I am so sorry for your experience, but if it's Walmart, I have to say something similiar has happened to ALL of us one time or another! And everytime I walk out of there, I vow to never return, but find myself in need of something and find myself back there! On a happier note, my DH told me that their is another store model coming out that should be the start of the Wal-mart demise......I can't wait!!!!!
Hope you are having a better day!
Gina

Actually, I've had generally good customer service experiences at our local Walmart... But after an experience like that I sure wouldn't hesitate to call the manager and report her, or to just copy and paste your email text in a letter and send it to the store...

I can't recall a recent "incident" with a store employee, just another customer. May I vent anyway?

Was at Wegmens when all the lines were packed and chose one with only two people, one of whom was a guy with hand basket containing just a few items. After we were standing there a minute or two, his wife, with a HUGE overflowing grocery cart cut in front of me to join him. Obviously they were standing in two separate lines to see who got to a register first.

I was dumbfounded at this rudeness to the point that I was speechless. I moved to the line at the register next to me, and a women who saw it happen said she couldn't believe it. Of course, I could have said something to them and made an issue out of it, but I just knew they were the type of people who don't give $%^& about anyone else (it's all about them, you know) so I decided it wasn't worth me getting upset or possible getting into a yelling match.

I'm very old-school when it comes to etiquette and for some reason, am always shocked when people behave badly. Yet, it's become the norm so I should stop being so surprised!

Sue

Oh Bobby I'm so sorry.

Here, check out this website. There is bound to be something to either make you laugh, retch, or feel better.

Here is a link that might be useful: People of Walmart

This brings up a pet peeve of mine. I pay for everything with my credit card. Why o why does every single store have a different credit card reader system? Some you sign, some make you sign on paper. Some you hit an actual button, some you touch with the "pen". Some say "enter" some say "accept" some say "submit"... the list goes on.

And every single time, as I'm standing there, puzzling over what to do, the cashier acts as if I must be the dumbest person on earth to not know by now how to operate that thing.

OK, not every single time. Some cashiers are nicer and more patient. But you know, when they get huffy, I always think that they must never shop using a credit card so that they don't realize every one of those pads is different.

One answer....

Pay cash.

Lowspark, that drives me crazy too!

About Walmart, though, I usually find the employees helpful and pleasant. Target too.

How rude! You didn't deserve her unkindness.

As a matter of fact, I had to deal with an incredibly rude person this past weekend. It wasn't the cashier, but boy, I've seen those too. What happened was, normally, the condiments stay out on a table near the windows for the food at the pool. This was the last day and near the last hour or so it was inside the booth... but the cashier didn't ask, do you want some ketchup, mustard, etc.? So I walked off without it. As I came up to the window, there were two young females (I won't say women, they weren't responsbile enough to be called that. I won't say ladies, because their behavior was too reprehensible to call them that, and they were too old to be kids) were standing there waiting for the drinks they'd paid for to be handed to them. I said, "Excuse me? May I ask the cashier something?" to which the one the right stepped back and the one on the left sort of scooted over, but not really. So I said, "Excuse me please?" again. She's only waiting on another person, not the cashier, to get her drink. She steps aside and just starts saying excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me... nonstop, trying to talk over me, but the cashier and I ignore her. Finally, I get fed up with her pettiness and look at her and say "You're excused!". Ok, so I stooped to her level. My son is standing three feet away. Nonetheless, she replies, "Look B! you better watch out or I'll embarass you." "Whatever." I really wanted to say, "Embarass me? You're only embarassing yourself. Touch me and you'll be embarassed by police." I assume she was threatening me is what she meant by embarassing me. After all, she couldn't do it any other way. I was better looking, better behaved, smarter... just kidding!

Best solution--don't shop at Walmart. I don't.

I have never been in Walmart in my life and don't intend to go.

Those card swipers make me nuts. How many times do you have to push a button before you're done? English or Spanish? Credit or Debit? Enter your pin. Do you want cash back? Is this amount correct? Sheesh, I feel like punching it, too. Sometimes you poke buttons with your finger, sometimes you touch a screen and sometimes you use the fake pen to make your selection.

The self checkout is the worst. They are always telling me that there is "something is in the bagging area." Yeah -- it's my pocketbook, dummy. Push, poke, swipe, beep and then "don't forget your receipt." It isn't much better than dealing with rude checkers.

Most of the checkers at my grocery store are really nice and funny. One woman in the deli has an attitude, but if I were her, I wouldn't be happy either.

I also have never been to a Walmart, and the nearest one is pretty far away from me anyway.

At the Japanese market I go to (Mitsuwa), they used to have a small handwritten message that said not to swipe the card until the total was rung up, but it was too small for me to read, and so I would swipe too early. Some time later they replaced that sign with a printed one in a very large font, and so I guess I wasn't the only one with that problem. I try to remember to take reading glasses with me when I shop, since I don't wear bifocals.

I like shopping at Gelson's because everyone who works there is extremely nice, but then they are also very well paid. So... you get what you pay for. I wouldn't go back to your Walmart, but then if it's across the street, you might want to consider moving to a place across the street from a different store.

What I hated about Radio Shack a few years ago is that they would ask for my telephone number, even when I paid cash, and so I would give them a wrong number or one of my previous numbers.

Lars

Most likely, she was having a bad day and you unfortunately were at the receiving end of it. I think those cashiers have a rough job and I usually go out of my way to be nice to them. I have to say, Bobby, that your reaction doesn't sound like you. You are much more gentle than that.
In a nutshell, her job may very well suck. Even if she is wrong, sometimes a little compassion goes a long way.

Jo

Jessy, I have seen that site once before, but forgot about it. Thanks for reminding me, it's a good laugh. I love it... I just hope I don't end up on there one night when I'm shopping for milk and eggs at 3 AM in my hair curlers and night gown. :o) Heck, if I know someone will be there photographing, I'll even get some dinosaur slippers that roar with each step to complete the ensemble.

May, that drives me crazy too! The worst is the self check out... I never know which screen I'm supposed to be interacting with and when (touch screen or pin pad). I usually accidentally ring myself up twice for the same thing and have to wait for someone to come fix it. At least when I bag myself, I don't put the raw meat in with the grapes and toilet bowl cleaner like Samantha did :o) Tonight I went to a gas station and they were charging 5 cents per gallon more for using a credit card instead of cash. Sunoco lost more than 5 cents a gallon, because I left and went to the 7-11 across the street. Crazy!

Jo, it may have been a little out of character, but I can lose my temper sometimes too... The whole Wal-mart experience infuriates me.... people doing crazy things in in the parking lot, employees smoking right in front of the doors, people stopping in the middle of the aisle... of course not all of that is Wal-mart's fault, but I have to recite the "serenity prayer" every time I muster up the courage to go there (approx. once every two weeks). By the time I get to the check out stand, I'm infuriated so it doesn't take much to cause a reaction. I have had some positive experiences there.... some of the people are happy and friendly and actually make conversation or walk me to a product I can't find, so at least this experience seems to be rare. I've had jobs that sucked before too (I was a dishwasher in high school, then moved "up" to Mc Donalds...) I loathed both jobs, but it didn't give me an excuse to be nasty to people... the McDonalds thing was terrible, but I was just out of high school and had to have an emergency job. I didn't have experience doing anything else and no one would hire me. I was grateful to have a job period (especially one that would work around my class schedule... I'd just started community college), and so should Samantha have been given this economy.

Goldgirl - I had the same thing happen to me in a store. A couple was waiting in two different lines. The husband barged ahead of me with another set of groceries to join his wife. I said, "Wow, that's rude." The wife turned to me and said apologetically, "My husband doesn't like to wait in lines." I guffawed and said "Lady, NOBODY likes to wait in lines." I did feel a bit sorry for her. The husband looked like a creepy jerk.

My favorite Walmart story is the time I was in the "express" line and there was a lady in front of me in a scooter. She had a few items in her basket and I didn't think much of it. When she checks out, she starts pulling stuff from under the seat, her lap, behind the seat, her bag, off the handlebars, you name it. It was like a clown car of groceries. She ended up having 47 items. I did not say a word, as it is bad karma to fuss at an old lady in a scooter.

That's too bad, I hope you send a complaint to the manager. This sort of thing matters to managers, and on up the food chain.

I had something similar happen recently at a local grocery store, one I've been shopping at since I was a child. A very rude clerk snarled at me for who knows what reason, during my entire check-out. Just as my order got to the end of the belt, she flipped her light to "express" and then whined that I had too many items. When I pointed out that when I got in line, she wasn't an express line, she yelled at me and called me names! I was flabbergasted and sent an email to the manager that night, with the name of the clerk. I got a call back the next day from the manager with an apology. I was also told that there is only one express register open at a time, and her's wasn't it, guess she was just feeling lazy. Who knows what happened to the clerk, if she didn't get fired hopefully she got some customer service training.

Several months later a young man, working at the check-out was so helpful, patient and polite to a long line people waiting to check out that I sent another email complementing him by name.

Bobby, I actually laughed until I was in tears at your story.....and subsequently all of the other stories too!....Picturing you banging on all the numbers on the keypad until it was dangling was priceless (no pun intended)... and I loved the clown car of groceries and this was hysterical:

Push, poke, swipe, beep and then "don't forget your receipt."

I don't know why but that struck me as funny.

I usually try to laugh and joke with cashiers or just be pleasant. I was talking to a nice lady behind me in line a few weeks ago and she handed me a $10.00 off your purchase coupon! She said she couldn't use it. I gave her a dollar bill and her happy smile was like I gave her a million dollars!

Anyway, your story reminded me of two things. The first is a Super K-Mart that was across the street from my office building. Often times we would have a pot luck lunch or decide to throw in a few dollars and get some deli chicken or sandwich stuff. I only had 30 minutes for lunch and you had to take the elevator down...navigate a big parking lot and get to the store and back to punch in on time so there wasn't much time to spare. This store always had one express line open at lunchtime and they had a slow or mentally challenged (what is the PC wording today? One year it's okay and the next you are looked upon with scorn if you don't use the correct terminology) young lady working the register who was slooooooooowwwwwwww. Okay, I appreciate businesses hiring these people. I think it is great...but the express lane at lunchtime???

Last year was the topper. I was at my local Meijers to get a new hose for the garden. I went to the outdoor register and there was some issue with the person in front of me. No big deal...I'm pretty patient. I just had the hose and that was it. I waited and waited. Finally it was my time to go up to pay. The scanner didn't read the barcode on my hose. The cashier calls a manager over the phone. I wait and wait. Finally the manager arrives and takes the hose and walks back to the store area (about 1/4 mile away) to check the price. I wait and wait. He comes back and tells the cashier the price and she rings it up. I pay and as I'm headed to my car I look at the receipt. It says $19.99 for a 100' hose. Hmmmmm...the hose I have is 50' so I know I've been overcharged. I go back to the cashier who has 2 other customers she is helping before I get back to the register. I tell her I've been overcharged because the manager gave you the wrong price to ring up. She tells me I have to go back into the store and go to the customer service desk to get my refund. At this point it's been over an hour just to buy a frickin' hose! I'm sure steam was coming out of my ears and my frustration was showing on my face. Then the kicker: The cashier says to me with a straight face: Sir, you have to have patience!

I have never called in a complaint but when I got home I called and talked to a manager and gave them the employee number of the lady at the register.

Duane

I've had my last bad experience at Walmart. I haven't set foot in one in years. I have a new Home Depot and Super Target within 10 miles. I can't get all the way around either one without someone asking if they can help me find anything. At first it was kind of spooky because I've never gotten that kind of service in a big box store. Now I just enjoy it. If enough people stopped shopping at Walmart maybe they would get the message.

I have to say, I agree with jojoco.
If Wal Mart brings that out in you, then spend the extra money and shop somewhere else. Life is frustrating everywhere and if you can learn how to deal with the inept people of the world, you will be better for it.

I know you came here to gain sympathy, I have the same frustrations, we all do, but try to remember (and I did read your childhood post) that some people had it worse than you.
And, you are smart. Many people don't have your intelligence or functionality in life. That alone should gain your sympathy, not your condemnation of them.
If you were mentally handicapped or just "smart enough to get a job", it would be different. But your not, so you need to show compassion and mercy to those who are less capable than you.
I apologize for the harshness of this post, but that's what I think.

I don't shop at Wal-mart because it's cheap... I shop at Wal-mart because it is so close (literally, if you go straight out of my complex, you are at Wal-mart) and because they are open 24 hours. If there was a Target right across the street that was open 24 hours and had a grocery store, I'd never step foot in Wal-mart again. I guess I'd rather deal with the inconveniences (which can be minimized by going in the middle of the night like I like to do) than fight traffic to go elsewhere. They just rearranged my Wal-mart and took out the fabric and seafood departments... now they have half the selection they used to on almost everything from flour to vacuum bags to body wash (they stopped carrying the one I used to buy that didn't have sodium laureth sulfate) and it takes me 20 minutes to find stuff I used to go right to, so that doesn't help.... but the overnight employees seem much more friendly than the day time ones, so really I should just stop going there during the daylight hours completely.

Bumblebeez, never apologize for giving your opinions... that's what is great about forums, everyone can share a variety of feelings and ideas in a non-offensive manner. I don't agree with you, but I still respect you and was not upset at all by your response. I do have compassion for people that are mentally handicapped, but mean people do not deserve compassion.... and while some people might give it to them, I am not one of them. That lady wasn't slow, she was nasty, there is a clear difference.

I really hate to go to Wal-Mart however the clerks aren't the reason. Most of the people who work at Wal-Mart here are courteous. I'm sorry you had such a terrible experience Bobby. There is never an excuse for meaness!

I feel really bad for the courteous people that work there because I'm sure if they could get a better job with a better company they would do so.

If there is another store model coming out that is supposed to cause the demise of Wal-Mart all I can ask is will it be even worse.

My 70 year old aunt works at WalMart in the "fine jewelry" department. They treat her like crap, and so I hate WalMart.

I also hate the self checkout features at all the stores, none of them ever work, they prompt me to bag things before I can even get them scanned and into the bags, they're always accusing me of having something unexpected in the bagging area. Sigh. Give me even a rude checker over those, especially if I have coupons or a bottle of wine!

I also hate the swipe pads and you'd think they could make them all relatively similar, but they don't. Plus, it seems like we are doing more and more things ourselves, from assembling furniture to bagging groceries. We check ourselves out, swipe our own cards, load our own groceries, I'm not sure why there are even any cashiers at all!

Annie

I really don't mind the swipe pads although I wish they were alike. It saves me the time of having to write a check. Really hate self-check-out and refuse to use them in any store. Self-check-out here almost put the K-Mart out of business and they went back to mostly real clerks to check you out.

I can tolerate self checkout in spite of the fact that I think the damn machine doesn't trust or believe me. What I really wish would go away is pumping your own gas. Yes, I know I can have someone else pump it, but the difference in price is a lot.

Maybe I'll move to New Jersey with Susie. They don't have self-serve gas stations there and the gas is a lot cheaper than in PA. I'm also astounded at how much the price of gas can vary, even when the stations are only a few blocks from each other.

Pam, if you drive to the next county gas is cheaper. The Philly burbs have to have a different formulation than we do here.

Hey Pam, Portland Oregon also doesn't offer self-serve. DH got out of the rental car to pump the gas and was startled by the attendant removing the gas cap!

It actually feels weird to sit in the car and have someone else pump the gas, although I could get used to it again real fast.

CC, when I worked in Chester County the gas was least expensive around Malvern. I could go half mile on Lancaster Ave in either direction and see the price jump.

Living in FL, I have never even seen a full service gas station except in old movies. It would feel weird to have someone else pumping my gas!

I couldn't resist this piece since it is to all political parties it doesn't seem to be partial to any one:

Wal-Mart vs. The Corrupt Morons

1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart Every hour of every day.

2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!

3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year.

4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target +Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined.

5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private employer, and most speak English.

6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world.

7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger and Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only fifteen years.

8. During this same period, 31 big supermarket chains sought bankruptcy.

9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.

10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had five years ago.

11. This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at Wal-Mart stores. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.)

12. 90% of all Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart.

You may think that I am complaining, but I am really laying the ground work for suggesting that MAYBE we should hire the guys who run Wal-Mart to fix the economy.

This should be read and understood by all Americans Democrats, Republicans, Independents, EVERYONE!!

To President Obama and all 535 voting members of the Legislature,

It is now official that the majority of you are corrupt morons:

a.. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke.
b.. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke.

c.. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke.

d.. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more.

e.. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke.

f.. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke.

g.. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure.

You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars.

AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM ??

I use the self checkout at Harris Teeter all the time. For several months, I marveled at how when I put my produce on the scanner to be weighed, the scanner somehow automatically knew what it was! Finally, I asked the clerk standing at the help desk a few feet away "Is there a camera that takes a picture of what's on the scanner?" Her answer "No, I can see what you're putting on it and I just punch in the code for what it is." Boy, did I ever feel stupid! I still shop there and use the self-checkout though.