C-L-U-S-T-E-R F-U-C-K of a store. I've been to 118 Costco's. This is by far the shittiest shithole I've ever experience. Thanks for the cold hotdog with a soggy bun. I just moved to Marin County but I'll just drive to Rohnert Park if I need to go to a Costco. read more

I am only giving it a one star (only because there's not a zero rating) because of the following reasons: some of the staff members are really not that helpful, not courteous, and downright rude or unfriendly (not that they have to suck up to me). The perishables, mainly produce, have gone down in grade. They used to be okay, but now they only last a few days in the fridge. Parking is the pits. Cars zoom by you, and the drivers are too anxious to find that coveted spot close to the store. Why do you even allow dogs (or pets in general) to be in the store? I don't care if they are the emotional support types of pets. Leave them at home. Pets are not supposed to be allowed near any food items. Unless they are service dogs to assist the blind, please ban dogs or any type of pet from entering the store. What's with these shoppers who are too lazy to put away the food items that they took from the shelf and decided not to buy? Please leave them with the cashier. Do not leave them anywhere that is convenient for you. Lastly, do not allow kids to run around the store. I have almost spilled a big glass bottle while trying to avoid kids that run into my path. read more

I absolutely love this costco! Good prices, good selection of merchandise, very friendly and helpful employees! I love the samples, and the vast majority of merchandise in this warehouse! I got my pair of eye glasses and exam everything included for around $150! The eye center is simply amazing and the optometrist was able to see that my eyes were a little sun damaged, it's absolutely nothing to worry about, but she reminded me to get transitions lenses as she wrote my prescription for eye glasses! She dialated my eyes to check my over all eye health! read more

I have been a member of Costco for 32 years. Recently the attitude of the employees has become unbelievably hostile towards the members. I shop at Costco 2-3 times a week and spend 3k a month there. Lately when I use the self check out lane, the employees are rude, aggressive, and down right offensive. There is no courtesy or consideration ever. Throughout the store I have been verbally abused for no reason. Waiting for one of my clients, iI was told to check out right now. I couldn't because my client was bringing more merchandise for us to purchase. A manager told me to pull up my pants after I bent down to put something in my cart. I have been told to go to the checkout line that is short. When I said I was waiting, I was told I didn't have a choice. Costco had record profits last year because they raised the prices a lot. This is called greed inflation . After that they have made it company policy to harass their members ! read more

Stopped at the tire center here on our way home, as we knew in advance they had the tire size we needed, and I didn't want to drive any further on the donut. No appointments were available and they were busy. Christian at the front desk was very calm, took care of the paperwork, and explained that it could be several hours. The wait turned out to be shorter than we expected and we were on our way and feeling a lot more comfortable on the Interstate. Costco is fortunate to have guys like Christian and the other hard working employees in the tire shop. read more

Costco Optometrist / Dr Chun's receptionist The reception is SO RUDE and CONDESCENDING. Why do you have to be so mean and angry? You were rude to my husband and me. We are polite and respectful people, and you made us feel terrible. Your nasty attitude shocked us so much we talked about you on our drive home, my husband talked about you again at dinner tonight, telling our teenagers how unprofessional and disrespectful the receptionist for the optometrist at Costco is. Honestly, you are AWFUL at your job. Don't waste your time making an appointment here, you'll be abused before and after the exam by the woman with the orange hair. Listen up HQ Costco, I've been a member for 26 years, and I've never experienced such hostility in any of your warehouses. Staff reading this at Costco Novato, you know who she is and yes, she is the WORST employee in your store. Dr Chun you've lost our business, first and last time getting an eye exam with you. I hope she doesn't bully you too, I am truly scared for you. I guess I'm not the first person to bring this up, lots of complaints about her. Unbelievable. read more

A Costco is a Costco is a Costco. Sort of. But not quite. While the contents of the Novato Costco were mostly like the stuff I'd find for sale at just about any other Costco I've ever been to, the layout was unique. Entering the other Costcos I know, there's a wide aisle that leads to near the registers & then turns up a wide aisle that leads all the way to the back. At this Costco, big screen TV's & electronics are butted right up to the entrance & there is no wide aisle to access the store. The rest of the store also seemed more maze-like than other Costcos I'm more familiar with. But once I got past my initial discombobulation, I noticed something about this Costco that I immediately appreciated. This Costco in Novato was not super stupid madhouse slammed... On a Sunday afternoon!!!... What?!?! Richmond Costco is the Costco closest to home for me. Guaranteed, that place is a total f***ing zoo all day long on Sundays. I mean, yeah, Novato Costco was busy. But it felt like "Day Spa" busy rather than "End of Days" busy, like Richmond Costco. It was actually nice to shop this Costco on a Sunday. I like the Novato Costco. The layout was a little weird, but shopping there on a Sunday felt casual instead of frantic. It was nice. read more

Wayy less crowded than the Costco in SF. I went on a Sunday afternoon and it was a surprisingly relaxing/sane experience. They had lots of toilet paper and kitchen towels in stock, and all the regular things I like (frozen shrimp, organic kiwis, organic blueberries, fresh pacific oysters etc) No line at the checkout either! read more

A few days ago I was going through some old credit card bills from citi card costco credit card. As I was about to shred the old bill I came across a costco rebate I had failed to cash. It was about 1K. I went to costco a few days later to see what could be done to salvage the rebate. I was referred to the manager and he told me to call the credit card company. I did that immediately and they were not able to help since it expired a couple of years ago. The manager Jason Cabrera was very helpful with my situation. He called his boss and she approved the rebate in a letter written by Jason. I could use it to buy a large item TV tires etc. Just want to thank Jason and Costco for their help with my problem. Costco is big, but will help individuals out if they are able. Thanks again. Ron Nass read more

Tonight we came to just do some light shopping (, in Costco, nobody actually leaves under $100) and my mom needed to repair her glasses. We ended up buying our stuff and checked out. Very friendly staff, quick and the store was in order. Then my mother stopped at the eye glasses counter. When my mother showed them the problem the manager was rude, and told her "just super glue it, you won't be able to close it though". We got her glasses a few months ago and they should not have already been broken. I feel like he was rude and didn't actually take the time to listen to what she had to say. As a manager he should have dealt with the situation differently and especially to an elderly women. read more

I just moved in novato .. in novato Costco employees so rule and Unfortunately bad customers service. . Not everybody. . Only at the exit door when they check the receipt at the exiting door. They think you are the thief so they must be checking every single receipt. Lol . i wonder who's training you. .? read more

As a former employee, I just wanted to say, to those of you on about no gas station, the Novato location does not have a gas station because they couldn't buy out the Men's Warehouse. Costco needs that space to add a gas station and more parking places. I think there may have been another reason but that was a huge reason in itself. Maybe some day Men's Warehouse will decide to leave or let Costco buy them out. But...don't hold your breath...it's been around 15 years since their big remodel job and their plans of adding a gas station. I'm not sure of their future plans, as I've been retired since 2008, we can only wait and see. Just thought I'd throw that bit of info out there to help everyone understand as to why there is no gas station at the Novato Costco. :) read more

I always love coming into Costco! This store is not particularly busy which I like. I literally walked through all the isle. (that's how I shop in Costco or any other store is I haven't went to that store yet) Pro- not busy Con- some items were opened. Like someone opened a couple of box of ziplock bags. Rude! It's the same as anywhere else. The line for buying food wasn't busy either. Maybe I went on a good time. read more

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Costco employees can be rude here. Let's go ahead and mention that denying poor people the right to shop at Costco who cannot afford a $60 Costco membership card IS ILLEGAL! They probably pay off everyone necessary with the tens of billions they rake in on membership "dues" alone. There might be huge discounts but as you know, buying in bulk adds up to a large bill when you leave the store. Tbh it's not really worth it, not to mention they are no longer limiting people into the store, and just like Target, they illegally defied Bay Area orders to stop restocking non essential products during Coronavirus before everything opened back up. read more

Usually a lot nicer clientele than many other Costco locations I've been to. The crowds are lighter in the morning. Yesterday I had the impression that some of the employees work the morning shift to avoid customers too. Sabrina was checking ID and handing out fliers at the entrance. After she checked my ID I held out my hand for the flier and she turned her back on me and ran across the aisle to talk to another worker about something. The new self checkout aisle is a good idea. read more

Thanks to Costco, I was able to cater a wine tasting for 50 people for under $200. No joke! If any of you have ever hosted a party, you know that this is almost unheard of. But here's how I did it. Actually, let me rephrase that, here's how my amazing marketing/events coordinator did it... She went to the Novato Costco with the limited budget that I gave her ($200 - $25). She bought a variety of gourmet cheeses, charcuterie, Rustic Bakery flatbread crackers, and fruit which she then put out on nice platters for our event. She purchased all of the above for $170. And this food easily fed all 50 of our attendees at the winery. While it certainly wasn't a full-on lunch, the cheese/charcuterie/crackers/fruit kept our guests satiated. Plus, it all paired well with the wines being poured. When I'm not shopping for bulk goods, I come to Costco for discounted electronic goods, fresh fish & meat, water + adult beverages, and toiletries. And I won't lie - I also like to come for the free food samples. There's always a meatball or mini quiche that they're passing out. And if that doesn't fill you up, their pizza slices and hot dogs are always a good deal. read more

There was a greeter at the front who was very rude. His name was Omid. Not sure why they have people like him working here

Came here to get a costco membership. "Dee" was the one who helped me. She certainly did not have the friendliest of tones. I told her I wanted the gold membership. She kept going on about how I need to upgrade to the Executive. From the time I started filling out the form until I got my card, she continued saying how I need to upgrade to Executive. "I don't understand, everyone upgrades to the Executive, why don't you?" I told her no at least 6 times and that I would not be getting anything other than the gold membership. I've seen similar reviews at this and other costcos that the membership staff makes it extremely uncomfortable by pressuring people into upgrading and them not being able to take "No" for an answer. read more

Sometimes Costco ends up being simply the best place to pick up bulk, clean produce and pantry staples. It's a longer trek to get to Novato from our home, but often worthwhile for those items that fly off the local grocery store shelves in these end of times, pandemic days. Don't forget to wear your face mask and please don't cough or sneeze on anything (and anyone). There may (or may not) also be some items of interest for you disaster preppers also ;) Take care! Please don't panic! read more

Love Costco! It's the place where you can consistently pick up something and say "do you know what they charge at Safeway for 1/4 of this??". Great deals, terrific staff, and a great place to grab a quick and cheap snack. This is one of the only places that keeps the same employees year over year (I've been seeing some of the same ones for 7 years!) so they must treat them well! Generous return policy too, especially on electronics! I'm a believer!!!!! read more

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At the beginning of the pandemic, they were very good at enforcing policies to keep customers and employees safe, but I have not seen that recently. Instances of customers wearing masks below the nose/chin is commonplace and I have not once seen them enforce their policies. Also, I have seen a good amount of masks with 'valves' on both customers and even employees in the store, which both the CDC and WHO state are completely ineffective against the spread of Covid-19 as you directly below your exhalations into the environment. While they still enact some preventive measures, if you are worried at all about shopping inside stores, I would not recommend shopping here. read more

Horrible & unbelievable experience today. We have been coming to this Costco forever and since COVID at least every two weeks. Today we went to go through the cash register and how RUDE was this female cashier. We had placed the Costco card on top of the groceries. All these times since COVID we have done that. This time she was like no, no, no... I went to get it and with all her rudeness l she hadthad card fall on the ground - supervisor came I told him what had happened and that we didn't mind except for the rudeness ... Nothing. read more

This is the only Costco I've ever been to that will chase you down if you don't have your card out when you walk through the door. And yes I mean literally chase. I can list 5 things you can buy if you're not a Costco member, which by the way I am and have been for years. I'm just sick of being bombarded at the door like I'm a criminal sneaking in. I don't even use my Costco card at check out because I have my app with my card. Doorman said it was "policy" to have my Costco card ready when I walked in the door but when I talked to customer service about it they said it wasn't. Not sure why the guy was so adamant to get my membership when I can't check out without it. read more

I came here yesterday to stock up on food and hopefully get creamer for my coffee because the grocery store near my house has been out of creamer. I live in San Francisco and decided to come here because I was afraid of long lines in San Francisco and South San Francisco. There was no line to get into the warehouse and the warehouse was hardly crowded plenty of space to social distance from other people. There was no line to check out and the door to exit the checker was behind the plexie glass that you show the person your receipt and exit. The shelves were mostly stocked and a lot of items I can't find at my neighborhood grocery store. They had creamer but not the flavor I like. There was a creamer I liked but it was a half gallon for almost $6 not really a good deal and there was a premium powdered one and it was $20. I got everything I needed and a couple of more things I saw that I wanted. The cashier called me up and I put the stuff on the belt and showed my card and she scanned it. read more

Unresponsive manager, really disappointing after I called 3x and emailed 2x. That is poor leadership and poor customer service. Very disappointing from what otherwise is a great store. Stephanie Meroff needs some re-training! read more

I bought a two pack of seals queen size pillows and just after maybe two months the stuffing has pulled into balls. I would suggest you get a different brand! read more

Don't sign up for water service at Costco. Costco should vet the companies coming in to their store. Alahambra was in their store. We signed up and and we have been without water for two weeks. Customer service has said delivery "tomorrow" multiple time and nothing. When you check out Alahambra water on yelp they also received 1 star. Costco please reach out to customers who signed up for water service whom you endorsed to be in your store. Please and thank you. read more

It's Costco. It gets crowded. Parking is a pain. Go at the end of the day, closer to closing time when there's hardly anybody shopping. Great place to go to buy bulk items. Will be back of course. read more

This is the weirdest Costco location. I shopped at San Leandro for many years with some bad service issue maybe like every 3-4 years. Here it's almost every visit something odd will happen. As an example they have different policies about what does and doesn't go on the conveyor belt than other area Costcos, and if you get it wrong the cashier might go into a tirade about how their manager makes everybody do it a certain way and they'll get in a lot of trouble if he catches them checking somebody out who didn't put something on the conveyor belt that he feels they should have. I've been there maybe four times when a cashier said something nasty about whoever runs this location. And it's not like I asked, they just spend a lot of their day bitching. It's the only Costco I've ever seen that not only didn't have some food ready but didn't even put any in the oven - it's normal to be told you might have to wait a couple of minutes for a chicken bake but to be told there aren't any cooking? That's not right. Some kind of shift supervisor was gossiping with the cashiers using foul language. It's the only Costco where I've been snapped at while returning something (and yes it was a legit return). I've seen the door people chew people out for not wearing masks when they weren't required... and I've seen the door people let people in who weren't wearing masks when they were required. And those two things happened about three weeks apart. Anyway I'm still a member but I'm probably spending 1/4 of what I used to so I'm not sure how much longer it's going to make sense. Hopefully they can get some of this training stuff straightened out. read more

Costco is always one of the best spots for well priced items. That being said, I was a little sad when I heard they didn't have a gas station. We just moved to the area and I've always gotten gas at Costco previously. That was a bummer but, other than that, it was a standard experience. read more

This is the flagship Costco in the North Bay. They have the largest and most unique selection of products. No gas station though :-((

On our way to Petaluma. Needed the "on sale" paper towels. Walked out with $100 of local cheese and sausage not carried by our usual costco. I have learned, you see it, you want it, you buy it because each costco is different. They even sell trees here. Won't find those in San Francisco. No gas though. read more

Super nice employees. They spent almost an hour helping me locate a specific item that I needed. Best Costco ever! read more

I treat Costco more like an outing than a super store. I usually spend more money than I planned but I always get exactly what I want. Savings. Many. Choices, many. And when any holiday comes they have a great selection of seasonal foods and decorations. Many have fun sampling as they shop too. It's a great place for kids. They always seem amazed and amused. The place is always cavernous and never fails to sell. It is usually divided into sections. Bakery, meat, dairy, liquor, grocery, electronic, household goods, clothing, educational, media and much more. Be prepared for lines especially if it's a holiday. It's usually fast, though slightly noticeable. Be sure to pre-pay to save time at check out to get your favorite slice of Pizza or hot dog + beverage. Seating area is always busy. read more

Absolutely the WORST experience I have ever had!!! Costco needs to boot her butt out of there along with the nasty, snotty, receptionist! What a total disgrace! I was treated SO rudely and fees ended up much more than I was told. When I inquired I was given a snide, response that I should have known, and well I didn't make your appointment. Actually she did make my appointment because I distinctly remember her rude voice over the phone when I first called! I wish I had trusted my intuition then and canceled!!! She had quoted me $79. and directed me to watch a YouTube video on eye contact instructions. Yet I was charged for her "training" there. What a complete rip off, these people are a joke and a disgrace to the optometry profession! Dr. Chun doesn't deserve to have the Dr. in front of her name! Her "exam" if you can even call it that, was pathetic! She moves you through like you're a piece of friggin cattle! More than that, her "bed-side manner" for a doctor was HORRIBLE. To put it nicely, she was a cold robot! Between her and the nasty witch at the front desk, I can easily say it was the WORST medical experience I've ever had! So much so it brought me to tears as I reported my experience to the Costco regional manager. As promised, you all should know, this is NOT a good place to go to have your eyes checked! They are the bottom of the barrel and she doesn't deserve her title read more

Wow. Was always appreciative of Costco. Then we moved to this area of the country....and went to the Costco in Novato. Went there this morning and bought a package of pork ribs to cook this evening. The date of packaging was Nov 5th and the best before date was Nov 12. Today is Nov 9th. I opened the package when I got home to start preparing the ribs and almost threw up they smelled SO bad. The ammonia/sulfur smell was almost making me gag. I rinsed them off. They still REEKED. I looked online to find out what may have been going on. I cut them into individual ribs and rinsed each one separately in cool water. They STILL smelled. The meat LOOKED pink and 'normal' but the smell wouldn't go away. Finally I called Costco and talked with what sounded to be a younger gentleman. I explained what had been happening. His response? "Pork comes from pigs and pigs smell bad." Yeahhh...NO. That's NOT it. But rather than educate this man about how FRESH meat isn't supposed to smell like rotten eggs or ammonia, I politely repeated that I had rinsed the ribs in cool water and the smell was still there and I didn't think we could eat these. The man said I could bring back the receipt and the package and either get a replacement or get a refund. I asked if he wanted me to pack up the ribs. He said no, just to bring back the receipt and the package. Makes sense since I had already opened and tried to prepare the ribs. Nonetheless, I put a few in a ziploc baggie, thinking we would bring these back to show them that the ribs did indeed reek of ammonia and sulfur, even after rinsing and airing out. My husband went back in the evening to either get a refund or get a replacement (we hadn't decided which as felt that if we could get an exchange for one with a packaged on date closer to today's date they may be fine). Bearing in mind with all of this that only a week and a half ago this entire area of the state had blackouts that lasted for up to 4 days...so I wasn't too keen on risking my health in case something had gone wrong with Costco's coolers during that time. My thought was maybe the meat still looked pink, but had already started to spoil badly enough from not adequate refrigeration temperatures. I was on the phone with my elderly mother when I saw calls and texts coming through from my husband who was at Costco. They had demanded to know the name of the man I had spoken with this afternoon...then they demanded to see the credit card we had used to pay for the ribs (it was my card and it was home with me in my purse). Because my husband didn't know the representative's name that I had spoken with and didn't have my credit card with him, they would ONLY give him a store credit. THANK GOODNESS the store credit is good at ANY Costco, because frankly, Novato Costco??? You can kiss my lily white...ribs if you think I will be going back to your store. 1) Pork should NEVER smell as badly of ammonia and sulfur as these ribs did today when I opened the package. The vacuum-packing process can create an odor over time, but nothing like what I had to endure today. 2) Pork shouldn't smell bad because "it comes from pigs and pigs smell bad." Please don't allow your employees to make stuff up if they don't really know the reason behind something. FRESH meat shouldn't smell bad, whether it is beef, fish, chicken, or PORK. 3) CUSTOMER SERVICE IS KEY. You've lost 2 customers from this location FOR LIFE. Yes, we have a store credit, but the bs you put my husband through for trying to get a replacement or a refund for ROTTEN-SMELLING MEAT isn't worth visiting your location again. I certainly can't expect we would receive decent service in the future when we don't have a problem, if we can't get decent service when we DO have a problem. I'll gladly drive a little further away or go to a Costco close to my office than come back to this location. read more

I've had many 5-star visits to this Costco, but had to give a review for 1-star treatment recently. I had bought some bagels that went moldy the day after I bought them. I had heard about Costco's customer oriented return policy and figured I'd like my $5.99 back, so put them in the freezer until my next trip. That turned out to be a couple months later. I brought in the bagels and was really surprised to get interrogated from Tao about why I waited so long. I was told that food needed to be returned before the "sell by" date for a refund. I said it wouldn't make sense to spend the gas money and my time to make a special trip because they sold moldy bagels. Lots of hemming and hawing as to whether she'd do it. Acted like she was doing me a big favor and finally did give me the refund. I asked how would I know that is the policy? I pointed out that none of their signage says that. The response was "it's online". When I got home I checked their website and found no such policy, so didn't appreciate being deceived. I've been going to Costco for so many years, have spent so much money there, and this was shocking. They really should have a policy not to question the customer for a low priced item - not worth the ill-will that will result. read more

Stay away from the Costco eye center... nice people and well priced...but every time you go no mater what tine you will wait 45 minutes+ and I needed new lenses in two eye glass frames and they sold me on the low cost I canceled my apt else where came here and after a week with my new prescription they called me to tell me they could not put new lenses in... so now three weeks out I could of had much less stress and my glasses ... no matter how low cost just not worth the time investment... plus limited selection on lenses and clearly will not working on others ... NEVER COMING BACK read more

I have been shopping with Costco for DECADES, literally. I mostly shopped in Southern California and Arizona and now in Northern Cali. TODAY, as I was in the check stand area paying for my goods, the register guy called out (I couldn't understand him) and a lady showed up in 2 seconds with a credit card machine then asked me if I would like to upgrade my card. What?! I said absolutely not, I don't want to pay more. She replies, It's only $120 extra. How rude! Shame on Costco for doing this. Does some head guy need a raise? Is that what's going on. They should have asked for my permission in a way by saying that they had an offer they had and asked if I wanted it. I barely buy anything there, just fruit every now and again. I will be going to Safeway from now on. Bye Costco. read more

Well what do expect, it's a Costco? No gas but great booze and fresh fruit, seafood.