Walmart Fails

Walmart Black Friday Fails

2012-08-14T10:25:00.004-04:00

If you ever needed an excuse not to shop at Walmart, read on. Black Friday has become a poisoned chalice for Walmart. When their customers are champing at the bit to snap up a bargain, and management see footfall to beating any other day of the year, Walmart should be happy. Their customers should be happy. It’s a win/win situation, surely?

No. Not if you’re Walmart. Let’s look back at some Walmart Black Friday Fail highlights, which might explain why management may well not look forward to this jolly annual tradition.

Los Angeles Walmart

In what has become an iconic incident, a Walmart customer resorted to pepper spray to fend other customers off the items she wanted to buy in the electronics department, the minute they became available. Walmart customers were badly affected by the attack, but the woman who initiated it managed to get away in the chaos that ensued. Way to go Security! Customers who were unaffected carried on shopping. The woman, who had been so keen to get an Xbox that she committed the assault, handed herself in the next day.

Florence, Alabama Walmart

Oh dear. Police were forced to use a stun gun on a Walmart customer who was overcome by his consumer instincts, around 11pm. Christopher Blake Pyron, 22, disgraced himself, needing a double stun round to subdue him. He was later charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Not a great advertisement for the chain.

San Leandro, California

A shooting on Black Friday didn’t do much for public relations. Ambushed by robbers on their way out of a Walmart sale, a man was shot at point blank range in front of his family, when he refused to hand over his purchases. Three suspects were arrested after the victim’s family – who presumably had been looking forward to an exciting night bargain hunting – wrestled one of the assailants to the ground. The man was hospitalised. He later recovered.

Little Rock, Arkansas

The famous waffle maker riot went down in Internet history, when footage of the unseemly public disorder went viral on You Tube. It’s not uplifting in any way, but if you must watch it, you can see it here. Walmart decided to sell waffle makers for $2 a piece and the local population went nuts.

Toledo, Oregon

Police were called out three times to this branch of Walmart to quell violence. The branch had decided to put on the offer of the century. With offers like this, we can quite understand why man should take arms against man in order to possess them. The deal? Towels, selling for just $1.88. For shame…

Colorado

One branch of Walmart in Colorado simply suffered a bomb threat, which saw the store evacuated. They got off lightly. No bombs were found, but whoever made the threat on the busiest shopping night of the year, was clearly not a happy Walmart customer.

Walmart’s Corporate Responsibility

The list of incidents, frankly, goes on and on. The stories becomes depressingly repetitive. On a serious note, you could blame the avarice of Walmart shoppers for these displays of soulless greed and the accompanying violence. Or you could blame Walmart. Walmart cannot escape some degree of corporate culpability in these shockingly violent incidents. The offers Walmart put on are the direct cause of the violence, and profit – as ever – is the motive. Sure, it’s fine to put on Black Friday offers in order to shift old stock you want rid of before the new year’s trading, and haul in those who are too poor to afford them any other time. But let’s implement a little responsible crowd control if it is evident – as it clearly is - that these offers lead to violence and a threat to public order. It’s like breaking a bad habits. Walmart can’t seem to do it. But there are some bad habits that just need to be kicked.

Stories of shoppers, including children, being trampled and assaulted in the rush for deals cannot be good publicity for any store. But why has it taken Walmart so long to get on top of this problem? These scenes occur every year, and they don’t seem to have any strategy for addressing it. Perhaps any publicity is good publicity? Whilst we all enjoy the thrill of the chase when it comes to bargain hunting, these stories illustrate that things have gone too far. A $2 waffle iron is great. I just don’t want anyone to lose their life in pursuit of one.

A New Take on Customer Service

2012-02-08T20:02:00.001-05:00

Check out this post on Wal-Mart's customer service. Courtesy of Anderson Media Group (@auamg):

http://www.andersonmediagroup.com/post/17271803984/customer-service-is-a-must

Consumer Behavior: Oh, Wal-Mart

2012-01-14T22:19:00.000-05:00

Great blog displaying perfectly what Walmart Fails blog is about. Check out Courtney's post on my Consumer Behavior's blog.

Consumer Behavior: Oh, Wal-Mart: This past summer my roommate purchased a fairly expensive Nikon camera from Wal-Mart in Anderson. Because of the name brand she had high exp...

Walmart Has a New Philosophy on Customer Service

2012-01-09T09:14:00.000-05:00

The customer is ALWAYS wrong.

What happened to the customer is always right? At Walmart they're trying a new strategy by not only acting like the customer is always wrong, but also making sure to inform them of that as well. Just last week I heard a story of someone who spent a half an hour in Walmart talking to three different managers who argued with her over an aisle that was marked 50% off due to the day after Christmas yet everything in that aisle was actually full price. They continued to inform this person, "We are not responsible for what customers place under a 50% off sign," even though the entire bucket of items and row was set up with hundreds of the same items all "marked" at 50% off. No, your incompetent employees and/or yourself failed and are refusing to take the blame. The biggest flaw in people in today's society? Taking fault when we make a mistake and learning from it. That's another topic for another time, though.

Why this problem with Walmart's employees? What is the problem? They don't care and the company doesn't give them any reason to. Do they actually care that what you are buying is ringing up wrong? No. Do they actually want to help you find whatever you are looking for? There's no way. They only care about making the paycheck. This isn't necessarily a problem with the employees, but a problem with the company. They need to find a way to motivate employees. I recently wrote an article for the Metro North Business magazine on the company Formstack and their office culture. The amazing thing about their company is that the employees actually want to be there. They choose to come to the office. Everyone hates Walmart customer service because the employees do not actually care or want to be there. Change that attitude and the customer service, customer retention, and customer loyalty will also change.

I cannot tell you how many times a Walmart employee has told me to my face that I am wrong. Not only does it make your customers happy, but they just might start a blog about it.

Have your own story about a Walmart Fail? Post it here or email it to walmartfails@gmail.com.

Name 3 Things you Cannot get at Walmart

2012-01-02T22:56:00.001-05:00

I'm playing a game with my family called 5 Second Rule where you have 5 seconds to name 3 things that fit into a given category. We're playing and I get a category entitled: Name 3 things you CAN'T get at Walmart.

The first thing I can think of? Customer Service. I love this game.

What Is Walmart Fails All About?

2011-12-27T13:18:00.001-05:00

Nowadays there's a Walmart or two in every town selling groceries and products at unbelievable prices.

Through my years, I have yet to find a single person who actually LIKES Walmart. We as a society buy their products simply because they can sell products cheaper than anywhere else and here in the US nothing gets our attention like a sale or bargain. As Seth Godin puts it, we put up with terrible customer service and don't push back because all we care about are the cheapest prices. This leads to hilarious stories about customer respect and customer service which is what this blog is all about.

The reason for this blog?

1. We all have our horror stories concerning Walmart.. This is a place to post yours. Vent, get it off your chest, or share with friends.

2. Humor.. Stories about the monstrosity known as Walmart are generally hilarious and outrageous. Who doesn't like a good laugh?

3. Fix the "Injustice".. Everyone's got some ultimate purpose for what we do. My main purpose in this blog is really just to vent and laugh over stories, but I guess one could say I'd also like some social justice. It is a simple way of "pushing back." Share, post, tweet, blog about this blog and let's get as many readers as possible and maybe someday do something about the injustice of customer service called Walmart. Or at least maybe, just maybe they'll stop bragging about their top-of-the-line customer service to help customers "live better lives." Or they will just try to shut down my blog. Whichever comes first.

Have an outrageous story? Post it in the comments on this blog or email your story to walmartfails.gmail.com and I'll post your story to share as well!