‘You have to pay the price,’ Sam’s Club customers fume, as policy forces you to pay more for certain times

SAM’S Club has a little-known policy that requires customers to pay extra to shop at certain times.

Buyers shared a word of warning on Reddit.

Sam’s Club offers two membership levels – the Club membership for $50 annually or the Plus membership for $110.

Premium membership offers shoppers extra perks, including free shipping, free curbside pickup, and access to advance purchases.

With this latest benefit, Plus members can shop in-store at a time that Club members cannot.

Sam’s Club opens for Plus members to shop exclusively from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., offering them a less crowded experience.

MORE ADVANTAGES

In a post on Reddit, a Club member asked what would happen if they shopped in the early hours of the morning.

“You will be forced to upgrade or come back later during regular hours. You have to pay the price to buy early, like everyone else,” replied one buyer.

Another customer chimed in, sharing that the cash register automatically recognizes a non-Plus subscription and prompts buyers to upgrade.

“Well, that’s how it should be. Good thing the system has some kind of intelligence to combat this,” said a Plus member.

One shopper mentioned that even passing through the entrance without a premium membership may not be possible as an employee checks members’ cards as they enter.

Others disagreed, saying their local store hadn’t checked membership in years or that anyone could walk in but only Plus members could pay at the cash registers.

One shopper was able to walk into Costco and pay with just a Club membership.

“I was able to pre-purchase things without a Plus subscription, but this showed up on the screen about the update,” they shared.

Other shoppers have managed to escape the store’s late-night policy by using Sam’s Club Scan & Go feature, which allows customers to scan their items as they shop and skip registers.

“I used the app to scan/pay overnight and had no problems,” said one.

“Last I know, SNG doesn’t impose time restrictions, unfortunately,” shared another.

COSTCO CRACKDOWNS

While rival grocery store Costco doesn’t have a similar policy in place, the retailer is restrictive in its own way.

Costco is cracking down on in-store membership rules to ensure only members and authorized users can make purchases.

One of those rules is that Costco memberships are non-transferable, meaning members can’t share their cards.

While Prime members can add a family member to their account for free, each member must use a separate card with their name and photo.

Additionally, Costco members are required to show their membership card and photo ID when checking out to ensure it is the member who is using the card.

The warehouse also requires customers to scan their membership cards when entering Costco, rather than just showing them to an employee.

Costco also cracked down on the food court, forcing customers to show their membership cards to make purchases.

In related news, a Sam’s Club shopper has “completely given up on my membership” after Plus members will see a huge price increase.

Plus, Costco members spot a new checkout feature at a local store — payment is “fast” and “better than self-checkout.”