The Problem With Customer Service...

[Lammie]

We go to Wal Mart late Sat. nights for groceries. While my wife is getting groceries I would walk around in hardware, sporting, automotive, etc. to see what they have. I can't buy if I don't know about a new item.

Last several months they started playing this obnoxious screeching music. Now sometimes I just go ourtside and wait. It is irritating and I know it gets on the nerves of some of the cashiers.
I am told headquarters pipes it in and nothing they can do about it.

Any of you have this problem?

Not that I have noticed. I know a former walmartian, maybe she can tell me.

I am sure that retail management is pretty much the same everywhere in theory. The difference is what kind of committment the company is willing to make in terms of making those principles work. The first Wal Mart I ever went to was in Durant, Oklahoma. I remember thinking what a nice place it was. (This was back in 1980 or so) It was clean and the people were friendly.

I think that when Sam Walton was alive, things like that were very important to him and he stressed it when opening every store. Now everyone is just greedy and WalMart has become a symbol of everything that's wrong with American culture.

McDonald's is the same way. Ray Croc insisted that every employee in every franchise be extremely polite or they would not work there. He was big on cleanliness, too. Ever see how nasty some McDonald's are?

Everyone reading this can think of at least 1 other example, I bet. Once you dominate the market, it's easy to forget what made you #1.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Everyone reading this can think of at least 1 other example, I bet. Once you dominate the market, it's easy to forget what made you #1.

Much more than 1 Lammie.

My daughters wore their truck tires and I bought replacement sets from Wal-Mart since they would be off in college or wherever. Wal-Marts are always in the proximity of them. Got the road hazard warranty. Biggest mistake I ever made. There once was a time that Wal-Mart tires were a good deal. Now the tire is bad no matter what. You can have a nail in the tire 2 and 5/8 inches into the tread and they call it sidewall damage. I got proof of that.

 

[GMN]

The Super center that I go to alot, has very helpful people, I was looking for a digital camera, and the girl there spent over 30 minutes answering my questions, even though I did not buy one that day, and even the checkers, chat when I check out. Now the other Walmart in the smaller town the other way, can't get any help, and they are kind of rude, you think it would be just the opposite being its a small town, but it is the way it is.

I like to shop online for electronics, Walmart.com, usually has better deals with discounts online, than what they sell in the stores, and this way seems to work great.

GMN

 

[Lammie]

All the checkers are always real friendly in every store I go to. As a former cashier, I can tell you that they are very important. The cashier is the last person you will generally deal with before you leave the store, so a smile and a friendly face can really make the difference between a positive and negative experience in shopping. I have been told many times as a cashier that it was nice to see someone smile and be happy when everything else was chaos. Like this time of year, back to school. It really gets nuts in the stores.

I always try to remember that someone has to clean up the mess I leave behind because I have been in the store till 2 or 3 in the mornings putting things back where it should be, knowing that someone will mess it up again.

I really used to feel sorry for the toy guys at Christmas time. There just was no efficient way to manage those aisles during the course of the day that it didn't look like a bomb exploded there by close.

I hated working retail.

 

[Crowderfarms]

When my Wife drags me to Wal-Mart, I only agree to go to see all the Trailer Trash, Freaks with their bad tatoos and little White guys with Mexican gals.It makes me feel so lucky to not live near town.

 

[angie1]

The whole time I am in the store I am miserable and feeling guilty for being there.

That is exactly how I feel! I would rather be caught by my husband at a Ford dealership than Walmart

 

[Brute 23]

From their point of view the probably have 50 little un-escourted brats a day come up and ask them to opent that case.

Granted they could have asked him questions, or atleast acknowledged him, but Wal-Mart employees are treated like people in a Natzi camp and are made wel aware of the fact that they can be replaced at any time.

I wouldn't be chearful either if I had to work there.

 

[Lammie]

From their point of view the probably have 50 little un-escourted brats a day come up and ask them to opent that case.

Granted they could have asked him questions, or atleast acknowledged him, but Wal-Mart employees are treated like people in a Natzi camp and are made wel aware of the fact that they can be replaced at any time.

I wouldn't be chearful either if I had to work there.

As someone who has had several less than cheery jobs, I can tell you that a little smile doesn't hurt. It even makes you feel better. But you are prolly right on about the kids. Simce there was a child molested at the Cleburne store a few years ago, I don't let William out of my sight the few times he has gone with me. I just want him to be able to communicate what he wants to store personnel and not depend of me to do it all the time.

 

[flaboy?]

Lammie, see if you can find an email address for Corporate and send them an email explaining what happened. Don't go off too much on them but let them know you find this type of service unacceptable.

Most times they will respond. Many times with a gift certificate. I did this for a big "home store" and a restaurant. I figured it was better than going to jail for assault and I got a $100 gift card and a free dinner. I got a call from the manager with an apology also.

 

[GMN]

Did you guys hear that walmart is getting jipped by shoplifters? Its thier own employees that steal from them. I think that says how unhappy and dissasatified the employees are, with hours being cut, alot of the stores hire new employees, give them full time hours, only to cut them down to hours where they can't hardly pay their bills on, and this is the result. Not saying that all of them steal, but from what i have heard there are alot of them that are unhappy with the decrease in the benefit packages, and cut hours. I think working at Walmart isn't what it use to be.

GMN

 

[Lammie]

Did you guys hear that walmart is getting jipped by shoplifters? Its thier own employees that steal from them. I think that says how unhappy and dissasatified the employees are, with hours being cut, alot of the stores hire new employees, give them full time hours, only to cut them down to hours where they can't hardly pay their bills on, and this is the result. Not saying that all of them steal, but from what i have heard there are alot of them that are unhappy with the decrease in the benefit packages, and cut hours. I think working at Walmart isn't what it use to be.

GMN

A woman that worked for me at MHMR also had a part time job at walmart and she got fired for allowing one of her friends to use her employee discount. She really wasn't a bad person, and I think the only reason she did it was because the woman she loaned it to was bugging her about it.

At Target, if you got caught stealing, they would purposely wait till your shift and then have you arrested and taken off in front of everyone. They told us up front that was their policy and they really stuck to it. During my time there I saw it happen twice. Once when an assist CSM was taking money out of the tills and another time when a guy was loading VCR's into the trunk of his car at the loading dock after close.

The CSM got caught because she was taking money out of the same guy's bag because she didn't like him and wanted him to get fired. He was about to be fired, and he just insisted that no matter what he did, he came up short. Of course, new people were always short when they first started working because back before scanning, you had to ring up the intem code, department code and price. It was easy to screw up. And, your screw-ups were posted for everyone to see. Your check would reflect a deduction for the loss.

I personally don't see how she did it because there were always loss prevention people that watched you count out and you dropped your own bag with someone watching, You had to check it to make sure it dropped. I guess she had access to the count house. Except for the screwy hours, checking wasn't so bad.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Know of a small store that closed because the employees were stealing. The mentality of people know a days is they are rich they can afford it.
My son stole two packs of gum from the local store. I found them before we got in our truck, some parents might have thought oh well, but not me. I dragged him back in there made him admit to taking the gum amd apologize to the clerk and spanked him in front of everybody. The gum cost would have been $.50, but the lesson he learned on stealing is priceless.
He was 3 years old. Has never taken anything without asking or paying since.
I missed putting an item up for the checker at a store and left with it. Found it in the parking lot went back in and paid for it and apoligized for missing it. The checkers jaw hit the floor, he said alot of people would have just left and never said anything. Told him I was just too honest to do that to the store.

 

[Brute 23]

YOu should see how they are treated at Wal-Mart.... :shock: Ask some one who works there.

 

[Green Creek]

I just got back from Walmart and a 10 year employee who has worked up front for years managing the cashiers was out in the heat of the gardening department. I asked her why and she said she had asked a customer for a receipt and that customer had complained to the manager and he demoted her.

She said they had reduced her wages a year ago trying to get her to quit and now this. She is making too much money and they can hire more help cheaper so all her years of service mean nothing. She has been one of their most efficient and hard working employees too. She was standing in 100 degree heat with tears running down her face. She has three more years to retirement and will just have to get through it.

 

[GMN]

I just got back from Walmart and a 10 year employee who has worked up front for years managing the cashiers was out in the heat of the gardening department. I asked her why and she said she had asked a customer for a receipt and that customer had complained to the manager and he demoted her.

She said they had reduced her wages a year ago trying to get her to quit and now this. She is making too much money and they can hire more help cheaper so all her years of service mean nothing. She has been one of their most efficient and hard working employees too. She was standing in 100 degree heat with tears running down her face. She has three more years to retirement and will just have to get through it.

That is just wrong!! I imagine they will make her life a living he!! for the next 3 years. Gonna be the decrease for business for the Walmart corporation over time. I thinkwhat we have here is the heirs of Sam Walton, just being greedy wanting to be richer and richer, pretty sad.

GMN

 

[Brute 23]

Sad as it is their tactics could be written in a text book for how to create a profitable business. In no way are they loosing anything... nothing but growth. They can replace every employee in a store in one day.

 

[GMN]

Sad as it is their tactics could be written in a text book for how to create a profitable business. In no way are they loosing anything... nothing but growth. They can replace every employee in a store in one day.

Maybe they can replace their employees, but fact is, their reputation has suffered for it.

They may be building alot of new supercenters, some cities have more than they need, they put out the smaller food chains, I guess you can consider that to be growth, some people say its a monopoly.

I know their prices can't be beat, because if someone tries they match the prices, I shop their myself, and do save money, I'm just saying that I doubt this new way that Walmart does business is exactly what its founder had in mind for the employees.

GMN

 

[I luv herfrds]

My grandmother used to shop there, but she doesn't any more, can't stand the poor service. She has nothing nice to say about it.

There was a big stink from Wal-Mart up here. They wanted to open a new store near the Air Force base, but alot of people were against it. Should have seen all the people that showed up wearing hats and shirts with the big yellow frowning faces on them.

 

[GMN]

My grandmother used to shop there, but she doesn't any more, can't stand the poor service. She has nothing nice to say about it.

There was a big stink from Wal-Mart up here. They wanted to open a new store near the Air Force base, but alot of people were against it. Should have seen all the people that showed up wearing hats and shirts with the big yellow frowning faces on them.

Now that is amusing!

GMN