Costco staffer walked off with my paid for gold sov in his pocket. Mistake or something else?

[CazLikesCoins]

I bought a sovereign from Costco this afternoon. All went well until I noticed the staff member serving me putting the sovereign I was paying for into his jeans pocket while I was filling in the purchase form. I gave him the benefit of the doubt as I hadn't finished paying for it at that point and thought perhaps he was just being overly cautious. I completed the paperwork, paid for the sovereign and then he handed me the receipt and my membership card back, said thanks and started to walk off. I gave him a few seconds to see if he'd remember that he still had the sovereign I'd just paid in his pocket. Nothing. No response. So I shouted after him 'Sovereign!' And he instantly went straight into his pocket and fished it out and handed it over. There's was no apology, just a smile and he went on his way.

I'm wondering if it's worth making a complaint to Costco management about this or just put it down to c**p customer service.

Opinions appreciated. 

[Bluenitsuj]

I would put in a complaint. If you had not yelled Sovereign who knows what would have happened. 

[modofantasma]

@CazLikesCoins where did you hide the body?

[CazLikesCoins]

9 minutes ago, Bluenitsuj said:

I would put in a complaint. If you had not yelled Sovereign who knows what would have happened. 

Exactly my thinking. My word against his with no proof he didn't hand it over. 

Edited July 31, 2023 by CazLikesCoins

[CazLikesCoins]

8 minutes ago, modofantasma said:

@CazLikesCoins where did you hide the body?

When there's £400 quid's worth of gold on the table I'm not taking my eye off it, even while its walking off.

[ZRPMs]

Would have had to say something. Even if it was only to the trainee kleptomaniac behind the counter.

[Xander]

Sounds like it's not the first time this scammer has done this. This is an old fairground sleight of the hand con trick. report him. 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Xander

[Booky586]

I think you need to make his manager aware of what happened. Just in case it's not a one off "accident".

Edited July 31, 2023 by Booky586

[CazLikesCoins]

4 minutes ago, Xander said:

Sounds like it's not the first time this scammer has done this. This is an old fairground slight of the hand con trick. report him.

I wouldn't be exaggerating to say that he put the sovereign in his pocket (which had been left on the counter near him for several minutes while he wrote down my membership number and details onto the purchase form) into his pocket during the few moments I was distracted looking at my phone. I still saw him do it. Like I'm going to pay £400 quid on a sov and not be paying attention. I really thought he'd hand it over as soon as the card payment went through. Nope. He walked off with it instead. It's hard to imagine how he can just 'forget' he's not handed the gold over.

[ZRPMs]

I would have thought it would all be on CCTV anyway. 

[CazLikesCoins]

12 minutes ago, Booky586 said:

I think you need to make his manager aware of what happened. Just in case it's not a one off incident.

I believe he was a manager, or at least supervisor level.  Most Costco staff don't have access to sell gold and other pms.

1 minute ago, ZRPMs said:

I would have thought it would all be on CCTV anyway. 

The purchase was at a till so I'd assume so. I'll put the complaint in.

[CazLikesCoins]

I decided to phone their head office about it. No point phoning the branch I bought the gold from. I'd probably get through to one of his mates and my complaint will be filed under b for bin.

[James32]

Coincidentally I nearly got a sovereign for free today at work. some old Lady, nevermind.....

[Coverte]

21 minutes ago, CazLikesCoins said:

I decided to phone their head office about it. No point phoning the branch I bought the gold from. I'd probably get through to one of his mates and my complaint will be filed under b for bin.

Put it in writing with proof of posting as well, words are cheap and get misquoted and forgotten fast these days.

[CazLikesCoins]

13 minutes ago, Coverte said:

Put it in writing with proof of posting as well, words are cheap and get misquoted and forgotten fast these days.

I tried to send them an email but it seems they don't allow emails for customer queries. They said I can write to them instead. Probably expecting parchment and quill in letter form sealed with wax but sending a quick email instead? Uh uh. They did offer live chat but no thanks to that. I'll have to phone them in the morning and make a formal complaint. 

Dear Costco, please remind your managers to not keep my gold coins warm next to their privates. Also, it'd be nice if they bothered handing them over one in a while when I've paid. Fankoo.

And! The pvc case my sov came in was all warm and soft after it had been in his pocket ewwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!

Edited July 31, 2023 by CazLikesCoins

[CazLikesCoins]

duplicate post

Edited July 31, 2023 by CazLikesCoins

[Coverte]

5 minutes ago, CazLikesCoins said:

I tried to send them an email but it seems they don't allow emails for customer queries. They said I can write to them instead. Probably expecting parchment and quill in letter form sealed with wax but sending a quick email instead? Uh uh. They did offer live chat but no thanks to that. I'll have to phone them in the morning and make a formal complaint. 

Dear Costco, please remind your managers to not keep my gold coins warm next to their privates. Also, it'd be nice if they bothered handing them over one in a while when I've paid. Fankoo.

It's worth writing letters and getting proof of posting if money is involved at least; I had an ongoing dispute with something and they were hopless in court as I had all docs, so I got the whole thing closed down and never paid anything in the end.

I do sign with an old Montblanc fountain pen actually, you'd be surprised how seriously people take things if you do 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Coverte

[CazLikesCoins]

25 minutes ago, James32 said:

Coincidentally I nearly got a sovereign for free today at work. some old Lady, nevermind.....

I didn't know old ladies bumbled around piles of gold in Smaug's cavern. 🤣

Are you sure it wasn't a hobbit? 

Edited July 31, 2023 by CazLikesCoins

[Spyder]

What I am surprised about is why are you still buying sovereigns from Costco at £400 when you can get them much cheaper on this forum. 

Another thing, what if this crook at Costco is not doing this and swapping REAL with those FAKE Chinese copy. Many might not realise this until they get home. 

There should be a camera to have seen him do this. Report as he is obviously a crook. No one puts someone else's property into their pocket by accident.

[CazLikesCoins]

2 minutes ago, Coverte said:

It's worth writing letters and getting proof of posting if money is involved at least; I had an ongoing dispute with something and they were hopless in court as I had all docs, so I got the whole thing closed down and never paid anything in the end.

I do sign with an old Montblanc fountain pen actually, you'd be surprised how seriously people take things if you do 

I've got a Parker pen 😄 and I'm going to write a stiff letter to them Costco folks and tell em what's what. Maybe I'll get some vouchers! Next time I buy a sovereign, I'm videoing the whole thing 🤣

[Coverte]

3 minutes ago, Spyder said:

What I am surprised about is why are you still buying sovereigns from Costco at £400 when you can get them much cheaper on this forum. 

Another thing, what if this crook at Costco is not doing this and swapping REAL with those FAKE Chinese copy. Many might not realise this until they get home. 

There should be a camera to have seen him do this. Report as he is obviously a crook. No one puts someone else's property into their pocket by accident.

Don't say that, I'm doing well selling the lad my Chinese knock offs 

[CazLikesCoins]

3 minutes ago, Spyder said:

What I am surprised about is why are you still buying sovereigns from Costco at £400 when you can get them much cheaper on this forum. 

Another thing, what if this crook at Costco is not doing this and swapping REAL with those FAKE Chinese copy. Many might not realise this until they get home. 

There should be a camera to have seen him do this. Report as he is obviously a crook. No one puts someone else's property into their pocket by accident.

Depends on the sovereign. Prince Charles Memorial 2022. Not seen too many of those around on here although I don't have a paid membership atm so who knows what bargains are passing by. Costco still doing them. Discontinued I believe. Probably the last one I'll get of that. 

I thought about him swapping the sov out. Then I decided that he wouldn't have known that anyone was going to buy a sov that day and I doubted he'd carry a fake sov in a Costco pvc sleeve around in his jeans all day every day on the off chance. Also while the pvc sleeve the coin was in had been warmed while being in his pocket, it wasn't the kind of warm it would have been if it'd been in there for hours.

He is getting reported to head office. Although whether they'll do anything is anyones guess. Maybe a pull into the office and a few questions, bit of retraining, maybe off gold sales. I can't imagine much happening to him really.

[Bigmarc]

40 minutes ago, Spyder said:

What I am surprised about is why are you still buying sovereigns from Costco at £400 when you can get them much cheaper on this forum. 

Another thing, what if this crook at Costco is not doing this and swapping REAL with those FAKE Chinese copy. Many might not realise this until they get home. 

There should be a camera to have seen him do this. Report as he is obviously a crook. No one puts someone else's property into their pocket by accident.

When the missus goes to Costco for some food shopping she comes out with all sorts of c**p. Must be an impulse thing. 

[CazLikesCoins]

18 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

When the missus goes to Costco for some food shopping she comes out with all sorts of c**p. Must be an impulse thing. 

On reflection I should have bought a Prince Charles poster instead of a coin. Maybe a hat. They had some cups but I didn't want them because they had Megan Marble on and she's not a proper princess.

[Coverte]

21 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

When the missus goes to Costco for some food shopping she comes out with all sorts of c**p. Must be an impulse thing. 

That's what their whole business model is built on, similar to Ikea; you get herded like a sheep exactly where they know you will get tempted to buy;

I fell for it myself and have a massive 3 tier Stanley toolbox so big it won't fit in an SUV boot/trunk - had the damn thing for years gathering dust now !!