the more I interact with WalMart...

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In the 90s, people vilified WalMart for putting mom and pop independent stores out of business.

In the 2000s, people vilified WalMart for carrying a lot of ChiCom merchandise.

In the teens, people posted pix of poorly dressed WalMart customers to laff and ridicule them.

But, the more I shop at WalMart, the better I like the store.

I only have two issues:

-the quality and variety of groceries at Meijer is better.

-WalMart really wants people to use the DIY checkout. I have no fundamental issue with DIY checkout, use it at Meijer when I only have a few things. But, like Office Depot, WalMart’s prices on their web site are lower than in the store. I have to print the listing out and show the cashier at the store so they will match the web price at the store. That price adjustment process can’t be done at the DIY checkout.

Steve

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<WalMart’s prices on their web site are lower than in the store. I have to print the listing out and show the cashier at the store so they will match the web price at the store. That price adjustment process can’t be done at the DIY checkout.>

Order and pay online. Then pick up in the store at the dedicated pickup counter. Works like a charm. Even for big, bulky items that aren’t on the shelves.
Wendy

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But, like Office Depot, WalMart’s prices on their web site are lower than in the store. I have to print the listing out and show the cashier at the store so they will match the web price at the store. That price adjustment process can’t be done at the DIY checkout.

Steve

True story:
Needed to replace a 20 year old printer. Found good HP replacement on Office Depot site, being offered for $20 off.

Went to store. Found the printer. Store knocked off another $10. I almost expected them to gift me the added toner.

It was a happy purchase!

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It was a happy purchase!

My happiness today is a function of winter dry air in casa del Steve.

Over the years, I have been stuffing wick filters into humidifiers. The filters are not cheap. I also inherited a humidifier from my aunt that boiled the water. Plugged the boiler in last fall, and my electric bill jumped $15/month vs the wick humidifier used the previous year. That made the boiler more expensive than buying new filters all the time. The boiler also soon developed a couple cracks in the bottom of the tank, so it made it’s trip to the curb on trash day.

Started shopping for an ultrasonic model. Low current draw, and no filters to buy.

Yesterday, the fan on the ultrasonic Vicks started rattling. Looked at the receipt. The $50 humidifier had lasted 34 days. Kaz Industries, division of Helen of Troy, offers these pieces of ChiCom poo, not P&G. To receive service under their 2 year warranty requires shipping the thing, at my expense, to an address that can only be obtained by calling customer service. I checked postage costs to get an idea what that would cost. To ship it to southern CA, would cost $32.65.

Assuming that WalMart had a 30 day return, I decided to see if they would stretch a point for customer satisfaction and refund the thing at 34 days. This morning, I checked WalMart’s web site: 90 day return period on housewares. Excellent! Packed the thing up in it’s original box, drove over to the store. The guy didn’t hesitate for a moment, didn’t even ask why I wanted to return it. Scanned my receipt and done.

Store knocked off another $10. I almost expected them to gift me the added toner.

If you have an OD rewards card, you can save up your exhausted cartridges, then turn them all in for recycling rewards in the same month and get a nice discount coupon. Read the T&C on their web site.

Side note, Mike, aka Mishedlo, had inlaws living in metro Detroit, so he and his wife would drive over for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Mike and I would get together for lunch, then we would wander off to check out some business. One year, Mike mentioned that he had never been in a WalMart, so the store I took him to was the one where I was today.

Steve

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Footlocker runs sales that are not in the store. Just saved $40 on two pairs of sneakers. Free shipping for orders over $150.

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In the 90s, people vilified WalMart for putting mom and pop independent stores out of business.

Were these the same people who were shopping at Walmart for the low prices?

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Were these the same people who were shopping at Walmart for the low prices?

That probably didn’t enter into the calculus of the “shop local” narrative. My question is why should I pay for a local store’s inefficiency? The customer experience is no better. If the price is higher, I am paying welfare to a JC.

As I said, the only downsides to shopping WalMart are how long checkout takes, if I know I need the cashier to do a price match, and, at least in the case of the store near me, the place is always crowded. I would rather management had not earned a reputation for anti-union/anti-worker attitudes, but those are common among JCs.

I was going to hit WalMart again today, as their price on Verbatim DVD+Rs was $5 less than Office Depot. I also needed to go to OD to return a bag of shipping peanuts that I’ll not need as a couple things I had on eBay proved to be buyer resistant. Then I recalled, OD will match competitor’s prices, so I skipped WalMart, went to OD and had them match the WalMart price.

Great customer experience, again, at OD (actually, the one close to me is a Max). Customer experience at OD has always been great, even though, as an employee, OD treated me as roughly as RS and the pump seal company.

Steve

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