Walmart-A travelers delight or a McHuman experience?

December 11, 2008 on 1:15 pm | In Reviews | 2 Comments

When Chris and I were traveling the country by van, there were times when coming across a Walmart, particularly in a small town, was a traveler’s delight. Finding Walmart meant having a place to park for the night. There was one notable exception, but otherwise, Walmart seemed like a great idea for travelers and Walmart alike, generating all kinds of goodwill and customer loyalty. It seemed like the natural choice to go inside to gather whatever traveling supplies we needed before continuing on our road trip. If Walmart made an area specifically with travelers in mind, with showers, laundry, and a little kitchen area, it seemed it would be a perfect haven catering to travelers and I suspect this would help soften and humanize the Walmart experience. My recent experiences with Walmart, however, have been less than inspiring.

After an hour of weaving our cart through the crowded Walmart aisles in Tucson, Arizona, Chris and I were ready to check out. Not surprisingly, the lines were long and they seemed understaffed as usual. Finally up to the register, Chris noticed one of our items rang up a different price than was stated on the sign. Our cashier seemed reluctant or unable to do anything about it. I guess they’re used to most people shrugging their shoulders or changing their minds-which is what I did the last visit when this happened. This time, we took the trouble of asking for a price check. She slowly walked to the phone to call someone over, then stayed to gab with a fellow cashier about the effectiveness of her hand lotion.

Meanwhile, a line was piling up behind us. I commented on this and our cashier suggested they try another register since we were waiting on a price check. Some of the crowd moved along but others immediately swarmed in to take their places. A woman finally showed up-only to ask what our item was ringing up as-”$59 instead of $49 like the sign said…”– and she simply sided with the ring up price saying she thought that one looked like it was more expensive. “But that’s not what the sign said,” Chris protested. It was just kind of like, “we wait here for 5 minutes so you can give your opinion? How does that help us?”….Chris said he would show her and so we walked her back to where they were and pointed out the sign. She was unfazed by this. Breathing heavily, she bent down and began rearranging items on the shelf as though this was supposed to console us. There were two almost identical products, one of which they were out of and the one that was $10 more but was in the less expensive price slot. She called the cashier to tell her the higher price was right.

It took a moment for that to sink in. I’ve noticed that the employee attitude at Walmart is that “the customer is always wrong.” Why is that? Never mind that they put things in the wrong spot. It’s a very belittling experience and the woman’s attitude was one of complete indifference as to whether or not they kept or lost our business. She just wasted our time by making us wait as she bent down to straighten everything out while we waited thinking she was going to acknowledge the price the sign said….but she didn’t-apparently if Walmart makes a mistake, it’s the customer’s fault. She actually blamed it on customers too-by saying customers probably moved them.

We left Walmart without buying a thing. We walked past the cashier who still stood there helplessly waiting as piles of sardine-like McHumans piled up behind our stuff that would all have to be voided. Believe it or not, I think this is a good thing. It is by their own design that so many people are inconvenienced-and for what? Ten dollars? If cashiers aren’t given the power to adjust a price, and instead Walmart would rather make everyone wait while a price check is called, when there already aren’t nearly enough registers open-well that is their bad design. I think the ridiculousness and inconvenience should be noted-it’s a poor business model-it builds feelings of ill-will, wasted time, and emphasizes the herding McHuman nature of the store-the depersonalization of the experience. The cashiers should just wear a button that says “Wrong price? We don’t care.”

People want to be seen as more than mere animals mindlessly herded along-fighting for every dollar….don’t they? We are individuals. If our inherent goodness is not recognized-if we are devalued and replaceable, what is the future going to be like? It turns what is meant to be an enjoyable experience into something disheartening-ugly-it shows us Walmart is rigid and we are too small to matter. I suppose it is meant to make us feel like we have no choice—but we do. Walking out the door felt good.

Sometimes dignity means more than saving every last nickel. It keeps us human. It was crazy to hear about the Walmart crowd shattering through glass and remorselessly stampeding a man to death in a dash for limited quantity holiday deals. This was on Black Friday at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, in Nassau County, New York. The victim, Jdimytai Damour, was only 34 years old. Mr. Damour was among the 6 to 10 Walmart employees responsible for holding back the crowd of 2,000 plus from breaking their way in 5 minutes before their official opening time of 5 A.M. People were reluctant to abandon their shopping even when the store announced it needed to be cleared out until 1 P.M, due to the death.

Chris and I have decided to stop shopping at Walmart. I am curious to know what kind of experiences other people have had. Where are the best places to shop and where do you feel like a McHuman?