Walmart Hates You

Arkansas based Walmart has become a huge worldwide corporation with stores in nearly every city and small town across the United States. Walmart prides itself on its low prices and its corporate philosophy "based on the simple idea of making the customer No. 1." For many, Walmart's low prices are the reason to keep going there and spending their hard earned money at their stores. However, for me, I will not spend another dollar at Walmart. And my reason is simple: Walmart hates me. And guess what, they hate you too.

Most of my experience comes from my local Walmart located at 5821 Antelope Road in Sacramento, California. This is a Walmart Supercenter that is located only a mile from my house and because of convenience of it being so close, my family shopped there a lot. However, no more.

Walmart hates you. You know this from their lack of customer service. You know this because they sell poor products. You know this because nobody inside the store seems to care whether you are finding what you need. You know this because nobody in the store seems to care about waisting your time.

For a company that prides itself on customer service, there is nothing service orientated in their stores. First of all, look at the long lines regularly found at Walmart. No matter what time of day or night there is no escaping waiting in a long line. Even in the 20 items or less checkout areas, the lines seem to always to be at least five people waiting in line with a checker who is in no hurry whatsoever. And while standing there, please notice the number of unused checkout areas there are around the store. And also notice the number of Walmart employees standing around. Last time around, the wait was over twenty minutes long, and I was third in line.

It gets even worse in the ironically named customer service area. This is where returns are done, financial services are offered and where customers go to waste away much of their life. In my local Walmart, there are usually only two people working the counter with as many as ten people waiting in line. Last time around, the wait was over thirty minutes long. And worse, you see Walmart employees talking and chatting right there in front of you with apparently no care in the world, especially not the group of people waiting to be helped.

And if you actually have a question about a product found at Walmart, good luck finding help. Even in their electronics department, most of the employees there know nothing about the products they sell. And if they do know something, good luck trying to get them to leave their seats to actually check if an item in stock or what the price is. I literally had to beg someone to unlock the computer rack so I could spend $400 on a laptop last Christmas. When he sighed and said, "fine" I told him nevermind, I will spend my money at Best Buy.

 You can tell Walmart hates you by the condition of their stores.  For the Walmart near my house, it starts in the parking lot.  No matter what time of day, it is almost impossible to find a parking space.  Some of this is due to the customers at the store, but mostly it is the fact that at least 20 percent of the parking spots are blocked by shopping carts.  Carts everywhere and nobody picking them up.  And yes, the carts should be put away by the customers, but it is hard when the cart storage areas are always full.  And could someone clean up the garbage?

Then you go inside.  And Walmart is filled with stuff. Stuff everywhere, but hardly any organization to it.  The clothing department has clothes thrown about.  The aisles are blocked with boxes.  Debris is everywhere.  And nobody seems to care.  If Wamart cares about its customers so much, why don't they ever clean up?

Yes, Walmart offers low prices. But these prices come at a price. For the most part, Walmart offers low quality items. Much has been said about the lead based toys sold at Walmart. But basically, the stuff they sell is junk. It breaks easily and quickly so you end up paying for the lower price.

The lack of quality is no more evident than in their produce section. Have you ever really looked at what they consider to be "fresh produce?" The lettuce is brown, as are the other vegetables. The fruits are bruised and browned. It actually looks that Walmart buys the bottom of the barrel of fruits and vegetables. Yes, they are cheaper, but the problem is they are cheaper quality. And once you do bring them home, they spoil in a day.

 Maybe it is just the Walmart near me that has these problems, but I doubt it.  And yes, Walmart offers low prices.  But does that mean we as consumers have to put up with such horrible service?  Doesn't our money mean that we should expect at least decent customer service?  Shorter lines?  Friendly employees?  Cleaner stores?   I do not think this is asking too much in exchange for my hard earned money.  But after attempts to make my complaints known to the management at the store near my house were ignored, it seems they don't care.  It seems that Walmart hates me.  And if they hate me, they hate you.  They only like your money.