Costco Connection

MEMBER SERVICES

Update

Current news for Costco members

To learn more about our complete suite of member services, click on the “Services” link at costco.com or call 1-800-220-6000.

Auto Program more than cars

click on “Services.”

Designed for you
by ValueWeb

COSTCO MEMBER Sally Denton needed just a very basic Web site. An author and investigative reporter who splits her time between Nevada and New Mexico, she wanted her Web site to serve as a place where fans can find information about her newest book and book-tour appearances.

After learning about the Costco-Value Web program from an e-mail, Denton looked into the new professional design

program and signed on. She reviewed several example pages, gave specific directions for the design, filled out a questionnaire to help sort out the goals and supplied copy and art for the pages.

Inside two weeks, Denton had a Web site that she says totally meets her needs.

“Local graphic designers wanted $2,500 to do just the design work,” she says. “I was pleasantly surprised and am very

enthusiastic about this service.”

The cost for a basic five-page design is a flat $275. Other types of businesses might require more, including such options as a shopping cart and credit-card processing. The Value Web program is scalable for different business needs.

For information on small-business Web sites, call toll free 1-800-847-1984 and mention code 4533, or visit costco.com and click on “Services.”

Make taxes
easier
next year
New Auto & Home
Insurance benefits
Don’t miss
that call

AMERIPRISE AUTO & HOME INSURANCE continues to add value for Costco members. Several recent enhancements have been added to auto and home policies.

Auto

■ Lifetime renewability. Executive Members will be offered renewal in most cases, even if claims have been made. Limitations apply.

■ New-car replacement. Optional coverage will pay replacement cost for a vehicle less than 12 months old. Available in most states.

■ Roadside assistance. Executive Members receive free roadside assistance on all vehicles covered in the program. Limitations apply.

Home

■ Glass breakage. Executive Members now receive a $1,000
benefit toward glass breakage: limited to twice per one-year period.

■ Home-based business endorsement. Purchase this endorsement to a homeowner’s policy to provide coverage for most home-based businesses.

■ Identity theft. All Costco members receive identity-theft protection coverage with their homeowners policy at no charge.

For more information or to purchase coverage, call toll free 1-888-404-5365, or go to costco.com and click on “Services.”

Auto and home insurance is underwritten by IDS Property Casualty Insurance Company,

De Pere, Wisconsin, or in certain states, Ameriprise Insurance Company. Each company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, Inc.

COSTCO’S business phone service provider, AccessLine Communications, offers a feature that makes sure you receive that important call, regardless of where you happen to be.

Called SmartNumber, this option allows calls to your office, cell phone, home or up to nine locations to be seamlessly forwarded.

Management of all those calls can be coordinated through one central number, and call routing based on the day of the week or your travel schedule can be easily controlled via the Internet.

SmartNumber is just one of a suite of “smart” options provided by AccessLine. For more information, call toll free 1-877- 431-4333, or visit costco.com and click on “Services.”

SHAREBUILDER has added some practical alternatives for members interested in easier management of their online investing activity. If you use popular accounting programs Quicken® or Microsoft® Money, you can now download your ShareBuilder transaction records directly into those applications.

The easier tracking of trading activity should make your next meeting with a CPA as simple as possible. To access this download feature, log on to your ShareBuilder account and select “Records and Statements” under the Accounts tab.