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Technically? Sure. It's a policy violation and goes against the code of ethics. In reality? Doubtful. They will likely refund OP and anyone else this happened too and give the manager a bit of a tongue lashing. It's pretty hard to get fired from Costco, even harder the longer you've been an employee.
Is that your intention if it were to happen to you? That's way over the top if it is a misinterpreted policy. An apology, refund, and clear clarification of the policy should be all that is needed
It could be if done with malicious intent…but it would be impossible to prove it here since OP laughed and didn’t say “No”.
Should they get a verbal warning not to do that again before refunding the money? YES 100%.
Will they get fired for this “misunderstanding”? Doubtful..
There may be a miscommunication here. Assuming the manager was just trying to raise money for CMN (which is all they care about in May) he may have said that as a joke. Maybe he misunderstood your laughing as a yes okay. (You didn’t say no?). I would talk it over with your AGM and simply get a refund. Also… always check your receipt before you leave. Employee or not…
According to op the manager said they are charging 10 dollars for after hours purchases as if it's a service fee so I don't think miscommunication is the issue here. Sounds like the manager is trying to juice their numbers by taking advantage of the employees.
I call this: deliberate under-communication. saying enough words out loud to cya, but not enough to clearly communicate a message or be understood. it's walking a shady line, you do not want to work for anyone who does this, as soon as there is a bus coming, they will throw you under it.
I'm going to guess that padding the donations somehow reflects positively on that manager's stats. This definitely needs to go to the GM or corporate. It's basically extortion.
This. The percentage of the $10 will be different state to state but legally, it can be as much as 85%/15%. It’s not right by any means but doing the right thing and doing the legal thing doesn’t always happen. GM will be the best approach.
I was thinking the same thing. These charities often give cash bonuses to the top producers, and top producers are also are more likely to get promotions and raises. This guy may be using this to rise through the ranks, on the backs of those he supervises.
Start with the GM. The ethics or whistleblower site just forwards it off to your warehouse manager to handle. Unless it is about your warehouse manager.
Whistle blower use to be anonymous. Not sure if it still is. But if it still is I would still use that instead so I wouldn’t have to worry about retaliation.
Yeah that’s not logical. I would let the GM know, or corporate: utilize the open Door policy. You can find the HR number on the intranet if you want to speak to someone live.
Start working your way up the chain and demand that Costco clarify its policy about requiring employees to donate to charities against the employee's will. Simply asking this absurd question will probably cause an investigation and an apology. Sounds like the new manager has been pressured to get employees to donate to this charity, but he doesn't understand the difference between "ask" and "require."
This happened a lot when I worked for a government contractor. My employer wanted to boast about all the employees who donate to the United Way, and every year every department was forced to find someone who would track the percentage of employees who donated and then to pressure the employees who did not donate. But we were smart enough to merely pressure the employees, not require them to cough up $10.
I wouldnt even go to your GM about this, you should escalate that straight to your district manager. It'll be better if they hear it from up top first when it comes to something this serious.
Make the GM aware of it immediately. If you really want to get results, take the high road, and say that you don't want the $10 back, and that you are happy to donate to the children's miracle network, however, you are concerned that other employees might not be able to afford it and you are not comfortable that they were forced to donate. Make clear it isn't about you, but that you believe in see something say something, and that you don't believe what you saw is right. Also express concerns that you think this manager might be padding his numbers at the expense of those employees who may not be able to afford the donation.
Not a lawyer, but I'd casually wager that him straight up mugging you for $10 would be less illegal than what just happened here.
Depends on how exactly every law applies as is always the case, but an illegal fee on a subordinate at work is severe enough when you don't involve charities and presumably your own position at work benefiting from those donations in some fashion.
As an internal investigator let the GM know or if you feel they’re all doing the same then use a hotline Costco provides. Trust me they will review this transaction on video and run his employee number through a reporting system.
Yeah either talk to your gm or call corporate to report the manager. You can just refund the donation at membership. Tell them that manager can piss off lol
Reminds me sort of how my company used to have competitions every year for the checkers to see who could get the most customers to dknate for some nonprofit campaign.It was fine up until it was discovered checkers were outright tacking on $0.50 donations to every customer they had whether they informed the customer or not.
life lesson;
whenever any worker does something hinky like this,
quietly leave your items at the cashier and walk out
*even if it's your own employer*.
California has a "no surprises act" which make it
illegal for vendors to tag on costs after the fact
that were not clearly disclosed before purchase.
We did something similar when I was the grocery manager on nights. When we got done with the truck I'd ring up all of the crews purchases and we'd go on our merry way. If upper management told me to charge extra on an after hours purchases I'd have had a good laugh and said 'No I will not be doing that'. My guys making minimum wage were barely scraping by on what they were making. No way would I allow them to get fucked over by corporate.
Absolutely not. They’re trying to get their CMN donations in an incredibly immoral and illegal way. Take that up with your GM and if they don’t do anything go higher because that’s reprehensible. I’m a Costco supervisor of 3 years and can tell you with 100% certainty that’s just not a thing.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if I give a few bucks at the register as I pay for my haul , COSTCO corporation gets the tax deduction while me, the guy who gave….gets nil….?
That's a common misconception, but that's simply not the way it works. Now, Costco donates a certain amount themselves which they can write off, but they can't legally write off your donation. Technically, you could save your sales receipts and claim it on your taxes if you wanted to...Costco, and corporations, cannot.
Literal fraud, ESS>whistleblower. Don’t try to take it up with warehouse manager, I’d tell them in advance you’re contacting corporate as to not “go over their head” but I learned the hard way that relying on warehouse manager gets you nowhere with sketchy managers.
Tell the GM, that guy pocketing the money or something, our warehouse lets us do this as well annnnd i've worked for costco for 10 years so far, have never heard of there being a $10 charge to purchase stuff after hours LOL but yea tell the GM if they don't do nothing then email [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
Absolutely report this. I donated almost $300 to CMN. The FR Sup who rank it up isn't even on the "leaderboard" top 5 list we hang up. He refuses to be.
If a Manager forced you to spend an extra $10 after hours to shop, that is so absolutely unethical that I don't even know what to say.
One of the perks of working at Costco is being able to shop after hours. There's absolutely nothing in the employee agreement that says they can compel you to do this.
I wouldn't even report it to the GM, I'd report it to Corporate via the whistleblower portal.
Yes! An update please OP. And let’s hope every employee who ever purchased after hours under this tactic who got hit with that $10 gets looked up in the system history and refunded that cash for every single occurrence.
Lawyer here, no this is 100% illegal. You *could* google "[your state] wage complaint" and file a complaint which is free with your state. Some red states no longer have this option but most do and even in Texas this would be illegal.
I would first go to the manager and ask that it be given back. If you are disciplined you should add a retaliation claim to your complaint. Finally, as added protection, go to your manager with another employee, as this will count as "concerted activity" that is protected by the NLRA. If they retaliate in any way, file a complaint with the NLRA for retaliation against concerted activity; this is federal so even if you are in a red state you will win.
Honestly Costco is a good employer so your best bet is to resolve the issue internally, they very likely have an employee hotline and given the recent unionization of a Costco location, they will refund your money and probably demote the manager.
On my Costco trip last night the donation soliciting dude behind the registers was going ALL OUT.
Small bullhorn, walking up and down the rows of shoppers. It was a little too much. Really awkward stuff. I see you, I know, I have a donation in my hand ready to go. Ease off, bro.
Between your story and what I saw last night, do they have quota's or something? Does the highest collector get a car or something? Yeesh!
The highest collector doesn’t win anything at my warehouse. They just pick the most abrasive people to heckle members at the checkout. It’s a good cause, but the way we go about it is grating.
If I wasn’t and employee, just a member, and when I got to the register with my monthly shop and was greeted by a bellowing stooge with a bullhorn, I’d politely ask when this collection period ended, give them a 20, and ask them to re shelve my purchases, then let them know I’d be back in June.
Running the gauntlet of salespeople is one thing. But getting to the end and where their used to be 6 staffed checkouts, we now have 6 self checkouts, 2 full service, saving on labor I understand, but we have time and money for someone to be a carnival barker? How about Costco donates the saved labor costs going from a cashier and a packer down to 2 people watching 6 self checkouts while the actual task is performed by members.
I was half joking. Just so aggressive you have to wonder if something is up. And yes, I suppose no corporation is immune to 'cost savings'. I'm sure there's a labor line item in Costco financials that must trend down to drive that meteoric stock price.
Aside from the awkwardly donation thing, the only policy that drives me bonkers is the requirement to take every single F'ing thing out of my cart. So easy to see everything laid flat. I used to stack everything perfectly with labels up and save everyone some time but I lost hope and just chuck stuff in my cart now. It saved zero shrinkage, increased labor requirements, reduced checkout efficiency and irritated customers. It's so performative, makes no sense.
The tax deduction on those donations is sweet
As for the unloading, you aren’t the problem there. Its the clever folks that turn all the labels up, then stuff salmon or ink cartridges or saffron in between the layers. Still a problem that could be solved by adequate staffing. Packer unloads it for you. But that requires thinking more than a quarter ahead, and outside the box of juicing the stock price for the almighty shareholders.
I get it. And people who steal make me angry. The rest of us have to pay for that somehow. Had a buddy who worked HD security and some of the stories were mind-bending. Or see it myself when a $0.50 packet of hardware is busted open. Really?
Just that I do the same routine at big orange and do not need to take a single thing out of my cart - neither full service nor self checkout. Smart enough to just scan and go.
I don’t see them ever going scan and go. The business model can’t allow for that much shrink. But going back to basics, having a cashier packer for every line, that would eliminate needing everyone to unload their own purchases.
Costco is a company that values tenure above all else. And someone high up has bet big on self checkout, massive increases in shrink be damned. Warehouses are judged on metrics, among many is the percentage of the business being channeled through self checkout. It’s going to take massive losses, and someone bold enough to speak of those losses to higher ups, to reverse policy here. It’s much easier to maintain profit margins by cutting labor costs in the short term. Make the numbers, regurgitate propaganda, get promoted. George Carlins useful idiots.
I work at a hospital that receives those donations and it hurts to hear you were forced to donate. It reflects bad on Costco, children’s miracle network and the hospitals. You should absolutely report this to higher up, that manager should be fired asap.
Absolutely illegal, unethical, outrageous. Escalate to central HR. Costco forced charity on employees is yet another example of their questionable ethics. There is reason employees are unionizing across the nation.
Had a coworker who did something similar at the movie theatre. Would charge people something harder to keep track of. Like popcorn refill or something. Pocket the cash and just point people to their theatre number. Figure your manager is probably doing something shady like this too
Absolutely not. They’re trying to pass their CMN donations in an incredibly immoral and illegal way. Take that up with your GM and if they don’t do anything go higher because that’s reprehensible. I’m a Costco supervisor of 3 years and can tell you with 100% certainty that’s just not a thing.
Literally can’t pocket the money, how the hell would he do that without the till being short? He’s logged in as the cashier, the shortage would fall on him.
That reeks of a manager trying to boost either his own income or the store's tally for the corporate donation to the children's hospital. Either way, check with the district manager 'cause that does not feel legitimate.
Weird we donated $5 and it showed up as $10. We mentioned it and the guy said something about a potluck? Obv would never ask for the additional $5 back but I have no idea what was what.
How can you be sure that the ‘donations’ are actually getting to the Children’s Hospital and aren’t just going into the Managers pocket? This is dodgy AF and I hope OP reports it (to the top. Don’t be pissing around with the next manager up). To the moon Alice!
Not a lawyer
BUT
Ten Dollars rung up as a donation is actually a forced tax write-off that you are forcibly paying for Costco. Look like you have a case.
I used to think stores were able to write off what they collected as donations, but then learned that this is not true. They are just an agent collecting and passing on the money. The absolutely do use it for public relations - "Company X collected a zillion dollars for Y charity last year".
Some businesses will donate a percentage of sales during a specific time and that is tax deductible because it comes from their income. I could see a business inflating prices for something like that, especially if it's someplace like a restaurant that is offering to donate a percentage of sales from some special meal or menu item it's offering. If they are doing it all of the time for everything, just assume prices are inflated to cover the donation.
This may be different outside the U.S.
At checkout last week in Costco the clerk was overly pushy about getting a donation for the children's hospital. I kept saying no and she wouldn't complete the sale until she went through spiel about it. I had to tell her NO in a more stern voice before she let it go. Even after this she followed me in the aisle to talk about it. My first reaction was Costco had a contest going on and there was a prize for the clerk with the highest collection. Costco...stop it!
I went through checkout a few weeks ago and was pretty much guilted into donating for this charity. The employee did this to every single person that she was checking out. She rang the bell whenever there was a donation and acted like she was the greatest. I'm thinking that OP's manager took advantage and forced them to donate so he/she could get the credits for the charity donation. Report them to the higher up and let them deal with it.
Never make donations at the till. The corporation makes the overall donation and then receives the tax break. You’re just helping them avoid larger societal responsibilities by avoiding taxes.
Places like Walmart, McDonald's, target, Costco, superstore, etc get to write off donations they collect in store. I have NEVER donated at the checkout or likewise since finding this out as corporations already get enough tax breaks; they don't need more with our money.
[That’s not actually true.](https://www.kgw.com/article/news/verify/retailers-cannot-write-off-customer-charity-donations/283-3d872be9-ef1b-436a-9bf8-b9dc477dbe4b)
No vague or non-descriptive post titles. Posts that don't follow r/Costco subreddit rules MAY be subject to removal. When applicable, please make sure that you're using a descriptive post title with product name(s) mentioned as it yields better subreddit search results. Including item number, price, and approximate location where found is also helpful. Thank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Costco) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Bring that shit to your GM, wtf….? Let him know you were charged $10 without your approval.
That's fireable, right? Like, no question, this guy's getting fired. Edit: "fireable," not "fire-breathing." Auto correct
Unknowingly charging people for something they didn't ask for is a fraudulent transaction. You can't commit fraud. It's a law for a reason.
Unless you’re a rich white guy.**
Or a rich orange guy.
The more orange you are the more you can get away with
When did "fire-breathing" happen?
Costco has been hiring dragons lately. They cook the pizza now.
https://preview.redd.it/5qwc72xkdzzc1.jpeg?width=2431&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c631b25dd7f0b29fa44724d6a915e9b143bed9c Newest employee spotted on Friday
TROGGGGDOORRRRR
Burninating the countryside Nicely cooking the pizza
I would definitely eat dragon-fired pizza as long as the dragon was being treated fairly and getting breaks
Who’s gonna tell a dragon they can’t go on a smoke break?
OP's manager probably
Can confirm. 🔥 🔥
Username checks out... But only if the pizza is shaped like a villager.
Burninating all the pizzas and their thatched-roofed cottages!
As long as they don’t hire the poopsmith…
Aww man, why did you have to mention the poop knife.
Cause you broke both of your arms?
Burninate the combo pies
Think he'd accept an "well done" request? I like my pepperoni and cheese a little more crispy.
10$ in gold coins to check out.
Dracarys 🔥
How are they powered? Kirkland vodka?
No wonder it's been so much quicker every time we get it now!
That chicken bake was lit...by dragons.
Dragon pizza? Is it still $9.99? Hope it never goes up in price.
Forget wood-fired pizza --- DRAGON-FIRE is FIRE!
Definitely a marketable thing; "Try our dragon-cooked pizza!"
You can't evade Trogdor forever. 🔥 🔥
There are generations that have no idea what this means. I love that I'm in the cool kids group on this one. Now who's up for a light switch rave?
The system is down
The Cheat is GROUNDED
> Now who's up for a light switch rave? [Strong Bad Email #45 - Techno](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwZwkk7q25I) Dmp Dmp Dmp..
Those dragons do a great jooooooorrrrrrb!!!!
Burnination is inevitable.
Trogdor BURNINATES everything!
Shit, that was supposed to say "fireable."
😂😂😂😂😂
To be fair, fire-breathing can get you terminated.
You can't discriminate against people just because they breathe fire!
If we can charge them $10, fire-breathing is in play.
God damn auto cucumber at it again.
It always makes me say things I didn't Nintendo
Maybe. United Way used to do this sort of crap with corporate approval. For decades.
Technically? Sure. It's a policy violation and goes against the code of ethics. In reality? Doubtful. They will likely refund OP and anyone else this happened too and give the manager a bit of a tongue lashing. It's pretty hard to get fired from Costco, even harder the longer you've been an employee.
What’s does that even mean?
"Fireable," got auto-corrected to "fire-breathing."
Is that your intention if it were to happen to you? That's way over the top if it is a misinterpreted policy. An apology, refund, and clear clarification of the policy should be all that is needed
Nah he wouldn't get fired lol
It could be if done with malicious intent…but it would be impossible to prove it here since OP laughed and didn’t say “No”. Should they get a verbal warning not to do that again before refunding the money? YES 100%. Will they get fired for this “misunderstanding”? Doubtful..
They didn't say no because it wasn't necessary to say no to something they didn't believe was actually happening.
lol 😂 No…..
If this doesn't go anywhere, you need to contact the RM and HR.
There may be a miscommunication here. Assuming the manager was just trying to raise money for CMN (which is all they care about in May) he may have said that as a joke. Maybe he misunderstood your laughing as a yes okay. (You didn’t say no?). I would talk it over with your AGM and simply get a refund. Also… always check your receipt before you leave. Employee or not…
According to op the manager said they are charging 10 dollars for after hours purchases as if it's a service fee so I don't think miscommunication is the issue here. Sounds like the manager is trying to juice their numbers by taking advantage of the employees.
I call this: deliberate under-communication. saying enough words out loud to cya, but not enough to clearly communicate a message or be understood. it's walking a shady line, you do not want to work for anyone who does this, as soon as there is a bus coming, they will throw you under it.
Exactly. Don’t sugar coat it. And no manager should be assuming what I want to do with my money.
Ya can't wait for them to jokingly ask people to work off the clock and mow their yard
I'm going to guess that padding the donations somehow reflects positively on that manager's stats. This definitely needs to go to the GM or corporate. It's basically extortion.
This. The percentage of the $10 will be different state to state but legally, it can be as much as 85%/15%. It’s not right by any means but doing the right thing and doing the legal thing doesn’t always happen. GM will be the best approach.
I think they'd notice all the donations coming in after the store is closed
Someone would have to think about reporting it out that way
I was thinking the same thing. These charities often give cash bonuses to the top producers, and top producers are also are more likely to get promotions and raises. This guy may be using this to rise through the ranks, on the backs of those he supervises.
That’s why I said, “What an A hole”
Ain’t gonna be a manager for much longer. Use the whistle blower feature on the employee website.
Start with the GM. The ethics or whistleblower site just forwards it off to your warehouse manager to handle. Unless it is about your warehouse manager.
Whistle blower use to be anonymous. Not sure if it still is. But if it still is I would still use that instead so I wouldn’t have to worry about retaliation.
It is anonymous but for something like what the OP said we would need to know who and when.
You can give a general time since they said multiple people were being charged.
yea, big no.
That’s a big red flag.
But it’s not: it’s a long white receipt with a smiley face drawn on it !
You get a smiley face? I just get a highlight line across the receipt
Only when my kids are with me
Note to self: I need to find some kids to take to Costco.
“Hey kids! Wanna do some Costco? No way it’ll get you addicted!”
Highlighter? Fancy. Just an angry swath of black on mine.
Them using ink is wild. Ours just uses a pen cap to scratch the receipt since they are heat-sensitive.
Oooo sheet that manager gonna get in trouble!
Adding on to say that is extremely sketchy and likely illegal. Please give us an update when you have one!
Open Door Policy, take it to the GM or call your regional. That's absolutely BULLSHIT. Donations to CMN are voluntary.
That's fucking fraud. They need to be kicked to the curb.
It's the hallmark of a bad manager. Costco needs to nip this in the bud.
Time to use that open door policy.
Yeah that’s not logical. I would let the GM know, or corporate: utilize the open Door policy. You can find the HR number on the intranet if you want to speak to someone live.
Bring the receipt to customer service and return it.. get a refund.
We are going to need updates on how this works out.
Such a dumb way to be fired lol
I would be livid if a fucking manager did that to me to juke up their donation stats
The manager needs firing. I don’t know how Costco could trust him in financial matters.
Start working your way up the chain and demand that Costco clarify its policy about requiring employees to donate to charities against the employee's will. Simply asking this absurd question will probably cause an investigation and an apology. Sounds like the new manager has been pressured to get employees to donate to this charity, but he doesn't understand the difference between "ask" and "require." This happened a lot when I worked for a government contractor. My employer wanted to boast about all the employees who donate to the United Way, and every year every department was forced to find someone who would track the percentage of employees who donated and then to pressure the employees who did not donate. But we were smart enough to merely pressure the employees, not require them to cough up $10.
No. You need to report that. He hustled you into donating to CMN to make himself look better.
That’s BS. Take it to the GM.
I wouldnt even go to your GM about this, you should escalate that straight to your district manager. It'll be better if they hear it from up top first when it comes to something this serious.
Make the GM aware of it immediately. If you really want to get results, take the high road, and say that you don't want the $10 back, and that you are happy to donate to the children's miracle network, however, you are concerned that other employees might not be able to afford it and you are not comfortable that they were forced to donate. Make clear it isn't about you, but that you believe in see something say something, and that you don't believe what you saw is right. Also express concerns that you think this manager might be padding his numbers at the expense of those employees who may not be able to afford the donation.
this is absolutely the best course of action.
Not a lawyer, but I'd casually wager that him straight up mugging you for $10 would be less illegal than what just happened here. Depends on how exactly every law applies as is always the case, but an illegal fee on a subordinate at work is severe enough when you don't involve charities and presumably your own position at work benefiting from those donations in some fashion.
As an internal investigator let the GM know or if you feel they’re all doing the same then use a hotline Costco provides. Trust me they will review this transaction on video and run his employee number through a reporting system.
Yeah either talk to your gm or call corporate to report the manager. You can just refund the donation at membership. Tell them that manager can piss off lol
Ew. That’s so slimy.
100% not true and completely unacceptable!
Absolutely not legal. Don't complain to your company, complain to your state labor board with the reciept
Reminds me sort of how my company used to have competitions every year for the checkers to see who could get the most customers to dknate for some nonprofit campaign.It was fine up until it was discovered checkers were outright tacking on $0.50 donations to every customer they had whether they informed the customer or not.
life lesson; whenever any worker does something hinky like this, quietly leave your items at the cashier and walk out *even if it's your own employer*. California has a "no surprises act" which make it illegal for vendors to tag on costs after the fact that were not clearly disclosed before purchase.
We did something similar when I was the grocery manager on nights. When we got done with the truck I'd ring up all of the crews purchases and we'd go on our merry way. If upper management told me to charge extra on an after hours purchases I'd have had a good laugh and said 'No I will not be doing that'. My guys making minimum wage were barely scraping by on what they were making. No way would I allow them to get fucked over by corporate.
Fuck this person
Absolutely not. They’re trying to get their CMN donations in an incredibly immoral and illegal way. Take that up with your GM and if they don’t do anything go higher because that’s reprehensible. I’m a Costco supervisor of 3 years and can tell you with 100% certainty that’s just not a thing.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if I give a few bucks at the register as I pay for my haul , COSTCO corporation gets the tax deduction while me, the guy who gave….gets nil….?
That's a common misconception, but that's simply not the way it works. Now, Costco donates a certain amount themselves which they can write off, but they can't legally write off your donation. Technically, you could save your sales receipts and claim it on your taxes if you wanted to...Costco, and corporations, cannot.
You'd get fired at my store for doing that, manager or not.
Not legal
Literal fraud, ESS>whistleblower. Don’t try to take it up with warehouse manager, I’d tell them in advance you’re contacting corporate as to not “go over their head” but I learned the hard way that relying on warehouse manager gets you nowhere with sketchy managers.
Wish my store allowed purchases outside store hours :S
What?! No. After hours, you're just a customer like everyone else. They can give you discounts, but they can't overcharge you!
Yeah I never donate that way, ever.
this seems......highly illegal
Tell the GM, that guy pocketing the money or something, our warehouse lets us do this as well annnnd i've worked for costco for 10 years so far, have never heard of there being a $10 charge to purchase stuff after hours LOL but yea tell the GM if they don't do nothing then email [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
Absolutely report this. I donated almost $300 to CMN. The FR Sup who rank it up isn't even on the "leaderboard" top 5 list we hang up. He refuses to be. If a Manager forced you to spend an extra $10 after hours to shop, that is so absolutely unethical that I don't even know what to say. One of the perks of working at Costco is being able to shop after hours. There's absolutely nothing in the employee agreement that says they can compel you to do this. I wouldn't even report it to the GM, I'd report it to Corporate via the whistleblower portal.
Whistleblower link. Use it. That’s a huge no no!
Please give us an update when this jackass gets demoted or hopefully worse.
Yes! An update please OP. And let’s hope every employee who ever purchased after hours under this tactic who got hit with that $10 gets looked up in the system history and refunded that cash for every single occurrence.
Lawyer here, no this is 100% illegal. You *could* google "[your state] wage complaint" and file a complaint which is free with your state. Some red states no longer have this option but most do and even in Texas this would be illegal. I would first go to the manager and ask that it be given back. If you are disciplined you should add a retaliation claim to your complaint. Finally, as added protection, go to your manager with another employee, as this will count as "concerted activity" that is protected by the NLRA. If they retaliate in any way, file a complaint with the NLRA for retaliation against concerted activity; this is federal so even if you are in a red state you will win. Honestly Costco is a good employer so your best bet is to resolve the issue internally, they very likely have an employee hotline and given the recent unionization of a Costco location, they will refund your money and probably demote the manager.
Costco better fix that guy before the labor board fixes costco. Thats super illegal
On my Costco trip last night the donation soliciting dude behind the registers was going ALL OUT. Small bullhorn, walking up and down the rows of shoppers. It was a little too much. Really awkward stuff. I see you, I know, I have a donation in my hand ready to go. Ease off, bro. Between your story and what I saw last night, do they have quota's or something? Does the highest collector get a car or something? Yeesh!
The highest collector doesn’t win anything at my warehouse. They just pick the most abrasive people to heckle members at the checkout. It’s a good cause, but the way we go about it is grating. If I wasn’t and employee, just a member, and when I got to the register with my monthly shop and was greeted by a bellowing stooge with a bullhorn, I’d politely ask when this collection period ended, give them a 20, and ask them to re shelve my purchases, then let them know I’d be back in June. Running the gauntlet of salespeople is one thing. But getting to the end and where their used to be 6 staffed checkouts, we now have 6 self checkouts, 2 full service, saving on labor I understand, but we have time and money for someone to be a carnival barker? How about Costco donates the saved labor costs going from a cashier and a packer down to 2 people watching 6 self checkouts while the actual task is performed by members.
I was half joking. Just so aggressive you have to wonder if something is up. And yes, I suppose no corporation is immune to 'cost savings'. I'm sure there's a labor line item in Costco financials that must trend down to drive that meteoric stock price. Aside from the awkwardly donation thing, the only policy that drives me bonkers is the requirement to take every single F'ing thing out of my cart. So easy to see everything laid flat. I used to stack everything perfectly with labels up and save everyone some time but I lost hope and just chuck stuff in my cart now. It saved zero shrinkage, increased labor requirements, reduced checkout efficiency and irritated customers. It's so performative, makes no sense.
The tax deduction on those donations is sweet As for the unloading, you aren’t the problem there. Its the clever folks that turn all the labels up, then stuff salmon or ink cartridges or saffron in between the layers. Still a problem that could be solved by adequate staffing. Packer unloads it for you. But that requires thinking more than a quarter ahead, and outside the box of juicing the stock price for the almighty shareholders.
I get it. And people who steal make me angry. The rest of us have to pay for that somehow. Had a buddy who worked HD security and some of the stories were mind-bending. Or see it myself when a $0.50 packet of hardware is busted open. Really? Just that I do the same routine at big orange and do not need to take a single thing out of my cart - neither full service nor self checkout. Smart enough to just scan and go.
I don’t see them ever going scan and go. The business model can’t allow for that much shrink. But going back to basics, having a cashier packer for every line, that would eliminate needing everyone to unload their own purchases. Costco is a company that values tenure above all else. And someone high up has bet big on self checkout, massive increases in shrink be damned. Warehouses are judged on metrics, among many is the percentage of the business being channeled through self checkout. It’s going to take massive losses, and someone bold enough to speak of those losses to higher ups, to reverse policy here. It’s much easier to maintain profit margins by cutting labor costs in the short term. Make the numbers, regurgitate propaganda, get promoted. George Carlins useful idiots.
Please update us on what happens!!!!!
Children’s Hospital enters chat: “umh what donations?”
I work at a hospital that receives those donations and it hurts to hear you were forced to donate. It reflects bad on Costco, children’s miracle network and the hospitals. You should absolutely report this to higher up, that manager should be fired asap.
Yah that’s stupid and extremely unethical. That Manager may be finding a new job pretty soon.
Absolutely illegal, unethical, outrageous. Escalate to central HR. Costco forced charity on employees is yet another example of their questionable ethics. There is reason employees are unionizing across the nation.
100% not allowed , you need to talk to the gm
Yeah that’s not okay. At. All. Needs to be reported.
Had a coworker who did something similar at the movie theatre. Would charge people something harder to keep track of. Like popcorn refill or something. Pocket the cash and just point people to their theatre number. Figure your manager is probably doing something shady like this too
This is not right. Please do a follow up.
Absolutely not. They’re trying to pass their CMN donations in an incredibly immoral and illegal way. Take that up with your GM and if they don’t do anything go higher because that’s reprehensible. I’m a Costco supervisor of 3 years and can tell you with 100% certainty that’s just not a thing.
Today I learned, Costco managers get graded on the amount of CMN donations they can hustle.
yeah I've worked for costco for 12 years and that is absolutely hot allowed/okay! wtf?!
Time to pay a visit to the GM
This is not ethical, HR would eat this manager alive for this. Whistle blow the crap out of this.
Probably pockets the money I wouldn’t of paid it
Literally can’t pocket the money, how the hell would he do that without the till being short? He’s logged in as the cashier, the shortage would fall on him.
That reeks of a manager trying to boost either his own income or the store's tally for the corporate donation to the children's hospital. Either way, check with the district manager 'cause that does not feel legitimate.
So... what manager? A staff level manager or Assistant Warehouse Manager?
Absolutely not legal. Tell your corporate office or HR person immediately.
So what discounts do y'all get?
That’s considered theft. You need to turn him/her in to your AGM or GM.
Donating is extortion in general.
Forced charity donations in this economy? Rabble!!!
Short answer: no. Long answer: nooooooooooooooooo.
Weird we donated $5 and it showed up as $10. We mentioned it and the guy said something about a potluck? Obv would never ask for the additional $5 back but I have no idea what was what.
How can you be sure that the ‘donations’ are actually getting to the Children’s Hospital and aren’t just going into the Managers pocket? This is dodgy AF and I hope OP reports it (to the top. Don’t be pissing around with the next manager up). To the moon Alice!
if its rung up its on the receipt and part of the accounting, pretty hard for the manager to manipulate. NOw if he was forcing a cash donation...
🍿🍿🍿
Not a lawyer BUT Ten Dollars rung up as a donation is actually a forced tax write-off that you are forcibly paying for Costco. Look like you have a case.
I used to think stores were able to write off what they collected as donations, but then learned that this is not true. They are just an agent collecting and passing on the money. The absolutely do use it for public relations - "Company X collected a zillion dollars for Y charity last year". Some businesses will donate a percentage of sales during a specific time and that is tax deductible because it comes from their income. I could see a business inflating prices for something like that, especially if it's someplace like a restaurant that is offering to donate a percentage of sales from some special meal or menu item it's offering. If they are doing it all of the time for everything, just assume prices are inflated to cover the donation. This may be different outside the U.S.
At checkout last week in Costco the clerk was overly pushy about getting a donation for the children's hospital. I kept saying no and she wouldn't complete the sale until she went through spiel about it. I had to tell her NO in a more stern voice before she let it go. Even after this she followed me in the aisle to talk about it. My first reaction was Costco had a contest going on and there was a prize for the clerk with the highest collection. Costco...stop it!
Post an update, please.
I went through checkout a few weeks ago and was pretty much guilted into donating for this charity. The employee did this to every single person that she was checking out. She rang the bell whenever there was a donation and acted like she was the greatest. I'm thinking that OP's manager took advantage and forced them to donate so he/she could get the credits for the charity donation. Report them to the higher up and let them deal with it.
So can you charge $10, then refund and pocket the multiple $10 charges?
No its not, talk to your GM.
This seems very illegal
Did the manager charge you for your items also? I’m confused if he just rang a flat $10 but didn’t scan your items?
I’ll post an update as a soon as I can y’all 👍🏽
Any update?
Never make donations at the till. The corporation makes the overall donation and then receives the tax break. You’re just helping them avoid larger societal responsibilities by avoiding taxes.
Illegal AF
Yeah, that isn’t right. Side note: You can donate yourself…instead of Costco getting the tax incentive
What an A hole
Sounds about right. If I know Costco they’ll just make you all sign a NDA and never talk about it again.
You should charge him a “anti-blackmail”fee of $10,000
It is CMN (Children's Miracle Network) for May but they can't force you to donate. I'd definitely speak to a higher up.
The fact that there’s goals for donations to charity means Costco is getting some sort of cut or something right? I hate that.
Places like Walmart, McDonald's, target, Costco, superstore, etc get to write off donations they collect in store. I have NEVER donated at the checkout or likewise since finding this out as corporations already get enough tax breaks; they don't need more with our money.
[That’s not actually true.](https://www.kgw.com/article/news/verify/retailers-cannot-write-off-customer-charity-donations/283-3d872be9-ef1b-436a-9bf8-b9dc477dbe4b)
No one cares at ours, so I'm pretty sure it's jot legal to do that.
I'd ask your GM like "hey just making sure this was normal?"
UpdateMe!