Wal-Mart Suckage

[boringscreenname]

A couple days ago, I was searching Wal-Mart's website for a toddler bed for my son. I came across one for $55, and hit "find it in a store". It shows that the one we always go to has them in stock. Great!

So I call up the store to confirm that they are in stock, and are at the $55 price. When an employee answers I tell her what I'm looking for including the brand and price. I asked if she wanted me to read off the UPC, but she declined, and went to look.

She comes back on the phone and says the only toddler bed they carry by that brand is $160. I tell her what the website says, and ask if she's sure she doesn't want me to read the UPC off, because maybe she's looking at the wrong product.

She tells me in a rather huffy and annoyed tone, that she does not want the UPC and she already looked on the shelves and in the back, and the only beds they have available are $160, then hangs up.

Later on that evening we had to run to Wal-Mart for a few things, so I told my husband we'd just look for ourselves to see what exactly they had in stock.

We get to the baby and toddler department, and sure enough we see the $160 bed that the employee mentioned on the phone. The problem, it was a convertible crib, not the toddler bed I had asked about.

Right next to it was the toddler bed I had asked for and at the $55 price. It wasn't hard to see and was clearly price marked so I'm not sure how she managed to miss it.

[Andara Bledin]

I hope you complained.

^-.-^

[boringscreenname]

I didn't know the employee's name otherwise I definitely would have.

[Kogarashi]

A general complaint to the store should at least get it mentioned in the next employee meeting as something to improve upon (well, if that store's management is anything like mine was). I would still go for it.

[Andara Bledin]

Ditto what Kogarashi said.

^-.-^

[ShadowTiger]

What if she couldn't use the UPC after all? I mean, call it an absurd idea, but I definitely use the UPCs (and a larger (Font-wise) bold number that's easier to use, associated with the company itself, rather than the generic non-company-brand items.) on each item and on the shelves below the barcode. But I was in a Stop & Shop a while ago, and they didn't have any such numbers under the barcode. I tried matching up any of the numbers or codes I found on the item (Of which there were many, many of them on the shelf, so I knew it was in the right place.) and nothing matched up at all. Just a generic can of peas. I tried it again with a non-food item, and the same issue had arisen. The barcode / UPC matching method was useless.

Obviously, I don't know if this is relevent to Walmart. I don't know what method they use over there. But I suppose it's at least one possibility of why she refused the UPC. I can't imagine any other reason why she would aside from laziness. Maybe she already knew she couldn't use the UPC, and was just doing things from the employee's point of view when a customer tried to insist something to her when the employee knows her own store best.

But of course, who knows what was really going on there.

[Aut]

When doesn't Walmart suck?

[Kogarashi]

ShadowTiger, I don't know for certain on the labels for furniture, but Walmart's shelf labels all display the product UPC on them somewhere, as should the boxes for furniture items. That should have enabled the employee to find the item easier, or at least verify that the $160 item was the wrong one.

When doesn't Walmart suck?

When I worked there!

[boringscreenname]

The website said ,To locate this item, show this number to an associate then had the UPC listed which is why I offered to give it to her.

I have to go to Wal-Mart tomorrow, so I think I'll make a general complaint. Who knows if it will do any good or not but at least they will know it's something that needs to be improved on.

[RedRoseSpiral]

As a former Walmart employee I can tell you that the UPC is pretty much useless. It's best to give a discription of the item or the name of it (rarely happens). Sounds like the person you had on the phone was either being a lazy bitch or being an over worked bitch. In almost all cases people who call in about a product get ignored. If you want something come in for it. Making us get on the phone takes us away from stocking merchandise, cashering, and all the other million things that get thrust upon us during the day.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I have to back up some of what RedRoseSpiral said. The uncomfortable truth is that, depending on how busy we are in store or what projects we have going that have to be done ZOMG NAO, you may not get the best service in the world over the phone. After all, the customer is not going to fire me if that endcap isn't finished, or that freight isn't completely stocked.

That said, it still should've been easy enough to locate that toddler bed on the floor. I know I wouldn't have a problem finding it at the swamp, and I wouldn't even need the UPC. In fact, the UPC might even be a hinderance since those don't always take in the scanner like they should.

The person on the phone also shouldn't have snapped at you.

[Project_Mars]

There's that... plus the website's prices may not always match the store prices. Since the website has less overhead than the general store, they can get away with charging less.

However taking that into account, she really, REALLY should have made sure she knew what she was looking for when she went off to search for it. That's kinda laziness on her part.

[fireheart]

I'd agree with both points:

While phone service does take time away from serving people who HAVE come instore, the employees are still responsible for doing something, even if it's just a rough price or a "no we don't have that in stock" type issue.