Wal Mart Chronicles - Part 3

Ok, so this is the last Wal-Mart post. I really don't want to give them any more of my energy but I've got to finish the story. This is actually what happened the night I decided to put these posts up in the first place.

Promised Tim I'd be home before he needed to leave for basketball. He really wasn't happy that I wanted to run to the store because he was sure I'd be late. I'm always late. I promised him it was going to be a short trip. And it was until I hit the check out counter. I was so proud of myself that I managed to navigate the entire store and not forget anything on my list.

As usual, Wal-Mart had very few check-out lines open for my 7pm trip. I like to shop in the evening - less people, less time. But Wal Mart is notorious for long lines this time of night. So in order to keep my promise, I decided to go through the self-check out. I had quite a few items and produce to weigh, but I made it through without any hang ups - a true self-check out miracle. I scanned my debit card and signed my name. I hit the final "OK" button and the entire screen went blank. Then within a few seconds a big huge red error sign showed up on the main monitor. My receipt never printed. NOT GOOD!

Several people tried to figure out what happened, all I heard was, "this is not good" or "I've never seen this happen before."

Fast forward 40 minutes later as I am now finally wrapping up my Wal Mart trip. They determined that my sale had not gone through after checking the main computer. They rescanned all my items and I was out the door LATE. Making my hubby LATE. He was gracious.

Wouldn't you know, the next day there were 2 charges from Wal Mart on my checking account. Go figure. I called the store and spoke with a not-so-helpful person who was willing to put me off through the weekend. I decided to have a chat with an upper level manager and she said she'd try get things sorted out for me as soon as possible. Well as soon as possible took 5 days.

Apparently they have not seen the movie "I am Sam"... the customer is always right!

So I waste no more time on my Wal-Mart frustrations. Not sure what the future holds for our relationship. I hold no expectations for any thing different when I walk in the door. I just needed to get these series of unfortunate events off my chest and find some humor in how outrageous my experience in the store has been. It's all kinda strange.

The Wal Mart Chronicles - Part 2

One of my next eventful trips to Wal Mart involved a young cashier, hired for the holidays. Again, I had WIC checks. She had never cashed out a customer using WIC checks before and apparently she was excited as she yelled across three lanes of check out, "Betty, help!!! I have WIC checks over here." Umm.. what happened to confidentiality? If I really cared I wouldn't blog about it, but come on. She broke one of the major rules of customer service.

Anyway, the remainder of our check out experience involved much self-disclosure on her part. I found out how much money she makes, that she was on antibiotics for bronchitis as she coughed all over my groceries, and that her child is in foster care. I was gracious to her.

And then it happened - one of the strangest check out experiences EVER! My face was buried in my purse while trying to fish out my wallet when I heard, "Oh my God, that is the grossest thing I've ever seen!!!" What? "eewww, this is totally disgusting" as she is bagging my raw roasting chicken. So naturally I asked her if she was a vegetarian? And she said no. "So what's the problem?" I asked. And then she responded, "That thing looks like an infant."

Yes folks you heard it right. She called my chicken an infant. I was floored. Again nothing more to say except "Have a good day."

The Wal Mart Chronicles - Part 1

I have a serious, very intense, extremely unfriendly feeling toward Wal Mart right about now. I once wrote this post about my roller coaster relationship with Wal Mart, and things have only gone downhill from there. I have been know to refer to the store as the evil empire.

I'm really thinking that breaking up might be the best idea.

Maybe Wal Mart exists to further increase the fruit of the spirit in me and my budget dictates that I shop there for at least part of my shopping. Seriously folks, I cannot think of another place where I've had to bite my tongue and exercise patience beyond my human capabilities.

OK, OK. Let me get on with it...

I have to start with a trip to Wal Mart that I made while using WIC checks a few months ago. Now if you have used WIC, you know how specific the items are on each check. So, I brought up my usual WIC items - you know, the ones I buy EVERY SINGLE TIME. Yeah, well the cashier was uncertain if the items were the correct ones, so she made 2 separate trips to the customer service counter, leaving me hanging with child in cart for about 5 minutes EACH time. Not to mention, that when I was told I had to get a different brand peanut butter two different times (even though I had bought the same peanut butter a zillion times before), I had to truck across the football sized store to get a new jar.

At this time, I had been at the check out for well over 15 minutes. I finally made it to my last check and she decided she needed to check with customer service ONE MORE TIME about my frozen juice concentrate size. I HAVE BOUGHT THIS JUICE CONCENTRATE A THOUSAND TIMES BEFORE!!!!! It was at this point that the "keep it together" self-talk began. Gabby was VERY crabby and hungry; she was going to miss lunch because I now had to go straight to pre-school to pick up Samuel so I wouldn't be late. I then began to throw calmly place the remainder of my items from my cart onto the counter and screamed at told the lady between gritted teeth that I no longer wanted these items.

I said nothing more and walked out. And yes, I did call the store manager.

My next Wal Mart story is rather strange... stay tuned.