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I walmart evil?

I just don't care for Walmart because the one near me is always very dirty. There are stains on the clothes hanging up in there, there is a layer of dust over the produce, and a team of scientists with strong stomachs might be able to determine what exactly that stuff stuck to the floor is, but I can't. This is, of course, the fault of my local Walmart management and staff, and whoever's supposed to keep them on the ball. And when they built the place, they really messed up the traffic in the area. It takes real effort to actually make it to the Walmart here.

The Walmart I went to when I lived in Macon, however, was actually quite nice, much cleaner and more organized than the Kmart across the street. The one in my parents' town is middle of the road: a bit messy, but not dirty.

My point is, not all Walmarts are the same, any more than all individual restaurants in a chain are the same. Haven't you all experienced The Bad McDonald's? You know, there's always one McDonald's in town that's so much worse than the others, and everyone knows it and calls it The Bad McDonald's. "I got chicken nuggets for lunch." "You didn't go to The Bad McDonald's, did you?" "No, I drove past it and went to the one by the mall."
 
Bob Klase said:
The link is to B&H, You recommend J&R. Are they the same?
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No, they aren't. He may have meant B&H, I'm not entirely sure. His description would surely describe B&H's 9th Avenue store to a 't'.
 
luchog said:
That is demonstrably not true. While they do have better prices on a number of common items, most of their "better prices" are temporary loss-leaders.
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I can't recall anyone in this thread claiming that Walmart always has the best price. Temporary loss-leaders are not illegal, unethical or even unusual in the retail stores. Grocery stores do it constantly as does K-mart, Target and thousands of other businesses. So what? If you can get it cheaper elsewhere and price is the first consideration- but it there. If it's cheaper at Walmart and price is the first consideration then but it at Walmart. The only way I can see that this statement would apply to this thread is if you're either unhappy because Walmart doesn't always have the lowest price on every item they sell (in which case you're not going to like any store in the world), or you're not happy because Walmart doesn't post a sign telling you where you can buy it cheaper.

luchog said:
It's cheaper for me to buy most things at Amazon.com than it is to buy them locally at WalMart. Even WalMart's loss-leader prices are often higher than Amazon's normal prices.
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And Amazon's normal prices are often higher than many other on-line only stores. But comparing on-line stores to local brick and mortar stores is not particularily relevant.

luchog said:
Even when buying name-brand stuff, they often get the lower-end reduced-quality-control products; rather than the higher-quality "enthusiast" versions...

Some of them disguise this fact by using different imprints for their products. Instead of sticking the Sony or Mitsubishi or Samsung name on it, they'll sell under a different brand name like LJ or Lite-on, usually fully owned by or partnered with the major brand (Lite-On uses predominatly re-packaged Pioneer IIRC).
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Disguising that fact? They buy a similar item but it's lower quality, and they rebrand it to "disguise the fact" that it's lower quality? More likely pointing out the fact. I'd say leaving the Sony, Mitsubishi or Samsung name on it would be much more misleading. You're really reaching into fantasy land to find something to complain about here.

luchog said:
Some of them disguise this fact by using different imprints for their products. Instead of sticking the Sony or Mitsubishi or Samsung name on it
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Do you have any idea how many products Sony has manufacturered by someone else and then sticks their brand name on it? I'd say that's much more misleading that what you're claiming about Walmart.

luchog said:
Second, they frequently violate their contract with distributors to engage in unethical (and technically illegal) business practices... Because WalMart is the largest US distributor for many products, they frequently get away with these violations scot-free, or with only a token fine; while other retailers engaging in similar practices have gotten nailed with huge fines, or had their distribution rights revoked for breach of contract.
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Any evidence that Walmart (technically) breaks the law and gets off scot free while others are getting nailed with huge fines? The war on Walmart has been going on for quit a while now. I find it hard to believe that the forces that hate Walmart have filed huge lawsuits and won them if what you claim is true. But I'm certainly willing to look at the evidence you have.
 
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jj said:
And an expensive, unservicable item is what?
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Returnable to Walmart for a full refund is what. Before Walmarts were common (in the 1970's there was nothing even similar to a Walmart within 50 miles of where I lived), it was a piece of junk you had to mail back to the manufacurer for repair- often paying postage yourself.

So you consider that something else that makes Walmart bad? A significant number of the arguments you present against Walmart could be used in an advertising campaign for Walmart.
 
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Bob Klase said:
Returnable to Walmart for a full refund is what.
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In the UK we have a law that all goods sold by a retailer must be of "merchantable quality". That is, they should do what they're sold as doing. If an item doesn't work one can get one's money back. Sale of Goods Act, 1896-ish. Accept no flim-flam about credit-notes, the manufacturer's responsibility, we'll have to consult head-office, have you been walking in those shoes? ... NO, and thrice nay, demand your money back right there and then. Sometimes you get an upgrade, with a suit demanding that his minions make sure that this one works.
 
jj -- "I'm paying for service"

WalMart doesn't offer you service. WalMart offers you price.

You seem to want an awful lot of hand-holding when you shop.
Please continue to stay out of WalMart, whose business model is not designed for you. WalMart cannot satisfy your needs.
 
Everone taking part on this thread should ignore both the pro and con Walmart documentaries that are out at the moment and instead watch the far shorter and less boring South Park episode "Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes." It manages to present both sides of most arguments here in less than 30 minutes.
 
Bob Klase said:
The link is to B&H, You recommend J&R. Are they the same?
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::embarrassed:: No. JJ is correct. I said J&R when I meant B&H. For whatever it's worth, I highly recommend J&R for non-optical stuff -- that's where I bought my last two computers, an iPod, a couple of GPS devices, a HEPA filter, etc. They're both perfect examples of just how good a local business can be. But for cameras and other optical equipment, you go to B&H.
 
Tmy said:
Walmart is the poster biz for greed. They make a zillion-billion dollars in profits, but can never seem to give a little back to their employees. Sure health care would be expensive for Walmart, but would making ONLY a trillion-billion dollars be so awful???
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Funny you should mention that. I don't think most people have done the math even from available public documents. Wal*Mart is a lot less profitable than most people think in terms of return on assets or (especially) return on sales. I invite you to take their public documents and apply a (just for example) $2/hour raise to all their employees. What happens to the company?
 
TragicMonkey said:
I just don't care for Walmart because the one near me is always very dirty. There are stains on the clothes hanging up in there, there is a layer of dust over the produce, and a team of scientists with strong stomachs might be able to determine what exactly that stuff stuck to the floor is, but I can't. This is, of course, the fault of my local Walmart management and staff, and whoever's supposed to keep them on the ball. And when they built the place, they really messed up the traffic in the area. It takes real effort to actually make it to the Walmart here.

The Walmart I went to when I lived in Macon, however, was actually quite nice, much cleaner and more organized than the Kmart across the street. The one in my parents' town is middle of the road: a bit messy, but not dirty.

My point is, not all Walmarts are the same, any more than all individual restaurants in a chain are the same. Haven't you all experienced The Bad McDonald's? You know, there's always one McDonald's in town that's so much worse than the others, and everyone knows it and calls it The Bad McDonald's. "I got chicken nuggets for lunch." "You didn't go to The Bad McDonald's, did you?" "No, I drove past it and went to the one by the mall."
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In a national comparison by Dateline NBC, Wal-Mart and Save-A-Lot tied for second place as the cleanest grocery stores by examination of health inspection data. The worst?... Safeway.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10976595/?page=2
 
TragicMonkey said:
There aren't any Safeways around here. And I've never even heard of Save-A-Lot.
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You have a point. Even though these stores are national by definition, they do seem to be regionally allocated. I wonder if they just have different names in different regions, but are the same store?

You can put your zip in here http://shop.safeway.com/superstore/default.asp?brandid=1&page=corphome to find the nearest one to you.

We don't have any Winn-Dixie (also included in the article) stores here, but I have been to several whilst traveling.
 
Bob Klase said:
Returnable to Walmart for a full refund is what. Before Walmarts were common (in the 1970's there was nothing even similar to a Walmart within 50 miles of where I lived), it was a piece of junk you had to mail back to the manufacurer for repair- often paying postage yourself.

So you consider that something else that makes Walmart bad? A significant number of the arguments you present against Walmart could be used in an advertising campaign for Walmart.
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Your point? I return it for a refund. I still haven't got one. Big whoop. I don't buy things I don't have a use for.

Tell it to me the day after 2' of snow hits, to use the snowblower analogy. (I don't live where it snows much any more, just so that's clear.)

I find your completely irate intrangence very puzzling, to say the least. You don't imagine you're convincing me to go to Walmart, do you?
 
webfusion said:
jj -- "I'm paying for service"

WalMart doesn't offer you service. WalMart offers you price.
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Exactly my point. thank you.
You seem to want an awful lot of hand-holding when you shop.
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Really? I gather you can't tell the difference between service, then, and hand-holding?

I can build my own kitchen cabinets, plumb and wire my house, too. Does it mean I should?

I could build the house, too, even design a house that uses standard engineering. But should I?
Please continue to stay out of WalMart, whose business model is not designed for you. WalMart cannot satisfy your needs.
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Is that an official request?
 
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manny said:
::embarrassed:: No. JJ is correct. I said J&R when I meant B&H. For whatever it's worth, I highly recommend J&R for non-optical stuff -- that's where I bought my last two computers, an iPod, a couple of GPS devices, a HEPA filter, etc. They're both perfect examples of just how good a local business can be. But for cameras and other optical equipment, you go to B&H.
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For the record, I agree with Manny on both parts here. Nothing wrong with either J&R or B&H in their specialized areas at all.
 
TragicMonkey said:
There aren't any Safeways around here. And I've never even heard of Save-A-Lot.
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It's interesting, here in the NW, Safeway is in fact a pretty ugly grocery store. None the less, the store on Baseline in Boulder, Co, and the one at Vail, both used to be pretty *(* nice stores to patronize.

I've seen a save-a-lot somewhere, then again I've hit all but two states of the union at this point, which are Alaska and North Dakota, so that doesn't say much.
 
Bob Klase said:
Any evidence that Walmart (technically) breaks the law and gets off scot free while others are getting nailed with huge fines? The war on Walmart has been going on for quit a while now. I find it hard to believe that the forces that hate Walmart have filed huge lawsuits and won them if what you claim is true. But I'm certainly willing to look at the evidence you have.
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I do have plenty of evidence. Unfortunately, it's job-related and therefore covered by my confidentiality agreement. But I have at least three separate instances where WalMart violated release-date provisions of their distribution contract. The most notable was one of the Harry Potter releases. IIRC they didn't even get a slap on the wrist for that one; while a number of other retailers, mostly small local bookstores, got royally screwed out of sales because WalMart started selling three days before the official release date.

WalMart has been the object of quite a few lawsuits, most of which are settled out of court for undisclosed amounts of money. That way they never have to admit fault, their legal record is cleaner, and they pay considerably less than a full lawsuit would cost them.

They have lost a number of labour-related lawsuits, however; due to violation of quite a number of labour laws, including child-labour laws.
 
Evil? Yes!

Every time I go there I feel pain.
Get a product, get hurt.

One day, after going to the back of the store to get a gallon of milk, instead of opening the case, I gently lifted up my car to the handle of the case. When it got within an inch a huge, jagged edged, blue spark leaped from the shopping cart to the handle of the case.

Electric shock carts!
Evil just evil...
 
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