Service With A Smile, and Money Well Saved? I think so. The Warehouse Retailer Experience

My wife found a great deal on Living Social for a more or less free membership to Costco.  As my parents are big fans, we decided to try it out, since again, it wasn't going to really cost us anything upfront.  Now the true question: Did we score great deals? I must say I was a bit leery on the whole deal, as I'm never one for a deal that seems "to good to be true".  But this one seemed to have no catch.  I forget what we paid up front (I think about $55), but then you got 3 big value coupons to use, and a $20 giftcard.  So when all was said and done, I think we pretty much got the $55 back. So far, so good.

Secondly, I'm not a huge fan of needing to drive to Coralville just to hit Costco.  I know, it's not THAT far, but if I don't need to drive down there, I'd really rather not as there's plenty of grocery stores in town.  (And yes, I realize Costco is more than just a grocery store.)  So when you add in gas to get there, are we really saving money overall?  I'm still not sure.

I'll say this, the customer service was outstanding.  We were greeted by welcoming smiles everywhere we turned.  And that indoor parking... genius!  Somehow, we did get talked into upgrading to the Executive membership, which I'm pretty sure I was suckered into, but honestly haven't read the fine print yet.  I think you get like 90 days to go back on that decision.  Hmmmm...  And the kids were definitely not complaining about all the samples (though they still needed a hot dog on the way out).  Thought they'd be full.

I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised at how little we spent overall, for the mass amounts we got.  And as I've been in the market to buy a new TV, I did see a really good price that I have yet to see beaten by anyone yet.  As for the groceries, I'll admit I took a ton of pictures of price points to see how they compare to the per unit counts on smaller sizes.  I have a feeling it'll be a bit hit or miss, but that's to be expected I suppose.  You do find lots of different food items there though.  So that's a plus.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Are the warehouse retailers like Costco and Sams Club worth it in your opinion (as I hear Sams is currently offering a similar deal).  Leave your comments below.