iLounge

1

dont blame them, when other retailers (including sams club) has them it is pretty pathetic (not that it matters in canada anyways, you can only buy them at best buy/future shop (best buys owns them) and apple stores nowhere else)

Posted by mario83 on October 15, 2010 at 2:18 PM (PST)

2

As long as they keep carrying the iTunes cards I could care less about the iPods.

$100 bucks worth of cards for $91 is a good deal.

Posted by Don on October 15, 2010 at 3:25 PM (PST)

3

Mario83:

There are plenty of independent computer retailers that carry them as well (in T.O. at least)

Posted by Toots on October 15, 2010 at 7:19 PM (PST)

4

@ Don

So you do care?

Posted by Jake on October 15, 2010 at 9:10 PM (PST)

5

Boohoo, Costco wasn’t invited to the iPad party and has a bruised ego.

Posted by Bobby C on October 16, 2010 at 2:47 PM (PST)

6

I work at Costco and I can assure the company’s ego is not bruised. Our corporate leaders held out on Coca-Cola and they came crawling back after about 4 months. Give it time and Apple will do the same. They couldn’t afford not to seeing as our retail network is far too large to miss out on.

Posted by BlueHUE in Nebraska on October 16, 2010 at 4:42 PM (PST)

7

If Apple’s long term strategy is market share, they will want to work with Costco and other important large scale retail outlets in the long term.

The cellphone market is very leading edge in both fashion and technology respects especially with the teen and 20’s crowd.  Market share is that much more important with such products.

Any which way you slice it, as long as Apple holds it profit margin they will keep building on their success.

Posted by Charles Farley on October 17, 2010 at 4:34 AM (PST)

8

ah, i see the outraged fanboys already contemplate boycotting costco in response to a simple distribution dispute.  whose ego is bruised, again?  brand loyalty is not a religion, children, nor even a protected legal category.

Posted by peter on October 17, 2010 at 3:28 PM (PST)

9

Exclusivity deals ultimately hurt the consumer and keep prices high.  Just look at the army of pissed off AT&T iPhone customers chomping at the bit to jump ship.  Competition in the market is what brings down prices and improves service.  Churn will cause a company with poor customer service to make changes.

Posted by Guy on October 17, 2010 at 7:17 PM (PST)

10

#6 - Costco has a habit of bait’n'switch - get the customers hooked on one brand of a given product, then without reason or warning, drop that brand for another. (It’s one of many reasons I discontinued my membership.)

Thus, I suspect Costco is dropping Apple to begin selling WinMo and Android phones, Zune players, and the iPad’s many forthcoming competitors.

Or maybe the greeter at the Cupertino Costco forgot to tell Steve Jobs, “Wlecome to Costco. I love you.”

Posted by Farnsworth on October 18, 2010 at 6:33 AM (PST)

11

Let’s put the blame where it belongs, shall we?  Costco is generally pro-consumer, driving prices down (while maintaining decent wages for employees, I might add).  I can’t say the same for Apple.  Costco is telling their floor workers that the real cause is Apple’s displeasure with Costco for undercutting the prices at the Apple Store.  An iPod Touch goes for $20 less at Costco.  Or, it did.  I guess they don’t want to “cheapen the brand” anymore, or whatever the proper marketing jargon is.

Posted by Sarah on October 18, 2010 at 4:16 PM (PST)

12

#10 - That is NOT bait and switch (you’re completely wrong).  Costco does not engage in this practice.

Posted by Tom on October 20, 2010 at 7:23 AM (PST)

13

Apple is exercising monoply power like no other company in recent memory. I can’t believe they haven’t been called on it yet. If your computer goes down they make it impossible to get the songs back that you paid for. They treat their retail customers like dirt. They better hope someone does come along with products as good. retailers would love to pay back Apple’s abuse of power. I don’t blame Coscto…

Posted by sam on October 27, 2010 at 6:33 AM (PST)

14

Sam. Sorry you’ve had bad experiences with Apple. I have had nothing but the opposite. They’ve provided phone tech support after the warranty expired, have allowed me to re-download songs, etc. While I will say the hold their cards extremely close to the vest and have a large ego, there customer service wins awards year after year. No complaints from me. BTW - I am also a Costco member.

Posted by Seth D. on October 29, 2010 at 10:37 AM (PST)

15

oops - a few misspellings in my post - flame away ;o)

Posted by Seth D. on October 29, 2010 at 10:39 AM (PST)

16

I bought the new Ipod Nano 6g at Costco on November 7th for $169.  They had plenty of them in stock, but they had only the silver color.

Posted by Bill Rogers on November 8, 2010 at 10:03 AM (PST)

17

I’m boycotting Costco and wrote their customer service. It pains me (been a customer since the Price Club days) but I’ll switch to Sam’s Club. After all, Apple is the mothership. I almost dumped them over the loss of Hebrew National footlongs and Farmer John’s bacon (which eventually were returned to the stores), but this is too much.

Oh the humanity.

Posted by HD Boy on December 10, 2010 at 2:50 AM (PST)