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Does Wal-Mart make people stupider? (return policy rant)

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  • Does Wal-Mart make people stupider? (return policy rant)

    http://consumerist.com/2012/02/how-w...-stupider.html

    I'm a Manager at a DVD store, the golden policy on returns is... [We need a] receipt for any returns. 90% of the time when a customer tries to return a item without a receipt, they go off on me for poor customer service and tell me Walmart takes any returns without receipts. Countless times I been called racist names wile they storm out of the store (hopefully not knocking something over).

    You can read the rest at the link, basically the guy is saying that because Wal-mart will take back practically ANYTHING (even stuff they didn't sell in the first place) with or without receipt that most customers now assume that all businesses have a similar policy.

    I've seen many examples of this at "gamestore". I don't necessarily think Wal-mart is making people dumber, I think they are unfairly raising expectations as to how lenient a return policy should be.

    Another problem that's similar to this that I ran into all the time at "gamestore" was customers who tear my head off because - horror of horrors! - we do NOT price match!

    I can't tell you the number of times I tried unsuccessfully explaining to people that the reason Wal-mart can price match and we can't is because Wal-Mart sells plenty of cheap to produce items with a healthy mark up they can use to cover any losses that result from the match. Our store only did games and accessories, we didn't have anywhere to make up the loss.
    "If we refund your money, give you a free replacement and shoot the manager, then will you be happy?" - sign seen in a restaurant

  • #2
    I know as someone who *makes* everything that I sell....I've been asked to price match Wal-mart.

    Then I get a wonderful "harumph!" and catbutt face and flounce off.
    https://purplefish-quilting.square.site/

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    • #3
      If people were entirely forthcoming and honest, stores wouldn't need to have return policies like they do. But since that is not the case, stores need something like a receipt or whatever. As for returns on media (DVDs, records, etc), in most cases you are not able to return that unless it is unopened or defective. If it is defective, it is an exchange and not a return. The only exception I know to that is when I bought a copy of Def Leppard's Pyromania, it had a skip at the beginning. so I returned it. Next copy had a skip in the same exact place. So I returned it. The third one...same thing...so they gave me my money back.

      But then again, some stores shouldn't have any policies because if someone screams loud enough, it isn't followed anyway.

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      • #4
        I don't think any store is making customers dumber.

        I think the customers are pretending to be dumber so they can skirt policies and social boundaries to get what they want.
        Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

        "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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        • #5
          I don't think they are pretending to be "dumber," rather they are getting spoiled by the big box and other retailers.

          The "customer is always right" sentiment have been badly used and abused. What started out as a mantra of good customer service by retailers, has now become a sticking point with bad customers. Places like Walmart have allowed themselves to be overrun with scammers, swindlers and abusers. I know each store in a chain can be vary in degrees of "doormatness," but it's everywhere. Wherein a lot of stores have adopted the "well it's not in the policy, but we'll do it for you just this once." That is where they got themselves into trouble the "just this once" now means always and forever and let me bend over for you yet again all under the name of "customer service". It may be good for the moment, to shut someone up or avoid the fear of frivolous litigation, but in the long run it has hurt everyone.

          Now some people think they can go to any store and be able to bully their way into what they want, because "The Customer is Always Right!!!" Sometimes it works, like for a big box retailer, because to them it's "nickel and dime" money they are losing to make a customer happy. For smaller chains, they can't afford to lose money on scammers, and take a tougher stand and adhere to their return and sales policies.

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          • #6
            It seems like the pendulum has to swing back the other way to, "The customer is not necessarily always right". I think some businesses have to learn that sometimes a bad customer ends up costing more in the long run than losing that customer.

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            • #7
              i don't know if they take *everything* back, but i had a customer get mad at us for not taking something back after it was a few months old. she claimed she'll be going to walmart from now on cos they would have taken it back.


              but sometimes i think they're not as right about that as they think they are

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              • #8
                Simple solution - if you want Walmart's return policy then shop at Walmart.

                But - I don't think Walmart started this, when I worked at Staples (when Walmart was still uncommon) we took back anything, even if we didn't sell it (only for a store credit, though). I really can't complain, though, I did get a $400 video card (well, video accelerator) for $20 because of that policy (I did well selling "cheese" that week so the mgr was nice to me).
                Quote Dalesys:
                ... as in "Ifn thet dawg comes at me, Ima gonna shutz ma panz!"

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                • #9
                  After what I went through today, I stand by what I said earlier.

                  I had to help set a three-day ad this morning. Occasionally we will have items on sale for an entire week or more that will also go on sale for a lower price for a few days or so. I was told that, going forward, when signing these items I need to take down the sign for the higher price, hang on to it, and give it to the department specialist to re-file for the next ad set, if the price is going to be good for that week. Then put up the new sign. I am not supposed to just hang the new sign over the old one.

                  This is because somebody, who needs to do all their shopping at Walmart or Target from now on, noticed that some items were one price for a month, but for a lower price for a few days, and then submitted a complaint to corporate asking why we weren't selling those items for the lower price for the entire month.

                  They know damn well why we were selling those items on a lower price for just those few days. It's to get people in the store. This is the kind of complaint you answer with a form letter that says "Bleep you and the horse you rode in on" without actually saying bleep you and the horse you rode in on. But no, corporate doesn't like complaints, so they're going to make double the work for us so that nobody complains.

                  The one week we set ad like this, most of the signs we were supposed to hang on to for later got lost and had to be reprinted at the store. We aren't going to be doing this. Screw the customers if they think they can pretend to not understand a sales tactic.
                  Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

                  "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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