What the hell Wal-Mart?

[Aria]

Okay, who is responsible for this fuckery?

I was walking over to Wal-Mart last night around nine o'clock. The sidewalk is badly broken - this is a completely new area and they're still putting it in - so I was really glad to get to the North side of Wal-Mart and the nice sidewalk there. But it was wet and slippery with ice. I was a bit puzzled by that but was just very careful, however, it kept getting worse and I couldn't figure out how there could be SO MUCH water. It wasn't warm enough for the snow to be melting...

Well, as I got close enough to Wal-Mart to see clearly - they have lights - I saw they had the damned sprinkler system running! And the way it had been installed, half the water was going onto the sidewalk. That's bad to begin with but it was all freezing! I was pissed!

So on the way back, when I was carrying a heavy bag, I took a detour and went down a steep slope specifically to avoid that stretch of sidewalk. *sigh* But seriously, why in hell are they watering the sidewalk? And the grass is about to die anyway!

[eltf177]

I can't understand this either. The sprinkler system needs to be turned off and emptied before freezing weather or it bursts in multiple places.

A convenience store on the corner next to where I work had theirs going in JANUARY, and the water froze all over the corner! Two quick calls to the police (ours and the county's) put a quick end to that, as did the fine and salting costs they had to eat.

Bloody morons...

[notalwaysright]

I don't know about a place as big as Mal Wart, but my store has nothing to do with, and has no control over any landscaping or maintenance. The property management company which controls all the stores in the center is in charge of that. There's an office supply store, an F Mart, a grocery store, and various other small businesses, in the center. Our sprinklers also go onto the road. One seems to be broken, and just shoots a stream of water into the air, and it hits the ground several feet into the road, completely missing all the shrubs and even overshooting the sidewalk.

Anyway, I bet Mal Wart maintains their own landscaping, and are just BEGGING for a lawsuit.

[Aislin]

Most malmarts lease the building and the lots so a property management company is indeed to blame but call them and complain anyway because they will contact the company and try and get it fixed.

[raudf]

Okay, if the water is freezing, it's time to stop watering anyways. You'd be amazed at how many people in my area still try to water their lawns after the lawns have died. I get that it's not as cold as some areas, but damn, stop watering the brown grass. All you're doing is creating a mire and when it does freeze, cause the roots to be pulled up by the expansion of the ice. Yes, I have seen sod come un-rooted from the soil.

I've also had sprinklers from shops in the neighborhoods wash my windshield for me.. across the road from the store that it's suppose to be watering the grass for. It's like they want to pay all this money to water the grass, but not pay the money to get the sprinklers adjusted over the years.

[Kogarashi]

I'll throw my vote in for calling in a complaint. That is NOT safe.

Our church building in the last town we lived in (upstate NY) had an unfortunately drippy faucet on one side of the building, and over the course of winter dripped enough to build up an ice slick all the way down the five feet or so of grass to the sidewalk below. Hubby got to help with trying to figure out how to get it to stop dripping long enough for them to try to chip away the icepack and salt away the rest. No amount of tightening would get the faucet to stop dripping, though, and I don't know if they were able to fix it after we left.

[AH85]

I have been with them almost 7 years... The parking lots and landscaping aren't ours. We have outside companies who come to do maintenance and such. Same with the sprinkler systems, lighting, etc inside the store. But give your store a call; they will get in touch with the right people who can come fix it. They're most likely aware of the issue and might even have put a rush on the work order, but it can take time. (Much to everyone's annoyance)

[bainsidhe]

In addition to calling the store, I'd suggest emailing corporate. At least at my store, this would get management's attention and they would be more likely to do something about it. In-person complaints were often shrugged off, but they took corporate concerns seriously.

[wolfie]

I'd be tempted to make up some fake letterhead from the local ambulance-chasing personal injury lawyer, and use it to send them a thank-you note for watering the sidewalk in freezing weather.

[TheSHAD0W]

Freezing weather + sprinklers on + watering in places they're not supposed to be watering = I'm gonna guess someone left the water turned on and only turned off the timer, and the system froze on them and the heads broke.

[Aria]

Well, I have an update!

I didn't complain because I'm too lazy, but last time I went by Wal-Mart I saw a buttload of hazard tape around that section of the sidewalk. So they clearly know it's a problem, at least. Hopefully they'll take care of it although given that the temperature is doing nothing but dropping, it'll be a lot of de-icing...

[MoonCat]

Wha-a-a-a-t?? Unless you're in a tropical/semi-tropical area, the grass is dormant! It's almost winter!

Reminds me of some idiots that lived on the corner on my old street. One year they decided to install a long hose out of their basement window....to drain their washing machine OUT ONTO THE SIDEWALK. I swear, the ice that formed was 2 inches thick!

After a phone call to the city, the hose was removed and the idiots apparently learned something.

[wolfie]

I hope the authorities relocated the drain hose - to the moron's descending colon.

[Kogarashi]

Freezing weather + sprinklers on + watering in places they're not supposed to be watering = I'm gonna guess someone left the water turned on and only turned off the timer, and the system froze on them and the heads broke.

That sounds very plausible, and makes it less idiocy and more oversight (from someone not realizing you have to actually shut the water off).