Costco and journalism

The San Jose Mercury News publishes a consumer help/advocacy column called Action Line. People write in with questions, there’s some investigation or a phone call made, and then it gets printed along with maybe a recall notice or two. Recently, someone wrote and asked whether Costco is within it’s legal rights to inspect outgoing carts and match the items against a person’s receipt. Costco’s standard answer is that the practice is legal because permission is granted by all members in the membership agreement form we all sign and that it’s good for the customers because the check ensures the prices and total amount charged are correct. LMAO!

The (newly promoted) writer responded by quoting Costco’s PR. Urp! Today’s column was three letters calling him on the obvious silliness of the answer, pointing out that the real reason is to try and help prevent shoplifting. Although to be honest, I’ve never seen the door check actually catch or turn back anyone. The columnist simply printed these letter with trivial responses, the most substantial of which was “Apparently not.” Is this what you expect in an actual printed newspaper for which you pay money every day? Doesn’t even come close to my expectations, so of course I had to write in.

Here’s my unhappy letter to them:

I realize this is your first week in a new job but as you wrote, hardly your first week as a Mercury News journalist, and the way you’ve responded to the question and letters about Costco’s receipt checking is not what I would call real journalism. First time out, you blindly posted the company’s blatantly false but standard response. Strike one. Then when the predictable wave of letters came in calling you on it, you printed them but accepted no responsibility. Strike two.

Where, I wonder, is the journalism subscribers like me expect in the morning paper? Simply because you write a specialized column, does that absolve you of the responsibility to ensure that you publish meaningful and accurate answers? When I saw today’s column, I thought perhaps your response would include an apology for the initial answer plus some statistics on shoplifting and how this helps Costco keep their costs (and prices) down, even if the company won’t admit it. How sad that none of that was included.