‘I’m not going to bring my birth certificate into a Costco’: Costco customer says worker asked to see his birth certificate after checking ID, membership card
A Costco customer claims to have lost his membership card after a case of mistaken identity at one of the chain's stores—and claims the worker wanted to see a birth certificate as proof of identity.
The TikTok video documenting the story comes from prolific TikTok creator Jordan the Stallion (@jordan_the_stallion8), who routinely brings in at least a million views for each of his videos. This Costco one is no exception, drawing more than 1.2 million views and 140,200 likes after just two days on the platform.
Going up on Monday, the video starts with a stitch showing someone talking about Costco's crackdown on membership card-sharing.
Jordan lets loose from there, saying, "When people tell you that Costco workers treat their jobs more serious than TSA," interrupting with his own tagline, "come here," before continuing, "They're so serious. I got my membership card confiscated, and it was actually me."
@jordan_the_stallion8 #stitch with @But That’s My Opinion #fypシ ♬ original sound - Jordan_The_Stallion8
He explains that he was looking to ring up groceries at Costco. "As I was buying the groceries, they asked me if they can see my ID, because I used my Costco membership card. I show them my ID, right? They look at both of the pictures on the cards. It's clearly me. They looked up at me and looked back at the cards and looked up at me probably like three or four times. Then they said, 'Do you have another form of identification?'"
He wonders aloud what he might have besides his ID.
"They said, 'Do you have your birth certificate?' I said, 'I'm not going to bring my birth certificate into a Costco.' They said that they didn't believe that it was me. The guy that was checking out my card believed that I was a Olympic wrestler, Jordan Burroughs," he says.
Burroughs was a 2012 Olympics gold medalist and also represented the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics and in international competitions through 2021.
"Mind you, I said I already know who Jordan Burroughs is," Jordan the Stallion continues. "He's 5'7". I'm 6'3". Jordan Burroughs is 35. I'm 26—and that's the part that they didn't believe, so they confiscated my membership card. I said if 'I was an Olympic wrestler, why am I trying to buy Cheetos and Pizza Lunchables?"
While that's a sound point, he added that in the end, "They still didn't let me keep my card."
Commenters bought the premise and remarked accordingly.
"Who carries their birth certificate," one wondered.
"Man costco needs to calm down," observed another.
But some argued it was part and parcel of working with Costco. "They have always had these rules," someone weighed in. "In my experience, some Costcos are more strict about it than others."
"Some stores won’t let you past the door without a card or with someone that has a card," shared another. "I tried to go in to meet my family who was already inside."
But not everyone found Costco's security so airtight. "I've been in Costco multiple times, using cards from 6 different people," one boasted. "So far - no one noticed."
Costco customers shared how workers stopped them at check-out just to check their cards before they could make a purchase. Some workers allegedly refused to let customers use their family members' cards. Others allegedly refused to believe the cardholder belonged to the shopper after checking the photo on it and thinking it didn't look like the person IRL. One shopper even said they had to buy a Costco card in the store just so they could exit it.
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via email and to Costco via its online media form.
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