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Do You As A Consumer Shop At Walmart?

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Old 07-19-2008, 04:34 AM
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Watched a documentary about wally world tonight and some of the things this multi-billion dollar company does really disgusted me.

For the past few months, I have been shopping at local grocery stores, electronic stores, auto parts outlets(routine maintenance items) cause i absolutely despise walking into those stores. not just because of what ive heard or read about how they shaft their employees, but mainly cause of the usual crappy service i get from having people in certain areas of the stores in charge of a area and not knowing a thing about certain items that i know more about it than they do.

I know for a fact that I have paid more in the long run for the items that i have purchased but I have way less damage on my vehicles by not going into them parking lots(I usually park in BFE),I have less wait time in the limes at the grocery stores, and finally when i have questions I usually get them answered and most of the time find out something a little more about something that i am interested in.

Ever since ole Sam Walton died it seems they are out to just basically ruin small towns and that is the total opposite of what Sam was all about in his biography. I'm not totally against them as I have a friend that is a loss prevention specialist in north dakota, worked for them for almost 20 years and the company has basically let him afford his family of four kids, but that is about it.
The documentary I watched showed a vast array of aspsects and truthfully there are too many to list but one i thought was really funny I will list.

in 2005, walmart employees contributed 5 million dollars to their employee help fund. this basically gives walmart employees money when they have a serious loss like a death in the family, tornado, sickness, ETC. these are people that in 2005 the average salary for a full time employee at walmart with 2 years of experience was less than minimum wage of someone on a 40hr/wk work schedule . the funny part of this is the remaining people in the Walton family whose estimated net worth together between the four of them of 108 billion gave a total of $6,000 to the same help fund.

SAD.
Old 07-19-2008, 07:26 AM
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I do all I can to stay away from Walmart. I absolutely hate it. I've seen similar movies to the one you watched.

But their service is crap, their products are crap, and they have a bunch of half brains working for them who severely lack critical thinking so when I want a refund for something broken I still have to pay a restock.

The only time I go there is to pick up a pizza or a sub, because there are both a papa murphy's and subway in our walmart.

And the parking thing you mentioned is also experienced around here too.

I hate the Walmart.
Old 07-19-2008, 07:34 AM
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I avoid shopping there at all costs.
Old 07-19-2008, 07:48 AM
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Absolutely, I buy my necessities there. Certain things are just much cheaper than other stores. I really don't need service, its not hard for me to make up my mind which cereal I wanna buy. It's not rocket science. Really, who wants to spend hours shopping anyway (unless it's clothes)? Figure out what you want before you go to the store. If you're looking into buying a plasma TV, do your research before you go. Then go in, get it, and leave. It's that simple. You get what you pay for. And really if you want good service, go to some place like JCPenney's where employees in certain departments earn commission. You'll pay more money for what you're buying, but you'll have someone to hold your hand while you shop.
Old 07-19-2008, 09:49 AM
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Well, that's what I'd expect from TC and Jed, this company is helping destroy the common worker here in the USA, and is just making the Chinese rich.

I don't shop there anymore, I OCCASIONALLY go to the WalMart Neigborhood Market to pick up a bag of chips or something that I remembered that I need for the next day (open 24 hours and they regularly do potlucks at my work).

Other than that, nothing.

Walmart undercuts their suppliers, forces them to sell off their products and production to chinese companies that can do it cheaper (example = Rubbermaid), and they treat their employees like shit (a group of butchers in Canada were forming a union, WalMart found out and CLOSED THE BUTCHER SECTIONS IN ALL OF THESE WALMARTS).

Saying that you get what you pay for is childish, every cent you put into WalMart is money in China's pocket, and a bit of the soul of this nation is lost.

http://www.walmartmovie.com/

Great movie, regularly shown on MSNBC too.


Long story short, I went to the Walmart in Seoul Korea, they do tourist trips to it, out front, some smart guy was selling T-Shirts, and in english they said...

WalMart - Your Place for Cheap Plastic Shit.
Old 07-19-2008, 10:14 AM
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lol, Jed actually doesn't shop at Walmart. Then again I haven't been living with him for the past 8 months so if he stepped foot in a Walmart, I wouldn't have known about it. But nice of you to assume that we are one in the same.

I didn't say I did all my shopping there. I do my grocery shopping close to home. Just for certain things like make up and cereal I buy there, and I only go when I need a bunch of things. It's a bit of a drive to get there, so I don't bother wasting gas if I only need one thing.

QUOTE
Saying that you get what you pay for is childish


How so? Have you ever worked in retail? I've worked in several stores, from cheap discount stores selling cheap crap to higher end stores selling quality products. My point was, you can't expect to go into a place like Walmart and expect employees to drop to their knees to service you when you walk in. And yes, it certainly is because their pay is sh!t and they are treated like sh!t. Would you really expect any different?

I never said I supported the way Walmart runs it's business. I've watched the documentaries. But will it stop me from shopping there completely? Nope. $2.50 for a bigger box of cereal > $5.50 for smaller box of cereal.

QUOTE
WalMart - Your Place for Cheap Plastic Shit.


Funny, I didn't know General Mills and Maybelline were cheap plastic pieces of sh!t, or Chinese for that matter.
Old 07-19-2008, 10:23 AM
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in florida we have no choice but to go to walmart. all other stores rip you off plus they're far away. they have a section for everything so you go in and out with everything you need right close to your house. sure the stuff is chinese but it's good. i bought work shoes there for $15 and they were the only ones i could walk in at the restaurant without my feet falling to bits. lasted quite long. bought some american ones costing 5 times as expensive, they're tougher quality but hurt like hell to walk in and not worth it.

i bought my E6000 adhesive at walmart for a ridiculous price. retired my superglue and whatever else clays i don't use anything else. nothing can compare. i even send them to poland for my friend and nothing there can match it.

i also buy my rightguard active sport purple there (reminds me of a girl) the only store that carries them. they also have my amazon sweet tea which nobody else carries as well.

the electronic department on the other hand are the reason for warranties. i find it a big flaw.




Old 07-19-2008, 10:23 AM
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why does everyone hate that walmart

A. does things better then other stores thats why they are still around
B. hate on them for getting money


i hate the long lines and stupid employees, but then again i dont shop at walmart very much unless i have to or its late at night. i just dont see how people waste so much engery and time on hating walmart when they could take that same engery/time and put it into getting money like walmart does.

as far as jobs leaving the country, its because why would i pay someone 10 dollars to make my socks when i can get the same socks made for 2 dollars and not have people complaining about this or that, wanting time off for this or that, dealing with typical American worker bull$hit. so i can definatly see why people want to manufacture out of country. if you were business minded you would understand why those things happen. unfortunately most people are human minded and would rather see neighbors employed, then keeping cost of living to a minimum and profit margins to a maximum.
Old 07-19-2008, 11:08 AM
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I think it's funny how people say Wal-Marts products are cheap China made crap when for the most part it is the same product being distributed at all other stores in N. America. Unless you are buying the Wal-Mart brand products, you are getting the same thing you would get elsewhere. As for me and my family, Wal-Mart is the only large retail store in town. We go there to buy groceries for the most part. We will also buy the Wal-Mart brand cold medicine. When you have three kids and it's time for summer camp do you go to Big 5 (sporting goods) to buy three pairs of $50 swim shoes or do you go to Wal-Mart and buy three $3.99 pairs? They last the same amount of time and we don't have money to burn.
Old 07-19-2008, 11:30 AM
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