Costco has a cult following. People genuinely love the place. They brag about their $1.50 hot dog combos, hoard Kirkland Signature everything, and treat a Saturday Costco run like a family tradition. So when a Costco location gets singled out as a place that makes people want to cancel their memberships entirely, you know something has gone seriously wrong.
The Costco in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, sitting on 3rd Avenue, has earned a reputation that no amount of cheap rotisserie chickens can fix. It is, by most accounts from shoppers and Reddit communities alike, the single worst Costco in the entire United States. And it’s not even close.
But Brooklyn isn’t alone in Costco infamy. There’s a surprising number of locations across the country where the shopping experience has deteriorated so badly that regulars actively warn strangers on the internet to stay away. Let’s talk about what’s going on.
Brooklyn’s 3rd Avenue Costco: “All Stages of Hell”
The Sunset Park Costco is the busiest Costco on the entire East Coast. That sounds like a fun fact until you realize what it actually means for anyone trying to buy a 48-pack of toilet paper on a Tuesday.
The store is a two-story structure crammed into a dense urban neighborhood. The parking is on the roof, which confuses first-time visitors and creates elevator bottlenecks that slow cart movement to a crawl. Reddit users have described the parking lot as “bloodsport.” Multiple people have reportedly been arrested there at different times. One user summed it up by calling the lot “a holy place for the auto body shops.”
In October 2025, a fight over a shopping cart escalated into physical violence, requiring an NYPD investigation and leaving one person injured. A fight. Over a cart. Customers told reporters the Brooklyn location was routinely overcrowded and tense, with visible frustration over a basic lack of space. One Reddit user wrote, “I have never been to war but I imagine being on the front line is very similar to Saturday at Brooklyn Costco.”
The aisles are clogged with Instacart shoppers filling massive orders, which adds another layer of gridlock to an already impossible situation. The food court never has a single open seat. Regulars say the only survivable windows are Monday and Tuesday mornings close to closing time. Many people have given up entirely and drive to Staten Island or New Jersey locations instead.
The California Costcos That Make People Cancel Memberships
California has a handful of Costco locations so bad they’ve become almost legendary. The Alhambra Costco, sitting off Fremont Avenue, might be the most feared warehouse in the state. One-star reviews are the most common rating on Yelp. People have actually reported canceling their memberships after moving and discovering Alhambra was their closest option. That’s not a joke. People would rather forfeit their membership entirely than set foot in this store.
One Reddit user called it “the most claustrophobic Costco experience of my life.” Another described “terrible drivers, unaware and entitled shoppers, poor and insufficient parking, and horrible gas line layouts.” People reportedly push and shove each other, cut in sample lines, hog the free food kiosks, and abandon shopping carts in aisles and disabled parking spaces. One person posted, “Do normal social rules not apply at the Alhambra Costco?!” after another shopper tried to steal their cart right out of their hands. The Los Angeles Times even included the Alhambra Costco parking lot in a feature about the city’s worst lots.
Then there’s the Marina del Rey Costco, which is reportedly the third busiest Costco location in the entire world. Its small parking lot shares space with a Costco Gas Station and an In-N-Out Burger. One shopper wrote, “That parking lot was WILD. Almost died several times trying to park and leave my car.” Employees at this location have been repeatedly called out for being rude and condescending. Even the self-checkout lines wrap around multiple aisles.
The Monterey Park location might have an even worse parking lot. It shares a shopping center with an In-N-Out, a Chick-fil-A, and a Home Depot, with only two bottleneck routes in and out. The entrance itself has been called “a death trap.” Inside, the food court is littered with trash and equipment is broken. Multiple customers have photographed rotten produce sitting right there on the display shelves.
The Pentagon City Costco Where Shoppers Have Anxiety Attacks
The Pentagon City Costco in Arlington, Virginia sits under a parking garage like a bunker, wedged next to the Fashion Center mall. This location has a special talent for testing the limits of human patience. One Redditor wrote, “Wait in line to get through the gate, wait to park, wait to check out, wait to leave. Border checkpoints between dictatorships operate better.”
Another shopper said they literally had an anxiety attack inside the store and “had to rip my coat off and turn on the AC in the middle of winter.” Reddit commenters have said whoever designed the parking garage “should be tried at The Hague.” Some locals reportedly drive 45 minutes to the Leesburg, Virginia Costco just to avoid the Arlington experience. One nearby resident gave up on the store entirely because even walking through traffic to reach it wasn’t worth the hassle.
Bellingham, Washington: Invaded by Canadian Shoppers
The Bellingham, Washington Costco has a problem that no other U.S. location can really relate to. It sits about 20 miles from the Canadian border, which turns it into a nonstop flood zone of cross-border shoppers coming down for cheap gas, bulk goods, and especially cheese and dairy products.
The result is a store that is busy all the time. Not just weekends. Not just after work. All the time. Even midweek, even on rainy days after Canadian holidays, the place is packed. One Redditor noted it “is busy almost any time you go from open to close. No difference on the weekends.” Some locals drive 30 minutes down I-5 to the Burlington, Washington Costco instead. Here’s the kicker: people who actually work at the Bellingham store reportedly make that drive too. When the employees avoid their own workplace for personal shopping, you know the situation is dire.
Honolulu’s Iwilei Costco: The Busiest in the World
The Iwilei Costco in Honolulu brings in more than twice the revenue of an average Costco, making it effectively the busiest location on the planet. Think about that for a second. Out of every Costco warehouse in every country, this one in Honolulu moves the most product.
One Redditor put it bluntly: “Iwilei Costco is the worst. Put together all the worst aspects of all the Costcos in the world, and you have that location in a nutshell.” Locals compare the lines to Disneyland. The entrance has been described as theme park-like. Wait times get so bad that some shoppers have actually defected to Sam’s Club, which, if you know anything about the loyalty of Costco members, is the equivalent of switching religions.
The Bizarre Incidents That Define These Locations
Bad Costco locations don’t just have long lines and tight parking. They breed genuinely strange behavior. At the Mayfield Heights Costco near Cleveland, someone smeared butter all over another customer’s car in February 2025. Over a parking spot. They left the butter wrapper behind, and police obtained surveillance footage. That same location had multiple complaints in April 2025 about chronic foul odors inside the store.
The Christiana, Delaware Costco sits across the street from a mall and near a shopping center with a Trader Joe’s. Nearly everyone heading to Costco, Target, Trader Joe’s, and Michaels ends up on the same road. One person said driving from Target to Costco, literally half a mile, took 30 minutes. Another said they once considered driving over the grass to escape.
The Everett, Massachusetts Costco shares a single exit and entrance with a Target, Home Depot, and several other stores, all funneling into a roundabout. One Redditor claimed “people have been trapped in that parking lot for over 6 hours trying to leave.” Six hours. That’s longer than some international flights.
Why Does Costco Let This Keep Happening?
Here’s what’s genuinely surprising about all of this: Costco knows. A FinanceBuzz survey of over 6,000 members found that some of these locations drag down entire state ratings. Maryland, for example, scored the lowest of any state for Costco satisfaction, largely because of the Gaithersburg location where customers report waiting 45 minutes just to find a parking spot in the cramped garage. Members drive 21 extra miles to the Frederick store to avoid it.
The lack of aisle signage? That’s intentional. Costco CEO Ron Vachris has confirmed it’s part of a “treasure hunt” strategy designed to keep you wandering and buying on impulse. A December 2025 Reddit post about the missing labels got over 1,300 upvotes. One commenter wrote, “You want a specific item found, you’re gonna need to go on a field trip while the employee also discovers where what you’re looking for is located.”
Meanwhile, annual membership fees keep climbing. Gold Star is now $65 a year, Executive is $130. Online shopping isn’t a great escape either, with prices running 20 to 30 percent higher than in-warehouse prices. The app is widely called “hot garbage.” It lacks Apple Wallet integration, doesn’t offer a proper e-membership card, and can’t even tell you if something is in stock at your local store.
There’s a real contrast here, though. The northwest Indianapolis Costco near Fortune Park scored at least 9 out of 10 for friendliness, inventory, cleanliness, and sample quality. Employees there are described as genuinely helpful. Which proves the point: it’s not that Costco can’t get it right. It’s that some locations have been allowed to become so overcrowded and poorly planned that no amount of $4.99 rotisserie chicken can make up for the experience of shopping there. The Brooklyn Costco might be the worst, but it’s got plenty of company.
