Customers at Costco are not shy about voicing their unhappiness with things that do not meet their expectations in terms of flavor and quality. However, when a client recently contacted Costco to express their dissatisfaction with a product that was plagued by problems, the customer received a response from the warehouse club’s top executive, which is exceedingly unusual.
In a post on Reddit this week, a Costco employee detailed an email exchange they had with Ron Vachris, who became President and CEO of Costco at the beginning of 2024. The shopper explained that as part of their muscle-building regimen, they had been eating a chicken breast on a daily basis for roughly two years. They’ve been buying meat exclusively from Costco for the past half year.
Depending on product availability, they have chosen either the Kirkland Signature Fresh Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or the Kirkland Signature Air Chilled Fresh Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts.
Vachris got an email from the customer indicating that the quality of the chicken had abruptly deteriorated, despite the fact that the client’s experience with the chicken had been “great” for the first few months. The Reddit poster especially voiced unhappiness with the “woody” texture, which is defined as rough, fibrous, and somewhat crunchy. This texture is especially apparent in larger chicken breasts.
According to Reddit user @thesaxmaniac, “the quantity of jello crunchy woody chicken breasts per package has significantly increased, to the point where I dread eating any breast that is more than eight ounces in size.” The biggest ones frequently revolt at this time. I am currently working the night shift and eating a breast weighing 12.7 ounces. Completing this activity is simply a practice session for strengthening my capacity to suppress my gag reflex.
A customer followed up with a statement: “I don’t really have any goal with this email, but I just wanted you to know that I’m disappointed in the drop in quality of the chicken breasts at Costco, and I hope you can find a supplier that can provide chicken that isn’t crunchy and disgusting.” I would appreciate it if you could pray for me while I attempt to complete this breast at the moment.
It is not the first time that Costco’s chicken quality has been brought into question. In a separate thread on Reddit earlier this year, many other customers expressed their concern with the stiffness of the chicken breast. In contrast to earlier criticisms, @thesaxmaniac received an honest response and an apology from Vachris about the problem.
“Thank you for the email, and we will look into it right away,” Vachris wrote in response. “I apologize and you are entitled to a refund on any below quality product that you have purchased.”
Despite the fact that we’ll have to wait and see if Costco’s chicken quality improves as a consequence of the email chat, several consumers were happy that the broad problem with chicken breasts had been identified.
A Reddit user commented on the news, writing, “That is definitely more of a response than I would expect from most CEOs!”
“Thank you for reaching out to Ron and trying to get better product quality for us all!” Someone else wrote.