Wal Mart and their ridiculous practices

[cassanova]

The whole thing that most people have glossed over, is that EVERYTHING is videotaped at Walmart. I'm sure the video will show one way or another what the alleged thief and the alleged goons did.

True that, video tape doesn't lie. One thing I do know is that he didn't trigger the security alarms at the door, I would have heard that since I was only around the corner in customer service returning windshield wiper blades.

i guess i could be blamed - i didn't check out my monitors completely for the appropriate connections, nor did i check to see what connections were there on the blu-ray before i bought it. it was an impulse buy

I still wouldn't put any blame on myself for that. I don't know of too many people that would buy a blue ray player and expect it to not work on their tv. Especially, if we have newer tvs.

that was six months ago. after the refused return, i haven't been back since. they've lost 10x as much business from me, if not more, since then, and they'll continue to lose more.

I'm glad to hear you no longer shop there. The downside to this is I don't think Wal Mart cares if they lose one persons business, even if it 10x or 100x as much more they could make from the one person. I do wish the vast majority of people would wake up and realize that Wal Marts not all that great and start boycotting them.

Just out of curiosity did you write a letter to the corporate headquarters telling them about your experience with that?

 

[MatticusMania]

In reverse order....A reread might be in order.


...and I was genuinely asking about this return/exchange practice. I've never had this discussion with anyone (friends and family included) because it always seemed like a nonissue. Do you (or anyone else) only do this with Microsoft products, or other items like clothes, too? Is this a common practice for everyone here? Do you guys return music equipment like this, too? For those that do it with some products and not others, why? No need to enlighten me, I've worked retail. Do you inform the retailer you are returning/exchanging the item to that it was not purchased there? If you don't, and the retailer assumes they are exchanging something from their store, then it is deceptive, no accusation necessary.

I have honestly never heard of this and would genuinely liek to know if this is a common practice among the users here.

Mike

Hmmm, Ive ever returned an item to a store where the item was not purchased from. Maybe to the same store in a different location, but not a different store.

 

[john turner]

JT, from what it sounds like, there was no reason for them to have refused your return. A BluRay player that wasn't compatible with your TV? No problem. Unless there was some issue with your credit card company (idk... lol), that shouldn't have happened. Go back in & ask to speak to either to store manager or a co-manager (they're the ones directly under the store mgr) and explain the situation. OR... try here

heh, thanks for that info, and i appreciate the effort to tell me about it.

they never even asked to see my credit card, despite that i offered it to them to check.

i'll chalk it up to those particular morons too. .

again, i'm not trying to hop on the dis-walmart bandwagon, i'm just sharing my experience and perspective. i know a lot of folks work there, and walmart puts food on their tables. not trying to be insulting in any way. .

 

[john turner]

Just out of curiosity did you write a letter to the corporate headquarters telling them about your experience with that?

nah, in the long run, it torqued me out, but not enough to warrant that kind of response.

shoot, this is the first time -you- guys are even hearing about it, and it was six months ago. when i get really steamed, i post on talkbass! got a captive audience here at least.

just voting with my feet, tbh.

 

[willgroove2]

I was attacked by Walmart security 5 years ago after being falsely accused of stealing.

My now wife and I were in a suburb northwest of Chicago and needed to grap a few items,spotting a walmart we went in. We generated some stares as I doubt that 2 dreadlocked black people are a common sight where we were but we just laughed about it,it kind of comes with the territory. We did our shopping, paid for our items and headed out the door,at that point the person by the door asked to see our receipt. This is not unusual a wal mart but the receipt checker took a unusually long time examining our receipt which only had 4 small items on it. The woman also kept glancing up at the camera as she was dealing with us enough that we both noticed and asked her was there a problem. She said no and checked off our receipt and we were on our way.

At that point 2 walmart employees came RUNNING out the door toward us, one yelling "don't let them get away"(this was verified by 5 independent wittiness). One of them grabbed my now wife and said "you have to come back into the store now" the other guy blocked my way. We asked them why were they detaining us and they said they needed to check my wife's purse,which she didn't have one, just a small wallet which we informed them of that fact. I asked the employee to take his hands off my wife and the other to get out of our way or to call the police to which he said they have already been called but you 2 are coming back into the store now and he try to pull my wife by the arm. At that point I removed his hand from my wife and the other employee tackled me from behind,I might add am not a small man (I'm 6'0 and at the time 250) so needless to say I didn't go down. There was a struggle and one of the employee's suffered a arm broken in 2 places.

The Police showed up and I was detained but then something unusual happened; when the cop's heard the whole story from both sides including the 5 independent witness who stepped forward on their own and went into the store to review video (I assume) they let me go. The fact that we only had one small bag,and my wife had no purse or bag and we both had no coats or anywhere to conceal anything might of been a factor in that.

The store manager came to us and was very concerned about us pressing charges and we did have contact with a lawyer from walmart and there was a minor settlement and a charitable donation on their part but we let it go after that. One interesting thing was the employee who got his arm broken retained a lawyer but didn't sue me because he was "outside the boundaries of his job" according to the Walmart lawyer.

 

[Bass Viking]

one of the employee's suffered a arm broken in 2 places.

The store manager came to us and was very concerned about us pressing charges and we did have contact with a lawyer from walmart and there was a minor settlement and a charitable donation on their part but we let it go after that. One interesting thing was the employee who got his arm broken retained a lawyer but didn't sue me because he was "outside the boundaries of his job" according to the Walmart lawyer.

Ahh, a happy ending.

 

[DWBass]

Unless Walmart was paying me a 'grip', there's NO WAY I would place my life in danger by tackling someone I don't know! And even then I wouldn't do it! That's assinine! Those 2 goons are lucky they didn't get their @$$&$ handed to them!

 

[cassanova]

nah, in the long run, it torqued me out, but not enough to warrant that kind of response.

shoot, this is the first time -you- guys are even hearing about it, and it was six months ago. when i get really steamed, i post on talkbass! got a captive audience here at least.

just voting with my feet, tbh.

lmao

 

[Brad Johnson]

If there's one thing you should NOT go to WalMart for, its tires and oil changes! They don't require their lube & tire techs to be certified at all. The last guy they hired for mine was asked if he was ASE certified. He said no, but he changed his own oil once, so he has experince.
This goofball drove a customers brand new Benz into the back end of the suv in front of it in the garage. Right in front of the customer, too. That was not a good day. He's out of a job and none of us will be getting that quarterly bonus for a while! $$$$

Now you tell me.


I bought new tires online from the Tire Rack for my Element (great price). Took them to WalMart in Germantown, they did a very good job installing the tires.

My son ordered tires for his car (great price again), we went to WalMart a couple of days later, they put the tires on in no time. Both cars ride great and it cost less to go there than any other place that I could find. Way less.

I did ask for an oil change on my 217k mile 92 Civic Si but because the current oil level was low they wouldn't do it. I don't blame them... it could've been a sign that something was wrong with the car.

I don't go to WM often but when I do I usually find what I'm looking for with no hassle and the price is great. If I have any more tires that need to be installed (short of high performance ones on my sports cars) I'll be right back there again.

 

[willgroove2]

Ahh, a happy ending.

I actually put him in submission hold and he wouldn't submit so his arm broke,the way I was taught the hold he could of dislocated his shoulder but i didn't lock it in right.

I will tell you the truth,he's lucky he caught me in my mid-'30's if he had done that while i was in my '20's or very early '30? I would of broke both his arm's on purpose.

 

[willgroove2]

I still shop at walmart from time to time but my wife won't step foot in one

 

[HamOnTheCob]

Hmmm.... You seem like an intelligent young man, but brainwashed by the potential profits greed brings.

No, I'm not brainwashed by naysayers like you.

Sure, they provide several low paying jobs

I got paid pretty well. So did the other guys I worked with. Well over minimum wage for sure, which is more than I can say for most retailers.

but hold hours under the minimum for insurance

Really? I worked with a ton of full-timers, and was one myself. I had insurance for my daughter and myself.

and suggest people apply for assistance for their insurance.

What do you mean? I never heard any sort of suggestions.

Your misinformed replies are falling on deaf ears.

It's obvious your information comes from an incredible source... I'm speaking from experience not from a bunch of hearsay.

Capitalism, he says... Capitalism needs to be handled with more than just profit in mind, or it fails--like we are right now.

No, capitalism can certainly be handled with only profit in mind. That's why it works. It is what it is, and doesn't try to be all things for all people. Our government has trouble being just what it's meant to be... they're trying to be all things to all people... and THAT is why we're failing right now. But realize: Walmart isn't failing.

EDIT: I wouldn't shop at Walmart if you were paying for all of it.

LoL the soundest minds are always the ones willing to make statements like these.

 

[akane2]

god i hate walmart so much. There was a walmart here near Kansas city where i live in which 2 security employees were convicted of murder. They beat a man who was accused of shoplifting to death outside of his car. The man did run, but he didnt have anything merchandise on him. Im not sure why he ran, but its pretty messed up that they beat him so bad that he died. Absolutely horrible.

 

[mike_v_s]

god i hate walmart so much. There was a walmart here near Kansas city where i live in which 2 security employees were convicted of murder. They beat a man who was accused of shoplifting to death outside of his car. The man did run, but he didnt have anything merchandise on him. Im not sure why he ran, but its pretty messed up that they beat him so bad that he died. Absolutely horrible.

I'd say that would be the fault of the two security employees acting outside of their job description...not sure how Wal Mart can be blamed for that one.

Mike

 

[L-A]

I'd say that would be the fault of the two security employees acting outside of their job description...not sure how Wal Mart can be blamed for that one.

Mike

"Hi guys, we changed the shoplifter policy from hands-on to bullets-in, if it matters to you. Questions? Good."

 

[mike_v_s]

"Hi guys, we changed the shoplifter policy from hands-on to bullets-in, if it matters to you. Questions? Good."

"As per our previous policy, strike until he stops moving...we want our hamsteak, tube socks or whatever back with extreme prejudice. National loss prevention reports a likely run on those handheld fans with the upcoming heatwave and we can't afford to lose a dime (or a day's wage, however you wanna look at it) on those things. Everyone hands in. Knuckles. On Three. 1, 2, 3 NO QUARTER THIS QUARTER!!!!!".

Mike

 

[bassguppy]

This should not be a suprise to anyone with the growth of "corporate" interests and the hordes of lawyers and legal "experts" interpreting laws on the books. Let's see what we can get away with because in the end we'll settle and the problem will go away.

Ever wonder why at some retailers check your receipt on the way out the door for items that you now own as you purchased them a minute earlier. Isn't that now your private property?

 

[Brad Johnson]

This should not be a suprise to anyone with the growth of "corporate" interests and the hordes of lawyers and legal "experts" interpreting laws on the books. Let's see what we can get away with because in the end we'll settle and the problem will go away.

Ever wonder why at some retailers check your receipt on the way out the door for items that you now own as you purchased them a minute earlier. Isn't that now your private property?

Theft is probably more rampant than ever. If you bought something in a store, is it really that big a deal to have your receipt checked on the way out?

I hand them the receipt, they check it off. Not exactly a big deal in my book. Here's what I don't get...

if you buy lets say five items from a store and receipts aren't checked off, what is stopping you from handing that to someone who's entering the store who could then get the same items and head for the exits with the same receipt? That's how not complicated this problem is to me.

Another factor in stores like Walmart is that you have multiple places to pay for things. That's convenient. You don't necessarily have to pay at the main registers... which makes not signing off on a receipt even more problematic.

To me it's a simple solution to avoid a potential problem and I honestly don't get why people act like it's an invasion of your privacy. It's abig deal because...?

 

[cheezewiz]

Theft is probably more rampant than ever. If you bought something in a store, is it really that big a deal to have your receipt checked on the way out?

I hand them the receipt, they check it off. Not exactly a big deal in my book. Here's what I don't get...

if you buy lets say five items from a store and receipts aren't checked off, what is stopping you from handing that to someone who's entering the store who could then get the same items and head for the exits with the same receipt? That's how not complicated this problem is to me.

Another factor in stores like Walmart is that you have multiple places to pay for things. That's convenient. You don't necessarily have to pay at the main registers... which makes not signing off on a receipt even more problematic.

To me it's a simple solution to avoid a potential problem and I honestly don't get why people act like it's an invasion of your privacy. It's abig deal because...?

I couldn't agree more. If any store wants to have a look at my receipt on the way out, they are welcome to see it. It takes what, 3 seconds out of my day?

 

[Lesfunk]

I haven't read the whole thread but has anyone asked the obvious queston?
If the OP's buddy didn't have anything in his jacket or pockets, Where did he hide the item he stole???