If you have a Costco membership, then there are probably more than a handful of items that you swear by from its in-house Kirkland brand. The line is famous for things like activewear, bakery items, frozen foods, and daily essentials, and, in many cases, shoppers say these products outperform competitors. However, there are a few Kirkland products that Costco customers are a bit disgruntled with—dare we say, these items have even developed a bad reputation. Read on to learn the products frequent shoppers skip.
RELATED: Costco Shoppers Are Abandoning These Kirkland Products: "Gone Downhill".
1 | Lobster Bisque
The Image Party / ShutterstockThis seafood product was so "offensively bad" that Reddit user @banana_havor dedicated an entire post to it.
"The picture shows a soup teeming with lobster meat and 'lobster meat' is listed as the third ingredient in the soup but believe me when I tell you we found two small pieces of meat in the entire container which were both about a half centimeter," they wrote. "This is going right back to Costco on our next trip."
"I've always found it to be bland, too creamy, and lacking any substantive lobster," said one person in the comments. "I stopped buying it after the first couple times."
"This used to be much much better years ago," shared another. "I tried it again after a few years and was very disappointed. Not sure what happened."
Another commenter added, "I didn’t think it was horrible, but there are better soup options for less money."
However, the soup also has its fans. "I LOVE IT. It makes a great sauce for the lobster ravioli," said a commenter.
2 | Batteries
The Image Party / ShutterstockReddit user @LiGhTMaGiCk posted that this product is downright dangerous.
"These specific ones have been in a temperature and humidity controlled environment, are completely unused and just decided to pop on their own. I am never buying these again," they wrote.
Many commenters said they'd never had a problem with the batteries, but one said the post was spot on. "I totally agree and stopped buying the brand a couple years ago for this same reason. I have better results with Energizer brand," they wrote.
Several commenters claim that Kirkland's batteries are actually made by Duracell—but one thinks there's still something off.
"They may be Duracell, but I'm convinced there's something different about them that makes them do this," they wrote. "Both my KS AA and AAA's have done this and I haven't had any problems with the Duracells I got from Costco."
RELATED: Shoppers Are Ditching Costco for Sam's Club Over New Membership Rules.
3 | Vodka
ZikG / ShutterstockCustomers say the Kirkland vodka has tasted different over the past year.
"Went the past two times to buy the Kirkland brand of Vodka, both times it tasted terrible," posted user @WonderfulPositive463. "Store clerk admitted it was bad. Bought the supposed good Vodka, and turns out that was bad as well."
Commenters on the thread agreed with this take. "I’ve noticed this with the blue bottle. The quality has diminished significantly," commented one.
"It so cheap and so terrible! It's almost worse than the 10$ brands in the liquor stores," wrote another.
And these unhappy customers may actually have something to back up their claims. In August 2023, Costco issued a refund to shoppers who had bought its Kirkland Signature American Vodka, reported the New York Post. According to the newspaper, customers had complained that it "tasted like lighter fluid" and "tasted horrible like contaminated with plastic or something."
Costco then issued a statement that one batch of the vodka did not "meet our quality expectations."
4 | Rum
The Image Party / ShuttertsockCostco customers are also staying away from the Kirkland Signature Original Spiced Rum.
In another thread about unsatisfactory Costco buys, Reddit user @dudeimgreg went so far as to say, "It tastes like the smell of hand sanitizer, Liquid Smoke, and sweeteners added in."
"I'm going to agree with you on that rum. It was terrible, and I'm not that picky." agreed another Redditor.
"Ugh. That rum. Absolutely vile," said someone else.
RELATED: 10 Hidden Costco Benefits You Need to Take Advantage Of, Expert Says.
5 | Sliced Turkey
The Image Party / ShutterstockCostco's pre-packaged in-house deli meat has gotten a few terrible reviews.
Reddit user @mariahmce called it out in a thread about bad Kirkland products: "The Kirkland sliced turkey 3 pack is slimey and tastes gross. I thought it was bad but have seen other people complain about it and I think it’s just how it comes."
Other users responded in agreement. "Oh yes. We get it and then remember that we don’t like it," one wrote. "Oh thank God I'm not the only one. It used to be decent but I just... can't deal," said another.
6 | Toilet Paper
melissamn / ShutterstockIn the aforementioned thread, Reddit user @sfomonkey wrote: "The Kirkland TP I bought a month ago was dust held together by air."
"The worst was that it didn’t split on the perforations so I just constantly had shredded toilet paper to use," said another person in the thread.
Others said it's bad for toilet systems, too. "I have also heard it’s notorious in the plumbing world for clogging toilets. Miraculously when we stopped buying it we stopped having constant clogs."
However, some thought the quality varied from store to store. "The paper products seem to be region specific. Kirkland Signature in the PNW is still pretty good."
