A Wal-Mart Experience (not BF)

[nikkilugi]

My mom and I went into Wal-Mart on Thanksgiving so she could get a few groceries for the day. We were originally at K-Mart but the line was like 200 people long right before 7 am so we drove over to Wal-Mart. We did some shopping and my mom wanted to pick up some toys for my grandma to give my kids for Christmas. We found a Dora saucer chair and I picked it up and told my mom that my dd2 would love it. There happened to be a Rollback sign underneath the saucer chairs that said the price was rolledback to $10.88 from the original $14.88. We paid and then sat down in the McDonalds area so my mom could grab a coffee. I looked at her receipt and saw the chair rang up $14.88. Since we were still in the store she went over to cs to get that price adjusted. Well when the cs associate scanned the tag it came up to $14.88. My mom said that there was a sign taped underneath the chairs that said the price was now $10.88. The cs lady called back to toys and the associate said "no the chairs are $14.88 - there is no sign". So my mom walked to the back of the store and sure enough the sign was gone. My mom went to find a toy associate and asked where the sign went underneath the chairs. The associate said that she just took the sign down because the Dora chairs weren't included in the lower price. She said that the sign said which chair was discounted (it didn't) although she didn't show it to my mom. My mom just said that she didn't see anywhere on the sign where it specified a certain chair and the girl just said - well I can help you return the chair if you don't want it. There was no offer to refund the difference and no apology for the confusing signage.

 

The whole time I was sitting in the McDonalds waiting for her. She was gone so long that I got up to go see what the problem was. I didn't want to go all the way into the CS department though because the lady working was one I had a problem with a couple of days ago over a return. I had to call the manager to get what I needed that time and the lady wasn't too happy about that. Anyway my mom met me on her way back up front and told me what happened. I wanted to call the manager right then while we were in the store but my mom didn't want to be "embarrased" like that so I said fine I would write an email through their feedback on the Wal-Mart website about the experience.

 

Today I got a call from an assistant manager of our Wal-Mart. I explained what I wrote above and mentioned that I thought it was illegial to not honor a shelf price/sign. He agreed that the whole situation was handled badly and said that he would talk to his customer service managers and make sure they had my name and my mom's name so she could bring her receipt back in and get a $7 refund. I said it was only a $4 difference and he said that their company policy is that when the price difference is more than a "certain" (he didn't elaborate) amount then the customer gets an additional $3 as well.

 

I also mentioned that the associates at that particular Wal-Mart haven't been very friendly as of late. Besides this gal flat out lying about the sign I encountered a manager over in electronics who was obviously having a bad day as well.

 

After everything that happened regarding their BF ad on here as well as just watching that documentary "Wal-Mart - The High Price of Low Cost" I am pretty disgusted by the whole company. I am happy though that my email was forwarded on to the store and proper people in the company. The assistant manager mentioned that my email was forwarded from the presidents office. Of course I did mention in my email that I thought it was illegial to not honor their shelf prices so that might have had something to do with the quick reply as well.

[BoulderChick]

So glad you were able to get this taken care of. Good for you for taking care of business!

[picadilly]

It sounds like you have my kind of luck.

[tokeefe]

I just had my bad experience with Walmart today. They match ad prices right? Sure they do. Meijer had TJBeary Tales for 14.99. Out of stock of course. So I go to Walmart, pick up TJBearytales and proceed to the customer service dept. Where a young man was about to help me when all of a sudden this walmart sales associate comes running up saying you can't do that!! Meaning that they can't give me this for meijer price. So I call a manager.

He says its because Walmart version comes with a CD. I said fine no problem; I will just go to Meijer and buy 3 of them for the price you want for just one!!

And I told him that the sales associate was totally rude.

[nnmfam]

Trust me all I buy at wamart these days is pet food

[nikkilugi]

Really I think everyone should watch that documentary about Wal-Mart if you haven't. It will open you eyes about some of the company's practices.

 

My mom went and got her $7 price adjustment. She had a customer service manager help her and after she explained everything the csm said she hadn't heard anything about it but she thought what my mom was saying sounded right and just refunded her the $7 without any problems.

 

While we were there I needed a few things so I bought them but I kept it to the bare minimum of what I needed to get by. In fact I just went to K-Mart to buy the Funkey's they have on sale so I can return the ones I bought at Wal-Mart.

[jbdinos]

My problem with walmart is the rudeness you encounter when it's raining.... sound weird... our store no longer wipes the wet carts off when you go in to get a cart. A whole cartload of wet towels lying there you can use if you want to, but generally so wet they won't dry much. They just shove the cart to you dripping wet.... and when I grab the driest possible towel to do the seat and then the basket I get dirty looks for drying the inside of the cart... but If I am buying cereal or clothes I don't want them wet..... but they never offer to dry them anymore.... I guess I should write to corporate about this as it is annoying as can be.

[Cannon1]

About time someone mentions the documentary "Wal-Mart - The High Price of Low Cost". Their whole family is 'disconnected. I was extremely disappointed to find out: 1) Dictating to local govt about locations/zoning/& low ball bargaining in their favor; & 2) Standard Hire documents include how to apply for local, state, & federal assistance since they pay low.

 

& YES I have first hand knowledge, & second hand accounts from my brother a recent as our T-giving dinner together.

[nikkilugi]

I was blown away by that documentary. It was like a train wreck - I just couldn't stop watching. I was especially disgusted with the part about the Walton only contributing $6,000 to the employee fund while their employees contributed over $50 million - crazy. I also can not believe communities are subsidizing Wal-Mart. Believe me those stores do not need to be subsidized.

 

It helped convince me I don't need to be giving any more of my money to this company and those people (the Walton's).

[imgamehere]

I received a satisfactory response to my recent request for a price adjustment on an online order. I was shopping online during the Black Friday sale and no matter what I tried I could not get the sale price ($10 off) for a particular toy to come up correctly, so I went ahead and submitted the order. I immediately sent an email to Walmart advising them of the situation and asked that my order amount be reduced to the correct sale price. The first email response I received six hours later from a Walmart employee was a form letter stating that they had checked the current price for that toy and that I had been charged the correct higher amount. Now I was mad! My second email I sent was to inform Walmart that I spend thousands of dollars each year at my local Walmart store and online because I like the low prices and the good customer service. I also informed them that if my order was not credited the $10 difference for the sale price, I was going to take my money and shop at a competitor's store in the future.

 

Well, here is where good customer service came into play. Fifteen minutes after I sent my last email, I received a phone call from a manager in their head office advising me that my account would be credited $89--the total cost of my entire order--and that as a loyal customer my order was being shipped overnight delivery with their compliments. As promised, I received my order the very next day, absolutely free, and my account credited $89.

[Mikser]

The Wal-Mart documentary you are talking about High cost of low price contains several false points. The documentary was backed by the Union's that cannot get into Wal-Mart.

There are other actual documentaries that look at both sides of story. One is on MSNBC I believe and there is also one done by Penn and Tellar on thier Showtime series BS. I understand that Wal-Mart is big business and not always right but they are also not always wrong. Be objective and check the facts.

[madisonsmommy]

The Wal-Mart documentary you are talking about High cost of low price contains several false points. The documentary was backed by the Union's that cannot get into Wal-Mart.

There are other actual documentaries that look at both sides of story. One is on MSNBC I believe and there is also one done by Penn and Tellar on thier Showtime series BS. I understand that Wal-Mart is big business and not always right but they are also not always wrong. Be objective and check the facts.

I was going to mention the Penn and Tellar one too! My friend is in it.. Professor Powell I agree you really should see the different points, by both sides.

[nikkilugi]

I am happy to see both sides of course. I put off seing the first documentary and only saw it because it was on the cable channel I was on while folding clothes and I was too lazy to turn it. I would be interested in knowing what reports were false - because I doubt the whole thing was false and everything I saw bothered me in some way. I will have to check out the Penn and Teller one - but my bad opinion of Wal-Mart is based on my personal experiences lately - not a documentary.

[Steakgoddess]

The Wal-Mart documentary you are talking about High cost of low price contains several false points. The documentary was backed by the Union's that cannot get into Wal-Mart.

There are other actual documentaries that look at both sides of story. One is on MSNBC I believe and there is also one done by Penn and Tellar on thier Showtime series BS. I understand that Wal-Mart is big business and not always right but they are also not always wrong. Be objective and check the facts.

I loved that episode of Penn and Teller.

[jdflores]

Haven't seen the Penn and Teller one, but I made a choice not to shop Walmart before I even saw the The High Price of Low Cost. If' I've bought $500 worth this past year, that a lot. I used to shop them regularly. Now I do my best to stay out of their stores.

[mammafumfin]

That was a LOT of work for $4.00 ( That turned into 7:))

 

Sometimes it is better for your mental health to let things like that go, and chalk it up to stupidity.

[Sacha]

Walmart has not gotten any of "our" money for 5 years and they never will again....the movie a high cost of a low price does not even begin to cover all the bad things walmart has done to their employee's, small business, or their customers!

[nikkilugi]

That was a LOT of work for $4.00 ( That turned into 7:))

 

Sometimes it is better for your mental health to let things like that go, and chalk it up to stupidity.

Normally I would have let it go but the people at the customer service desk talked to my mom like she was crazy - "There was NO sign ma'am". She did most of the legwork - I did the finger and phone work. This wasn't the first time the toy section has had wrong prices on the shelf and they NEVER own up to their mistakes and honor the prices on the shelf. It just got to be too much for me - especially after the run in I had with them earlier that week. I felt management should know that their associates are rude and lied to us on top of everything.

[Mikser]

Walmart has not gotten any of "our" money for 5 years and they never will again....the movie a high cost of a low price does not even begin to cover all the bad things walmart has done to their employee's, small business, or their customers!

Does'nt cover all the good company has done either. One example is look at relief aid for Katrina, Wal-Mart had truckloads of merchandise on site before government had reacted.

Don't get me started on small business, look at Wal-Mart's history they started out as one small store not a mulit million dollar company.

[Sacha]

Sam Walton is rolling over in his grave, actually by now he is probably on a permanent spin cycle

[fluffkin79]

Is this where is voice my frustration with Wal-mart? I gotta tell my story. Friday night I was out shopping late. I checked out at WM at about 1am. I was that cashier's last customer, she was gone before me. When I got home I realized that one of my 3 bags got left behind. Now I feel stupid. I always check to make sure I have all my bags off of their spinning bags thing. I must have been really tired.

 

So, I call the store right away, get picked up by electronics, transferred to the front of store and wait on hold for 15 min. Finally someone answers. I tell her the situation and she finds my bag at the register. She asks the contents, I tell her, and she puts my bag in customer service with my name on it. I tell her I'll pick it up tomorrow. As much as I want to advoid shopping on Sat., one of Santa's gifts is in the bag.

 

The next day I go out shopping on a time limit. Our WM parking lot is full to the ends. I pick up my pics from the photo lab and head to CS to get my bag. This should be a really quick trip. At CS they say "Sorry I don't see any bags here." Annoyed, I nicely ask them to check again - they said it was here last night. It takes 3 employees to find it. Just as I reach out to take it, she pulls it back. "Can I see your receipt, please?" Crap! I couldn't find my receipt that morning, the kids like to move things. And the woman on the phone the night before did not say that I'd need it to claim my bag, just said that she would put my name on it and I could come pick it up whenever. Now I'm being told that they need to be sure it was paid for. They offer to look it up in their system if I know the register and time or have the card I paid with. No problem, I have all of that. Then, as I'm getting out my card, all 3 employees disappear.

 

The employee that was originally helping me comes back and offers to help the woman behind me. "Excuse me," I say. She says that one of the other women are doing the lookup. So I wait. 10 min later, nothing. I ask how long this will take. I'm told it could be 10 min or more. A few minutes later, with no more customers in line, there are 4 employees just standing around looking at me. Finally, they figure out that the one "doing the look-up" is really on break. Now I'm really steaming. I have been trying to keep my 2-year-old entertaind all this time and they have been doing nothing. Finally, someone looks up my transaction, finds the reciept, and I am given my bag and an apology. I am free to go. All together I spent about 30 min in Customer Service to pick up a bag of stuff that belongs to me. A bag that their employee should have given me 15 hours before.

 

Did I mention that the whole time I was waiting my bag was on the counter right in front of me? I know I paid for it. I was just as much mine as my coat, purse, or 2-year-old. They have no right to hold something that belongs to me. I wanted to just take it and go home. I didn't because I had DD with me. If I had taken it and left before they found the reciept, would WM have reported me as a shoplifter?

[jlugo16]

Is this where is voice my frustration with Wal-mart? I gotta tell my story. Friday night I was out shopping late. I checked out at WM at about 1am. I was that cashier's last customer, she was gone before me. When I got home I realized that one of my 3 bags got left behind. Now I feel stupid. I always check to make sure I have all my bags off of their spinning bags thing. I must have been really tired.

 

So, I call the store right away, get picked up by electronics, transferred to the front of store and wait on hold for 15 min. Finally someone answers. I tell her the situation and she finds my bag at the register. She asks the contents, I tell her, and she puts my bag in customer service with my name on it. I tell her I'll pick it up tomorrow. As much as I want to advoid shopping on Sat., one of Santa's gifts is in the bag.

 

The next day I go out shopping on a time limit. Our WM parking lot is full to the ends. I pick up my pics from the photo lab and head to CS to get my bag. This should be a really quick trip. At CS they say "Sorry I don't see any bags here." Annoyed, I nicely ask them to check again - they said it was here last night. It takes 3 employees to find it. Just as I reach out to take it, she pulls it back. "Can I see your receipt, please?" Crap! I couldn't find my receipt that morning, the kids like to move things. And the woman on the phone the night before did not say that I'd need it to claim my bag, just said that she would put my name on it and I could come pick it up whenever. Now I'm being told that they need to be sure it was paid for. They offer to look it up in their system if I know the register and time or have the card I paid with. No problem, I have all of that. Then, as I'm getting out my card, all 3 employees disappear.

 

The employee that was originally helping me comes back and offers to help the woman behind me. "Excuse me," I say. She says that one of the other women are doing the lookup. So I wait. 10 min later, nothing. I ask how long this will take. I'm told it could be 10 min or more. A few minutes later, with no more customers in line, there are 4 employees just standing around looking at me. Finally, they figure out that the one "doing the look-up" is really on break. Now I'm really steaming. I have been trying to keep my 2-year-old entertaind all this time and they have been doing nothing. Finally, someone looks up my transaction, finds the reciept, and I am given my bag and an apology. I am free to go. All together I spent about 30 min in Customer Service to pick up a bag of stuff that belongs to me. A bag that their employee should have given me 15 hours before.

 

Did I mention that the whole time I was waiting my bag was on the counter right in front of me? I know I paid for it. I was just as much mine as my coat, purse, or 2-year-old. They have no right to hold something that belongs to me. I wanted to just take it and go home. I didn't because I had DD with me. If I had taken it and left before they found the reciept, would WM have reported me as a shoplifter?

 

Well, you made the first mistake by letting a bag of yours wait at customer service until Saturday morning... hello.! it's the weekend before christmas... who would not go immediately back to walmart to get their bag they paid for. Second, you go back to walmart and start shopping first instead of picking up your forgotten items first , I mean yeah its Customer Service, but common, not customer's item daycare.. so yeah the customer service people sounded pathetic at the way they handled the situation but they were just trying to do their job in insuring that the items weren't being stolen, next time if you want fast service then have your reciept with you; this is a busy busy time at walmart, trust me- I work at walmart, and reciepts are like express tickets at universal studios. they get you in and out, you lose a bag? or have a sign rollback problem, then have your reciept that way the time of the incident is known and go directly to a customer service manager, they are the ones who will help you best and quickest. they will either help you straight away or make you wait a second just to verify your case and check the reciept time with video feed in determining whether a sign advertising the price of an item for a cheaper price was truely there when you picked up the item or whether you were the person who left the bag... etc.

 

 

Take it from someone who knows- you never know who might be a new employee and will bs an answer for you and completely neglect you involuntarily, so if you have a problem skip the average associate(they are just there to 'how may I help you?' with questions regarding location of an item and information over an item, the customer service manager is who you should go directly too.

 

Happy Holidays

 

Oh and please, I beg you- unless your bacon is electronic, don't bring your 2 buggies full of food to the electronics' registers just so you can skip the big line up front... it holds up other customers waiting to check out their games from the game cases, etc., you wouldn't want them to do that to you would ya? the worse though has to be when you get pissed off because we cant weigh your tomatoes you brought back here- I mean what are we suppose to do? memorize the number of the vegetable product if it doesn't have the number on it? and oh my gosh, don't ask us to check if another walmart has a 32" vizio lcd tv the sunday before christmas, they are going to be just as busy so me calling them will take like 25 minutes(for real), why not just be respectful and ask for the number of the other walmart and call them yourself please! you can even say that it is a store to store call just to get slightly faster service.

 

So there- enough said I am tired and I have to get ready to go to walmart to get Mario Galaxy for 37$

 

:)

 

=The Camper

[KitaKaT]

Um, right.... ok

[cpg117]

I have gotten so I shop as little as possible in Walmarts but it is the closest store of any type to my home. It snowed last night and stopped around 10 am and I was at the store around 4 pm, every single cart that was available was full of snow. What that was all about is beyond me. I went down to the seasonal department where the ice melt would be and couldn't find any so asked 2 employees where it might be, neither spoke english. Another peeve of mine is that parents with children always take the kids to the toy department and let them pick out one to play with while they shop. I wanted to get 2 very common popular toys this Christmas and everytime I was there all they had was all scratched up and looked old and used. I would never get a stuffed animal there after seeing so many kids in carts holding and chewing on them and then parents leave them in front of the check out. Why do they allow this? There was a time when I felt there prices where much better than other places but my local supermarkets have gotten really competitive with prices so that is no longer true either.