I'm not fan of WalMart. I particularly dislike their anti-union policies. But a year ago, I broke the chain on my bike and went looking for a repair kit. I went to K-Mart (closest store), two bike shops and a large sporting goods store. None had a chain repair kit. Happened to drive by a WalMart and out of curiousity went in. Found a nice chain repair kit there.
I do take advantage of their policy of letting people park their motorhomes in their parking lots overnight.

Say what you want about wallyworld, they are a driving force to retail efficiency and technology.

They just cam out with a new edict, all full pallet deliveries WILL have an RFID tag, or the seller pays big time. Say what you want, this level of tech would never make it into retail without somebody with really big guns.

I personally absolutely hate shopping in the stores. Not so much because of Walmart, but because of the ignorant slobs that shop there, blocking aisles, picking stuff up and setting it back any where, waiting until everything is rung up before taking their check book out of the bottom of their American Tourister purse filled with crap, and on and on.

And I get a kick out of one particular section of the store that always has the longest line, that line leading to the "Customer Service" (in giant blue letters) department.

But I do buy most of my "commodities" there - personal care, oils, and other home cleaning products.

man you hit my bad nerve there.it pisses me off to no end.what is the deal.doesn't matter where.(wal-mart,post office,gas station etc etc)what is it with women that they have to wait until they here the total before they even think "oh i need to pay for this"then dig for 5 minutes for their checkbook.

X2.

I only go two or three times per year and stock up. It feels like you're in an insane asylum. Both the customers and the employees are all f'n retarded. It takes 5 minutes to ring up one customer. WTF.

MORONS!:)

Tom W

Actually, that is one of reasons I do like Wal*Mart.

But where can you go that morons don't go? I was waiting in line at Home Depot and a well dressed guy (not some redneck in a nice car comes up and parks in front of the door. To his credit, he used his flashers. :rolleyes: Brings stuff for return without a receipt. Gets mad at them because he wants his money back and all they will give him is store credit for the lowest sale price in the last 30 days. What do you want them to do? Give you cash for the merchandise at the price you said you bought it for? What are they to use for proof? Your good word?

That's not a moron..........that's a DB. There is a difference. The moron would have brought it back thoroughly trashed after he used it for three years.

No that would be a double dip....Moron/DB.

Lets see...it was Lowes I believe, I took back some light fixtures shortly after I bought them, a week at most, I had bought them on sale to be sure but they were about $10 I seem to remember, they gave me like 1.98 credit and said that fixtures had been that low but were now sold out.

At our grocery store, you have to watch every single item as they are checked out. A lot are charged wrongly.

I think many stores have this very cynical attitude now and are deliberately charging the wrong price, and giving wrong credits on returns because they think most folks don't pay any attention......and they are right.....but wrong to do so.

Tom W

Your right about that I watch everything that goes through the checkout. I got that from my Mom.
Winn Dixie is the worst. They ALWAYS charge something wrong. Just last week they rung up something I didn't even have.
I think your right I do think they do it on purpose. People ARE stupid.

Danny

But how would they achieve it though? You scan the item and the computer adds it up. You would have to program it into the computer to do that. That would mean that they would have to be in collusion with the supplier of the scanning equipment. I think we are getting to the Conspiracy Zone here.

Relatively easy to determine.

If you took an average of the errors and the net is close to zero, there's no conspiracy.

If you took an average of the errors and the net result was always in favor of the merchant, there might be something to the suggestion...........

But how would that be achieved? If I noticed a $10 discrepancy in my favor, would I go tell the cashier "Hey, you should have charged me $10 instead of $5."? Chances are that people will keep quiet and pocket the change. OTOH, if they are at a loss, they will holler and scream.

I think auditing the software will be easier since people are not honest. Lets look at it this way.

Scenario 1: I am overcharged I will go to customer service and get my money back and complain to some department for investigation.

Scenario 2: I am overcharged I will go to customer service and get my money back.

Scenario 3: I am undercharged. I go back and give them the money they are due and tell some department so they investigate.

Scenario 4: I am undercharged. I go back and give them the money they are due.

Which is the most likely to occur, in your opinion? Here is how I would rank them, from most likely to least likely. 2, 1, 3, 4. So, if I am right, how would you get an accurate figure?

You're right.

There is really no good way to audit the errors, unless you use a sample of one person........yourself..........and/or possibly a trusted friend (yes, I know...........none of those available........;) ).

Much easier to audit the software.

Well, I haven't ever complained to any department either way. If the discrepancy is in my favor, I keep it. If it isn't I go get my money back.

That would be the wife and we do the same thing. In our opinion, it has been a wash. She is the one that scrutinizes the ticket for shopping and I do the other big ticket items. We find it about a wash. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. Never seems enough to make it notable.

How so?

Think the merchant is going to let Lim and company stomp on in there and go through every price in the machine??

I would imagine that if they have too many complains, somebody will be sent to audit their software, don't you? They have been slapped with a fine for pricing discrepancies along with other companies. I would think that if it occurs one time too many, some department will get involved and they will be ordered to surrender the source code. Hell, if they can break up ATT and investigate Microsoft to the point of dredging their emails, I would think if their overpricing went too far, somebody would be dispatched.

Now, if they didn't update the pricing correctly, that might be a different issue. When you are dealing with thousands of items, it can happen. However, do you think it shows a pattern? IOW, do you think that they are purposely not updating their pricing info?

Who would be sent? Someone from the government? Who would that be?

While nothing is impossible, I find it highly unlikely.

http://walmartwatch.com/battlemart/archives/milwaukee_wi_wal_mart_fined_for_overcharging_its_customers/

Now granted that we have to give them some leeway because of the volume of merchandise and the large number of merchandise, should they keep it up, don't you think that some official will want to use it to secure his election and get involved?

Totally different scenario. That's a clear violation of weights and measures and the government has plenty of people to enforce those statutes.

You're talking about the potential for outright fraud..........and you'd need a class action lawsuit to get that going.

But you don't think that if too many people get bit by inaccurate pricing, somebody won't launch an investigation and get a court order to audit their equipment? Now, if I keep getting bit by it, sooner or later, I will complain. Come election year, somebody will try be the good guy and do something about it or at least, so goes my theory.

There's no mechanism for that. You'd need to initiate a class action lawsuit. The only data you have is your own data. What did they rip you off for..........$2.20??? Yes, you can file a lawsuit for that amount.........that's it.

I don't shop at WalMart because it depresses me. Every time I went to one, I would see poor people (of all races) spending money they didn't have on TVs, ect... that had a big sale sign on them that just had the 'can't pass up' look. Then you go into the parking lot and see them loading the loot into a windowless vehicle's trunk that has four different wheels on it and the lock punched out of the trunk, freakin cur dog on the front seat....

btw, next to USAA, Wal-Mart is one of the most aggressive entities I know in the defending of lawsuits. They skimp on a lot of things, but spare no expense in the defense of ANY lawsuit no matter the merit. I only know of one guy in my State that they will settle with prior to suit, and he just flat out killed them and they tried to retain him so he wouldn't sue them anymore and he refused $300K a year for doing nothing. Brass balls.

WalMart doesn't have the lock on that story. K-Mart, Target, and all the discount retailers are in the same boat. Wal-Mart is just the spokesperson............

I don't shop at any of them either....

Can't say I blame you...........but, shopping, in general, is not very satisfying.

If I can find it on the internet and the shipping is not egregious.........that's satisfying.

You pay shipping and I pay $10/hour plus $.48/mile. Probably works out close to the same since I get to write off the expense;)

Amazon.com is my new best friend.

Must be nice.:D

But unless you buy it with instant shipping (not sure how to do that), you'd still have to wait.

Walmart is a great company and the stores are very good
 

I shop at Wal-Mart at least twice a week ...... buy 90 percent of everything there and much of it is Chinese, of very good quality. The world has changed and today you have to buy the best available product at the lowest price. That is what Wal-Mart offers in almost every area. Those who have gripes about US companies going out of business should realize that the ones that do were probably not the best in the world even before other Asian or European goods started to hit our markets. Griping about Walmart and going out of your way to shop on Ebay and drive 10 extra miles to go to "Auto Supply XX" isn't really to effective.

We all drive German cars because they are great vehicles ..... why aren't you all buying Fords and Chevys??

Ben Carter

Yup. America has changed. I see a lot of small towns where main street is boarded up and once-thriving businesses are now pawn or consignment shops. Invariably there is a WalMart or such 2 miles away with a full parking lot.

Just remember, the same system that gives you cheap disposable goods also supresses freedom in Tibet. Or do we really care?

Walmart does not have good quality. How do you think they can go so low in pricing? It's well know manufacturers make lower quality products just for Walmart. Levi is a perfect example. The Levi jeans you get at Walmart are not the same jeans you get at a Levi's store.
You get what you pay for, Walmart is no exception.

Danny

Simple: The store employees (that are R'tards) don't do their jobs properly...either pricing the stuff w/the correct price when they stock the shelves w/the item, change the tag that should be reflecting the current price for the item or someone not double-checking the computer entry to determine that it was entered correctly and "stuck" as is was intended.

BINGO! The computer couldn't/can't make the mistake...it's the R'tards!

Nope...just lazy... :rolleyes:

No conspiracy...just laziness.

Where you run into even more of it is when you buy a consumable (on a regular basis), and even when you find the error (it's in your favor, so you go through the "correcting the price" (CTP) time-wasting-torture test) and you think it's been corrected. Only NEXT time you buy the same item, it's still the SAME incorrect price, go through the same CTP procedure and it happens again and again...(yep, four times, same chit...) - THEN I personally call the store manager (his/her name is on every receipt, at the top) and watch him enter the price in the computer and test it out.

After the 3rd time, I'm starting to think that THERE, I might be looking at a conspiracy...but I'm chalking it up to just plain, dumb-ass laziness.

Remember...these folks (SOME of the employees) aren't getting top dollar for what they're putting out...some have health-issues that MAL*FART isn't paying for to correct and some have issues co-operating w/society...i.e.: getting up in the morning, showing up for work on time, having a decent work record in attendance, let alone their personal hygiene is debatable...- :eek:

Go through your local store and look at their eyes...some are just blank...nothing but "living from paycheck to paycheck" energy...they could care less if you were their manager, district manager or on the board of MAL*FART itself...they want their check and they're out of there.

And if they went to another job, I seriously doubt they'd exhibit any other attitude. Initially, maybe, but within a month...drag-city.

Each store has a different personality...and since it's the only place that's open 24/7/364 (I believe they shut down on X-mas), I've seen my share of stores...they are all different in their own way...some are top-notch all the time...others have problems keeping the "greeter" in a cheery manner.

But conspiracy?

Only in that they do wipe out the small "Ma & Pa's" when they first move into a community...but I've seen family businesses sell out to the first Ya-Hoo that'll plunk down a dollar and they run like hell, off to retirement...only because those owners know how business really works...and they just don't have it in them to try to compete with the Chines...err...ahh...MART*FARTS of the world.

That's my take on this...

:tt2:

Competition is the very heart of capitalism.
If you do not like Wal Mart--then do not shop there.
Wal Mart is successful because they provide goods and services at what is perceived to be good prices for the value rec'd.
If you can provide higher quality at lower prices, then by all means, go into business and drive Wal Mart out of business in a fair and competitive manner.
However, to complain about how bad Wal Mart is just sounds elitist whinning.
By the same whinning, we should be still subsidizing the buggy whip manufacturers...

That's their way of keeping the prices low.

When was the last time you saw a TREK bike on their racks? Or a REAL Schwinn? (Not the crap that's being sold as Schwinn, now.) OR even a Huffy?

Look for Rubber-maid...that stuff is rare...only see it at other "high-end" retail outlets now...they couldn't stay open/viable for what MAL*FART was requiring Rubber-maid to price their stuff to sell to them.

"Do this or we won't buy your stuff to put on our shelves."


So the brand name you use to trust for quality has three options...

#1.) Tell MAL*FART you'll sell your product at whatever price you want - MAL*FART drops your product line from the shelves.

#2.) Drop the price to where MAL*FART wants it priced. Quality has to go somewhere so the company can still meet margins...

#3.) Drop MAL*FART and try to retail your product at a different style of store...until such time that that store itself ends up going out of business because even they can't compete against MAL*FART themselves...


Welcome to "Retail Business World-101"...throats beware! Turtle-necks optional.

WalMart is a model of streamlining and capitalist efficiency. No doubt about that. It's very successful and good at what it does.

BUT.

Capitalism by nature implies exploitation - be it natural resources, people, or other businesses. WalMart exploits cheap Chinese labor obviously, and forces businesses to comply with its rigid standards. However there is another exploitation that is less obvious and unprecedented, and that is the widespread weakening of the social and economic infrastructure of Anytown USA. Where money used to change hands amongst locals and spread around for the good of the community, it now funnels directly into WalMart centers and the profits are enjoyed in Bentonville, Arkansas. Potential business owners (aka taxpayers) don't even bother setting up shop because the merchandising giant out on the bypass will always undercut them by a couple pennies. Diverse job opportunities dry up.

Then theres plain old esthetics. Big boxes surrounded by broiling swaths of asphalt - show me one Walmart that isn't a blight on the landscape?

The outsourcing of jobs is a trend that has been going on for a while and it's full effects will take a while to be seen. Initially, there were lower prices that made it look beneficial, but over the long run I believe the loss of jobs and more importantly the US trade deficit, will become a HUGE problem. (I think it already is a big problem)

I have a computer program that I use to trade commodities and currencies. I have been trying to get better results from the program so I back tested the system against every major commodity and currency back to 2001. That was as far back as I could go due to Microsoft and the way they don't make things forward compatible. I was looking at whether the program worked better trading long or short or both. What I found is that with many of the grains and currencies, the program worked much better going long as there have been long uptrends over the last decade. For some commodities, the system worked well both long and short, such as copper or soybeans.

There was only one market that I could find that traded best going short only, which indicates long down trends. I'll give you one guess what it was.

The US Dollar.

Have a nice day

And they flatten their dissidents arguments by flattening the dissidents. Do I give a rip what they do there? Let me dig a little deeper. Nope, still nothing.

That is quite an allegation!! Simply saying it does not make it true.

I think it would be easier to argue that capitalism brings freedom, while oppressive governments bring exploitation.

Exploitation isn't a bad word. It means to use or utilize - it could be in a nice or not nice way. Capitalism in a nutshell means freely moving resources around with a profit motivation. Typically something is being used up in the process. My beef with Walmart is with what they are using up.

Which is what?

What would it be when capitalists take it to a 3rd world country because the labor is so cheap?

Labor cost saving

Exploitation.....wait let me get my dictionary- Carleton hasn't been around so I have to find it.

Random House says: To use selfishly for one's own end...it doesn't state what end.

So what? WGAS if we exploit the Chinese?

From a "track record" and past experience point of view, it seems a very standard human practice through the ages to utilize cheap or free labor.

Labor is one thing - it's renewable. I'm referring to the other thing that Walmart is using up - the small and medium sized American town. It's an abstract concept, but its part of the reason why small towns can't thrive anymore, unless they are lucky enough to convert to tourism.

I guess I'm not sentemental about small towns. Yes, small shops cannot go toe-to-toe with Wal*Mart. However, there was a time when Wal*Mart was a small store too. Same with JC Penny. They grew in different directions. You have to adapt to changing conditions and sell something that they cannot. If I stick to the same old stuff I sold yesterday because it did well and refuse to change to adapt to conditions, I don't deserve to remain in business.