7 Costco Products You Should Avoid Buying Right Now
Costco sells some serious crowd-pleasers – from value-priced rotisserie chicken and hot dog meals to imported chocolate and gourmet bakery goods. However, not all products sold at the warehouse come highly recommended by shoppers. There are some products that people recommend avoiding altogether, some due to poor quality, and others because they tend to go to waste. Here are 7 Costco products shoppers don't recommend buying.
Pre-Cut Fruit Trays
Pre-cut fruit trays are risky, no matter where you shop, including Costco. There is an entire Reddit feed titled "Beware the pre prepped fruit trays," devoted to disappointment with the party-ready fruit platters. According to the OP, they purchased three within a year and had issues with all of them. "Everytime it's seemed okay visually but the texture is off and everything tastes like it's mildly fermented. It's always been before the best-by dates as well! Really frustrating and weird to see something that looks fine, but is funkified at its core," they wrote. Lots of people commented that this is the nature of precut fruit, while others shared similar experiences. "Yeah I got it once and next day there were white granules on the fruit, a.k.a the begginning of mold/rot," one added.
Kirkland Signature Batteries
Shoppers regularly complain on multiple forums, including Reddit, Consumer Reports, and even the Costco website, about Kirkland Signature Batteries. "Most Kirkland Alkaline AA batteries leak and destroy the equipment they are in," wrote a one-star reviewer, who found leaking batteries inside a remote control. "Regardless of how many times I give Kirkland batteries they are guaranteed to leak. And I don't necessarily mean after a long time," another wrote, adding that "at least half dozen were leaking" about a year after use. "And spilling corrosion inside the battery case. This isn't the first time either. For some reason Duracell and Kirkland batteries purchased at Costco are definitely defective."
Large Jars of Condiments
While there is nothing wrong with the quality of Costco's condiments, customers frequently point out on Reddit that the massive condiment bottles expire before they can be finished. "Seriously, bulk buying can be it's own trap. Do you really need that half-gallon bulk canister of ketchup? Likely not, so don't get it," writes one. "I bought a gallon of mustard once, many years ago. It's probably still half full in the back of the fridge," another joked.
Lemons and Limes
Several Costco fans on Reddit complain that the large bags of lemons and limes sold at Costco are rotting. "I've been consistently seeing rotten lemons in the bags the last 4 visits," writes one. "The limes we get in DC are tiny and go bad quickly," another says.
Kirkland Laundry Pods
If you're shopping for laundry pods, several shoppers suggest splurging on a name brand and avoiding Kirkland laundry pods. "They don't dissolve well at all and keep staining my clothes blue!" one says. "I don't like them either. Thankfully, I don't have the blue problem but nothing ever felt clean, and always felt filmy. I was so disappointed!" a second person chimed in.
Bulk Salad Kits or Big Bags of Producse
While big bags of salad are great for a party or a large family, many shoppers claim that they go bad quickly. "Don't buy big bags of produce if you think you might use that much before they go bad, you won't," one writes.
Kirkland Sliced Turkey
Dietz & Watson or Columbus deli meat are crowd pleasers. However, shoppers don't recommend Kirkland sliced turkey. "It's slimey and tastes gross. I thought it was bad but have seen other people complain about it and I think it's just how it comes," one shopper maintains. "The turkey is not just wet. It's drippy and too thick. Not worth buying," another agrees.
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