The Walmart Experience

Usually I'm a huge proponent of Walmart. They really do have lower prices for just about everything they sell, and they have so many choices and brands available in one convenient location. However, lately I've been sorely disappointed with this store. I've come to the conclusion that it's not all Walmarts that are bad. It's just that the one closest to me is a disaster and poorly managed. Let me describe for you my latest experience...

I decided to run to Walmart after work in an attempt to beat everyone else there. I can leave work as early as 3 o'clock and was hoping that it would be less crowded. When I walked into the store, I was pleasantly surprised that my plan had worked and I began my shopping. This Walmart always seems to be poorly stocked, but I found most of the items I needed and then headed to check out.

I quickly found out that beating the crowd means nothing at this Walmart. They had 3 checkout lanes running in the entire store and each lane had at least 4 shoppers waiting. It seems that all the mothers with large families do their shopping at this time of day. The carts in the lines all looked like they were ready to collapse with the items piled so high.

I found what I tried to rationalize was the shortest of the lines and stood there. I glanced down at my watch to note the time and began looking at the magazines on the shelf next to me. As time passed, I began eying the candy on the isle. This is precisely what they want, and so I restrained myself from purchasing any of the candy in protest of the hideously long wait. Instead, I busied myself with placing my items on the conveyor belt as space appeared. I had been waiting in line now for about 20 minutes.

The woman at the register didn't so much as look up at me as she began scanning my items. I think she might have muttered some sort of greeting under her breath. I began grabbing the plastic bags and placing them in my cart. I looked up as I heard 2 rapid beeps rather than the methodical beeping noise that you usually hear as purchases are scanned. The cashier looked at the screen for a moment and then continued scanning as if all was fine. She had several boxes in her hands and so I assumed that things were sorted out and continued with loading the bags into the cart. After all, it's always much more difficult to get everything back into the cart once it's been bagged.

After paying the bill, I nudged my cart ahead and out of the way of the next shopper. On a whim, I looked at the receipt to see if everything looked right. I quickly discovered that there seemed to be a duplicated item on my receipt. I glanced in my cart to see if I did actually purchase two of this particular item. I had not. I walked back to the cashier and told her that she had made an error. She quickly referred me to customer service without so much as an apology and with no surprise whatsoever.

She knew what she had done when she was ringing up the purchases and CHOSE not to correct it. I was fuming as I made my way over to customer service where I had to wait in line for an additional 5-10 minutes. I told the man what had happened. He looked like a high school drop-out and obviously had no social skills. He kind of smiled--not quite a smirk, but close to it--and didn't say anything about my situation. He corrected the error and then ended the interaction with a barely audible "I'm sorry about that." I probably scowled at him before moving along without a word.

I've vowed not go go back there if there is any other option. However, I found this pasta that I absolutely adore and I haven't been able to find it at any other grocery store. I may just have to go back. I believe I'll be going through one of the self check-out lines though.