Ya can't fix stupid, but sometimes ya wish......... Needed a new tire for the golf cart. Called around town and the least expensive... the ONLY one in stock... was WalMart. I hate that place! Headed to the course. Jacked up the cart and pulled tire and wheel off. Drove to WalMart. I hate that place! Parked where it said "Auto and Tire Parking". Just getting out of my truck and this old geezer says, "Whatcha doin' parking there? That's for employees!" No sign that says so. I told him I only needed a tire. "Well, get back in your truck and get in line back there." "Mister, I have the tire and wheel in the back of my truck. The tire is for a golf cart." "Don't think we got any golf cart tires." "Sir, I just called here and the lady said you did." "Bring it inside and I'll ask her." Got inside. The lady told the "gentleman" that they had the tire. She had told me on the phone $44.95. He found it on his hand-held and confirmed that price. She had also told me $5 for changing it. I told him that and he agreed that was the usual cost. "It's $1.50 for tire disposal." "No, I'll take the old tire with me." (Would have just tossed it in the dumpster at the course.) "How about a new valve stem?" "No, just the tire mounted on the wheel." He keeps keying all this information into his hand-held device. "That will be $66.38 plus tax." "Ummm... How did $44.95 get to almost $70???" "Well, that does sound high. Let me check. Oh! I charged you twice for tire disposal. Ya did want us to take care of the old tire didn't you?" "Sir, I told you I'd take the old tire with me. Please take off the disposal fee. Something else is still incorrect. That's only $3." "Let me check again. Yep! I charged your for two valve stems. You only need one." "I told you I didn't want the valve stem replaced. Please delete that also." "Oh, sorry! I'll delete those and now the price is $44.95 plus tax." "What about the $5 mounting charge?" "I can't figure this machine out and I'm not going to try putting anything back in. We'll just forget about all that and only charge you for the tire." "Thank you sir!" It took me twice as long to get the service ticket written up as it did to get the tire changed. Retail efficiency at it's finest. Today, I met someone from "The People of WalMart" who doesn't just shop there, he works there!!!!!!!! Did I tell you I hate WalMart!!!!
Sad thing is, this guy was probably parked in the "Employee of the Month" space!!! Had a doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon. Was visiting with the receptionist while waiting. She said, "You're so laid back. I bet you don't have a 'mad bone' in your body!" I told her, "You shoulda seen me at WalMart just a couple hours ago."
Thankfully, I haven't had those type of issues at my Walmart. It only disturbs me a little that the usual guy who's there in the tire section when I happen to pull in has a lot of tattoos and calls me Boss. I don't care about tats, and I don't care that he's apparently been in prison, because he's polite, and does a good job. What was the issue about parking, it sounded as if you were parked in the correct spot. That type of thing would probably irritate me more than the apparent unfamiliarity with the pricing equipment the employee was trying to use. I've had jobs in the past where I've been thrown on new equipment and had no idea how to use it. It can definitely be frustrating for both workers and customers/clients. At least you had a good attitude about it, though .
Went out to play golf this morning. 33 degrees F when we started out. My cart partner and I will play no matter how cold it is... if the course is open. Began to tell the story and my cart partner knows the 'gentleman' at WalMart. Seems he is a retired bread truck driver. Got a part time job driving the ATA... subsidized transportation system... bus in town. Had an accident and got fired. Went to work changing tires at WalMart. Only was there a couple of weeks and got "promoted" to this position. My, my.......
I think we are somewhat like minded Will. I too hate Walmart but it does serve a grand purpose. Wherever there is a super center around there are less crazy people on the streets because they all flock to Wallyworld. I fear that if the fine city of Washington, D.C had the three Walmarts that backed down, the entire congressional body including the Executive branch of our government would be playing bumper cars with the motorized buggies at the nearest one to the White House instead of spending trillions of our dollars. As for me, I am going to change my will. When I go I want to be stuffed, adorned in a good pair of colorful jammies and leaned against a shopping cart forever to be yet another crazy person at Walmart.
I don't go to Walmart enough to have any of these experiences that I hear about. Let me find some wood to knock on.
Walmart is for most purposes around here is the only game in town. But, like most small towns everyone here is friendly and helpful. Harp's recently bought the other grocery in town so that may help with grocery choices. Problem is every time we need groceries we usually need drugs or something else so we have to go to walmart anyway.
Except for the crowded parking lot; we usually don't have any bad experiences at the Walmart here, either. Bobby has grumbled about being caught in a "traffic jam" when several women with shopping carts were all having a gab-fest in the middle of some aisle, however. Now, he usually stays away from the grocery part of Walmart, and it seems like the ladies don't stop to visit in the hardware section. We seldom even go to Walmart. Their prices on most things is a lot higher than Kroger's, and I get shopping points at Kroger's which I use when buying gas there for the car. If we need small stuff, usually we can find it just as cheaply at the dollar store, and no parking problems. More and more, we are buying what we need on Amazon; so that helps a lot with not needing to go to any store and shop. And my heart meds are mailed out from the Heart Center Pharmacy; so we don't have to go anywhere for those either. All of mine are sent on a three-month basis, and they just mail them to me as I need them. We go to Lowe's (my favorite store !) once a month, and to Sam's Club (right next to Lowe's ), and that takes care of just about everything. I DO have a second-favorite store now, however, and it is really giving Lowe's a run for the money (literally) and that is called "Essex" or Bargain Hunters, and it is a liquidation store. It has so many different things there and each week or two, the price drops until the item sells. I just LOVE shopping there ! ! Since it is on the way to Harbor Freight (Bobby's favorite store), then I know we can go to Essex when Bobby wants to go to Harbor Freight.
We have a new Super Walmart and it's big and clean and plenty of parking especially the times I go. I go early in the morning and never on weekend. Their prices are the lowest for certain things especially OTC meds and vitamins. They also carry some things that I don't see other places. I sometimes buy my socks there and I found the best and cheapest cami there. I can't stand to wear a bra and thankfully if I'm not wearing anything sheer or tight I don't. But for the times I do this cami is great because it's comfortable and has a comfy built in bra and it only cost $5.99! I have been to some older Walmarts that were disasters but thankfully mine is great. I just don't go often.
I got tired of our Walmart's lousy service, rude employees and cluttered and messy store. When Blain's Farm & Fleet opened a new store in my town, I shopped there. Yes, the prices were higher but that was offset by better everything else, IMO.
I guess it depends on the store as to quality....I have no complaints with service and the store is very clean and neat.
The Walmart stores around here are pretty good. Overall, Walmart is not one of my favorite stores but I haven't had any trouble with the service, the prices are okay, and there sure are a lot of them. Unlike what I would expect from Facebook and the media, I know quite a few people who are employed by Walmart and they all like working there. In many of the towns that have a Walmart here in Maine, there isn't much else in the way of work. The mills have closed, along with the myriad of foundries and other businesses that supported the mills, and the options that people are left with are to sell their homes, for next to nothing, and move south to a larger city, or take what work they can get, and Walmart is there, employing quite a few people.
Management probably makes the difference. For awhile, our Walmart was the only game in town. None of the smaller stores could compete. Eventually they all went out of business. The Walmart store got sleazier and the help more rude. Now however, we have a large super market called Hy-Vee, and they compete successfully with Walmart for the grocery trade, even though Hy-Vee's prices are higher. We have a Farm & Fleet store competing with Walmart for items other than grocery. Just last weekend, one of my sons stopped at our Walmart store to buy a few boxes of shotgun shells. Ammo is kept in a locked storage case in the sporting goods section. Then, he had to walk around until he found a clerk. When he told the clerk what he wanted, the clerk said sorry, I can't open the case. The guy on the night shift left with the key. Son remarked that it seemed strange they only had one key. So, son went up the road 1/4 mile to the Farm & Fleet store and bought his shells.