Is Another Change Coming to Your Local Washington Costco?

We all know nothing lasts forever and most companies are constantly looking for ways to maximize the way they do business.  Some of the things companies do away with are tougher to accept than others, especially when it has to do with cutting staff.

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How many of you remember when McDonald's had six to ten registers per restaurant with a person behind each one to take your order?  Now a number of Mickey D's have touch screen ordering kiosks inside and less cash registers operated by people.  Some call it "progress" others call it "losing the personal touch".

The "personal touch" may also be leaving Costco if the writer of this Reddit post is accurate.  Recently an unnamed Costco shopper wrote about something they claimed they saw in their Costco in Issaquah.  It's something that competitors of Costco, like Sam's Club and BJ's Wholesale, are either currently using or have used in the past...self serve sample machines.

The poster claimed the samples were there free for the taking from the machine, instead of getting them in the customary small cup handed to you by a senior citizen whose job it is to pass out said samples to hungry Costco patrons.

There are so many benefits to having a person passing out the samples instead of a self service machine where the honor system may or may not be observed.  That senior citizen tells you about the product, answers questions you may have, can tell you where to find it and if it is on sale or just being promoted.  It's also the human interaction we all need to have and it is supplemental income for many retirees.

Costco has not said anything officially that the sample servers are going away.  It is entirely possible that the self serve station reportedly seen at the Issaquah location is just a trial run to see how well it works and goes over with customers.

Some, like me, enjoy the person to person experience.  Others get frustrated with people stopping on front of them to grab a sample or a group of people gathering waiting for the food to hit the tray, hence creating a traffic jam in the aisle.

I know I'll be paying attention the next time I go into Costco on the weekend as to how many people are serving samples and if any of those self service kiosks have been brought in and filled with samples.