Costco
Ripoff trick me for my social and applied for Amex card without my consent

I just moved to Long Beach and the nearest wholesaler is Costco in Signal Hill. They said to even peak at the store I needed to be a Costco member costing $45. I filled in the application form and stood in line for 45 minutes. When I got to the front of the line, they said the only form of payment they would accept is Amex card, cash or check. I was ready to walk out of the store when they called me back and said debit cards are ok too. I paid $45 for the membership and I gave them my filled membership application form. On the form, there was a box asking if I wanted to sign up for an Amex card. I did not check that box. While they were processing my application form, they said they needed my social if I ever wanted to pay by check or anything else but cash.

So, I gave them my social. A few minutes later, while I was still waiting for my membership card, they said my Amex application is pending. I freaked out. I complained that I did not approved this application. I also quickly asked if they already pulled up my credit report (because too many inquires that month would look bad on my credit report.) They said they already did that. I was very unhappy. Then they convinced me how good it was to get an Amex card and how easy it would be. I was unhappy but since they already checked my credit, there was nothing I could do. Then the application is pending and they asked me to call Amex to find out why. I called Amex and first Amex said Costco put in the wrong Zip code for my application. That was the first problem. Then the second problem was that they forgot to put my date of birth on the application form. Again, Amex confirmed that they already checked my credit report. Amex told me that I needed to photocopy my driving license and fax it to them. I was unhappy that I had to do all these. I went back to Costco, asking them to either re-enter my data or fax the documents for me. They said they could not re-enter once the application had gone to American Express and they would not fax the documents for me either.

Worse of all, they would not let me talk to a manager. They said there was no manager on duty that day. The next days I tried, I got the same story from them - no manager at that time and there was nothing they could do. So, Costco tricked me for my social security number, used it to apply for an Amex card for me without even asking me, and put me through many hoops to get the card, and then when there is a problem - they refused to help in any way. On another count, they claimed to run the whole store without a manager at least for all of those days that I called and visited them.

Company: Costco
Country: USA
State: California
City: Signal Hill
Address: 2200 East Willow Street
Phone: 5624272537

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