u/squatsandthoughts

I had a frustrating experience at Costco recently, not because of the employees. They were great! There is nowhere to share this information with Costco so I am screaming into the void that is Reddit.

I generally switch between a physical card and using the app to scan my membership. It has never been a problem. Until last week, when I was in self-checkout and it wouldn't even let me scan my items. The employee comes over and tries to override it, and it won't let him.

They kept saying, your membership is expired. Im like no - see it says not until 2027. Confused, they take me over to a computer and start looking things up and keep finding accounts with my name, all saying expired. They start showing me people on the accounts with me - but these are old roommates that I haven't interacted with in like 10 years and I know they aren't on the account.

They send me to customer service and the employee there pointed out, in the app where the account QR code is, you can scroll horizontally. I had multiple records there, all old inactive memberships, except one, and somehow scanned an inactive one. Because none of them say inactive or active 🤦

Why are these in the app!? Who needs this? In the app you cannot see which QR code goes to the active membership. They all look like active. This is a major fail in how this passed QA. I work in IT. I design features like this. All I can say is - this was rushed and not tested thoroughly enough with actual customers. And with no way to provide feedback, another fail. Customer service cannot remove the old accounts. They are all still there.

If you look in account details (a different area of the app), it only shows one accounts info and that's the active one. You can certainly match the membership number here to the QR code but only if you know to look for this. Out of multiple Costco employees trying to help me, only one knew about this.

Why do app developers think it's a good idea to load in inactive membership details? And furthermore why did they create multiple membership numbers for me in the first place? (Yes I know, duplicates in customer management tech is the bane of everyone's existence). And even further, if they can only show 1 account's detailed information (which doesn't dynamically change) then why show multiple QR codes for unrelated membership records???

Some of the employees were commenting that Costco wants to get rid of physical cards and just use the app. LOLOLOLOLOL no. Other than there are a lot of not-tech savvy people who are customers, seeing how this all played out will create so much chaos.

Are you like me and don't have a gallbladder?

I had mine removed long before starting any GLP‑1s. Recovery was fine, but every so often I’d get random “attacks” that felt just like those early post‑surgery weeks. I shrugged them off. Then I started compounded Ozempic, then Wegovy, then Zepbound. Slow, steady weight loss, around 0.5-0.8 lbs per week. But the attacks kept happening, totally unpredictable.

Glp-1s can contribute to attacks like this due to slowed digestion which can also make fat sit longer. Glp-1s can slow the entire biliary system which affects how bile moves through your body. Without a gallbladder, bile continuously drips into the stomach and goes into the GI, which acts as a laxative. This can be related to meals, but without a gallbladder it's unregulated, so it can happen other times too. It can create symptoms similar to a gallbladder attack, including upper right quadrant pain, cramping, loose stool, etc. The glp-1 causes bile to pool which can create the symptoms. It can move into the GI in larger amounts which functions like a laxative.

In my case the attacks got more frequent and more intense and even included vomiting. I had upper right quadrant pain too, which is concerning. I don't eat high fat foods, and definitely no fried foods. I take prilosec everyday.

I went to my GI clinic, and the PA basically brushed me off with “it’s IBS.” I’ve had IBS for 15 years. I know what IBS feels like. This wasn’t it. Months later, I went back and same dismissal. After pushing back, he finally gave me cholestyramine and told me it probably wouldn’t help. He told me to stop the glp-1s but not for a specific reason, just a comment before he left the room.

I didn't try cholestryamine for months because of his discouragement. My liver labs were not normal after never having abnormal ones. I would drop 7-10 pounds in every attack and feel like absolute garbage and would be afraid to eat. It ruined my social life, family life, vacations, etc. I dropped weight quickly with the attack, but I did not gain it back due to Zepbound so it essentially bolstered my weight loss journey but in an unfortunate way. By my estimate, I have lost about 30-40% of my total weight loss from these attacks in the last 1.5 years.

Well, I finally tried cholestryamine and what do ya know, it HELPED!! I can eat normally again. No pain. I'm going to a different GI clinic for follow up on this now to understand what's going on more.

I know glp-1s increased my attacks, but I did have them previously too. I don't know the future like how long I can stay on glp-1s due to this but for now I have cholestryamine. I just wanted to share my story in case it helps someone else.