BE VERY CAREFUL GOING TO THIS LOCATION WITH A DOG....
Seems like each Costco has their own way of speaking to a dog policy. For proof of this, I included a photo of my wife's membership card HOLDING OUR DOG. What's my point, we were physically in the Plano location and they took a photo. So clearly they were aware and cool with a dog was in the store. No questions asked.
Having said that, I'll continue with my experience in McKinney....
11/26/203 around 2pm...
We go through the front door and TAYLOR (young male, long/ blonde hair (oh YES... I'm naming names and specifics. Had I known your last name, I would have disclosed that too.))... TAYLOR stops my wife to say that dogs are not allowed. She explains that her dog is a support animal and that wasn't good enough for him. Not only that, he calls a manager. Not only that, he (loudly and in a combative tone) asks my wife about her reason for having a service dog. He asked her three times.
Let me make sure I'm driving the point home about the scene here...
We are at the entrance on a busy Sunday. People (not sprinkles of people but a nice sized group) are walking inside. TAYLOR is being loud, combative, and condescending.... AND asking my wife (IN FRONT OF OTHER CUSTOMERS) about her "need" for a service dog. Not cool. Not compliant. And the more I wrote about this, the more irritated I get that I didn't curse him out. Anyways...
The manager finally comes. My wife shows the manger proof that we have a service dog and we go on our way. I was no longer interested in shopping there and I left the store. The manager was cool for the most part. No complaints there. She verified my wife's card/ proof and asked us not to put the dog in a basket.
Back to TAYLOR....
TAYLOR was not supposed to ask specifics about someone's reason for needing a service animal. I can care less if they want to know if the animal s a service animal. But I've worked in compliance. I've had several jobs where one cannot ask about a person's disability, medical issue, or even certain aspects of their past.
Per APA SERVICES' site:
"They may only ask two questions if it is not obvious what service the dog provides: (1) Is the animal required because of a disability; and (2) What work has it been trained to perform? No further proof is required. Any animal, not just dogs, can be an ESA. ESAs do not require individual training"
So it's pretty evident that TAYLOR needs to be educated on APA matters and he also needs training on customer service. It took everything in me not to further escalate a situation that HE was already publicly escalating.
If I were anyone else, this could have been escalated further, but I decided to leave it alone. So McKinney Costco, you're welcome. But y'all need to do something with TAYLOR... who worked the front entrance on 11/26/23 around 2pm.
So here's the bottom line that I've gathered with bringing dogs in Costco... I'm sure it depends on which location you're at, but the big thing is "dogs in the baskets". Don't put your dog in their baskets. That's a reasonable ask, due to food and other sanitary reasons. The Plano location was cool with bringing a dog in, but don't put it in the basket. In McKinney, after we showed proof of the service dog issue, they asked us not to put the dog in the basket.
In any event, I probably won't be back to this location. Whether you have a service animal or a plain dog, I suggest calling ahead and making sure TAYLOR isn't working that day. That or simply go to one of the Plano locations instead. read more