Plenty of items from Costco have a cult following—the rotisserie chickens, Kirkland vodka (some say it’s actually Grey Goose), and, of course, those food court hot dogs. But for every vocal superfan of the warehouse club, there’s probably an equally outspoken naysayer. And many of them have taken to Reddit to air their grievances about the quality of certain Costco products. From the muffins to windshield wipers, these are the items shoppers say they’ll never buy again.
RELATED: “Never Again” Buy Tires From Costco, Shoppers Say: “Simply Horrendous.”
1. Chicken breasts and thighs
At most Costco stores, there’s an entire refrigerator filled with Kirkland brand air-chilled chicken breasts and thighs, which are only about $3.72 and $2.23 a pound, respectively. But shoppers say the low prices don’t make it worth it.
“Their bulk packs of chicken thighs are extremely fatty and taste pretty gamey. Their bulk packs of breast end up thawing pretty rubbery,” shared one Redditor. “I’m back to buying fresh a la carte from the grocery store. It’s not worth a few bucks of savings to be disappointed with dinner.”
Several others described the breasts as “woody,” meaning they’re tough and/or chewy, while others commented on how abnormally large they are.
“I can’t imagine the size of the monster chicken they’re harvested from and how unnatural of a being it would have to be,” said a member.
Still others commented on how much liquid is in the packs of chicken.
2. Cat food
When it comes to Kirkland cat food, it’s not just a taste issue.
“Two of my cats got urinary issues about 4 months after switching to Kirkland,” shared a frustrated shopper.
“The canned cat food made my cats sick and we started reading it wasn’t just our cats,” agreed another.
To that point, there are several other Reddit threads where cat parents have warned others about their experience with the food.
In one, someone shared, “All 3 of my cats got diarrhea when I started the food. I returned it after a week. No issues since.”
“Tried the kirkland cat food for my several cats and every single cat became ill with bloody vomit, one cat vomiting frank red blood. Stopped the kirkland food and they were not vomiting blood anymore,” claimed another Costco shopper.
RELATED: Costco Shoppers Are Abandoning These Kirkland Products: “Worst Things I’ve Ever Tasted.”
3. Bananas
Unless you’re partial to unripened bananas, you may not want to buy the fruit at Costco.
“I’ve had bananas never turn yellow from Costco,” said a shopper, to which several other shoppers agreed. “They sat on the counter for 2 months in the green state before they started to shrivel a little,” they added.
However, a fellow shopper offered some advice: “If they are too green they were picked too early and will not ripen. Never buy bananas that aren’t showing at least a hint of yellow.”
4. Muffins
Costco’s muffins have been a hot topic for the past few months.
As Best Life reported in December, shoppers began posting about how the baked goods had gotten smaller: “A photo of a sign shows that the store is no longer selling 12-packs of mix-and-match muffin flavors for $9.99. Instead, they’re now only available in 8-packs of a single flavor for $6.99—and much smaller in size.”
But Costco customers aren’t only unhappy with the size.
“The blueberry muffins have changed quality,” said a shopper in the recent Reddit thread.
“The muffins are tasteless and super boring. The blueberry ones are the worst!” agreed another.
In a separate Reddit thread, someone commented on the chocolate variety: “These new muffins are dry, crumbly, and have a weird aftertaste.”
Yet another shopper said all the new muffins are “bland with a dry, cake-like texture.”
RELATED: The 20 Worst Items to Buy at Costco.
5. Toilet paper
Similarly, the quality of Kirkland brand toilet paper has been up for debate for the past couple of years, with many shoppers swearing the product has changed for the worse.
One Reddit comment about how it’s gone downhill received 72 replies.
“It makes so much lint and dust!” someone said. “The new formula leaves so much residual residue,” agreed another shopper. “Kirkland TP is god awful,” stated yet another.
Several women also claim that the toilet paper gave them UTIs, though that isn’t confirmed by a doctor.
6. Windshield wipers
Someone’s Reddit comment about how they will no longer buy windshield wipers from Costco received a whopping 206 comments.
“The brand itself is garbage. It says Michelin but it’s all just branded generic nonsense and they last half as long as Bosch,” one shopper shared.
“Your windshield has to pretty much be dirt free or they’ll streak and leave water everywhere,” said another.
Others take issue with how loud they are.
“It makes so much noise that would drive anyone crazy,” a Costco member stated.
“Squeaky out of the box. Absolute trash,” someone agreed.
