I politely have to disagree & please know I'm not trying to be rude. Even if someone is having a bad day, it is NEVER right to be rude to a customer. If someone cannot handle their job due to personal circumstances, then they should take the day off rather then push their problems on someone else. The customer is not there to listen to someone's sob story, they are there to shop. While I agree that the bus driver was horrid to you (shame on him!) and what he did was inexcusable, I don't think it's really the same thing as having someone lie or be completely rude when performing the job they are getting paid to perform. The problem is that this is becoming a common practice. If it were something rare, most of us would be glad to figure they must be having a bad day or something similar, but when it happens 9 times out of 10 I think it goes deeper then that. JMO.

I hope your cancer scare turned out to be just that - a scare, and that you are now healthy and hale.

Nancy - I heartily agree with you! Unfortunately, I can't see a way for any of that to change. If anyone has any answers or suggestions, I'd love to hear it!

My sister is a store assistant manager. When you have a repeatedly rude clerk, file a complaint with the Arkansas offices. The managers only have 48 hours to resolve the problem. They track the complaints in stores and remove managers (meaning they transfer or outright fire them.)

Customer service is what the store manager knows about. If the rude clerk is having a bad day they are counseled to put it aside or leave. I worked a holiday for Walmart and I know personally how they train and retrain. Bonbon, you need to report the wait time and the employee.

Hancocks here is for another soapbox day. I can't even get into it because I have a doctor appointment in 3 hours and it will take longer than that.

Following company policy trumps store policy in every instance. If I'm grumpy, for whatever reason, I take that into consideration before I make a complaint. Did I cause the rudeness, did I perhaps offend the clerk for some reason, then if I can justify to my mind the complaint I will make it and explain all circumstances.

I frequently buy Walmart heavy flannel for batting in my charity quilts. I don't buy anything to use from their sale tables for a charity quilt but living on a fixed income I have to be more frugal so I will use their "good" flannel. I read the bolt to see what the manufacturing details are. If it's unknown fibers, I don't buy it.

Take the fabric and the receipt to the customer service and they WILL give you a refund.

Sam Walton was a bottom line man. Seems he had no qualms about keeping employee pay low and didn't think hourly employees deserved benefits when most could qualify for state aid.

Customer service? What's that? No one bothers to teach customer service or work ethics any more. I find that the only time I get any real customer service is when I shop locally owned stores. When I was growing up my parents owned a small grocery store. It was drilled into us on a daily basis that every bit of food that we ate and every stitch of clothing that we wore came from those customers. Maybe when people once more start looking at having a job as a priveledge and not a given, things will get back to how they should be. Now I, too, will step away slowly from my soapbox.

I think customers need to appreciate sales people too. AT every store I see people put items down anyplace and walk away. I know I'd get frustrated with having that extra work because of lazy duds. As long as money is being made, not much will change. Customer service I doubt will ever be back to where it is important. Too many other customers to fill the gap the frustrated customer left.

As Dh says what can you expect from minium wage employees. My friend was dept manager over fabrics. She is ex army. Very blunt & to the point. Somebody complained that she didn't kiss their behind just right so she was moved to cashier. The dept has gone down really bad since she was moved. She ran a tight ship. Fabric was ordered & stock was kept up. Now it is not. She would check to see if stuff was avaiable & when it would ship & as well as special order. I think they made a mistake. Wally World is known for working people only 35 hrs a week so they don't have to pay benefits. I know lots of folks think Old Sam was an ashol but the company was ran better when he was alive. Dh worked for the warehouse a short time. Because his dept was so productive & had such a good bunch of employees he was made a manager. Then they asked him to take over another dept. to clean it up. Well he wouldn't treat the people like management wanted so they bumped him down. He is a christian man & wouldn't want to be treated like that either. Long story short, it got the bills paid & food on the table till he found a better job. I feel sorry for anybody that has to work there. But back to the subject at hand. The service desk sign says satification guarented. Tell them your not & want it taken care of. It was a defective product & should have been treated as such.BellaBoo knows what she is talking as she lives right there in the mibble of Wally World Ville

I don't know. When I see things lying around from other customers, I just figure that it keeps someone in a job. If people started returning all items to their proper locations, there would be less work and perhaps the opportunity for the store to reduce hours for employees. Admittedly, this would be good for the store owner (Walmart, in this case) because it would reduce overhead costs.

Have to admit I myself make the effort to return unwanted items to their proper location 99% of the time. Upbringing, I suppose......

IMHO -- I think they just don't need their jobs enough. I've been noticing it all over the place. Even at McDonald's and Wendy's. Too many are rude, unconcerned, and what's with the cell phones while on the job???!!!

In this WalMart case, even if the customer went to the wrong location with their problem, the associate (as they're called today) should have had the presence of mind and good manners to handle it in a different frame way. All she needed to do was ask the customer to please go to customer service because the department can't directly do anything about it.

I beg to differ. I have been collecting unemployment for the past 2 years. I have been lucky(?) enough to have lost my job at a time when there were so many extensions.

I was always looking for a job. I never knew for sure that there would always be another extension and I had to think ahead.

I got a part time seasonal job around Thanksgiving at the local Joann Fabric's. It did turn out to to be a permanent job for me, thank goodness, even if it is only part time. I don't know how much longer these extensions will hold up.

I have to deal with the public every time I work. I have always been kind and courteous, even to those people that are so blatantly rude.

I think it has a lot to do with the character of the person in general. I was never one to be rude or mean to anyone, it goes against my character.

I worked in the floral industry for almost 30 years. You get people at their happiest times & their saddest times. I always tried to be nice to everyone even if I totally couldn't stand them. Children aren't taught to be respectable anymore so when they grow up they carry this mentallity with them. If employees would remember that they should treat customers like they want to be treated it would make a lot of difference in the work place. I am rasing my 2 DGS & they as well as my other children were & are being taught to respect their elders & other people. Thank God we do have unemployment as a lot of people would go hungry. Some do try to abuse it but they is true in a lot of situtations.

Same here, and Home Depot, it will be a cold day in Hell before I go back into either one.

Billy

The headquarters for Walmart, Inc. is:

702 S.W. 8th Street
Bentonville, AR 72716

You should write them a letter! This needs to be dealt with! Walmart is a good store. They don't need sales representatives like that ruining their name.

Ditto to everyone's comments. There is no excuse for rudeness. I get ticked when I smile and say "good morning" and the GREETER doesn't even return the favor. Isn't that their job? OR when the checkout person doesn't say "thanks for shopping with us". Afraid, dear ones, we're living in a very rude age. I go out of my way to be nice and not let their attitude attach itself to me. So sad.

I hope you got the clerk's name so you can report her. Also on another note, we need to report those clerks who go out of there way to help us. My DH went to Academy at Christmas and got the best customer service he has ever had. The next day he called the manager and gave him the clerk's name and he also called the clerk and thanked him again. In this day and time, good customer service is really lacking.

Things out of place in a store have to be returned to their proper place. We DO NOT get extra payroll hours to take care of things that people shuffle around the store. It also makes it more difficult to find out if we are out of a product. The computer will tell us we have 17 of this item, but where in the world are they? When a store is messy looking it is not inviting to guests, and is a frustration to the team members who work there. Would you like it if someone came into your home and moved things around and messed things up?

I would have gone to the refund desk & then called the manager if she gave me a hard time!!!!!!!!

Something like that happened to me when I bought flannel at a quilt shop. I made a rag quilt for a baby gift, and the print flannel washed beautifully, but the solid pilled very badly. I spent two hours shaving the pills off. The shop owner gave me 25% off of my next purchase. I was really upset also.

Just got back from Walmart & they have finally done something good. They didn't renew the nail salon's contract. It seems the owner would not use the fans that are suppose to pull the fumes away from customers & have been fined by the city numerous times for this. There were also some other issues but I can't remember what they were. They did something right today.

Always start with customer service. If no help given ask for the manager. Wal-Mart is not my favorite store, but they do try to correct a problem. Thanks goodness local Wal-Mart carries a full fabric dept with very nice ladies in the dept.

I hope you got your money back. I don't know what Walmart's problem is. I was there trying to buy fabric and a younger lady came up and we rang that dumb bell several times and no one came, so the young lady said heck, I bet we could figure this out, and we measured and labeled our own fabric. It sounds pretty rash, but honestly, we didn't have any choice. (we didn't cheat either!) the next time I was there I told the employee what happened, and she didn't even respond or looked shocked or anything! I thought maybe they would take the hint, but more times than not there is no one there.

I am sorry. If you go to Walmart and expect 1st class service it is like going to your local corner repair shop and expecting them to fix your European sports car.
If you get crap from Walmart, just think of what you paid. If you paid 10-12 4 dollah a yard, then you have a complaint.

BTW- I don't go to Wally's Works...
I don't have an issue with how they treat their returns.

I'd have been furious and so angry, I would have started turning red and puffing up and losing my breath just trying to find the manager. By the time I found whoever, I'd have been crying. Why, Hormones--Stress--holding in the feeling that I want to slap someone upside the head, but I'm not violent so I cry.
Quilting a day, keeps the phychosises at bay:) Bethy

Customer service is lacking in many stores these days. There was no need - no matter how bad of a day she was having to be rude - no matter if she was as substitute from another dept... Customer satisfaction guaranteed - baloney... Wal Mart is NOT a good store - 90% of their products are made in China... I do not shop at Wal Mart.

I agree - it's part of why I support my local shops [read: non-chain] whenever I can. It's harder to be nasty to your customers if you have to run into them in the grocery store, too. Not impossible, but harder.

I'm glad the mgr gave you your money back. I'm sure this experience will give you pause the next time you need fabric, though. Who wants to put money in the pockets of mean people? I've started looking online (I like eBay a lot these days) for cheap fabric when cheap is a priority. FreeCycle, too. And Craigslist. Lots of people will *give* you their excess fabric when they decide they no longer want it.

I am so sorry for the bad experience, I work for one of the few Walmart stores in Texas that still sell fabric. My job is customer service manager and believe me if that happened at our store there would be one more unemployed person! Please don't let this go... take it on to the manager and I promise they will take care of it

LOL! I like that line. :)

I cry when I'm mad, too! And I hate it that it's seen as a weakness. I'd rather cry than assault someone. Somehow, it just seems more polite.

Same Here I would have gotten that girls name and handed him the receipt and told him I want a refund is this the type of material that you want to sell or buy and I would have said to him. I made this for a friend or whoever it was for and told him how would you feel after buying the material and putting the time and effort into this and look what happen to it because of this Material that I bought here.

Well since we are dissing Walmart, guess what I read on the yahoo page today. A graduate student was doing some research & found bags of clothes from Walmart that were good clothes but were slashed so they were unusuable. They were thrown away instead of being donated to a charity. Walmart spokesperson said she was unware of such policies but it would not happen again.

Hi again! I don't want to just rag on Walmart, but most all the places of big businesses. Unless you know the people working there, it seems that people have forgotten how to work with out acting like it's killing them. Course now I've got one little quilt I'm trying to finish and I'm just growling all over the place, but there again I'm not working with or for the public. Things have changed and if we don't support our local stores, then I'm afraid that we will probably have to settle for the treatment we get. There is no pride in big places of work and people don't seem to worry about their jobs until things get bad like now and then that doesn't seem to distress some. I'm on my high horse again and I'm fixin to fall, I can feel ittttttt! Quilt it today for tomorrow you may have to clean. Oh no that's just wrong. Bethy

Being a former JoAnn Fabric employee, I have witnessed items being damaged so they could be thrown away and no one would haul them out of the dumpster. These were also items that could have been donated to charity and useful to them.

What happened to "the customer is always right" ?
I agree about telling the manager.

That is just appalling! To destroy merchandise so no one can use it, or to just throw it away..I can't believe that Walmart woud do that, but I suppose they figure that if they can't sell it then NOBODY should have it. You are also right, jobs in the states are all going overseas for cheap labor, and the products are being shipped in faster then WE producers ship them out. So, we support all the other countries EXCEPT our own...Look for the American Made label. You may pay more, but you are supporting a home grown product.

Actually, I heard a humorous (from my point of view anyway) news story concerning upset workers in Mexico. They are furious that their jobs by American companies are now being outsourced to China. One gentlemen stated in an angry voice that American Companies have no loyalty. Duh! If they did they wouldn't have outsourced OUR jobs to Mexico to begin with! :P It's all about the almight dollar and customer service or decently made goods rarely figure in to that equation.

They can't donate the items as they are put on the stores insurance if they are not salable and then since it is claimed then it has to be destroyed, The store doesn't have a choice. If they don't follow the rules laid out by the insurance company they loose their insurance. And the type of dumpsters that they have here are dangerous for people to pick through as they are compactors.

I will have everyone know that I worked there for over 2 years and I took pride in my job and gave the best customer service that I could, didn't matter what they asked or how far out of my way I had to go, I did it. and with a smile on my face. Nothing was to small or to big. I was always helping outside of my dept as well even though it wasn't in my job description. I cut keys, mixed paint, caught fish when they still had them and cut fabric, carried out furniture, unloaded trucks and was stacker jack qualified and I bet that you can't guess what department I worked in.

That is so sad. The one close to me has donated clothes to charity. A small group of us had to go to the store and with a couple of employees we cut off the labels and took off the price tags. They donated about 10 huge boxes full of summer clothes to a charity I used to volunteer at. They donated to that charity another time after that(winter stuff, hats, gloves ect).

Cutebuns, I'm very sorry that I grouped all employees into having no pride, because I know for a fact that there are so many who do have pride in their work and treatment of their customers. I've found that some seem to mean all, when in fact is not true. Please excuse my miss statement and because of my negation of your pride in your employment. That said, Walmart is eating up, because of the low prices, our smaller businesses. And, I believe some of the stuff the now provide, they are suspending. Unfortunately, it seems that it is the fabric and most of the sewing craft materials that we as quilters use. While I personally have seen as I have grown into my quilting pride is that some of the material which was the only material that I could afford if I was going to get to sew. Now I've found that their material isn't as good and has a cheaper quality than in the Quilt stores still around. I did hear an owner of one of the quilt stores I go to, was talking on the phone to someone who was wondering what to charge for a quilt she was selling. After the phone conversation, the owner knew that these friends had heard her side of the conversation, and she explained that she could not give the answer because she didn't know what fabric she used and there is a difference in where the material is bought. These ladies were women who had quilted many more years than I agreed and added that material from Walmart was much cheaper in quality in their opinion, then what would be in a quilt store. After contemplation of listening to their talk, I felt embarrassed because I remembered making quilts from the material from Walmart purchase. Walmart allowed me to get into sewing. I considered it all and I do remember how the material felt and how some of the problems I had was due to the quality of the material. Of course, the people I made the quilts for,were excited that I had made whatever for them. So, there you go. I still look at the material and buy some from Walmart. Fortunately for me, I have been in there enough and there seems to be the same couple of girls who wait on me and that seems to make a difference in treatment. Actually, I can say I have good and bad service in many of the Walmarts I visited in different parts of the nation. Quilts make life beautiful and people who make them beautiful, too. Beth :P

I buy fabric at our Walmart here and have had a dark green fade terribly on me twice and both times they were great in taking it back. The first time I had them replace it, but the second time I could have gotten a refund but decided to buy other fabric with the money, after all why put it back in the budget, it was already spent, lol.

Pam

Our local store for the most part have some pretty decent people working for them. There are a few idoits but that is true in every place. I found a real pretty piece of fabric the other day. It was a beige with tiny hearts & flowers & green vines. I never could find what it was made of. My friend in fabrics & I had a good laugh because neither one of us had a lighter to try the burn test so I bought a yard anyway. Got it home & tried it. Sure enough it melted. It is pretty & I will just use it to line a bag or something. Would have made a pretty quilt. It is said to see a lot of people buying this to send across the border. Hopefully it will make Ok clothes just not quilts. Back to the employees, the older people are the best employees as they know how the public wants to be treated & remember that an honest days work is an honest days pay. Not to say that all young people are the problem but some just don't know the ways of the world. One of my dear friends in fabric just retired after 20 years & I will sure miss her.

Cutebuns, you probably worked in cosmetics or jewerly.