Costco Insider - Part 69

Tire center service and warranty

September 3rd, 2010

Insider

Within ten minutes I was able to narrow down which tires my car uses, what my options at Costco were, the costs involved, and how long it would take to get my tires changed. You can call the tire center directly, and that’s what I did, by looking up the phone number at the Costco.com locations page. First thing I did was tell them what car I had, the Costco employee told me what options there were and their prices and mileage warranties, and I wrote those down. Tire center is usually pretty busy, so much that you often have to bring in your vehicle in in the morning if you want to get your tires changed. So, I let the busy worker off the phone, did a quick google search for tires for my car, realized Costco’s prices were very good, and called them back. This time I asked how busy they were and if I brought my car in now how long it would take. They told me two hours, but it ended up being less than one. Costco now has a fancy tire website that will give you most of this information as well. In the future I’ll probably look there first, to waste less of the workers time. The website does not match exactly what’s in store, but it’s close.

The worker on the phone was very courteous, as was the guy who I dealt with in person. I think overall, their service is very good. Like I mentioned earlier, it is best to get there early in the morning if you want the fastest service, before the queue builds up. My tires were rated at a 45,000 mile warranty. So, if they run out of tread before then, or a defect occurs, I’ll either get a prorated refund (tread) or a new tire (defect). Another advantage to Costco is that they fill your tires with Nitrogen. Nitrogen has larger molecules than Oxygen, which keeps more air in your tires, because it does not seep out slowly like Oxygen. Having to stress out because you got a flat tire can suck as well. Luckily Costco will fix that flat for free. You can’t beat that. Lastly, they will give the tires lifetime rotation and balance. That can add up to quite a bit of savings. Free disposal and installation definitely make your Costco purchase come out ahead in the long run. Here’s a link to the pdf if you’d like to look over the Road Hazard Warranty. What has been your experience with Costco’s tire center? Good? Bad? Indifferent?

Gelato and carne asada bake nutrition facts

August 26th, 2010

Insider

A lot of people have been wondering how many calories are in the new Costco carne asada bake. The quick answer is: 740 calories. And for gelato, there are 551 calories in a cone of stracciatella, 498 in a cone of pistachio, and 444 in a cone of mixed berry. Doing a little quick math that makes the variety cone come in at 498 calories. Looking at some of the other items in the food court I was a little surprised by some of the numbers. The item with the highest number of calories is actually the ice cream bar (870). Next on the list was the burger and fries, but I think those are only available overseas. The next highest, to my surprise again, was the turkey wrap. Maybe that’s why no one bought it and they are now phasing it out. People talk about how dry it is and how it needs dressing, yet it somehow has a ton of calories, even though it has healthy components such as lettuce and a whole wheat tortilla. You can see the rest of the nutritional facts in the PDF, which I originally found at HyperDad.

Christmas and Halloween items now in store

August 25th, 2010

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Costco stores start earlier than almost any retailer in carrying Halloween and Christmas items. I think the main reason is that, being a warehouse store, Costco has nowhere to store inventory. So what do they do with the holiday inventory once it comes in? Put it on the floor for early-bird shoppers to snag. I don’t think Costco minds this too much, because they can start their holiday sales early, which can be better for numbers.

Halloween skull at Costco

So far for Halloween I have seen a large decorative skull (pictured), some decorative lawn stakes, and some kid’s costumes. I think the costumes are already sold out at my local Costco. Meanwhile for Christmas items, I have seen ribbon for wrapping gifts for a while now. We just got in glass ornaments, oversized outdoor ornaments, LED multi-color lights, a Santa sculpture, and nutcracker tealights. I highly recommend if you see anything you like, buy it right away. I cannot stress how quickly seasonal items sell out at Costco. If you’re debating on it, buy it, and if you don’t like it or don’t end up using it, you can return it later. One other tip is that you can look at the item tag/price tag, and if it has a star on it that means it’s discontinued and won’t be restocked. I hope you find what you’re looking for.

Fruit tray in food court

August 19th, 2010

Insider

So I have very limited information at the moment, but my sources tell me that Costco is currently testing a fruit tray in the food court. I don’t know what types of fruit are in it, but I do know that it has about 200 calories and is not too expensive. The current locations carrying it are:

Austin, TX
Carlsbad, CA

If you have any more information, please pass it along! Thanks!

Costco gelato review

August 17th, 2010

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So I got the call that gelato was in my local Costco and I rushed over there to try it. The line was long and the customers were going crazy, but I got my gelato. As soon as you walked in the door, right in front of the TVs, was a table where they were sampling the three flavors. They were pretty busy, so I only grabbed a pistachio, because I had no idea if I’d like it or not and I knew I’d like the other flavors. It was pretty good, so I went with the variety cone with all three flavors.

The food court line was long and some of the regular register lines were only one-person deep, so I jumped in a regular line and ordered my cone of gelato. The other nice thing about that, besides skipping the food court line, was that I could pay with my American Express, whereas the food court only accepts cash.

Lots of gelato!

I got my variety cone and started with Pistachio on top. It wasn’t my favorite flavor of the three, but it was good: very creamy, lots of flavor. Next was mixed berry, which tasted mostly like strawberry, and even had chunks of real berries in it. Last was stracciatella — vanilla with chocolate chunks — which I think I liked the best. I still think stracciatella would have been better had it had bigger chocolate chunks in it. The cone seemed almost too big, it was a lot of waffle cone to eat. And we found it funny to eat Italian ice cream in a cone with an American flag wrapper on it. As far as the gelato flavor goes, they are making it fresh every morning in the food court, and it showed. The gelato was excellent. I would rate it a 9/10 on flavor, and 10/10 on value. Every Costco member needs to try it, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Costco coupon book 8/19 to 9/12 (August 2010)

August 12th, 2010

Insider

The August 2010 coupon book is out and you can download and view it right here on Costco Insider. Coupons are valid August 19th to September 12th. You do not need to bring it to the store to get the discounts, just mention it to the cashier.

Costco coupon book

Costco online only coupons