I like Wal-Mart
First of all I am not a socialist that hates businesses that are successful and make lots of money.A business usually only becomes successful and makes lots of money when they make the people they sell stuff to very happy.
And of course I think in general that is true about Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart sells good stuff at cheep prices and in general I am very happy with that.
I like Wal-Mart shoes
I have been buying tennis shoes at Wal-Mart for years. When I started out buying them they cost about $10 and they usually last about a year before they fall apart from all the miles that I walk in them.If you think about it the shoes cost me a measly 84 cents a month to wear.
Try getting a deal like that from the over priced shoe stores in the mall.
The shoes I started buying for $10 are now up to $14 but still if the $14 shoes last as long as the shoes I used to purchase for $10 I still think it is a good deal.
Wal-Mart sells defective shoes
In the last 3 years, the last 3 pairs of tennis shoes I have bought from Wal-Mart have fallen apart withing in a month after I bought them. And I have been pretty unhappy about that.No, I don't think Wal-Mart personally told their suppliers to start making defective shoes just to tick me off.
I don't even know if Wal-Mart know about the problem, but they should when one of their employees reads their web page and hopefully they will fix the problem.
I suspect the shoes were not manufactured properly
All three pairs of shoes that I purchased from Wal-Mart which started to fall apart in less then a month had the same problem.In each case the bottom of the shoe started to fall off of the shoe.
I suspect the outsole of the shoe was not glued properly to the rest of the shoe.
A little quality control on the manufacturers side will fix the problem
I suspect that this problem can easily fixed by Wal-Mart getting together with the suppliers that sell them shoes and demanding that they implement some sort of quality control in the manufacturing process where they check to ensure that all shoes are tested after they are manufactured so make sure they do not have any defects.This should be a big deal or cost a lot of money.
And of course it will save a lot of money at the retail end, because people will stop wasting their time and the time of Wal-Mart employees returning defective shoes.
And of course with the millions of dollars in shoes that Wal-Mart buys from manufacturers and suppliers, Wal-Mart shouldn't have a problem getting the manufacturers and suppliers to attempt to supply them with shoes that have zero defects.
Wal-Mart treated me like a criminal when I returned the shoes
According to Wal-Mart's web site they will allow you to return defective items. The following is from Wal-Mart's web site on it's return policy for defective items.For Items Purchased from Walmart.comWhen I returned my shoes today I expect the clerk to look at the defective shoe with the outsole falling off and say something like:SNIP
If an Item Is Damaged or Defective
We are committed to your shopping satisfaction. If an item you receive from Walmart.com is damaged or defective, you can return it to us.
Damn right this is defective. Go get another pair of shoes and you can replace them.Instead she looked at me like I was a criminal. Like I was trying to cheat her out of something and she got her manager to approve the exchange.
All I was doing was trying to return a defective pair of shoes. I shouldn't be treated like a criminal for that.
A problem returning a camera to Wal-Mart
About 3 years ago I bought a Canon 12.1 mega pixel Power Shot A1100 IS camera from Wal-Mart.
I like it, it is a really nice low end camera.
But the one I bought was the last one in the store and it was the camera that had been on display.
The camera I bought was missing the cables that are used to download photos from the camera to a computer.
I suspect the reason the cables were missing was the camera was on display and somebody misplaced the cables or something.
For me it wasn't a big deal because I am am a computer geek and I didn't need the cable.
I already have the equipment to take the memory chip out of the camera and download the images to my computer.
For that matter I am used that camera to shoot the photos of the shoes that are displayed on this web page.
But I was a very unhappy camper when I went back to Wal-Mart and attempt to get the missing cables.
Per Wal-Mart's return policy I brought everything back within the proper time frame, and I brought in all the boxes and packing stuff that came with the camera.
I was really angry when the clerk refused to let me return the camera for a camera with the cables and stuff.
At the time I was going to sue Wal-Mart in small claims court, not over the $100 the camera cost me, but for jerking me around and not giving me the cables that came with the camera.
Sadly I waited past the statute of limitations on filing lawsuits, which in Arizona is one year for things like this.
But still I was very unhappy with Wal-Mart for not honoring it's posted return policy.
A gripe about Wal-Mart pants
In addition to buying all my shoes at Wal-Mart I also buy all my pants there.For years I have bought the best $10 fake Levi jeans that Wal-Mart sells, and I am very happy with them.
They are better and cheaper then the $20 to $50 I would have to pay for the same pants in the mall.
However recently I have started to become an unhappy camper because my the front pockets in the pants wear out before the rest of the pants do.
I am unhappy because while the outside of the pants are in fantastic shape, the front pockets wear out and I loose my money and stuff in my front pockets like my watch.
The message to Wal-Mart is if you want me to continue to buy pants at your store, you better start making the front pockets in the pants last just as long as the rest of the pants.