Best. Consumerist. Response. Ever.

Typical of Walmart, I don't think any of them believe in customer service.

For once, good advice from Wal-Mart. Don't shop there!

(Not blaming the victim. The cashier was clearly in the wrong.)

It's Wal Mart. I go in there for the basics, but after that, it's anywhere but there!

Well, David. Here is my suggestion:

Google "walmart intercom prank"
I know it is a bit child-ish, but if you are really bored one day...

Isn't the free internet marvelous?

Clearly the writer's fault for expecting to be treated human.

Seriously, I would have walked out, leaving them to deal with my buggy of stuff, then write a letter to corporate. (EECB anyone?) Let the fat cats know that soon they won't be so fat, if we take our money elsewhere.

This is why they call them associates and not employees.

Too many companies are running their business on the "churn" model: it doesn't matter how many customers get mad and leave, as long as advertising brings in more customers. It's very cost-effective.

How about the immediate response line? Get the bitch fired - (479) 273-4000. Could be (479) 279-4000, but I think it's the former.

I was at Target last nite, and I inserted the wrong credit card (I was trying to use debit for cash back). A supervisor came over and said that there was no way to cancel. I chuckled and said, "that's ok, Wal-Mart let's me cancel", we all had a good laugh, and I was out.

I'll be going to Wal-Mart tonite to get some cheap canned fruit. $1.27 for a can of Del-Monte is ridiculous!

David you left out the KEY piece of info. As you left, did they ask you to show your receipt?

Really, how hard is it to bash Wal-Mart? First, I doubt the story. There are *plenty* of people on the ol' tubes of the internet that want to bash Wal-Mart.

Second, do you think you Wal-Mart shows you a video entitled "how to treat customers badly?" Answer: no. I worked there in college.

Or, perhaps, was it that the cashier that this person had was simply a *unt, and, even at Target, she'd be the same miserable person?

Let me guess - if Wal-Mart unionized, everything would be just fine. That's obviously true, since I've been to the post office and received fantastic service there.

If only I could convince Target to open a store near me - I have 4 Walmarts within 10 miles - closest Target is 40 miles away. :(

I think every time I go in there to check out, the cashier is just about to go on break and makes that fact abundantly clear until I leave.

Wal-mart cashiers are the worst they are so angry that you step to their lane that you kinda feel guilty by buying for less

Rope-a-Dope.

That's what retailers the likes of Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and the rest of the lot expect the consumers to be. Get beat up, do as they want you to do and get out of their stores.

This Rope-A-Dope gets screwed around like that poor soul did, I won't even bother waiting to get home to fire off a EECB to Bentonville, I'll sit in their parking lot and use my blackberry to destroy them with. Then go to the local Target to get my items and head home in good cheer.

David should take the Walmart store's advice, and then Meg's.

The cashier should have told you she would be closing after her current customer as soon as you stood in her line.

That aside: the rest is much ado about not much, IMO. I recommend a course in concise writing. Also, as Hillary is learning today, resist the temptation to overdramatize.

@kpfeif:

It's ok grandma, I am sure that your greeter position is safe.

Blah, Blah, Blah WalMart hires rude cashiers, blah, blah, and rude managers, blah, blah, oh $hi+, That was hilarious Meg, I have to agree with Myownheroine best Consumerist response ever.

I wouldn't worried about coming back. The only one who can issue something like that is the store manager, and IIRC, they do it in writing, or have a cop give a trespass warning.

Mind you, I'm not 100% sure. I'd contact corporate first.

I have had problems with Sprint like that. I call the CSR and they give me some bogus ID. She tells me that they are not allowed to give out their names and badge numbers. I ask to talk to her supervisor and she is of course busy. I call back to get another CSR and they give me as their badge ID WE9. Obviously made up. As a customer service rep, anyone that refuses to give out their badge number is, in my opinion, no longer acting as a representative of the company and should be considered AWOL on the job. Because you can bet they are drawing a paycheck at the time they have their badge turned around or giving out false ID numbers.

@kpfeif:

Obvious troll is obvious.

Good effort sir/ma'am.

@Myownheroine: I'll second that. It's that Meg Marco for ya!

You went to a Walmart in Austin's worst ghetto and expected them to be nice? That place is beyond the worst retail establishment in North America. I remember a police officer telling me to be careful because I was the wrong color for the neighborhood (I'm white - like Irish white)....but that Walmart does have 4 or 5 rows of clearance at any given time..and had 20+ rows after Christmas.

Meg's response is great, but she has apparently never been to the Target on Peyton Gin. It's more ghetto than the Walmart on 183 and it doesn't sell groceries. Try the Super Target up IH-35. Less ghetto, more selection.

@mindshadow: Nah, I don't think he's wrong, to a point. People are different and I've seen people who worked at a couple of jobs and they were losers at both. Walmart, of course, doesn't care how much attitude their employees have, and in NJ, they have a lot, because people will keep coming back no matter what.

I agree with others: stop shopping there. It might not hurt them at all, but at least you know you're not getting screwed over like the "dopes" are.

@kpfeif:

Or, perhaps, was it that the cashier that this person had was simply a *unt

..."aunt?"

@mindshadow: Agreed. Troll.

@kpfeif: What part of WMT or PR firm are you with?

Wal-mart sucks! some people are like that. I was a cashier at Wal-Mart in Rchland,MS (2939 store number) and customers liked me, because I treated them with kindness. And I worked there for 6 months. My coworkers were O.K. hint hint.

David

Years ago Wal-Mart did something similar to me, so I enacted revenge. I returned with friends. We loaded carts with small items from all over the store. When the carts filled, we'd get a new carts. We treated it like a competition. It took about a dozen or so carts before they caught on and asked us to leave.

I wish I had the time for the mindless crap we did as kids.

I think it depends on the Walmart one goes to. Unfortunately, with much popularity comes much expectations. I've come to realize that many people that work in Walmart are often poorer than me and have a lot of stuff going on in their lives. I take that into consideration when one of them blows me off.

Besides that, the cashier was rude, no doubt. But the supervisor should have behaved professionally. I'll give the cashier the benefit of the doubt. Probably a crappy day. The supervisor has no excuse.

I was a manager at Wal-Mart for a few months (yeah its as bad as it sounds...) but I do not think you can fault Wal-Mart as a whole for this one. In all our cashier training classes it clearly shows that we are supposed to check the customer out even if our light was off when they got in line or if we are locked out of our register for being too close to our lunch then we are supposed to call someone else over to check them out quickly.

This sounds more like just a cashier who hated their job (who wouldn't hate that job?) and a customer service supervisor on a power trip...

@kpfeif: "Second, do you think you Wal-Mart shows you a video entitled "how to treat customers badly?" Answer: no. I worked there in college."

Hmm, sounds like they are using another training video instead ;)

Reason number 4,569,231 that you shouldn't shop at Wal-Mart.

Escalate through the "customer service" number and maybe you'll get a free gift card or something.

Stories (and experiences) like this are the exact reason I refuse to subject myself to Wal-Mart. The world needs more principled consumers who won't give their money to crappy companies. Consumerists unite!

@kpfeif: "Let me guess - if Wal-Mart unionized, everything would be just fine. That's obviously true, since I've been to the post office and received fantastic service there."

The post office near my house has great customer service. It is always a pleasant experience.

@sohmc: Thank you. In my hometown, the only store to shop at is Wal-Mart. There's other grocery stores, but really, six of one, half a dozen of the other.

They're clean, the employees are nice (and usually related to you, your neighbor, or went to elementary school with your aunt or something. Ah, small towns). They're polite, they have a good selection of stuff.

Where I live now, there's so much competition that Wal-Mart doesn't even try. They're a little dirty, very cramped, disorganized, and I barely can get a smile out of the cashiers, let alone a polite conversation. So I don't go there often. If I can't buy it from Harris Teeter, then I usually get it from the local Target (which is understocked, understaffed, overpriced, but clean) or order it online.

Each store is a different experience.

HA That's the Wal-Mart right by my place. It's always CRAZY busy, so I only go there if I have to. It's always full of screaming babies and little kids running around that need to be on leashes. Talk about a friggin' headache.

The best Walmarts are the ones with self checkouts. I scan,bag,swipe goodnight.

Wait, you are being pessimistic. It is about time people started providing the level of service for which they are being paid.

This could be a form of strike, where you show up and do your job, but just do it as a schmuck. I like it!

I've been to this Walmart...this story is par for the course. The management at this Walshat is the worst I have ever encountered...and unfortunately, it starts at the top with the worst and everyone under them seems to be taking lessons. Bunch of asshats, really...

though i try to avoid shopping at wal-mart, the one in my town handles the "cashier going on break" situation by having a manager get behind the last person in the line, putting the "closed" sign on the checkout counter behind that person, and only then telling the clerk to turn the light off. it helps prevent the kind of crap this guy dealt with.

@kpfeif: Unions cause situations like what is happening with the automakers in the US...the company goes to crap and the employees don't give a shit. Go home troll.

We have two WalMart Supercenters within 5 miles of us in Jacksonville, FL, and they're both excellent places to shop. I save $25 a week or more on groceries and the clerks are nice people who do give a crap.

Your mileage may vary.

BTW, don't feed the trolls. It only makes them stronger.

You mean you have cashiers that speak English there? I guess I'll find out someday when I leave Arizona...

Happy that there are no Wal-Marts in the NYC area.