I entered the local Costco with my USA driver's license in hand and approached the customer service counter. I stated that I had lost my card and wished to have a new one printed. I also stated I had joined overseas in the USA. The employee said that she could not reprint membership cards that were not issued in Korea. I told her that I live in Korea now and do not have any current plans to visit the USA. She basically said, tough luck and that if I want to shop at Costco in Korea I need to become a member in Korea since I lost my old card issued in the USA.
Frustrated, I later wrote an email to Costco customer service via their website thinking that Costco in the USA could simply print a new card and mail it to me in Korea...unfortunately I got the below response (Click the screenshot to expand):
Really? So any of your stores can accept any membership card but you can't reissue all cards nor can you ship worldwide? My guess is each card simply has some check bit built-in so as long as "MEMBERSHIP" = TRUE the person can shop but otherwise there is no sharing of information in the system. Maybe there are some laws regarding this but it is extremely inconvenient to people that lose their cards aboard away from their 'home' membership country. Think military, expatriate community, long term vacationers and travelers.
I ended up rejoining Costco here in Korea but using my Korean address and other information. Membership in Korea is actually cheaper but they don't have gas stations like American Costcos do. The membership is less than $30 annually as opposed to $55 annually in the USA. I guess that is the one redeeming factor...cheaper membership costs...anyway, needless to say it was frustrating.
What has been frustrating to you living abroad? Below is Costco's Facebook page, maybe you have had a similar issue?
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