SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices

Posted: Oct 07 2008 02:21 pm

I just watched this crap last night. Has anybody seen this garbage? Normally, I like documentaries. Even ones with obvious bias that is in contrast with my own opinion. I have an open mind and like to hear the other side of the story. I realize there is an agenda in this, but it is completely lacking any objectivity.

Normally, I don't care and just write it off. But with something like this, people actually believe the crap they are saying. Enough people hate Wal-Mart without needing to be manipulated by this junk. I'm sure it is likely a union project. Most anti-Wal-Mart propaganda is.

If somebody has a legit gripe with Wal-Mart, that is fine. But some of these people, maybe even ones used in the documentary, seem to be misinformed. They hate Wal-Mart for all of the wrong reasons.

I don't mind people being critical. But the lack of objectivity combined with the amount of people I have seen source this when trashing the company rubs me the wrong way.

Posted: Oct 07 2008 02:33 pm

I haven't been to wal-mart in probably 7-8 years. I choose not to shop there because the amount of money you save is not worth dealing with the morons that work there. If you don't want to properly train people, or pay people enough to give a shit, fine, but I will go somewhere else. Fuck Wal-Mart.

Posted: Oct 07 2008 02:35 pm

People hate Wal-Mart because of their agressive market stratagies and the shit way they treat their workers. If you don't like em, don't shop there. They are not the cheapest in town and more than likely you can find a store that sells the same products. Or the internet.

Posted: Oct 07 2008 03:03 pm

RobotGumshoe wrote:

People hate Wal-Mart because of their agressive market stratagies and the shit way they treat their workers. If you don't like em, don't shop there. They are not the cheapest in town and more than likely you can find a store that sells the same products. Or the internet.

Well, I will admit some people who work there are treated unfairly. But there are solutions to this. Unfair treatment (discrimination, making people work off the clock, etc) isn't company direction. Its usually a rogue element in the company. The open door policy works. If your store manager is crooked, go over his head. If the market manager doesn't do anything about it, go over his head. You can use the open door all the way up to Lee Scott. But I don't know anybody who used it correctly that had to go that far.

As far as people griping about unfair wages, I don't know what they expect. You don't work at an entry level wage for a career. Wal-Mart is one of the easiest places I've worked at to move up in the company. If you are relying on your wage as your primary source of income and you are a cashier, its going to be tough. Entry level wages are just that, entry level. They are used as a stepping stone. I worked there less than a year and was promoted to department manager. It still wasn't awesome money. But I had several opportunities to go even higher.

I can understand about the issues some people have with their business tactics. But there is a lot of gray area. It isn't as cut and dry as some people think it is.

Posted: Oct 07 2008 03:21 pm

As evil as Wal Mart can be for any number of reasons, they aren't any more evil then most multinational corporations. For many things I buy, whether I like them or not, I am kinda apathetic to it at this point, I shop their because of how cheap it is. I have known people that have done well there, and one in particular that got screwed by them. However, I have found this at places I too have worked over the years that were not Wal Mart, or even retail. I think the legit complaints need handled, but the rest, let it go.

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

I never understood the hatred of Wal-Mart. If you don't like the place, don't go there. If enough people feel the same way, they'll go out of business. That's how the free market works, you vote with your wallet.

It's like the point of that Wal-Mart episode of South Park. Everyone complained about the store, but still went there. How do you expect the store to close then? If you don't like it, just pay the extra dollar at your local small business.

I do have to mention though, that as a paralegal working in Labor & Employment law, I read about a lot of cases in the field, and there have been a few class-action lawsuits against Wal-Mart because of their labor practices, and they've lost at least one of them.

I don't go to Wal-Mart anyway. I don't want to deal with all the people there, plus most of the dvds they sell are in full-screen format. I remember getting a gift card for there last Christmas. I found some crappy PC games and the best movie on dvd I could find. I got to the counter and then discovered the movie was in full-screen. So I went back and they didn't have any widescreen versions of the movie I wanted, so then I had to look through dozens of other titles before I finally found an acceptable movie in widescreen format. What a waste.

Posted: Oct 07 2008 04:07 pm

Cattivo wrote:

I never understood the hatred of Wal-Mart. If you don't like the place, don't go there.

Well, most of the anti-Wal-Mart propaganda is being peddled by the union. If Wal-Mart was more accepting of the union, I'd bet most of the negative propaganda would go away. You'd still have people that would complain, but the largest bulk of complaints would disappear.

I'd almost be willing to bet if Wal-Mart went union, but aside from that, not one thing changed, somehow, the union would likely make a 180 and start making pro-Wal-Mart propaganda. Wal-Mart would be the union's biggest moneymaker.

Posted: Oct 07 2008 04:53 pm

People who hate Wal Mart need to remember that it didn't spring into existence magically like some evil Pirate Ghost. Trends are set by the consumers and somebody realized at one point that people want everything in one stop and at cheaper prices, consumer laziness created Wal Mart. Ever see those peopled driving around with STOP WAL MART bumper stickers? Ok lets pretend that somehow we magically stopped Wal Mart and they ceased to exist, what do you think would happen? That the whole Country would revert from it's gigantic coast to coast strip mall into a sweet wholesome one street town where everyone shops at the local general store and we all know everyone else in town on a first name basis? NO. Some other faceless big box retailer would step in the fill the gap left by Wal Mart's demise, because that's what the majority of the public wants, a gigantic bland corporate facade of a warehouse full of the latest and most popular brands doo dads and gizmos at low low prices, no offensive movies games or music, because that's not family friendly, but we sure as hell have guns! YEE HAW come on down to Bland Mart, for all your consumer needs!

Posted: Oct 07 2008 04:59 pm

Blackout wrote:

People who hate Wal Mart need to remember that it didn't spring into existence magically like some evil Pirate Ghost. Trends are set by the consumers and somebody realized at one point that people want everything in one stop and at cheaper prices, consumer laziness created Wal Mart. Ever see those peopled driving around with STOP WAL MART bumper stickers? Ok lets pretend that somehow we magically stopped Wal Mart and they ceased to exist, what do you think would happen? That the whole Country would revert from it's gigantic coast to coast strip mall into a sweet wholesome one street town where everyone shops at the local general store and we all know everyone else in town on a first name basis? NO. Some other faceless big box retailer would step in the fill the gap left by Wal Mart's demise, because that's what the majority of the public wants, a gigantic bland corporate facade of a warehouse full of the latest and most popular brands doo dads and gizmos at low low prices, no offensive movies games or music, because that's not family friendly, but we sure as hell have guns! YEE HAW come on down to Bland Mart, for all your consumer needs!

This makes me think of towns who are "opposed" to a Wal-Mart, vote NO, or whatever, but Wal-Mart comes anyways. Then they blame Wal-Mart for running other businesses out of town. If the town was so opposed to them coming, and easy way to stop them would be just not go there and keep going to the mom and pop. Apparantly, some of the people who said no to Wal-Mart went there anyways.

Posted: Oct 07 2008 05:04 pm

scamrock wrote:

Blackout wrote:

People who hate Wal Mart need to remember that it didn't spring into existence magically like some evil Pirate Ghost. Trends are set by the consumers and somebody realized at one point that people want everything in one stop and at cheaper prices, consumer laziness created Wal Mart. Ever see those peopled driving around with STOP WAL MART bumper stickers? Ok lets pretend that somehow we magically stopped Wal Mart and they ceased to exist, what do you think would happen? That the whole Country would revert from it's gigantic coast to coast strip mall into a sweet wholesome one street town where everyone shops at the local general store and we all know everyone else in town on a first name basis? NO. Some other faceless big box retailer would step in the fill the gap left by Wal Mart's demise, because that's what the majority of the public wants, a gigantic bland corporate facade of a warehouse full of the latest and most popular brands doo dads and gizmos at low low prices, no offensive movies games or music, because that's not family friendly, but we sure as hell have guns! YEE HAW come on down to Bland Mart, for all your consumer needs!

This makes me think of towns who are "opposed" to a Wal-Mart, vote NO, or whatever, but Wal-Mart comes anyways. Then they blame Wal-Mart for running other businesses out of town. If the town was so opposed to them coming, and easy way to stop them would be just not go there and keep going to the mom and pop. Apparantly, some of the people who said no to Wal-Mart went there anyways.

That's what I don't get, there's been many cases where the city in question will vote NO and Wal mart is S.O.L. so I wonder with all these small towns that were gutted by Wal Mart, did they get together in a town meeting or do anything besides complain? On the flipside of the issue I've been through the Midwest and I've seen little jerkwater bergs that are pretty much ugly little ghost towns with a big fat Wal Mart Super Center in the middle, so I can see why people feel strongly about the issue. Confused

Posted: Oct 07 2008 05:09 pm

Blackout wrote:

That's what I don't get, there's been many cases where the city in question will vote NO and Wal mart is S.O.L. so I wonder with all these small towns that were gutted by Wal Mart, did they get together in a town meeting or do anything besides complain? On the flipside of the issue I've been through the Midwest and I've seen little jerkwater bergs that are pretty much ugly little ghost towns with a big fat Wal Mart Super Center in the middle, so I can see why people feel strongly about the issue. Confused

Well, in the episode of Penn & Teller Bullshit about Wal-Mart, there was a town that voted no. So Wal-Mart built a store in the next town. So it still hurt their businesses. So I kind of see how they could condider that to be underhanded. But at the same time, there must have been enough people in that town that actually wanted a Wal-Mart, or they wouldn't have been so hurt by people driving half an hour out of the way just to go there.

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

Blackout wrote:

consumer laziness created Wal Mart.

Well said.

Posted: Oct 07 2008 06:54 pm

I know Wal-Mart is sitting on a giant, useless chunk of land because it's stubburn.

In my hometown of Oregon City, Walmart bought out a wrecking yard, and most of a neighborhood, (houses and everything), so they could build a WalMart on the main strip. However, Oregon City has been "beautifying" for the last 10 years, and set up a shit load of rules for new commercial buildings that want to go up on the main strip. One of the rules is that all new building must be build as close to the street as possible, and thier parking lots need to be behind the building. (This has something do with trying to promote more pedestrian traffic and less vehical traffic. Don't ask me.)

Well, WalMart flat out refuses to do that, saying that all of thier stores are built exactly the same, with gigantic parking lot up front, and huge store in back of lot. Neither side is willing to budge. I think the city is just happy to collect the property taxes on all the unused land at the moment.

EDIT: Apparently WalMart has come up with another attempt to get thier store built: http://www.walmart-oregon.com/home/wm1/cpage_6/oregon_city

Posted: Oct 07 2008 08:24 pm

Knyte wrote:

I know Wal-Mart is sitting on a giant, useless chunk of land because it's stubburn.

In my hometown of Oregon City, Walmart bought out a wrecking yard, and most of a neighborhood, (houses and everything), so they could build a WalMart on the main strip. However, Oregon City has been "beautifying" for the last 10 years, and set up a shit load of rules for new commercial buildings that want to go up on the main strip. One of the rules is that all new building must be build as close to the street as possible, and thier parking lots need to be behind the building. (This has something do with trying to promote more pedestrian traffic and less vehical traffic. Don't ask me.)

Well, WalMart flat out refuses to do that, saying that all of thier stores are built exactly the same, with gigantic parking lot up front, and huge store in back of lot. Neither side is willing to budge. I think the city is just happy to collect the property taxes on all the unused land at the moment.

EDIT: Apparently WalMart has come up with another attempt to get thier store built: http://www.walmart-oregon.com/home/wm1/cpage_6/oregon_city

I didn't click on the link yet. But I guess I can understand both points of view. I really like that beautificaton idea. But at the same time, the checkouts really should be closest to the parking lot. People aren't going to like the idea of checking out then walking around to the back of the building.

I am kind of curious, how are the other business like Wal-Mart doing this?

Posted: Oct 08 2008 05:16 am

Cattivo wrote:

I never understood the hatred of Wal-Mart. If you don't like the place, don't go there. If enough people feel the same way, they'll go out of business. That's how the free market works, you vote with your wallet.

THIS. People are always so quick to whine about the ways certain businesses practice. Well, stick them where it hurts by not giving them your money. Wal-Mart became what it is because it's what people wanted. I want to be helped if i need something. I want a clean store to shop at. Wal-Mart does not offer this, so therefore I will shell out the extra cash to frequent a competitor that does. I used to work at an office store where customer service was top priority. Not more than a couple years after I quit, I returned and found that there was little emphasis on customer service. Was it because they hired stupid people after I left? No, it's because trends show that the consumer no longer cares about that, and prefers a lower price tag over customer service. They saw that people were still willing to give money to them even though they no longer offered the customer service previously required. It's our apathy or desire for lower prices that dictates this. Corperations will do what ever they want as long as we still keep giving them money. It angers me at how people whine and want the government to step in, when we could easily solve the problem by not funding these practices we don't agree with.

Posted: Oct 08 2008 05:24 am

TARGET RULEZ!!!!111!!

Posted: Oct 08 2008 07:58 am

I do love Target (And Best Buy). I particularly love how every Target I've ever walked into except one was set up exactly the same.

Posted: Oct 08 2008 12:41 pm

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

I do love Target (And Best Buy). I particularly love how every Target I've ever walked into except one was set up exactly the same.

I so wish we had a Best Buy. Stupid Roswell. Maybe with the powerball money coming here we get another business.

Posted: Oct 08 2008 02:27 pm

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

I do love Target (And Best Buy). I particularly love how every Target I've ever walked into except one was set up exactly the same.

We just got a Target last year and I was pretty impressed, especially with the use of red. Most big chain stores employ softer and cooler colors, usually blue and/or white, maybe yellow but it doesn't add to much excitement with the others, but red was the first thing I noticed going in. It seriously add a new vibe to my shopping experience.

Docinsano's Channel 63 · Posted: Oct 08 2008 03:53 pm

Where do I begin? I agree with Blackout, consumer laziness created WalMart. I remember when walmart didn't have grocery and liquor stores attached. I must say that they've gone a little out of control. Plus it sucks to go there. And seeing Miley Cyrus'face everywhere gets a bit nauseating after a while, but sometimes going to Walmart is unavoidable. They're open 24 hours, they have almost anything you need, and they're inexpensive. The downside of Walmart is the quality of their goods. A lot of the Walmart brand (DuraBrand) items, are complete shit and either break or wear out in less than two years. That's my only gripe, the low-quality goods. I also heard somewhere, don't remember where, but something about how Walmart products are different from the ones you buy elsewhere. They gave the example of a weed killer, like Roundup, and said that if you bought it at Walmart and then bought the same one at a different store the walmart one would only have like 10 percent active ingredient and the "real" roundup bought elsewhere would have the regular 12 percent. Just an example, that's not the real percentages but you get the idea. Also, I'm not saying it's true, just something I heard.

Posted: Oct 10 2008 06:35 pm

The weird thing about WalMart is that the customers have more of a problem with it's premise than do the actual people who work there.

The unusual thing about Walmart is that the CSM's and managers are pretty laid back with the staff, and as long as you get your work done, they don't mess with you or bother you excessively.

I worked at Walmart when I was 17 and it wasnt a horrible job, as long as you did your job they left you alone, you even have time to bullshit at certain times as hard as that it to believe.

I am 25 now and I go back to the old Walmart I worked at and at least 70 percent of the same staff excluding managers still work there. I am just saying the place may not have a union but they are actually better to their employee's than fastfood or other grocery stores who harass the shit out of you all the time.

Posted: Oct 17 2008 02:10 am

Ermac wrote:

The weird thing about WalMart is that the customers have more of a problem with it's premise than do the actual people who work there.

The unusual thing about Walmart is that the CSM's and managers are pretty laid back with the staff, and as long as you get your work done, they don't mess with you or bother you excessively.

I worked at Walmart when I was 17 and it wasnt a horrible job, as long as you did your job they left you alone, you even have time to bullshit at certain times as hard as that it to believe.

I am 25 now and I go back to the old Walmart I worked at and at least 70 percent of the same staff excluding managers still work there. I am just saying the place may not have a union but they are actually better to their employee's than fastfood or other grocery stores who harass the shit out of you all the time.

I agree with this. I screwed around a lot and didn't get fired. But I worked hard so it balanced out. In my experience, most of the people who got fired where I worked had it coming, but all thought it was unfair. Like the guy who got caught sleeping on the job, then threatened to sue because he was fired for "no reason", or the chick who got fired "because she was Mexican", and it had "nothing to do with stealing from the company".

Joined: Oct 06 2008 Posts: 43

I like target put I would have to pay 40 dallors in gas to go to target now

Posted: Oct 17 2008 10:09 pm

Target is too red for me, they need a less aggravating primary color for their store's motif. Mad