8 Sam's Club Products Customers Complain About The Most

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Sam's Club is a membership-based warehouse store where you can buy name-brand items and private-label Member's Mark products in bulk at reasonable prices. Customers especially appreciate the foods sold under Sam's private brand, which include fresh meats, poultry, and seafood, frozen items, baked goods, prepared meals, beverages, and more. Many of the products are so good that Sam's Club members always stock up on them.

On the flip side, some miss the mark because they supposedly aren't always fresh, don't taste good, have an off texture, or simply aren't the way the store has claimed they'd be. If you're a new member, that may sound concerning and make you want to know which foods and drinks you should avoid buying at Sam's Club. To help you figure that out, we've searched the internet and found nine Member's Mark food products that customers have complained about the most. 

Some meats from Sam's Club aren't worth the price, including Member's Mark Rotisserie Baby Back Ribs. One main reason is the texture: Instead of being tender and falling off the bone easily, these ribs are "leathery and dry," as a customer on Reddit described. Many others agree, with one calling them "criminally awful" in a separate Reddit thread, and a few claiming that they almost felt robbed or fooled when they bought these ribs.

You'd hope the flavor would be the saving grace, but unfortunately, Sam's Club didn't quite get that right either. It seems completely inconsistent: A handful of reviewers claim the ribs have barely any salt, while most say they are way too salty, and the dry rub is just off overall.

Since these are a complete letdown, customers have urged Sam's Club to bring back the BBQ ribs it sold earlier. We can hope that happens soon, but until then, as one person wrote on Reddit, you can "make way better ribs at home for cheaper."

The rotisserie chicken salad by Member's Mark used to be an absolute hit, but now shoppers call it abysmal, mainly because Sam's Club changed the salad recipe. The new version seemingly has a very off texture. "Instead of big chunks of chicken and big chunks of celery. I had some chicken salad that was put through a blender processor and ground down to mush," one person wrote on the Sam's Club website, whereas another commented, "Now it reminds me of the texture of tuna fish, but ... with chicken."

The salad has also been criticised for being way too salty and having more mayonnaise than needed. Some people have claimed that the excess relish spoils the flavor, too. What's more concerning than all of this is what one poster wrote in a Reddit thread where people were complaining about this salad: "I saw the new stuff that is already mixed together with all the chicken, celery, mayo, all ready to go, it comes in a box inside a loose blue bag. No vacuum seal. Not frozen. But it somehow got almost an entire month before its expiration date. I still don't understand how." Along with everything else, this comment is clear evidence that this salad isn't worth your money.

You're better off skipping all three flavors of Member's Mark Cafe Pizzas because customers have repeatedly claimed that they aren't made properly. "It was mostly just crust. I don't even think it had tomato sauce on it and very little cheese," one person pointed out on the Sam's Club website. Another wrote, "Tastes like you put sauce and cheese on a fresh bagel and put it in the oven for a minute to warm it up. Always doughy and cheese hardly melted."

Many shoppers have also complained about getting stale pizzas, especially in the evening, claiming they tasted like they had been made early in the morning. This is very alarming, considering that an alleged employee wrote on Reddit, "By the rules for the pizzas, they are supposed to be held for one hour then tossed. And the hot n ready whole pizzas should be held for only thirty minutes then it transforms into a regular pizza."

The only silver lining here is that sometimes, you might get lucky and get a decent, fresh pie or slice, as a few people have pointed out that the quality varies from one store to the other. But you'll need to take a risk to figure out if the store closest to you fits the bill.

Sam's Club has some of the best sweet treats, but the Member's Mark Holiday Muffin Variety Pack (which has red velvet, butter pecan, and pumpkin spice muffins) isn't one of them, because it has let down customers terribly. "Holiday Muffin worst driest thing I've ever had," one wrote on the Sam's Club website. Some others have claimed that these muffins are edible only if you have a beverage along with them. The flavors are also very off. A shopper commented, "The pumpkin muffins were so bitter we couldn't eat them," on the Sam's Club website, whereas another wrote, "The pecan one was soapy tasting."

The only saving grace in this pack is the red velvet muffins. Some people have pointed out that the sugar crystals on them are overkill, whereas a few others have claimed that they don't taste like red velvet muffins because of the chocolate chips. But apart from these minor issues, most reviews about them are positive. That said, it's two disappointing flavors against one good option, so you might be better off skipping this pack.

While some customers claim that all the fish from Sam's Club is generally off-putting, many say that the wild-caught cod fillet is especially bad. There are several reasons for that — for starters, it has a very strong, almost putrid odor. According to one shopper on the Sam's Club website, "the smell was quite offensive." Another reviewer wrote, "Smelled very fishy after getting it home and opening the package. I had to throw it out."

Sadly, the flavor doesn't make up for the horrid stench. Some say the fillets are very salty, whereas others claim they taste a little bit like ammonia. One reviewer pointed out, "the fish had a distinctive bitter taste that was not from the seasoning from preparation," on the Sam's Club website. What makes matters worse is that many people have also complained about getting expired, rotten cod even though it's still within the use-by date, which, understandably, has disappointed them.

Sam's Club has switched up its regular seasoned Brussels sprouts with this new version, which is packed with garlic Parmesan seasoning and sold with sachets of Kinder's balsamic glaze. While it all sounds good on paper, unfortunately, these Brussels sprouts don't hit the spot for many customers in reality. One wrote on the Sam's Club website, "They look beautiful but taste horrible," while another commented, "Whole family had to spit these out. Worst brussel sprouts that I have ever tasted in my life."

The main problem with this dish seems to be that the pieces are very uneven, and some of them have hard stalks attached to them. On top of that, they don't get soft no matter how long they are baked. The seasoning and sauce don't save the dish either, as people have pointed out that the former is too salty and overbearing, while the latter is excessively sweet and doesn't complement anything. It's understandable why many shoppers want the older version of Brussels sprouts back.

The sourdough from Sam's Club was a favorite for many customers. But they don't like it anymore, as the warehouse store has supposedly changed the recipe and now uses a bunch of ingredients and preservatives to make this bread, which isn't how sourdough is supposed to be. "This is NOT sourdough bread. Your original version WAS, because it had only 3 ingredients plus the sourdough starter. This version has over 20 ingredients," one person wrote on the Sam's Club website.

Members have also complained about the bread's off-putting flavor, extremely dry texture, and lack of sourness. And strangely, even though it now has preservatives, this bread spoils very quickly. The worst part is that Sam's Club seemingly didn't even inform its customers that it now uses enriched flour to make this bread, and a few who can't digest the ingredients have claimed that it has caused health issues. All this explains why many have mentioned in their reviews that they'll be buying sourdough from somewhere else.

The bone-in chicken thighs from Sam's Club have been a major letdown for customers lately for several reasons. One Reddit user summed it up: "Do not purchase the bone-in skin on chicken thighs unless you enjoy that half or more won't come with the skin, uneven numbers of thighs and sizes in each package, and plenty of goop!"

The criticism doesn't end there — some have pointed out that the texture is so off and slimy that it almost feels like the store is selling sick chickens. People dislike how the thighs are packed now too, because they swim in their own juices. Plus, the liquid ends up splashing all over when the pack is opened. A few have claimed that the chicken also spoils very quickly even if it is stored properly, and it's sometimes already spoiled when they buy it. Considering this, buying this product now feels like a gamble to shoppers.

To compile this list, we scoured reviews on the Sam's Club website and other platforms like social media and Reddit. We wanted to ensure we only selected the items that customers have recently been disappointed with, so we mainly looked at reviews given over the past year.

We then considered how many people have been complaining about certain products, and why. If many agreed that something was off with an item, including its texture, flavor, price, quality, or anything else along those lines, we added it here.