By KHT Staff. Image via threads＠xienhong授權提供.
KAOHSIUNG — Costco’s new Kaohsiung store has drawn fresh complaints after a cart escalator malfunctioned on Saturday, leaving some customers to push loaded carts up the incline by hand.
Videos shared on Threads showed shoppers making their way up the stopped cart escalator while employees helped manage the crowd at the store in the Asia New Bay Area (亞洲新灣區).
Some customers said the failure caused congestion near the entrance. Others said they had to carry their purchases downstairs after checking out.
Costco said it had notified the equipment contractor to inspect the escalator.
The incident is the latest in a series of complaints surrounding the branch, which opened on July 3.
Soon after the opening, inaccurate map directions reportedly sent some drivers into the nearby Taiwan Power Co. power plant. Security guards eventually put up a sign telling visitors that they had not arrived at Costco.
Shoppers have also complained about traffic inside and outside the store’s parking garage. Drivers said that cars from the fourth and third floors can bottleneck where their routes merge, with waits of more than 30 minutes reported. Traffic can remain slow after vehicles leave the garage, particularly on weekends and when light rail trains pass through the area.
Costco has assigned traffic-control staff to help improve the situation.
Online commenters also said they had encountered a cart-escalator failure at the store in August, when customers had to queue for elevators during rainy weather. That account could not be independently confirmed.
Source: China Times; TVBS
