Walmart sucks, episode 672

"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
08/24/2019 at 21:59 • Filed to: None

Last week I bought a smart light bulb, and it rang up at the wrong price. They overrode the price at the register and I left more-or-less satisfied. Today I decided I wanted a couple more of those bulbs so I went back, against my better judgment. I had to pay for them in electronics,unlike last week, and was having a decent conversation with the cashier (he’s also into vintage stereo equipment) and forgot to double-check the price. I also forgot to take my phone with me so I could take a picture of the price tag, knowing that I was probably going to have the same problem.

I realized that I overpaid about 5 minutes later. I went back to electronics but they couldn’t do any returns. So I went up front to customer (dis)service. The line was snaking out of the department and there was only one person working. After about 45 minutes I finally get to the front, and this was about the same time that an assistant manager finally came over to speed (ha!) things up a little. I explained my situation, and that I had the same problem last week. The CS person talked to the asst. manager, and the manager basically told her that I was wrong and that I must have read the wrong price tag. I tried to explain the situation from last week, and that I did read the tag and verified the number on the item. With a big sigh she finally relented and allowed the agent to refund the difference, repeating to her CS person that I was wrong, like I was trying to pull a fast one on them.

Fuck you, Walmart. Fuck your lousy customer service. Fuck your mispriced items. Just fuck off and die. The sooner they go out of business the better.

DISCUSSION (15)

BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/24/2019 at 22:17

That last paragraph is me after I go to Walmart for literally anything.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/24/2019 at 22:21

Speak with your dollars. Do not buy at Wally World.

Chariotoflove > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/24/2019 at 22:25

My local Walmart is loud, crazy, and crowded. Not the most serene shopping experience. That said, when I go, the staff harried staff try to hold back the chaos and treat me pretty well.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
08/24/2019 at 22:29

I shall resume doing just that. Sometimes I stop in to visit a customer of mine that works there, trying not to buy anything, but sometimes when I spot a deal I have a hard time resisting.

Years ago I inherited some Walmart stock. One of the first things I did was to sell it and invest in a managed fund following the principles of ethical investing. This was in the early ‘90s and there weren’t any Walmart stores in the SoCal area so I had no first-hand experience dealing with them, but I knew of their reputation and didn’t want to be part of it.

Ash78, voting early and often > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/24/2019 at 22:32

I have given up on Walmart for anything but the simplest, disposable items. I bought tires there once. Big mistake.

However, I will say that I have never had anything ring up wrong. At Target, something rings up wrong on EVERY trip. Thankfully the return process there is the best in the business.

Walmart are like utilitarian, inventory management perfectionists who don’t think service matters at all. Target is like a bunch of very nice children running a store. They both suck for their own distinct reasons. I don’t even know why they’re even considered competitors.

F them both. But I’ll save my biggest FU for Costco, which I’ll cover in its own post one day soon. Retail has gotten really horrible in recent years. Amazon didn’t ruin them. They ruined themselves.

Josh - the lost soldier > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/24/2019 at 23:13

Traditionally, I don’t care for Walmart, but I went there because it was cheap. But, a few years ago after I moved to Georgia I had a really shitty experience at the local Walmart that soured me on them forever.

Fuck Walmart. I don't care where it is or who is running it, fuck that place. There's no way in Hell I'm ever going back.

GLiddy > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/24/2019 at 23:54

Walmart pro-tip. U se the Walmart app to pay for your purchase . I’ve found that on some items, you can start a return in the app and sometimes they will give you the refund immediately and inform you that you do not need to return the item. They tell you to keep it or throw it away. This happened recently with a TV wall mount (~ $10) and another time with a window shade.

GLiddy > Ash78, voting early and often
08/25/2019 at 00:07

This is not my experience. I can pretty much count on Walmart to mis price something on every trip. Be really careful on markdowns and clearance items. These often ring up at full price or the previous price.

Once I was buying a ham that was marked down after Easter and something wasn’t right. On the label it said that the markdown price was (for example as I don’t remember the real price anymore) $2.15/lb. The ham happened to weigh in right about 10 lbs. The calculated total price was $27. I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but 2.25 x 10 is not anywhere near $27. Sure enough I looked at all their marked down meat products and the calculated price did not reflect the supposed per-lb and weight. I found a manager and informed them of what I found. After a good 20 minutes or so, I received the answer that the all the calculations of price come from Bentonville and there’s nothing to be done. They were able to knock off $5 from the ham and I bought it, but something was definitely wrong with their marked down prices on meat.

dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/25/2019 at 00:14

I hate Walmart, but it’s the only store like that within 45 minutes. Small towns are both great and awful

Gerry197 > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/25/2019 at 00:45

I like my Walmart, it’s a Supercenter with everything. Good produce as well.

To avoid the stress, I park in the back at the automotive section, I also enter and check out from there as well.

This allows me to get in and out of Walmart quickly and easily.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford
08/25/2019 at 01:27

I have many complaints about Walmart but when you live in BFE it’s a godsend. There’s so many things there that I can grab at the one a hour drive round trip that otherwise I’d have to go nearly two hours each way to Albuquerque to find at a different store.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > GLiddy
08/25/2019 at 04:12

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/25/2019 at 06:44

I wonder if your President has any Wal-Mart shares. I suspect not. If he continues down his current pathway...your wish may come true...

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
08/25/2019 at 07:31

Kinja'd!!!

Sorry - I only respect the authority of our feline overlords. No voting as they have formed a benevolent dictatorship...

subexpression > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/25/2019 at 20:16

I grew up with Wal-Mart because it was a rural area. Now I live in the city (boo!) and have lots of options - most of which are at least as bad as city Wal-Mart, WAY worse than rural Wal-Mart, and somewhere between a little more expensive and outrageously more expensive for exactly the same goods. T hey usually do offer more upscale stuff than you’ll see on the shelf at Wal-Mart , but nowhere near what you’ll find at specialty shops or on Amazon .

I honestly don’t know how some of these places stay in business, but then I remember how many of them haven’t . The question is which big retailers here will vanish and which will end up owning some market segment enough to never die no matter how awful they get. For example, I’m surprised that Best Buy is still around, but how many other brick-and-mortar options are there for mainstream home theater gear now ?