Roadkill
Is it just me or is Customer Service officially roadkill?
I really dislike our local Wal~Mart. Ours is dirty, dis-organized and unhealthy; it elevates my blood pressure every single trip.
Short on time, I shamelessly found myself there. Again.
I was greeted insincerely at the front door by the greeter who really hates his job and manages to avoid all eye contact at all costs. In the produce section, a complacent employee looked the other way as a young boy licked the fruit like a lollipop. In electronics, an employee nonchalantly shrugged off an irate customer whose photos were lost.
I grabbed my sole gallon of milk and got the flock out of dodge.
I knew I picked the wrong lane as soon as I put my milk on the conveyor belt. She blankly alerted me my total was $795.95. For 1 gallon of milk.
Apparently she scanned a TV in an adjacent aisle. BUT. She would not void it claiming she wasn't authorized.
Right, right, you need 2 frontal lobes to do that.
After arguing for 10 minutes (to a wall), I eventually cried Uncle. Away we went to stand in line for 20 more minutes to void a transaction.
All for 1 gallon of milk.
Click here to subscribe
My Walmart is exactly like that too but that's the only store like it in town. I try hard not to go there.
That previous comment was Me. I was logged into the wrong account (need more sleep!)
I am proud to report that I have visited Walmart exactly once in two years, only to buy our vacuum cleaner filters, which are not carried by any other store.
I hate Walmart.
BTW, I noticed that our tastes in music are strangely similar!
that is the exact reason I rarely go to walmart. The gas station here has milk for about only about ten cents more a gallon. saves my sanity when I am not in the mood to do combat shopping.
Ugh! Sounds so frustrating. The only time we've been to (indirectly) Walmart in the last couple of years was to buy preemie clothes, as they were the only ones around who carried them at an affordable cost.
hmm i had a similar experience at a local Meijer store last night! I hate our Wal-Mart too. My husband refuses to return there after seeing a rather large woman trying on a shirt in the middle of the aisle rather than in the dressing room. He is permaently scarred!
Wow, how frustrating was that shopping trip?
I'll jump on the "I hate Walmart" bandwagon. I really do hate them, for many reasons. Mainly, for driving out little "ma and pa" stores. The one (and only) time I went into a Walmart was last Christmas. They were suppose to have toy no one else had. The place was dirty and the employees were morons. I walked out without the toy (they didn't have it) and as I was leaving, I heard a couple in the toy aisle say "we should get him some of them learnin' toys". I think I said OUTLOUD, "I'm done, I don't need this".
hilarious and so true. I hate walmart. my kids turn into screaming nightmares automatically and I have to resist hitting them in public the few times I've shopped there.
something about that place!
Those low, low prices get you every time... What's a thrifty mom to do?
Sorry for your terrible experience.I can't stand Wal-Mart either and avoid it with I can. Unfortunately, it can be pretty unavoidable...
Well, I am a city cat. So far, we have no Wal-Mart. That means I am not tempted by their low prices. Whenever I go into a "mega" store, I get completely overwhelmed. Sounds like a dreadful experience...
I have a pretty good Walmart in my neighborhood, but I also avoid going there. I find this story funny because it is so the kind of thing that happens to me - all the time - Walmart or anywhere. I have such a jink on cash registers.
My husband and I agree that the emotional cost of going to Wal Mart is not worth the money we save.
HOLY CRAP, it really blows all over. This post nailed it!
What's particularly distressing is that the death of customer service isn't just at the big box stores... the "nice" department store in my town might as well be Wal-Mart for the way they treat their customers!
This is exactly why I do all my shopping at Tar-jay.
Although this post made it a RIOT!
Wow. I know Wal-mart is bad, but...wow. Something about the mega-sized cheapness of it must attract the most apathetic people. Actually, that might go for all customer service...
I sure hope that was a tasty gallon of milk for what you had to go through!
My son calls is Voldemart. (I found that reference online somewhere and he loved it.) I don't love my Wal-Mart, but I don't hate it either. I have to say that ours has pretty good customer service. I'd love to shop somewhere else, but when you're on a budget, there's no place with better prices, at least here in our town!
I avoid Walmart.
I think you're right about customer service, though. I was recently charged several hundred dollars on my credit card for a hotel room we had booked using loyalty points. The guy handling my claim apparently went on paternity leave without handing it over to anyone. I made 10 long distance phone calls and waited two months to finally be reimbursed. The cheque was the wrong amount. Gah!
That is appalling and hilarious.
Wow. That is bad!
ummm yeah...you should start saving up the bail money now....soon you'll go postal in Walmart if you keep going there.
It is a FREAK OUT just waiting to happen!
Oh, man, that stinks. I'd like to say I can't believe that, but I do.
Oh how horrid.
Is it wrong of me to admit that I don't shop there on principle, so hearing how awful it is makes me feel better? Because half the time I feel like I must be missing out on all the cheap stuff.
There's got to be a better place for you to score a gallon of milk!
I'm extremely lucky to live near a co-operative grocery store where we get farm fresh milk from a local source. Sure, it costs more ($375 / gallon?) but it's hormone free milk and there are no idiots working there.
ooops... I left out a decimal point...
it should say $3.75 / gallon
Wal-Mart is an evil, evil entity and I avoid it at all possible costs.
Yep you totally just described our Wal-Mart. I really really hate Wal-Mart...really.
Ditto for our walmart. They don't need to have good customer service...they have already won.
ack! ours isn't so bad... right after the hurricane it was WRETCHED, but that was due to lack of staff, lack of supplies, shortened hours, and so many other stores closed that the place was a zoo. I avoided it for a full 4 months. Yours? I would not step foot in it again! (and around us, Walgreens has the cheapest milk, oddly enough)
Come and live in Australia. Customer service is excellent, most of the time.
Oh my Gosh, I almost posted my WFMW on Walmart. I'll do it eventually, but for now: I tracked the cost of about 20 household items at Walmart and Target a while back. Walmart's prices were exactly one penny under Target's regular prices on everything--and remember that Target always has a good sale going, so many items will actually be far cheaper at Target. I'll pay a penny to avoid Walmart any day. You probably could have walked back to the milk case, grabbed a different gallon, and gone through line again by the time that doofus got her void approved!
Love your blog (and hate WalMart :D). I'll be back again for sure.
(I'm married to a software engineer, so I love geeks.)
I swear, a place employed with people who barely make enough to live and often have to resort to public services for food and medical attention is just so sad. Not that this excuses the customer service. I just think it's inevitable that the life-sucking energy (Voldemart...nice) Walmart has created means things will only get worse, not better. Can you tell I don't like Walmart?
If it's any consolation, customer service is societally turning sour, or so I've heard.
Nothing like ending on a happy note. I've always liked B-flat.
Omg you poor thing!
Our Walmart is actually rather good. I enjoy going there.
I'm going to definitely be washing my veggies and fruits even more now though lmao.
I think I've gone to Walmart about once a year, usually in search of something odd - like a climber thingy for my cat, because I didn't want to pay $100 at PetCo. But each time, I have had a mirror of this kind of experience! The place is a mess - dirty and totally disorganized. No one who works there knows where anything is, and something goes wrong in the checkout lane. What is with that?
You're NOT nuts...at least not about THIS subject! ;)
Customer Service HAS taken a turn for the worst - in virtually every industry!
So the question is - how do we fix it???
I'll see you on Cre8Buzz!
Have a DYNAMITE day!
Wes
I had to come over from the buzz cuz I love it when people bag on WalMart. I avoid it too. I did a price for price comparison once between WalMart and a local grocery store and WalMart was NOT cheaper. It was the same or more expensive on almost every item. Can't stand the place.
I hate walmart beyond belief.
Why does Walmart smell like carmelly corn?
WOW!!!!!! WOW WOW WOW!!!! I'm not sure I can even give a comment that would help you out on that one.You need to write to the corporate offices. That's totally out of control.
I've worked in retail for 22 years and that's one of the worst things I've ever heard and I've heard some real doozies.
On behalf of the retail workers of the world.....sooooo sorry.
I HATE Wal-hell. And, almost refuse to walk in there. I always feel like I need a shower after I come out. 800 for a gallon of milk. I knew the dollar was devalued lately, but that may make me want to withdraw all our money & hide it under the bed ala Depression.
I work too f ing hard away from my fam to give ANY of my money to WM in exchange for anything.
That said, are you SURE you only had one gallon of milk there? I mean, I run in to the store-that's-not-Walmart for milk and end up coming out with 4 bags of stuff in addition to milk. I must say the damage has never run into the hundreds, though.
What I'm shootin' for is my own cow.
Maybe you should go live with that hot Austrailia guy. Now that would be a different blog.
My local Wal-Mart sucks too. I have more empathy for Wal-Mart employees after reading "Nickel and Dimed" and watching "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price". But, I still don't like to shop there. It seems it's always filled with grouchy employees and shoppers threatening to beat their kids. ARGH.
I do still shop there occasionally because there are some things we can't get anywhere else but I would much rather go to Target and pay more.
Girl, Wal-mart is getting worse by the minute. That "lick-the-fruit" incident almost had me barfing.
So sorry you had to go through that!
The comments were almost as fun as the post! Hot Australian--he he! (No offense David! I just thought that was funny!)
In our city there are two varieties of WalMart; the super center and the Neighborhood Market. The former is a "to be avoided at all costs unless you have all day to waste and a lot of patience with ineptude and screaming children" store. The latter is about 1/2 mile from my house and has the best photo lab in the city. Twenty minutes and I'm out of there with prints in hand.
So, while I hate shopping there on principle if nothing else, I do go every so often to have my pictures processed. It is actually one of the few WalMarts I have been in that have good customer service.
Poor customer service does seem to be plaguing America today, but as a former retail worker, I can say it is no wonder they are unhappy in their jobs. Customers can be very difficult to deal with and are extremely inconsiderate.
I'm sorry you had such a difficult time, though. Who needs that kind of frustration. Hope you were able to eventually laugh about it!
TM
I probably would have just paid it not to have to wait the extra time there. That's how much I detest that place.
honey, after an experience like that i would have had the manager give me their name/rank and serial number along with the number to the main office. i would have called them and emailed them and then notified the local news. no one has to take treatment like that - NO ONE! I had an unpleasant ent experience in our local Walgreens recently which by the way had just opened up. It took me a few weeks, but I got a formal apology from the store manager, the main office, support for our local high school band and a gift card to boot! and i learned that the person who treated me so poorly (get this, they were part of management) is no longer in that store!
All Walmarts are nasty. That's why I will never shop in one.
I boycotted Walmart when they put in FOUR super Walmarts in our area the same year. I felt they were pushing their weight around. But, alas, I end up shopping there now anyway, because half the time no other store around has what I need. Sigh. Somebody rescue me.