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Because they keep watching us on their secret camera's while we are buying items.and privacy is at stake.
Yep I've thought about somebody ready these posts and spying on me when I go in a store. Apparently they have had very expensive facial recognition software for a while now, it is there to identify known shoplifters but I could see it being abused.
The service is due to company policy, not the employees. The employees are expected to complete XX amount of tasks during their shift, and customer service is secondary, an employee can actually get in trouble if they do not complete their tasks even if they were assisting customers as the reason. So there is no incentive to assist customers. In addition to this, stores have cut down on the number of employees so much, that an employee could potentially be spending all day assisting customers due to the number of customers needing assistance.
Also, and ask any employee/former employee, the amount of idiotic customers is so great, employees develop a Pavlov instinct to any customer needing assistance.
As far as knowledge, they do not assign people based on their knowledge of the products, nor is there any incentive to know anything about the products.
I am well aware of this policy, as I worked for a major retailer for 8 years. However, Our company's policy was that customers came first, since they were the lifeblood of the company....In fact most of our surveys, stated lack of customer service as the number one reason for dissatisfaction.
Yes, we were expected to get our tasks done, however, we were also expected to multi task and greet customers at the same time. Simply smiling and saying hello, does not take a great deal of time out of your day.
I can't afford to shop at walmart, too expensive. Clothing is much cheaper at marshall's or Kohl's.
Food is much cheaper at grocery stores, if you pay attention to sales. Walmart never has sales. Ever. Ever seen buy one-get one free there? Nope. It's a few cents less than full price at a grocery store. Last time I bought cereal or something else full price at the grocery store... can't even remember.
Then of course it ruins communities, underpays employees and kills local businesses. And the quality of anything there is crap. But also it's more expensive, how ironic!!
People hate Walmart because of the way they treat their employees, and workers overseas, etc. Some people I know hate it because of the size of the stores and the fact that they have to do way more walking than is necessary to get what they need. I guess that's one reason for the introduction of Neighborhood Markets. I used to think Walmart just gets more flack for things because they're unusually rich. All retail outlets treat employees like garbage, it's just not a fun field to end up in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitt Chick
"Why Does Everyone Hate Walmart?"
If everyone hated WalMart, no one would be shopping there.... LOL!
Not necessarily. Sometimes it's the only store within someone's radius.
Sam Walton, the Walmart Guru, was a shyster. The company I worked for sold to his mega company. On each check they would make erroneous deductions, sometimes, these deductions could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. It would take forever for them to repay these unallowed deductions...they use their suppliers money to expand their business...multiply this tactic over all their suppliers...we are talking big bucks.
I had met with Sam, he was a ruthless man, who told me right to my face...I would never open a store within a mile or two of a KMart, there is enough business for both of us...right, he also said that he wanted to keep his small town roots...right. He would go into rural towns, set up, people would flock there to shop and work, main town USA would close up...then he would pull out...cause he wasn't making the ROI he wanted...then these towns are left with no jobs, no shopping, no future.
Also, their selling tactics are misleading at best...remember the "Only Sell Products Made In The USA" campaign? It was deception at it's finest, we were selling to them the entire time...a Japanese company...our products were distributed from warehouses in the USA, cartoned in USA, but...manufactured in Japan...with little stickers that said "Manufactured For The United States" or...something like that...all pure BS.
As far as knowledge, they do not assign people based on their knowledge of the products, nor is there any incentive to know anything about the products.
Knowledge of a product doesn't matter when its designed to be somewhat disposable to begin with.
People hate Walmart because of the way they treat their employees, and workers overseas, etc. Some people I know hate it because of the size of the stores and the fact that they have to do way more walking than is necessary to get what they need. I guess that's one reason for the introduction of Neighborhood Markets. I used to think Walmart just gets more flack for things because they're unusually rich. All retail outlets treat employees like garbage, it's just not a fun field to end up in.
Not necessarily. Sometimes it's the only store within someone's radius.
I don't get the claim that Walmart is bad to employees. These are bottom feeder retail jobs. You shouldn't expect great wages or benefits if you are a shopper cart wrangler. However, Walmart offers one of the few career paths where someone who is willing to work hard and learn can move up to store manager and earn a six figure salary with no college degree. That's right, your local Walmart store manager probably makes a lot than you. Also Walmart donates a ton of money and products to charity and disaster relief and they are quiet about it. I don't see the Walton family as being ruthless and greedy.
My only beef shopping there is it is so dang busy that it is hard to get around the store without blocking someone or vice versa. I've tried going early morning and beat the crowds, but then they only have one or two checkout lines open and I still have to wait.
Oh the flipside, I like that Walmart is constantly evolving with things like neighborhood market and the Savings catcher app which has to make the competition really nervous.
Liberal America just can't stand someone who is successful and has more.
People keep saying about all Walmart sells is from China. How about the other major retailers, and the fact that a big percentage of their goods are made in China also. One thing to consider, is that Walmart and the other major retailers sell the same brands such as Levi jeans. HP and Dell Computers. Etc., Etc., but Walmart sells them for less money.
The Levi jeans that Wal-Mart sells are made overseas. Levi closed all but one of their US factories and moved them. There is only one type of Levi jean still made in the US, and it's not the ones Wal-Mart sells. There is a good article out there about how Levi did this quietly so they could get contracts with Wal-Mart (and it's from a major newspaper) but I can't find it right now. It also talks about how they almost put Vlassic Pickles out of business. It was a good read.
Same goes for their tires. They may be Michelin or Goodyear, but they're made specifically for Wal-Mart. They're not alone in this practice - Sears does it too - but it's just another example. I like a particular line of undergarment that I used to be able to buy anywhere. When Ames went out of business, Wal-Mart became the sole seller of that line, and I've watched it go from something that would last a long time to something that may rip or fall apart after one washing.
I worked for Wal-Mart (1994-1995). I believed the hype, and the Made In The USA philosophy, but would see the boxes that came in were all from China, or Hong Kong, or Indonesia. See the previous post about how they can SAY it's made in the US but really isn't. Turnover at our store was massive. We were given impossible tasks. We had to greet a customer if they came within 10 feet of us. People would get annoyed and tell us to buzz off. We were frequently asked to work off the clock, but it was sneaky. You'd punch out to go home, and someone would grab you on your way out the door. Can you help me fill this display? It will only take a minute. If you refused, you were labeled as "not a team player". If a situation arose where you went over your hours for the day, you were told to take a 3 hour lunch. Overtime was NEVER an option.
We'd frequently be given tasks to do with little or no instruction or direction (see the prior comments about people in departments not knowing their product). If someone complained - and they would - it would be your fault and you'd be reprimanded. Part of my job was to audit departments to make sure their pricing and signage was accurate. One department in particular was terrible, and had a ton of slips at the cash registers every day for inaccurate pricing. Every time one of those slips was written, it meant the customer got a discount and the company lost money. The department manager got tired of me doing my job so she went to one of the assistant managers and he told me to back off her department and ease up. So I did, and another manager yelled at me for being lax on her department. I was given a task to do once with zero direction. I asked 4 different managers and got 4 different answers. One told me to throw things out, so I filled a shopping cart to take to the compactor. On the way, another manager stopped me and told me no, so I took the cart back. No one could give me clear direction, so I put a note on the cart saying "Could someone tell me what to do with this stuff?" I got demoted. After that, I couldn't blink without a manger yelling at me, so I found another job. This is not uncommon. They've been sued a number of times all over the US for crap like that. Yes, you have issues at every job, but I've worked 3 jobs since then, staying at each for over five years, moving on only for better benefits or better location (leaving always on good terms), and NONE have had me go home crying nightly.
I mainly shop at Target since ours opened a few years ago. I got to Wal-Mart for very little, and it's usually items that they're the sole seller. The turnover at our Target is extremely low. Many of the employees know you by name, and have been there since the store opened. Perhaps they don't get paid much more, but they must be treated better, or they wouldn't stick around. The Pharmacy comparison between the two is night and day.
There are some decent Wal-Mart stores out there - mostly in the south, where they started - but most of the ones around here are cluttered, poorly merchandised, have one of their 40 checkout lanes open, and employees who haven't been trained correctly and are afraid to speak up. I walk into most stores and feel fine. I walk into Wal-Mart and I feel stressed almost immediately.
So that's why I dislike Wal-Mart and try to avoid them like the plague.
I don't get it. Every Walmart I've been to is rather nice and clean. I can always find what I want and the prices are nice. It's no Saks Fifth Avenue or any upscale store, but it's certainly a lot better than my local Kmart store!
Why does everyone hate on Walmart so much, especially when so many of the "haters" tend to shop there? Is it because a lot of poor people shop there? Is it because the store doesn't pay their employees that much? Most retail stores DON'T pay their employees much to begin with, but these jobs are really meant for part-time supplemental income and/or kids to get their feet wet in the job market.
LOL, I agree! Walmart is a great store and I go out of my way to shop there when I'm in a town that has one. The people who loudly hate Walmart seem to be all about unions and politics. Fine, they can spend more elsewhere; it's a free country. I prefer to shop smart and save money. And it's amazing how many made-in-USA items I've found at Walmart: a beer stein, a clipboard, towels, silverware, etc.
Walmart's isn't perfect but good enough for many average household items. Now they're talking about matching internet prices this holiday season. Smart move to bring millions of shoppers back into retail stores, although it will cost them millions or possibly billions. That's competition for you! The consumer wins.
Foolish people who want to ban stores like Walmarts merely make life more expensive for everyone else by reducing the competition.
I don't get it. Every Walmart I've been to is rather nice and clean. I can always find what I want and the prices are nice. It's no Saks Fifth Avenue or any upscale store, but it's certainly a lot better than my local Kmart store!
Why does everyone hate on Walmart so much, especially when so many of the "haters" tend to shop there? Is it because a lot of poor people shop there? Is it because the store doesn't pay their employees that much? Most retail stores DON'T pay their employees much to begin with, but these jobs are really meant for part-time supplemental income and/or kids to get their feet wet in the job market.
Because the one near me looks like some sort of third world garage sale. Both the shoppers and employees all look destitute and extremely poor, the store is dirty and shelves messed up (sometimes things knocked into the aisles), the lines are extremely long, and I've been burned in the past by products that broke very soon after purchase. Prices can only go so low before you sacrifice quality. It's just a depressing place to walk into, so I avoid it like the Ebola.
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