Comments on: Darn You Wal-Mart

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:29:10 +0000

Well, Erika, seems this touched on a nerve, yes? A bit touchy? Any particular reason for that?

Yes, restocking may be what a person is paid for, but being a shopper does not entitle one to become a careless slob. Expecting someone to burn a calorie to put an item back is not asking too much. Get off your lazy duff and be a productive, responsible member of society.

By: Erika

Erika — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:26:14 +0000

Sorry, but you work in retail. Restocking shelves is what you get paid to do. If you don’t like it, find another job.
I’ve worked at wal-mart and there are no people like you complaining of returning items to the proper place, because we all understood that is part of our job. Get over yourself, the world doesn’t revolve around you.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:43:27 +0000

THANK YOU! It irritates me to no end to see parents strolling through a Wal-Mart with small children in tow, eating cups of popcorn chicken, spilling them in a trail as they go (and leaving them on the floor for someone else to clean up, of course – it never occurs to them to clean up after their OWN children!). My other pet peeve is taking food off the shelf, opening it, and diving in, when it hasn’t been paid for. In my world, that’s stealing. And parents who drop off their kids in the Toys Dept at Wal-Mart (Target, KMart, or WORST – Dollar Stores!) – to run wild, ripping open packages, throwing toys on the floor,breaking things, putting things back in the wrong aisles (which makes keeping track of your onhand stock a nightmare) are my WORST pet peeve. Teach your children good manners, tell them not to touch (they can bring their own toy or book with them to fiddle with while you shop), they are allowed to look but not play with the toys because they don’t belong to them, “we’re not buying them.” It’s called saying “NO” and supervising your kids. Stop acting like Wal-Mart and other low price big box stores are free-for-all zoos where you can wreck rip every package open, drop food on the floor, and act like pigs. It’s so obnoxious to have to take hours every day to fill out claims (loss) forms (which raises prices for you, by the way) for torn open products or damaged merchandise that looks used because your children have played with it, locate all the misplaced items and restore them to their rightful space on the shelf (which has their UPC code, which keeps track of how many we have – which also helps customers – if we don’t know that a plastic alligator is hidden behind a cereal box in the grocery section, it still shows that we have one one hand and the computer inventory system won’t order those so if a customer wants one, tough luck unless it’s found and put back someday. All of this boorish, rude, slob, lazy, selfish behavior ends up making shopping a noisy, obnoxious, filthy, frustrating experience and it is only due to the selfishness of those who act like this. It makes Wal-Mart customers look like poor white trash.

By: Teresa M Sims

Teresa M Sims — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:36:10 +0000

Some customers feel when they spend a dime its like 100 bucks. Not so. I was always taught that respect must be earned as well as given. People are rude and can get on your nerve no matter what field you are in just pray that god work on their attitude and you will be blessed. And for as rules thats funny because people sometimes bosses or companys make us rules as we go. once again not so. Ilove your work keep it up.

By: B Nelson

B Nelson — Sun, 24 May 2009 05:41:33 +0000

To the person who mentioned the Return Policy (#21). I only work in the store I do not make the rules about what the return policy is.
To the person who says I am “railing” (whatever that means) (#20) against my own customers. yes.. and no.. I am also pointing out that the Wal-Mart mentality of leaving stuff laying around has impacted on people, thus SOME of the people who shop where I work – equally there are some terrific people who are smart enough to bring unwanted items to the front counter – or return to where they got them.. Keep in mind this is a MUCH smaller store than even the smallest Wal-Mart.
For the most part we do accept the return of things within 14 days of purchase – with a receipt. the exception would be jewelry and body products (come on.. you cannot really return used soap can you?)

By: Heather

Heather — Sun, 24 May 2009 01:55:28 +0000

I worked at walmart for a little over two years (before finally quitting because they were so abusive to their employees I began having panic attacks and even became suicidal- yes, just from work) the employees certainly become trained to abuse the system that is big corp too. Accidentally busting open a bag of candy meant candy at the customer service counter for everyone, for example. As we saw the way people treated us we began acting the same way. Admittedly, I’m guilty of the “shut up toy” tactic myself.

Once I began trying to start my own business (making and selling jewelry) I became wholly and frighteningly aware of customer abuse. Despite that, sometimes small store policy is infuriating. I bought a cake decorator syringe for example which broke after the first use. I paid $40 and now couldn’t use it! When I took it back, wanting an exchange, I was told they did not accept returns that broke while being used (when else would it have broken??) and yes, I had my receipt. Either I’m spoiled by walmart or expect too much from $40 decorating tools…

By: Enlightenment

Enlightenment — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:06:59 +0000

I’m very surprised you didn’t include the f-ing idiots that buy a shopping cart load of crap, then can’t pay for any of it during checkout and just walk away. I’ve seen it more than once in front of me slowing down the line. One time a bitch had a cart of a bunch of cold and frozen food.

By: NUNYA

NUNYA — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:27:22 +0000

Well, I've been on both sides of this ball when it comes to the customers that leave an item way out somewhere in the boondocks in the store rather than take it back where the found it.

As much as I hate it when Im working at the place thats a victim of it. I must say it is a little bit more sensible and convient rather than to trek half-mile in a super-mega-store to return it to where its found..

Then again the other option is to leave it at the check out register.

By: Barton

Barton — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:26:49 +0000

Towards the point of people attempting to return items without a receipt, I have a possible solution. I worked for a high-end fashion store that had an interesting way to handle people who would lose or “lose” receipts. The system would track customers, in a similar fashion to the way grocery stores use special cards, but with much more detail. Customers could be looked up by the cashier using any of the following information: first name, last name, address, phone number, birthday, or e-mail address. This would allow cashiers to look up every transaction made by a customer. The transaction would include every line item, the price paid, any discounts (including amount and type: $ or % off), and whether the item had been returned or exchanged previously. This was a huge boon for Loss Prevention. This system has the added bonus of allowing you to analyze customers shopping patterns, as well as how well certain items sell/don’t sell.
If desired, customers have the option of opting out of the tracking, as the cashier can skip the step. However, then their only option is to return with a receipt.
If you are in a business that has repeat customers, this might work out for you. As with everything else, though, the software isn’t free.

By: Return Policy

Return Policy — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:26:12 +0000

If you want my business, adopt a more customer-friendly return policy.