Costco

Love Costco. I go with my parents bc they have a membership and I’ll be getting one. Ya, it’s pretty darn busy, but, you get good deals on everything. I love going there.
I got my iPad, iPod there. The grocery selection is awesome and a good deal.
The furniture is beautiful And good quality
The clothes are amazing. I have nothing bad to say EXCEPT they should really take all methods of payment. But whatever.
The return policy is great too. Never an issue.

Whew! I always feel like some sort of victor after conquering the intense world of Costco. I recently purchased a membership here, and my experience doing that was great. I was in and out of the store in under fifteen minutes and the staff member I dealt with was very friendly and helpful.
Once I decided to make the trek with my sister, we decided it was best to avoid this place on a Saturday (just like Ikea on a Saturday… never a good idea!). We decided to go on a Sunday afternoon and hope for the best. We were rewarded with slightly less crowds, fewer meltdowns, and only having to wait about eight minutes for ice cream.
My system at Costco is basically to do the perimeter and avoid any aisles that aren’t on our list (like electronics or clothes, which I’d be tempted to linger in!). It went pretty well!
Best things about Costco (not in order):
— The ice cream.
— The free samples!
— The bubbly and funny staff.
— The produce! It’s quite good, especially for my sister who juices and needs a lot of veggies and fruits.
— The amount of gluten-​free products as well as some environmentally safe cleaning products. Good on you, Costco!
Worst things about Costco:
— People who stop in the middle of an aisle or people who go crazy slow and block the aisles.
— The parking situation. It is a nightmare. Be prepared to lose your desired spot at least once. Patience, my friend.
— The massiveness of it all, and the fact that I think I need everything in bulk. I don’t.
I’ll be back Costco! Just not on a Saturday.
Note: They only accept debit, cash, and American Express. Don’t get stuck with your Visa or Mastercard and a massive cart!

This Costco is a bit of a nightmare if you want to do shopping during the weekend. The parking lot is always crazy full with people and carts going every which way. Inside, it is always insanely busy, shoulder to shoulder people. Stick to weekdays or right after work.
It has always been clean and the staff has been great. They always seem to have everything in stock and their return policy like all Costco stores has been flawless.

Good price on many things here. It’s always busy so don’t go if you are rushed. The gluten free pizza here is AMAZING!!! best gf pizza I’ve ever had hands down. I only wish they would bring back the gluten free bagel chips crackers, the gf fish sticks and the other gluten free stuff which in the last month seems to have dissapeared from the shelves.

I had a new set of tires installed at this Costco branch. First of all, they don’t take appointments and since it’s a popular service during spring time, it meant having to show up 1.5 hours before opening time to get a spot for the day.
During the installation by their «trained» mechanic, he managed to scratch one of the alloy rims and put chip in it with his equipment.
When I picked the van up, there were greasy hand prints inside the vehicle. I guess that was too much to expect for them to wipe their hands.

A few months ago I purchased Automobile breakdown protection from
. It was issued by a company called Elite in London, Ontario.
About 2 months ago I needed the breakdown protection, as I found myself in the parking lot of the Aloft Hotel in Montréal with a dead battery. I called the above company Elite and waited on hold for 45 minutes roaming minutes. When someone finally got on the line they put me on hold for at least 10 more minutes. They came back and told me that their sub-​contractors in Montréal were not taking calls and that I should find myself a tow, and send them the bill. They suggested I call the «authorities» and they would «prioritize» a tow truck for me. I must have been talking to Polyanna because the «authorities» would not have given me the time of day, since I was in a hotel lobby with a car in a parking lot in no distress whatsoever. I demanded to speak to a supervisor who after some verbal arm twisting agree to find me someone willing to tow my car which he did in the following hour. I still had to pay that service directly and then apply for reimbursement.
Yesterday afternoon I documented the above to Elite and copied the CEO of Costco Canada on my email. By 2 p.m. this afernoon I had received an email from the CEO who assured me I would be contacted by somebody, as she had referred my email to one of her VPs. I received a call which from Mario at Costco in Customer Relations who informed (when we connected after playing telephone tag) that the following actions had been taken:
Costco had issued a refund for the towing.
Costco had included in the refund an amount to cover my roaming charges for spending 1 hours on the phone.
Costco was sending me a gitft card for my troubles.
I had simply copied Costco on my email to just let them know how one of their vendors had acted. This is GREAT customer service. It shows that Costco cares, and I will make it a point to reward them with my continuing patronage.
With regards to Elite, I have yet to hear from the head of that company. I will let that speak for itself.
Bravo Costco!

I will keep this short and sweet! If you enjoy crowds, bumping carts with others, and super-​sized everything, then Costco is for you!
Sure its great for business owners, large families, and for customers who like to buy in bulk… you can save a lot!
BUT, Costco is just not for me. I have tried to like this place, but I have promised to myself to never step foot in one again. This place turns me into a B with an itch!
I just cannot take the crowds, and trying to fight through them is not worth it in my opinion!

I would have to disagree with Coy on this one.
Compared to the Gloucester Costco, this costco has the best parking lot.
The spacing of the parking spots are so large that it’s virtually impossible for a soccer mom or a grandpa to dent your car while opening their door.
Inside it’s a standard costco. All costco’s have the same layout and cleanliness.
As with all costcos, avoid the weekends.
If you are coming from downtown and want to avoid merivale, I would suggest Prince of Wales, Colonnade, Merivale

Out of all the Costco’s in Ottawa I hate this one the most. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with it. The staff is friendly and I mean once you’ve been to one Costco you’ve been to 90% of them. This Costco is pretty identical to the others in town but trying to get to this location seems to be such a task with the traffic on Merivale and the terrible parking lot at this location!
If you don’t live in the area and you try to come here on the weekend I’d deter you from doing so. If you come during the week it’ll still be a bit busy but nowhere near the zoo you will see on the weekend.