] VOICEOVER: The Queens are Tabulating Joseph school.

[00:35:28] Chelsey Donn: Okay. I was really torn four crowns from me, four and a half crowns from Trey almost won four and a half myself. All right, Trey, you start us off. Why four and a half crowns for Linda.

[00:35:38] Trey Gerrald: I believe the review. I believe this is what happened and it feels very unsatisfactory, especially for a company that you have to pay a membership to belong to that there's no direct communication and it's, well, you know, this is a warning sign for me. Like I'm. I already would like I've already expressed, I would be a little leery of anything being delivered, especially if there's not a direct point of contact, if something does go wrong and that never occurred to me until Linda's review so incredibly valuable.

[00:36:11] Trey Gerrald: I didn't do the full Review Queen because it feels a little I'm. I mean, I don't know. I, I feel like.

[00:36:20] Chelsey Donn: Just didn't make it to the full Queen for you.

[00:36:23] Trey Gerrald: This is a very unique set of circumstances. It was something that was delivered. I've never had anything delivered. It's something that was out of stock. And so then, like there's a holding pattern. Like it just is so many specifics that had to fall into place for this experience that I Donn don't know if that's gonna be every single consumer's experience and you know, it's unfortunate, but it definitely has a huge impact on me.

[00:36:48] Trey Gerrald: Why did you say.

[00:36:50] Chelsey Donn: really for the, the point that you just made. That's why I took away that last crown. I agree with everything. I think that like Linda is justified in, in their anger and that this is unacceptable. And I'm so glad that I have all this information now, uh, that I didn't know before. And it really will impact my decision making moving forward.

[00:37:08] Chelsey Donn: That's where the four crowns come from, comes from. I took away the one. I Donn, like you said, I don't think this is gonna be everyone's experience. I think this is a specific circumstance within Costco, and I don't think it's necessarily fair to negate all the five star reviews because the reality is maybe somebody else had a five star review because they got a lamp or a pillow.

[00:37:31] Chelsey Donn: They took it home and had the. Bed best night's sleep or was the cutest thing in their apartment. Like other people might have five star experiences still with Costco that aren't having to deal with the headache that Linda's dealing with. And for that kind of absolute comment of like, we cannot believe any of these five stars because they didn't have my experience.

[00:37:56] Chelsey Donn: I thought that took it a little to the extreme. So I went with four crowns for Linda, but I thought it was a good review and informative and. Linda L um, I hope that you're now retired from your job of, of

[00:38:09] Trey Gerrald: As a principal and that yes, that you retire from your part-time job and that you are able to relax on that outdoor patio,

[00:38:16] Chelsey Donn: I hope you're enjoying the heck out of that outdoor patio.

[00:38:21] Trey Gerrald: you know, as soon as it was finished, Linda trapped and banged her head on the side. And then it smushed the side of the table.

[00:38:29] Chelsey Donn: Oh, I hope not. I really hope that would be terrible. I hope that I hope that's not the end for Linda. All right.

[00:38:39] Trey Gerrald: review. I feel so angry now at Costco

[00:38:42] Chelsey Donn: you. I know, I know. I wasn't thinking that people were gonna be that upset. I think that that 1.5 overall score is really low, but you know what, when you take into consideration the fact that these complainers, these VES have like nowhere else to go, it kind of makes a little bit more.

[00:38:59] Trey Gerrald: very true. I've never stopped to write a five star about Costco. So,

[00:39:03] Chelsey Donn: Right. There you go. I'll write my Queen. We've done it. We've reached the most Regal portion of our show. Trey. Who are you inducting today for?

[00:39:14] VOICEOVER: My Royal line.

[00:39:15] Trey Gerrald: all right, this week I am going to induct all of the veterinarians in the world.

[00:39:22] Chelsey Donn: Good one.

[00:39:23] Trey Gerrald: How have we not done this yet? You know, there is something so special about the relationship between animals and humans. And it's really miraculous when you stop to think about the depth of relationship when there is no shared language. It's sort of unique. I, I don't know what other, you know, it's just inter-species relationship. That's so profound, emotional and moving. And we have these conduits in our lives that are able to study and deduce what's occurring when. You know, your little beloved pet is having an issue or, you know, God forbid anything deeper or more than that.

[00:40:07] Trey Gerrald: And that people commit their lives to learning and helping little helpless animals, I think is so wonderful and lovely and should be applauded. And so, you know, you also are always very aware when you have a killer vet. Wait, that's

[00:40:24] Chelsey Donn: That didn't sound right.

[00:40:25] Trey Gerrald: you're all, when you have a rockstar vet and someone who's just sort of like, man,

[00:40:31] Chelsey Donn: yeah,

[00:40:32] Trey Gerrald: you know, And I think that we, I mean, it's come up many times on this podcast, the world of doctors and all of the like annoyances and all of the stuff around the healthcare.

[00:40:44] Trey Gerrald: But when I think about vets, it's just, it's wonderful to know that there's someone you can run to who can help, you know, cuz my life is so much about my little dogs and I am just really grateful that we have a vet. You know, a block away and we love them and they love our animals and they take care of them.

[00:41:00] Trey Gerrald: And when hunter is constantly scratching, I can communicate. And they're like, well, let's try this little pill to see if there's something in the environment that they're allergic to. And maybe it's, you know, they just can offer things because hunter can't tell me what's wrong.

[00:41:15] Chelsey Donn: That's.

[00:41:16] Trey Gerrald: So for that reason, I'm going to induct all of you vets out there.

[00:41:20] Trey Gerrald: You have to deal with all of the stuff. And for that reason, I don't know if you're thanked enough. So this week I'm inducting you all the veterinarians in the world. You are my, and Chelsea's too. I'm gonna say it. Royal Highness.

[00:41:33] Chelsey Donn: true. It's so funny, that seemed like the kind of job that like, you know, when you're like ask a kid, like, what do you wanna be when they grow up? And they're like, I wanna be a fireman. I wanna be a vet. Like it's like one of those jobs. And then people don't realize that, like once you actually go on that track, that is so much schooling and dedication that it takes.

[00:41:56] Chelsey Donn: To become a veterinarian. It is an insane amount of schooling and education and learning all different kinds of animals. And, you know, just so much so that you can have this job. It's pretty remarkable. I mean, like, I think my, I mean, I know that the vet where I take Goldie, like they see like AANAs and like all kinds of animals.

[00:42:19] Chelsey Donn: And you're just thinking like that same person saw like a cat at two o'clock a dog at three o'clock and a Guana at, at like four o'clock and then like, you know, a rabbit on the way out. Like, like it's just so crazy that they know. all these animals. I mean, you think like doctors have to learn the human body and that's like exhausting to think about having to learn the in and outs of the human body, but having to learn the in and outs across multiple species.

[00:42:49] Trey Gerrald: Crazy surely

[00:42:51] Chelsey Donn: Yeah.

[00:42:52] Trey Gerrald: while we're singing your praise as fats.

[00:42:53] Chelsey Donn: Yeah. So I do concur. I do conc.

[00:42:56] Trey Gerrald: Well, that's it Queen. We did it. We have concluded another round on the are and RQ. That's my dolphin noise

[00:43:06] Chelsey Donn: You just scared Goldie Goldie. It's uncle Trey gold.

[00:43:12] Trey Gerrald: I know the language I spoke to her. Sorry.

[00:43:15] Chelsey Donn: Oh, oh, alright. Anyway. Wow. That was, uh, that was a moment. Thank you for joining us today. If you like what you heard, please tell a friend.

[00:43:27] Trey Gerrald: If you didn't like what you heard, please tell an enemy. If you'd like the chance to be featured on our show, leave us a review. You can do that on apple podcast, Spotify or podcaster. We've made it easy with a little hyperlink. Love the podcast.com/the review Queens, which will take you to all of those sites.

[00:43:44] Trey Gerrald: There's a one click link in our show description below. We've made it easy breezy, beautiful dolphin noise, scaring, Goldie.

[00:43:52] Chelsey Donn: Yes, we have also to support our show. You can visit Review That Review dot com slash donate where even a one time dollar tip is much appreciated.

[00:44:03] Trey Gerrald: Join our mailing last at Review That Review dot com to stay up to date with all of the goings on in the Queen.

[00:44:09] Chelsey Donn: Hit up our voice mailbox. 1 8 50 review zero. You can follow us on all the socials at the review Queens I'm at ChelseyBD.

[00:44:18] Trey Gerrald: And I am at Trey Gerrald. On today's after show pod, we are rating and reviewing a One-Star-Zinger review from Google four Kahlua original K cups.

[00:44:34] Chelsey Donn: Oh, my goodness. They make Kahlua like, like the alcohol. You could do it through a Curig. Wow. Okay. Curious.

[00:44:43] Trey Gerrald: So to find out what made, ChelseyBD say.

[00:44:46] Chelsey Donn: I'm such an old lady I'm like now with these talks, these kids and to find out what made Trey say,

[00:44:54] Trey Gerrald: This is like actually one of those actual Somali faces you could have done on a

[00:44:59] Chelsey Donn: then join our Patreon page at Patreon dot com slash Review That Review to hear our weekly members only after show companion podcast.

[00:45:10] Trey Gerrald: and remember.

[00:45:11] Chelsey Donn: Ignore the haters. You're a Queen

[00:45:14] Trey Gerrald: Gender nonspecific executive suite membership, Costco Queen

[00:45:21] Chelsey Donn: Queen. Bye.

[00:45:22] Trey Gerrald: buy Queenies go get your groceries, not your patio furniture.

[00:45:26] Chelsey Donn: Definitely Donn. Don't get the patio furniture. What a nightmare.

Review That Review is an independent podcast. Certain names have been redacted or changed to protect the guilty. Executive produced by Trey Gerrald and Chelsey Donn with editing and sound designed by me with voiceover talents by Eva Kaminsky. Our cover art was designed by LogoVora and our theme song was written by Joe Kinosian and sung by Natalie Weiss.

[00:45:47] Chelsey Donn: Don't make that sound

[00:45:48] Trey Gerrald: What sound did flipper make?

[00:45:51] Chelsey Donn: I'm not gonna do it. I'm not doing it. Do not do it. I can't have to calm her down again. It's too much. Don't do it. Trey Donn. Don't.

[00:46:00] Trey Gerrald: I'm not.

[00:46:01] Chelsey Donn: Okay, but flipper makes the same sound that you made earlier. I think

[00:46:05] Trey Gerrald: Oh, oh. I felt like I really failed it up. Like I was gonna try to

[00:46:09] Chelsey Donn: not gonna do the sound and scare her.

[00:46:11] Trey Gerrald: No, we're not gonna do it Goldie it's okay.

[00:46:13] Chelsey Donn: It's okay. Goldie, you're

[00:46:14] Trey Gerrald: Rest your little dog bones. It's okay. Canor.

[00:46:17] Chelsey Donn: kind. Poop, poop pill, pill.

---

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