Walmart, what a pain

[cp1969]

What kind of tax law "forces" a company to take out life insurance on its employees with itself as the beneficiary?

I didn't know that a third party could take out insurance on a person without that person's permission, but maybe they get that as a condition of employment. If so, that takes the cake.

Maybe employees should start insuring the executives and make sure the policy is redeemed soon.

 

[JerryG]

Wingnut,
Very well said. I agree on every point.

 

[Turfman]

What a pain is right. I never can find anything and if I speak with someone about where is this or that I get, "Oh, we don't have that." Of course, after wandering aimlessly for an hour I find it. Have to take my compass to find my way out, cause I can't see the mountains from inside the store.

Our local store now runs your check, has you sign your receipt and then they give you back the check. Immediate electronic transfer of funds, no paperwork or other banking.

We got tired of buying checks to fill out and then get them back at the register, so we started using a debit card from the checking. Now the bank wants a quarter for each transaction linked to a pin number. So....we started using the card as a credit card. Wal-Mart then says, "Oh, no. You have to use a pin number or we can't take the card." Everywhere else does it without a problem. Time to find somewhere else to shop.

We had a local , yet large, hardware chain here that was great. After 10 years of great service they started the same games. Guess what? They have been gone for 5 or 6 years and no one misses them.

Give us the selection, service and prices we want or we go elsewhere. When enough of us go elsewhere, the store modifies it's practices or goes under.

TBNer's unite!!! The tractor party calls for political action!!!!

(Just kidding.)/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[Mosey]

Just a couple more gripes, about Walmart and others.

I’ll spend 10 minutes looking for something and can’t find it. So, I find an associate and ask him/her if they it. They go to the same isles I was at and start looking up and down and just waste another 5 or 10 minutes of my time doing what I just did.

They put their bar code stickers right in the middle of things and they’re impossible to get off without messing up the product.

There was a time when merchants cared about the customers and took pride in their stores. Those days are gone. Now all that matters to the is how much money they’re making

 

[Chuck52]

Turfman,

You should take action against your bank first. When my bank starts charging me for ATM/debit use, I will change banks. As it is, I presently have accounts in both a bank and a credit union, and neither charges for card use on their own machines or at stores. I've gotten to the point of almost never using checks except to send by snail mail.

As to Walmart, I find major differences between the three local stores. My favorite, and least convenient since I moved, naturally, is well staffed, and I know where most everything is. My least favorite is the local Super Walmart. Way too big, though with surprisingly little more selection than the regular stores, outside of food. Small aisles. Big crowds. Longer lines even with many, many checkout lines. At my old favorite, I've never had a hassle with returns. I went in once to ask if they could order me a new derailleur for a kid's bike I had bought two years earlier. I expected to pay for it, but they said they'd cover it. No recipt. No problem. I think they've probably tightened up more lately, but I've still not had any problems.

Chuck

 

[BTI]

Hey guys! To alot of people price is all that matters! We have asked for this kind of attitude. We drive umpteen hundred miles to buy things that are cheaper in another area of the country then raise cain when the dealer next door goes out of business. If we had continued shopping the Mom and Pop stores and had been content to wait a couple of days to get what the M&P store didn't stock we wouldn't be in this predicament. We are all guilty of not being patient---I'm not patient either. I'm also guilty of driving miles to save pennies. But seeing all of the little stores close and seeing TSC, LOWES, HOME DEPOT and other "Big Box" stores sell brands that used to stand for quality and customer service makes me nervous. It's all a big trade off. We asked for it and we are getting it!!
BTI

 

[Mosey]

I do consider more than just price. A big issue to me is “returnability” (I just invented a new word). That’s one area where Walmart does things right. One of the reasons I shop at Walmart is because it’s easy to return things. If it turns out to be chintzy, the wrong size, I don’t need it after all, or whatever, they are easy to return things to. I always save receipts so I don’t have any trouble. Lowes is even easier and I shop there a lot for that reason. Target and Meijer tend to give you in store credits instead of cash. As for the Mom and Pop stores, well, that’s where they’ve always come in way behind. I bought a turbo heater at Ace hardware a couple of years ago. It was the same price as Lowes and some other places, so I figured I’d get it from Ace just to help out the little guy. I regretted it. I got it home and it rattled like mad. So, I called them and asked them if they had any more so I could swap it out for another one. He said they wouldn’t swap it, but if I drop it off they would be happy to fix it for me and I could pick it back up the next day. Fix a brand new heater? And then have to wait a day? It was Friday, I needed it for the weekend. I told them never mind, I’ll fix it myself and told them I’ll never buy anything there again! (and I haven’t) I took it apart and found a loose screw, added a couple more metal screws just to make sure and it’s been fine ever since. But, it was totally unacceptable for them to not swap it out for a new one.

Being an engineer it just bugs me when something is not perfected. Walmart has a good system overall that allows them to sell for less and stock pretty much everything people need. They worked hard and stayed on track until Sam Walton died (about 10 years ago). But, now they’re falling into the same trap that many before them have fallen into. They’re getting comfortable at the top, getting lazy, and getting very very greedy. People, like myself, are gradually getting tired of the hassle of shopping there are will start shopping elsewhere, even if it costs more. A perfect example is just last week I went to get oil filters for my trucks (both the suburban and the pickup take AC Delco PF-35). I’ve been buying these and spark plugs at Walmart for years. Now, all of a sudden they don’t sell AC Delco stuff any more. I went to an auto parts store and got the filters and had to pay more, but I’m not going to switch filter brands just because they can make more money on another brand. I’m looking forward to the new Super Target store that’s supposed be coming, it should give Walmart a run for their money.

 

[crown]

My biggest gripe with all the really large stores Wal- Marts and large grocery stores is they build them with upteen check out lines and they rarely use 1/4 of them. Ours does not even open all the check out lines at Xmas.

 

[jtn]

RanchMan,

A little late with this reply but I thought you could see the humour in this:

Rosie took a lot of heat for her anti-gun stance when a local newspaper in NY or CT (I can't remember which) found out all her bodyguards were armed last year. Guess she decided guns were necessary after all.

JT

 

[Mosey]

Crown - “upteen check out lines and they rarely use 1/4 of them”
I hate that too. Meijer does the same thing. Lowes was pretty bad about it too, until this year. Maybe they got too many complaints (I was one).

JT – “all her bodyguards were armed”
I heard about that too. Typical behavior for people like her.