While the media carries the occasional rumbling about Walmart management having problems, it seems like a walk inside any Walmart proves up the problem. Got a product you regularly buy? Take their house brand sodas – Sam's Cola for example. We swore off caffeine and sugar in our soda's long ago. "Sam" drew us in with their sugarless caffeine-less brand. The taste took a bit of an adjustment, but after a while, it kind of grew on us, and pretty soon, it was a favorite. That was a few years ago.
Fast forward to a couple of years ago, and on our Wally shopping trips, tucking a half-rack of the cola on the cart was routine. That is, until Diet Sam's Cola started playing hide and seek. There was not particular scheme to the matter – in some stores there'd be an "open hole" on the shelf where the stuff should be, in others not even a shelf tag. Stockers would shake their heads, didn't know where it was. And it wasn't just cola that became elusive. Cereals, meats, non-food items, every department seemed to have spot-shortages of items we'd normally buy.
Sadly, store goods aren't the only things that seemed to have vanished at Wally World. One of us spent 20 minutes just waiting for a clerk in the electronics department the other day in a store in Arizona. A stocker suggested we ask for help in the photo department – and seemed mystified when she couldn't find anyone in the photo department or electronics either. With high-end tech stuff just waiting to be sold, it seems management would want to have somebody on hand to see to it the money gets taken.
But management, it seems, has its own problems. Needing an adapter for our computers, we checked on-line on the walmart.com site first, and happily the adapter we needed was "in stock" 40 miles away. We drove the trip, walked in, and after finally finding help, handed over a print-out showing the item we needed. The young man hoofed off and returned a few minutes later, confirming the adapter we needed was indeed on the shelf, but at almost double the price shown on the Internet. We took the item up to the "service desk" and asked about the discrepency.
We were told bluntly, and with no warmth, that the price on adapter was the higher one, unless we ordered it for store pickup. Of course, we'd have to wait several days for the item to be shipped from the warehouse. When we pointed out that the item was "ready to day," we were told, "You can order it today, sure, but it will take several days to get here," and basically told, "Take it or leave it." A Walmart computer right by the desk proclaimed we could order it (and obtain it "today"), but when we tried to complete the order, Walmart had disabled the payment options. Had we not really needed the adapter then, we would have taken the option of "leaving it." Instead, we paid the double-the-price.
In the parking lot we encountered a friendly door-greeter who, while on his break, went out of his way to offer to take our cart back to the store. We told him how much we appreciated the help that the store employees had given us, and wished that management was as helpful. "Hate to say it, but your managers are just plain rude," we commented. He looked heavenward for a moment, then returned his gaze and said, "Yep. And they're the ones that are supposed to be teaching us what to do."
In a different Walmart store we visited, one of our party couldn't hike the store on foot, he needed one of those handy electric rider carts. While the disabled parking spaces outside the store were largely vacant, inside we couldn't find a single "operational" rider anywhere. Sure, several "dead ones," but nothing in working order. When we went to the "service desk," to inquire, we got anything but service.
A frankly crabby service desk attendant who later identified herself as the store manager brusquely waved off our inquiry. They had plenty of carts, and if we couldn't find one that worked, too bad. "The carts are just a convenience for the customer," she told us in dismissal.
Is that so? It seems that with other places to go, maybe shopping at Walmart is just a courtesy to Sam and company.
We'd love to hear your thinking on this one. Are we being a bit harsh? What are you finding out about Walmart in your travels? Drop us a line at russ "at" rvtravel.com.
24 comments:
welcome to walmart, you can get in but you can't get out. We stop at walmarts all over the country in our travels and it is seems that checkout lines are getting longer and longer. I'm sorry to say that we have even left the cart set and just left. It seems that management just doesn't care.
Why is everybody so addicted to shopping at wal-mart??? There are millions of privatley owned stores in this country owned by individuals that give excellent personal service with a relaxing atmosphere. Not to mention pay taxes and contribute to the social security fund. I haven't been in a wal-mart in over 5 years.
Went the other night and parked down by garden entrance. At 8:00 they shut down all the registers except one down in the grocery section. The opposite end from where we parked!
With what these people get paid it is hard to believe that they have any employees at all let alone ones that have a good attitude. I have never met one who liked working there.
The walmart I shop in in SoCal it is almost impossible to find staff that can speak English. So if you do find a staff member (opps team member) they look at you and go KII?
Walmart is not alone in this. nuf sed
These are the exact experiences that my husband and I have with Walmart. We go there daily as we do personal shopping for the elders in our area and 99% of the people are extremely rude. Spots on shelves are empty or they are filled with other items that don't belong in the space. We have been sent on wild goose chases to other stores for items we need just to find out, they are not there. It just happened again today. Also, many items are expired. Again, it happened today. In my area many of the employees do not speak English and refuse to help non Haitians. I blame management for that, not the employees as the employers choose to hire people who will work for little money.
I could go on and on, but I have other things to do. Walmart has no customer service. They are filthy and a disgrace.
A couple of years ago, in the midst of repainting my living room, WalMart "recalibrated" their paint mixing machine. After I discovered the difference, they referred me to a WM 30 miles away that supposedly hadn't recalibrated. Drove over there and found the same problem. Finally had the local lumber company manually mix/match the paint colors at almost double the price. WalMart paid for that paint. Also, I set a mental time I will wait for service, i.e. at photos. Then I will
start screaming for assistance.
agree totally. Since upgrade in our local Kamloops store staff could give a hoot. If you ask a question more than often the answer is I don't know or a shrug.
It is a mess now and trying to find anything is hopeless. Often no pricing or priced wrong
You've pretty much hit the nail on the head and it applies to ALL retailers. No one carse anymore, especially it seems, the young workers in the store, but there are the exceptions in every store. Example, a lady cashier in Parker, AZ and Don, a senior who is a greeter in Yuma, AZ east store. Great people. Friendly. Go out of the way to help. Like everything else, you can't paint them all with the same brush.
Yes. I also have noticed a decline in the attitude and efforts of Walmart's staff. I will be happy to spend my money elsewhere.
Being Snowbirds who winter in Arizona, We find that the Walmart stores there are not as friendly as the ones in Nevada and Utah. We have a Home in Utah and Nevada and find that the walmart stores in Utah are very friendly and Helpful with excellent service. That is not the case in Arizona.
Very same as I have seen. Many times items we would normally find at a Marketplace location could only be found at the Super Wal-Mart. Many times shelves are just bare. My wife has inquired about the stocking situation, and been told to bad. We are out of stock and will order more when we get around to it.
Followed by a "please check back with us in a few days"
You are being harsh! And nit-picky too. Are you trying to work with Walmart's people with a smile on your face, or you confrontational and grumpy? Doe you have the same problems in other stores, such as Target or Best Buy. As a customer service manager for 20 years, I went out of my way to help friendly customers. But the grumps....they walked out of the store unhappy, just like they came in.
When we park the camper at a Walmart we spend money there, kinda our way of saying thank you. Other times we do not shop at Walmart.
Slipped and fell as a result of liquid on floor. Store management assured me that WalMart would cover all my expenses. Later when home office got involved they claimed that I should have been watching where I walked and I had not allowed them enough time to clean up the mess (even though over an hour). Subsequently would not pay a dime. None of the big name Michigan attorneys would take the case because of sympathy for Walmart in the courts and risk/reward for lawyer. Best advice from me is to buy and park elsewhere.
Sir, you have not posted my comment. Why?
Is a little reality too much for your readers?
We stopped shopping at Walmart after the Tragedy in Bangladesh, which we hold Walmart partly responsible for. Walmart is not concerned about people who work for the the company; from our experience, it seems the company is willing to make profits at the expense of the ordinary worker. Join us and shop the local owned stores.
We just returned home from a 7 week trip in our RV. I agree a lot of the employees are rude, that is if you can enter the parking lot. My RV is 12'6" and one barrier said it was 12'4" or they are lower. You have to either follow a truck to see how to enter the parking lot, or try to find it yourself. One time, we gave up looking for the entrance and just left. We were ready to spend some money for DVD, food, books and over the counter medication.
I have encountered the problem with the motorized scooters. I finally had to purchase one and a lift to use for shopping, sightseeing, etc.
If I were to park in a Walmart, it would be in order to wait out a storm or traffic problem on the road, but I would also pay for using their parking lot. If they keep putting up those barriers, I will go to a grocery store for my food and a bookstore for books, magazines, DVD's and CD's instead of a one stop at Walmart.
I think the image is deplorable. Employees in T-shirts, tattoos, piercings, colored hair. I make sure I tell management that I don't approve of their dress code, and I am not sure sometimes who is an employee and who isn't.
In reading the remarks from this post, I am very glad that I was not the only one to feel that way about Wal-Mart. I was a member of management for over 14 yrs at various Wal-Mart Stores in Colorado. I was a Senior Member of Management when I quit. Over the Years, as I tried to lead by example and enforce the culture that Sam Walton started, I was told I was too "policy orientated" and I was too much "by the book". Store and District managers were more concerned with the bonus they would get and performing the "quick fix" to an issue to get the home office off their backs, that the every day Associate was neglected every time. Some of my fellow management tried very hard to 'DO the right thing every time" but were shut down by the out of touch "Home Office" or the even more out of touch "Human Resources" part of the company.
Wal-Mart, in my opinion has an expiration date that is rapidly approaching. I spent 16 years with the company and it is a shame to watch it slide so far because of out of touch home office and out of touch company leaders. the proof of this is what all of you experience each time you visit the stores.
We went to Clermont, Fl Walmart last week and had two different orders put on the belt but did not separate them with the bar that was not there anyways. We told the cashier and she looked at us like we just landed fro outer space and continued to put everything together even though she was told 3 different times. No one to talk to so just left.
Have found that Walmart is not the only place to park while traveling. While traveling recently, we passed up a Super Walmart store to park for the night. Just too many others plus a large number of idling semis. Needed a few grocery items so stopped at a small local grocery for these. On a whim, asked the owner (not the manager but actual owner), if we could park in his small lot for the night. Surprisingly, he said yes and that no one had ever asked before! He directed us to a shady spot at the edge of the lot and also called the local sheriff to ask him to check the lot during the night to be sure we were OK. A knock at the door the next morning brought coffee and donuts compliments of the owner when he opened the store. Needless to say, we bought a weeks worth of groceries and supplies before leaving! We have not stopped at a Walmart since. We have received this kind of welcome from many small local businesses across the country. All you need to do is ask and be sure to support the business with your dollars. You seldom find this service and care at Walmart or any other big box. We will continue to support local wherever we travel!
I think a great deal of the attitude stems from employees (including management) who are simply there putting in time until they can collect their paycheck. I don't work at Wal-Mart but at a big box store and there are a lot of my co-workers who feel that their job gets in the way of their personal time. I get tired of covering for them.
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