San Jacinto Walmart is a Mess
Now, I very seldom write to a business owner, or corporate office, unless something really bugs me. I mean, it’s got to really annoy me, and in the case of San Jacinto Walmart, well, it bugged me enough to not only write the “Powers that Be,” but to save my letter to publish publicly.
The letter sent
If you have issues at any Walmart (and just looking over Facebook, lots of people seem to) you can write to corporate. The survey link is right there, on the back of your receipt. http://www.survey.walmart.com is the place to go when your trip there is bad. Shoot, they’ll even enter you into a drawing or something. Will writing them there make a difference? Probably not. “Too big to fail, too big to care.”
So, when you hit the survey site, it asks you for a few things, the Walmart receipt ID # (which can be hard to read, G’s and 6’s are a problem, as are H’s and M’s) and the store number. After that is confirmed, is asks you a few questions, then to write your survey, and asks you to provide great detail. Once done, you’ll be asked if you want to answer more question.
My survey answer was this…
The Walmart website asked what the issue was.
“Very simple, incompetence. First, I went into the store through the garden department, Then I came back through to check out that way, 2:30PM-ish. I noted a shorter line than when I came in. An associate, a young man, tells me the checker is going home soon, and they were trying to get another checker, only one working here, and no one wanted to fill in. I shrug, okay. Come to find out he communicates poorly (as most folks do here) and the only check stand is closing.
So, 3 workers are at the check out. However, only one is working (the going home one). One is behind her yelling at the customers that the line is closed after some random guy We must all go to the other side of the store, etc.. The last is the associate trying to redirect folks back into the store.
Everyone know that there’s like 10 million check outs at every Walmart, but usually only about three are ever open at any given time. Heading back in means you just lost time, for no good reason.
Okay, I’ll put my stuff back and spend my money elsewhere
Walking back to do so, I’m thinking, “How is their inability to properly staff MY problem?” Simply put, it isn’t.
I decide to scope the check outs (I don’t use self check out, I am not their employee). If I don’t have a huge wait, maybe I’ll finish my purchase. I’m a loyal customer, spending a few hundred dollars a month here. However, there is a limit to my loyalty.
I spot a check out one with 2 ladies buying a half empty bottle of water, and a lady behind them with three small items, and me with 7 small items, all Easter stuff for my grand-daughter.
The ladies with the half drank 16 oz bottle of water are at check stand 7, Rick is the cashier. He starts to ring up the half empty bottle, but poor Rick looks baffled. He doesn’t seem to understand why they have a half used product, but likely figures, “hey, they came here, drank the water, but at least they are being honest about it and are paying for it”. Nope, not it at all.
Confused Gesticulating
The water ladies start gesturing to Rick. “Go talk to them, to them. My card was declined…”
The lady is gesturing to the front customer service desk, just in front of, and to the right (north) of check stand 7.
Given this, Rick now looks even more confused. He abandons the check stand and strolls over to the front customer service desk. He briefly speaks with a heavy set lady worker. The other 3 customers are finishing up, leaving, making the customer service workers free from anything to do, customer-wise.
The “water drinking in the store” lady, with the declined card, now walks to the “customer service” area and joins in the conversation. Then she walks to the side and starts rolling a fully loaded cart full of water and frozen beef to the front of check stand 7. She gestures to the lady ahead of me with the 3 items, “Oh no, she can go ahead”…
http://laughshop.com/target-vs-walmart/
The Plot Thickens
I’m not liking this much. After waiting patiently in line, it looks like I am going to be set back, again, time-wise..
It turns out that the main water lady had her card declined. The other lady with her drove down to bring money so the water lady could check out. Customer service, who have abundant registers and no customers, would not re-ring up the water lady. So, customer service directed the water lady, and her cart, to check stand 7, to bump back the other 8 people, paying customers, waiting in line.
So, again, I’m asking myself, how is this MY problem? It isn’t, yet Walmart’s incompetence is making it my problem.
A Solution
Now, there are a good many, better, ways to handle both of these scenarios, the garden section and check stand issue, than disregarding and disrespecting your customers.
- 1, Ring up the now cash paying lady in “customer service”.
- 2, Open a separate register to ring the declined card water lady up. Move the inconvenienced (and disrespected) PAYING CUSTOMERS WITH NO ISSUES AND DID NOTHING WRONG to another check stand so water drinking lady can be rang up, with her huge basket and coupons.
- Send the water lady to the back of the line, ANY LINE. Wagter l;ady had her card declined. That’s unfortunate. However, it isn’t anyone’s problem but hers. It’s not mine, it’s not bumbling Rick’s, the checker, not yours. it’s HERS.
- How about apologizing for the inconvenience? That, my fiends, is the very LEAST, and LAZIEST thing, but it’s better than nothing at all. Rick could have tried empathizing, apologizing to me, and the folks behind me. Didn’t happen. Nor did it happen at the garden section.
“Those pesky customers, making us have to re-stock shelves, and bringing us money, such an inconvenience!”
This store telegraphs exactly this sentiment to customers. We are an inconvenience. And that, my friends, is a failure of management..
Maybe you guys need someone to come in and teach how to service customers? It’s apparent this store has no clue.
That ended the survey.
Years and Years
San Jacinto Walmart has been featured in horror stories for years. I suspect all Walmarts, especially “super centers” (nothing all that super about them, to be frank) generate their share of bad press. Thieves, fights, dishonest employees skimming extra money off of customer purchases. I’ve read it all, here, locally. “So and so is dishonest, Whose-ma-what steals, Joe Shmo is a crook. I don’t know how much validity there are to any of these claims, however, I cannot doubt – even for a second – stories about terrible customer service. All local stores display this, over and over. When was the last time you found anyone at the sporting goods desk? Or, the fabric area? Cameras display? When was the last time a Walmart associate came up to you, asking if you needed any help? How often do you have to hunt down an associate for help?
You see, as I said above, Walmart has developed a Too Big to Fail mentality, and guess what? They can fail.
They lost my business.
Go ahead, change my mind in the comments section.
UPDATE: 4-28-19 – 7 days have passed with no response from corporate, so, time to take it up a notch.