Early June I went to buy a Costco membership, ready to pay for the full membership. At the customer service desk, they told me there was an on-line special and if I applied on-line I would get half the membership fee back in coupons. So the Manager of the Customer Service desk helped me to do it on-line in the store. She indicated I could pay on-line with my Visa card for the membership I found this strange because I was told by a friend that Costco doesn't accept Visa in store. But I did it anyway, paying with my Visa for the membership. I bought what I wanted paying cash at checkout. Yesterday I went back to Costco. When I got to cash they told me I had to pay my membership fee. At customer service two different customer service agents told me my credit card company cancelled the transaction in June. I said impossible. I went home to figure out what when wrong. Sure enough when I called Visa they told me it had been Costco that cancelled the transaction in June. When I called Costco back it was very difficult to get through to someone. Eventually I spoke with Angelie who indicated they would honour the coupons but I was told it was for only on-line shopping. This was never explained to me at the beginning that the coupons were only for on-line ordering. I would never have wasted my time in June. A short time after , another person from Costco called me, offering a $10 discount the next time I shopped in-store. She also indicated that other customers had similar experiences with the on-line promotion and membership orders being cancelled. I give her credit for the attempt to make this right. But $10 is such a small amount compared the embarrassment, stress caused and time wasted. Obviously people will always shop at Costco because of the deals. However, this experience shows me that Costco staff have extremely poor knowledge of on-line deals and on-line technical issues. Passing the buck and telling me it was my credit card company that caused the issue is appalling. Not sure that I will go back and buy a membership. I do not recommend shopping at that location as the customer service staff not knowledgeable.