Woman strips down to her undies to protest Wal-Mart policy

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

First off, I do not know what everyone has against Wal-Mart. You dont like it, DO NOT SHOP THERE! Second, that bike person is an EW to the Nth degree.

As much as I hate Walmart, I lived in an area where I had a choice.

A. Shop at the only department/grocery store in my area even though it was the Walmart that killed off every store in the area save for the bead shop, the New Age/Wicca shop, and the Rent-A-Center

or

B. Drive 40 miles at $3.00 a gallon in a 1993 Ford Taurus Station Wagon to the next town that didn't have a Walmart

I can hate Walmart, I can despise it with every fiber of my being, but the fact of the matter is I live in an area and in an economic environment where I have to make the deal with the devil and either buy gas to get to my job or put food on the table. Walmart allows me to do both. I hate it, I know what it is, but I have no choice since they have the best prices. Back in the days of $2.00/gallon gasoline I could afford to boycott them and shop at other places.

Now that is not an option anymore. Yeah I'm a hypocrite, yeah I'm bitching with one hand and handing over my debit card to them with the other. So sue me.

Won't get a @#$%ing dime out of me since I'm broke as shit now thanks to the gas prices and the economy.

M

[Pinkie]

OMG! Someone found a story I just can't sit back and read without giving my 2 cents... This idiot was the biggest SC and EW I've ever read about!!! There are rules for just about everything in life, and Walmart has a rule. The management is there to enforce the rules, and the one time management sticks to their guns, they get blasted. If they had allowed her to park her bike behind the Customer Service desk, I'd bet she'd be one of those asshats that examine her property for "bumps and bruises" and then threaten to sue if her bike were damaged in any way! And IF they did this for her, how many other bikes would they end up parking there? I'd say it's a safety issue for the Walmart employees who work behind the counter. This is a free country, and if you don't like the rules, you're free to leave and shop elsewhere. She would have been much better off writing a letter to Corporate, or to the local store to ask them to install a proper bike rack (signed by many other bike riders, of course) I don't let many things get under my skin like this, but she needs to visit the

End rant.

[Gravekeeper]

Funny? Yes.

Justified? No.

She's an SC. Plain and simple.

It sounded like the manager knew the policy ( No bikes ) existed but not why so she tried to pull something out of her ass. No bikes is a pretty common store policy for various reasons. Woman with the bike decided to act like a child and create a scene. SC. End of story.

I think we've been over this time and time again on these forums. Its pointless to argue/whine/try to change/bitch/piss/moan over a company/store policy with someone ( such as a "front line" employee) who has absolutely no control over said policy.

She's an SC and should be smucked upside the head. The manager should be smucked too for not knowing the purpose behind the policy.

Smucking all around. But the bike woman should not be praised for her childish actions. -.-

[Gawdzillers]

This has already been posted in Check It Out!.

[Balgram]

Heh, that's pretty funny. A pity the manager was not in a better mood to begin with, but I have to admit that as soon as someone starts stripping I'd try to get them outta my store as soon as possible, regardless of how the argument started. The manager's arguments were pathetic to begin with, but her actions were not totally wrong.

As has already been stated repeatedly, I think the correct thing to do would be to either have the greeter keep a close eye on the bike or leave the bike with customer service. While a bike does not take up more room than a cart, people don't know where the bike has been, and it could potentially have strange chemicals or similar attached to it. It wouldn't be wise to allow people to just wheel it around the store.

I don't agree with the manager's approach, but she wasn't wrong. If the manager didn't feel that putting the bike with customer service was safe (for whatever reason), they are not required to do so.

Of course, a $600 bike is probably well cared for, and the real problem here is a) a long day and b) a lack of flexibility on the manager's part, I suspect. It's a good story, and it's just a shame it didn't have a better ending (manager realizing that customer has a point, and conceding on this one. It wasn't a very unreasonable request).

Although, I can see how someone ramming into and damaging the $600 bike would put the customer in a bad mood and the store in a bad position. That's why I don't think the manager was totally wrong.

Fight! For your right! To...riiiiide a bike?

[MoxisPilot]

I think that story's just damned funny.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

First off, I do not know what everyone has against Wal-Mart. You dont like it, DO NOT SHOP THERE!

And this is relevant to the topic how?

Second, that bike person is an EW to the Nth degree.

It does not make one an EW to want a safe place to secure their bike. It does, however, make one a childish SC to throw a temper tantrum and start taking off her clothes to try and prove some kind of a point.

There's suck on both sides here. Wally World should take advantage of the fact that with gas prices going up, more people are going to ride bikes and they should have a safe place to secure them. They gave a stupid reason for refusing to allow the bike in the store. I can see it becoming a liability issue if something happens and the bike is damaged or stolen while under the employees' watch, but not allowing it because they supposedly can't tell the customer's bike from the store's bikes is a complete non-sequiter.

That said, the customer didn't need to act like a child about it. A calm, rational discussion with the manager, or even a calm, rational letter to corporate (as in one that doesn't include a blatant freebie grab) would go much farther in getting her the solution she wants than her impromptu striptease would.

[Subspace_Relay]

I dunno....I ride my bike everywhere (it's an old peice of crap.....but's my old peice of crap) and I try to lock it up to whatever is readily available. My question is: wouldn't there be something like a "fire lane" sign or something she could have locked her bike too?

[technical.angel]

Screams of frustration would be yelling at the greeter and the mananger. Stripping? SC.

That, or fake story.

[tamezin]

Creating a scene like that... that SCREAMS SC.

I really hear screams of frustration, than SC. It is tough when your only mode of transportation is a bike. Even where I work, we do not have facilities to keep bikes secured. That is the only reason I haven't parked my car yet.

[technical.angel]

I somewhat agree with the OP. I believe she is a (somewhat) justified SC.

Now, true, my bike did not cost $600. But, while my local Walmart does not have bike racks, I wouldn't dream of bringing my bike into the store. I just chain it to the metal parts of one of the benches outside.

Creating a scene like that... that SCREAMS SC.

[tamezin]

Hilarious...

I have to agree with the customer on this one. With the cost of gas going up up up, there are going to be a lot more bikers out there. You have to be able to secure your transportation. Stores better wise up or they will be left out.

[rerant]

Second, that bike person is an EW to the Nth degree.

I fail to see how.
Pushing a bike through the store, while probably a little awkward, is not a big deal. They're roughly the same length as shopping carts and much thinner, save for the handlebars, which are about the same width as a shopping cart.
Her request was not unreasonable and asking to leave her $600 bike, which is her one and only mode of transportation, at customer service while she shopped for one measly item was the logical solution to the issue of the store not providing a safe area for bikes to be chained up.
Sure her response to the situation was over the top, but given the manager's reasoning as to why she couldn't bring her bike into the store it was understandable.
That being the logic that if the store sells something you're not allowed to bring the same item into the store, not the actual removal of her clothing.

[air914]

I don't get it either why she couldn't leave her bike behind the customer service desk. I don't think that's an unreasonable request when there's no safe place to leave it or lock it up outside. And it's not like she drove her car over with her bike tied to it and then took it off so she could go on a joy ride around the store....

Still, I understand not allowing her to wheel the bicycle around the store. That's why they should have just let her put it behind customer service and be done with it. Why spend all that time and energy (and create a scene) trying to keep a customer out of your store when you can easily resolve the issue in a minute?

[smileyeagle1021]

First off, I do not know what everyone has against Wal-Mart. You dont like it, DO NOT SHOP THERE! Second, that bike person is an EW to the Nth degree.

Well, in my mother's case she has no choice... she didn't shop there and the place she normally went to still went out of business...

and on topic, no, someone wanting their bike to be safe is NOT an entitlement whore... immature to strip down yes, but chaining your bike to anything but a cemented in bike rack is about the same as leaving your car unlocked... you'll deserve what you get when someone steals it.