Saturday, April 14, 2007

Do you love Wal-mart?




If so, you probably don't want to continue reading ...

I'm not feeling the love for our big box retailer today. Maybe it's the stress of having 2 moms in the hospital, maybe not. But this morning before work I needed a quick birthday gift for my son's friend so I ran to the only store open in town before 9 am -- Wal-mart -- to get a gift card.
I quickly ran through the store to pick up allergy meds and look for a little something to go along with the gift card. I found what I needed and went to check out. This is where my story really begins...

There were 5 lines open {ummm, out of 16 or 17 I believe}. Only one line had a real person checking out customers. Now that our store is remodeling and getting all spiffy they are adding self-check out lanes.
Lovely.
Self checkout lanes always work perfectly and never cause delays.
Right.
Of course, the remaining 4 open lines were all self-checkout.

No one told me you couldn't purchase a gift card in a self-checkout lane.
I guess they missed that one at the customer training meeting.
So after the nice lady helped me cancel my transaction and took me to her post to re-ring everything I had already rung up and placed ever so neatly in my bag, she reminded me that change is a good thing. And that Wal-mart is changing for the better to help ME the customer.

How wonderful!

Not.

I decided it was time to let this nice person -- who probably works for next to nothing -- know that W-m was not providing self-checkout lanes for my sake
... goodness knows it's not about me ...
it's to save the W-m company more money by not paying peanuts to 4 perfectly good employees who probably need the job to help buy groceries for their kids.

No, self-checkouts are for the good of the budget.
That's also why if you go in my W-m around 5 pm you'll find the store strangely dim ... and if you look up over 1/2 of the lights will be off to save energy.
Thank you.
I guess the ambient lighting is for me as well. To enhance my shopping experience.

Ok -- sorry to continue ranting.
Wait ... that's not true ...
On with the story: As I am leaving, the security system beeps and I have to stop and again be assisted by an employee. This time she is even sweeter and possibly 1,000 years old.

She reassured me it's not my fault, that the girl who checked me out just didn't do her job. Oh, but wait ... that would be ME again! I guess they forgot to tell me during the customer training meeting about how to demagnetize items when I am going through the self-checkout lane.

Silly Wal-mart.

7 comments:

Jackie said...

I know exactly what you are saying and don't get me started on what the big box stores, like Circuit City, are doing to employees!! I do try to avoid Walmart as much as possible myself for many reasons.

Anonymous said...

Amen! But you are preaching to choir in my case. We hate Wally World and try not to go anymore than is absolutely neccessary! My husband, son & daughter-in-law all feel the same way. My husband goes when only absolutely neccessary, but my son refuses to go at all!

Jan Scholl said...

I have been boycotting Wal-Mart for years and as of last month added Circuit City. I also quit buying at Best Buy several years ago and actually filed a complaint with the state of Michigan after I was denied a rain check. I was awared 100.00 which was the value of the product I wanted the raincheck for. I also will not buy anything from Provocraft. I think if people pay attention to what is happening around them retail wise, they would make a better informed choiced but too many people want instant gratification and dont want to wait or think about their purchases. If it werent for customers, these stores would not be in business and they have forgotten that big time.

Anonymous said...

are we having a bad day or what?
no, really i know what you mean about Wal-Mart. good to know that about gift cards and self-checkouts. thanks for that info!!!

Erin said...

I'm right there with you! I finally sat myself down and had a stern talk with myself about my values and how much I'm willing to let a company destory lives and my town so I can save ten cents on the frozen meals my husband loves... Haven't been back in over a year, intend never to go back.

Anonymous said...

As a Walmart associate, I am sorry to hear that you and some of the comments here, have had such bad experiences, etc. I have worked there for 14 years and have to honesylt say, I make very good money for where I live and what I do. To make what I make now, I would have to drive at least an hour each way. I love what I do and I work with some great people.
That being said, I am not in total agreement with everything they do. I think that since Sam Walton, the founder died, that they have gotten to big for thier britches so to speak. I understand that there are alott of misconceptions out there and to clarify, pay is pretty good if not above min. wage in our state, benefits have improved 110% since I started and I pay$19, yes, $19 for dental for the family plan per month, and it covers 80%. So between mine and my husbands, they pay most if not all. And last but not least, they have NOT put any of our small businesses out of business and they have been in our small town 14 years. Okay, I am off of my soapbox...flame away.

Anonymous said...

This was just so funny. Great wit and I loved the added bonuses of cartoon and wally. If you ever have extra time ( hah) I would love to hear how you found this stuff.