inside
costco
Services enable members to bring home more value
Dollars and sense
By T. Foster Jones
BEGUN FOUR YEARS ago to help introduce the then-new Executive Membership
program, Member Services have evolved
to provide money-saving services—for business as well as personal needs—to all
Costco members.
$
Thousands of members have taken
advantage of this suite of service programs. In
the process, they’ve discovered how effectively
Costco’s value model can be applied to services they use every day.
“Think about the merchandise selection
at Costco,” says Louis-Martin Caron, buyer
for Member Services for Costco. “The quantity and variety has been culled to the essential brands people want. Costco services are
selected and developed using similar criteria.
“Costco also exerts the massive buying
power of its millions of members in Canada
to negotiate rates and values that are unmatched elsewhere,” he adds.
If you own a home, drive a car or use the
phone, there is a Costco program that can
save you money. The same is true if you have
a business and use a Web site, toll-free numbers, merchant credit-card processing or
small-business health insurance.
Here’s the lineup.
Real estate program
“If you are buying or selling a home, you
have access to one of Canada’s most experienced networks of real estate professionals to
help,” says Caron.
Envoy Relocation Services provides real
estate, mortgage and home inspection services, and offers cash rebates and savings certificates for Costco members. Executive
Members are entitled to extra cash rebates
and savings certificates.
Call toll-free 1-866-511-2226 or go on-line at
www.go-envoy.com/costcofor more information.
Car rentals
Costco members can save 5 to 25 per cent
on car rentals through Budget. Reserve over
the telephone or go on-line and quote the
Costco discount number for immediate savings. (A017600 for Executive Members,
A017601 for Business or Gold Star members).
“Members can rent by the month for
even greater savings, or take advantage of Merchant credit-card processing
Fastbreak express service when you need to Low rates on debit- and credit-card pro-
go in a hurry,” says Caron. Executive cessing through one of the largest credit-card
Members enjoy one car-class upgrade free of processors in the industry make this a popu-
charge, and do not pay surcharges for extra lar service for business owners.
drivers between the ages of 21 and 24. NOVA Network’s rates for Costco mem-
Call 1-800-268-8900 or go on-line at bers are 1.66 per cent on swiped Visa and
www.budget.com for more information. MasterCard transactions, and $0.08 per debit
transaction. The application and statement
Emergency roadside assistance fees are waived for Executive Members.
Towing, jump-starts, gas delivery and lock- Call 1-866-325-3281 or visit www.costco
out assistance are just some of the features of canada.novainfo.com for more information.
this comprehensive service. Executive Members
receive an additional 20 per cent off the regular Custom logo merchandise
annual fee for the first vehicle covered. Choose personalized merchandise to
Call 1-877-845-4179 toll free for more promote your business or celebrate that spe-
informationandtosignup. cial event. Brymark provides custom logo
T-shirts, caps, pens, sports bags and more for
Residential telephone and Costco members at savings of up to 40 per
Internet services cent. Additional benefits are available for
Local home phone, Internet, TalkBroad- Executive Members.
band™, long-distance and wireless services Call 1-800-429-3019 or visit www.bry
are made available through Win-Tel. Caron mark.com/costco to place your order.
advises all members to ask about special bun-
dle pricing and says that Executive Members Web site hosting service
are eligible for additional savings. “This is a great program whether you have
Call 1-866-774-6874 or visit www.win- an existing Web site or want to create a new one,”
tel.ca/costco for more information. says Caron. Costco members can choose the
Web hosting package provided by dotCanada,
Life and health insurance plans which is loaded with many value-added features.
“Term life insurance and health and den- “With 5 GB disk space, and 200 GB data
tal insurance are available to Costco members transfer per month, there is plenty of room to
at special member rates,” says Caron of this develop and grow your site,” he says. Up to
Member Service. 1,000 e-mail accounts are included, as well as
Manulife offers life insurance coverage SSL (secure sockets layer) security and a 99.9
from $50,000 up to $500,000. Important per cent uptime guarantee. Executive
features include the Living Benefit, special non- Members are eligible for special savings.
smoker rates and the extended-coverage Call 1-866-414-3736 or visit www.dot
Conversion Option. Guaranteed health and canada-costco.com tolearn more.
dental care does not require a medical
examination, and there are no health ques- Business long-distance, Internet
tions to answer. and TalkBroadband services
Dental claims can be submitted electron- Primus offers local business lines, long-
ically, and when you present your Manu- distance options, unlimited Internet, Talk-
Script® pay-direct card, covered amounts Broadband and Web Works™ that will help
of your prescription are paid directly to members get a professionally designed Web
the pharmacist. Executive Members are eligi- site. To secure critical business data, members
ble for extra coverage and savings on can select the DATASAFE continuous file
selected items. backup system. Additional savings are available
Call 1-866-350-6669 today or visit for Executive Members.
www.manulife.com/costco to receive a free Call 1-888-841-7477 or go on-line at
information package. www.primustel.ca/costco for details. C
