Sam’s Club

I’ve had better. SAMs is the only discount club in our area so I am pretty much stuck going there.
They are always very busy and it’s hard to get decent parking. The store does always appear clean as are the restrooms.
My big problem is with the availability of items they advertise. You can do a search online to check in store availability and it will say it is available. You arrive at the store and they claim they don’t have the item. Then someone else checks and they actually do have it or vice-​versa. Also the check out staff always seem to have an attitude like we are bothering them by us shopping there.
They do have a wide variety of fresh baked goods, fresh meats, fruits and cheeses. I do buy a lot of my meat there because I usually BBQ in volume. They larger meat items such as brisket or pork butts come packaged in «twos»
They also have a hot food bar that has pretty good pizza and hot dogs. You can buy the whole pie or just by the slice. Very reasonable prices at the food bar.
As far as the yearly subscription I almost feel like I don’t shop there enough to make it worth the cost.

Good prices on some items. However, what got me is that they will not give you not sell you WATER cup. They told me that they «do not have water.» They really killed my good will towards this store.

Worst customer service in the tire center. Stood at the counter waited 20 minutes for somebody to come out of the back. We finally went and knocked on the door and as the mechanic came to the door he rolled his eyes and was very short with us. All we wanted to know was if they had a tire size in stock.

Love their café! The jumbo Nathan’s hotdog is amazing and great price for the quality!

Service has improved– although here, I mainly only get served at the checkout. I think the store has very friendly and fun check-​out staff, but I tend to shop early in the day, before the general unwashed masses descend on the store and ruin the cashiers’ day.
Having a Business card with Sam’s Club is the greatest. I can get in early.
TIP: Do your shopping online, and come into the store to pick it up and pay (this prevents impulse buying and saves a ton of time)

If you think you’re going to save a whole lot by buying bulk, you really need to do some price comparison. There are certain things that are more expensive then a regular store for. I come here specifically for the Aquafina bottled water. The rest are convenient buys.
All Sams are the same to me with the service… they’re just meh. They’re not stellar by any means.

Frankly, I cannot stand Sam’s Club, and would drop them in a heartbeat for Costco if one existed in the Snellville area. But it doesn’t so Sam’s is the only game in town.
So what do they get right?
Well, the prices can be decent if you know what you’re buying. Many things are cheaper than you can get anywhere else in the Snellville area, sometimes a lot cheaper. You have to be careful though, because local stores almost always beat their prices on a number of products — Coca-​Cola for example is almost always on special somewhere else for a lower price.
Secondly, the return policy is generous and I can’t really complain about this. I haven’t used it much, but it is nice knowing that I can return nearly anything for nearly any reason.
That’s about it. What do they get wrong?
Well first of all, their selection is completely unpredictable. You might buy croutons there one week and the next week they will be gone. Dog food brands might be the same from week to week, but one week they will have one that is formulated for small breeds, and the next it will be gone and replaced with a large breed formulation. So with the exception of milk, eggs, meat, bread and cola, don’t rely on anything else being there just because you saw it previously.
Secondly, their customer service is HORRID. It is not as bad as other Sam’s, like for example the location in Duluth I think hires ex-​cons, they are so aggressive and confrontational. I stay out of that store like its a prison. Be that as it may, the Snellville location doesn’t do much better. Their employees are rude and dismissive, and if that’s not bad enough, they are almost non-​existent anyways. If you are trying to find an employee on the floor, good luck, cause I’ve seen more bald eagles than CSRs on the floor at Sam’s Club.
Third, they NEVER have enough lines open in the front of the store. There are always at least 2 or 3 fat employee’s walking around, talking to the check-​out folks, but they never bother to open up a register to lighten up the 5-​deep lines. Its just insane how poorly they operate the store. If they had a 5 items or less lane that would help a lot.
Fourth, they almost always have some pretentious JERK up front trying to sell you something that you don’t want, like a DirecTV account or Sam’s Credit or new siding for my house. Seriously — they should go out of business for this alone. I thought one of the benefits of buying into a membership club would be avoiding these obnoxious pressure salesmen. Apparently, Sam’s would rather squeeze every penny out of you and force you to face them every day.
Finally, I don’t know why this location doesn’t have gas. It is one of the few reasons I got a membership in the first place and without it the benefits to membership aren’t nearly as obvious.
Now to some complaints about Sam’s in general.
First of all, and most importantly, the «front door card checker» is obnoxious, unnecessary, and probably marginally illegal. They WANT you to think that you can’t walk in there without a membership, which is WRONG and ILLEGAL. They MUST allow you the use of the Pharmacy, regardless of if you are a member or not. They MUST allow you to purchase alcohol regardless of if you are a member or not. And they MUST allow you to use the Optician regardless of if you are a member or not. In the case of alcohol, they have a large sign in the back of the store that states this, but of course a non-​member would NEVER see this sign because they pretend like you cannot come in without a membership. THIS PISSES ME OFF TO NO END. These actions MUST be marginally illegal, and all it would take would be for someone to finally realize their rights under the law and for Sam’s to arrogantly refuse you service for them to incur a massive lawsuit. I HATE Sam’s Club for this reason and this reason alone.
Other things that Sam’s in general gets wrong include:
— Restrooms — You’d think for a membership you would get a decent head but its straight out of Wal-​Mart and smells like the worst gas station restroom on 75-​S
— The «receipt checker» — I hate this guy and if it weren’t for the fact that I know I agreed to have my receipts checked when I signed up for membership I would blow past this guy like a hurricane. Little tip — don’t let other places like Wal-​Mart and Best Buy stop you — its called ILLEGAL SEARCH AND SEIZEURE — So don’t consent to it. Once you pay for it it belongs to you and they have ZERO right to search you without your consent. These corporations love to steal your basic Constitutional rights — Fight back, people!
— The design of the store leaves a lot to be desired. Eh. If you’re getting a deal, who cares.

I mean you get what you pay for here. I don’t care at all about customer service if I’m getting a deal. It’s the same reason I don’t shop at Publix much. If you’ve got a baby, it’s worth a membership for formula alone!

What can I say about Sam’s. The prices are good for buying in bulk, but where they lack is customer service and a customer friendly layout! I only shop here for one reason, Costco is father away. That’s it plain and simple. If a Costco opened near my home, I would dump Sams all together.