I haven't shopped at Sam's Club for around 5 years. The last time I had a membership it was the plus version.

So recently (as of October 19, 2025) they started offering a promotion for NEW members to join. $15 for the regular membership and $50 for the Plus membership.

However it also that the discount is available for those whose membership have lapsed for 6+ months. I haven't had an active membership since 2020!

So I call ahead of time to make sure that I qualify and the person on the phone said yes but I would have to physically go to the store. Fine. I get to the store and now none of the associates can reactivate my membership with the discount.

Now they told me I would have to call Sam's Club so they can release my email and phone number from my account. Fine. But I want to call them in the store so I don't get home and get the run around.

Glad I did because even Sam's Club support said that I can't take advantage of the deal unless I have a new phone number.

In the end, I had to create a BRAND NEW account with a different email address and now my old account will just continue existing inactive? Can I even delete it? Why does it say that inactive memberships of 6+ months are eligible if that's not the case?

All I wanted to do was reactive my membership that has been inactive for 5 years. I wanted to activate it with the special promotion. But I could not. Why?

Basically, if a person that has ever had a Sam's Club membership wants to take advantage of the membership deal, they can't. They must make a BRAND NEW account. Even if their current account has not been active for years!