Costco Ilsan [Korea], front door
I once had a Costco Korea membership. That was January 2013 to January 2014. I used it at the Ilsan and Youngdeungpo stores a few times. My conclusion was that Costco Korea’s negatives outweigh its positives. The prices are not better than the other “marts” like HomePlus or E-Mart, and you have to buy in bulk. It’s also a chaotic atmosphere in there. Visits are stressful, and it’s a long trip there.
There are two pluses, though:
The positives about Costco are:
(1) The availability of certain specific American products unavailable or very expensive anywhere else,
(2) The food court.
Ilsan Costco foodcourt prices — 2,000 [$1.80] for a hot dog and soda
In general, the food court is hearty, delicious, and cheap. Hot dogs, pizza, chicken bake, etcetera. A pretty heaping meal can be had for $5 a person. (About half of the Korean patrons of the food court shamelessly pile up small mountains of onions [meant to be a light topping on the hot dogs] onto their paper plates. This is a strange habit.)
Costco in Korea has a place for “How are we doing” comments, which they publish:
The Korean says: “Dear customers, our business kindly wants to hear your opinions.”
Here are some comments they had posted during one of my visits. I photographed the comment sheets. They are under the glass, right under the red arrow in the photo above. I include the translations into English that were provided by the store, verbatim:
Park wrote:
Your pizza and bake are too salty. It’s serious.Pls, make them less salty.
여기 코스트코 피자 베이크 너무 짭니다 심각해요 안짜게 해주세요
Han wrote:
I bought a Westing House fan on July, 2012 but a remote control broke down. I request for A/S but it’s inconvenient. [A/S means service and maintenance]
웨스팅하우스 선풍기를 2012년 7월 구입했는데
1년도 안되 리모트컨트롤 고장 입니다
a s 요청 했으나 불편의 많음
Cho wrote:
Pls, build a Costco in Yangju.
양주에도 코스트코 입점하게 해주세요
Hotdog sausage is too salty to eat. Pls, improve it.
[Korean illegible in my photograph]
A combination pizza is too salty. Pls, make it less salty.
[Korean illegible]
When I park at outdoor parking, I have to pay parking fee. Why we have to pay membership fee and parking fee together?
[Korean illegible]
Six comments, and one is a complaint about a warranty, which is not the store’s responsibility. Of the remaining five, three are about the food being “too salty”. Costco provided a response something like: “We use a standard recipe from from headquarters and we are not able to change it”. I guess this is a polite way to say, “If you don’t like it, take a hike!”
