The person that said that all the Wal Mart Workers got a salery cut is mistaken. I work for Wal Mart and just got a raise in pay. I don't understand why Wal Mart under staff's, but we are all responsible for more than one Dept. I am the manager over five departments. We do have to cover for the fabric counter all day. The girl over fabrics, has three dept. As your experience with the girl cutting it the wrong way, I think alot of workers are afraid to cut fabric, so don't answer the bell. We are trying in our store to train more to cut fabric, so everyone will answer.

Our nearest Walmart does fairly well with having someone nearby to cut fabric. Sometimes it's actually the person in that department, but often it's the guy from the sporting goods department. He can cut fabric with the best of 'em. :mrgreen: They've cut their selection down to less than half of what it was, but at least they still have some.

The next-nearest Walmart recently got rid of ALL their fabric. I'm sure they blamed it on slow sales, but I can't tell you the number of times I tried to buy fabric and couldn't get anyone to cut it for me. Going to nearby departments didn't help. They "couldn't" cut it, and the person who could was always at lunch or something. Then, half the time when you'd finally get someone to help you, they couldn't get (or didn't know how to get) the label printer to work. If they hand-wrote it on paper and pinned it to the fabric, the cashier would freak out and have to call the manager. It took FOREVER. IMO, they "shot themselves in the foot". It's a shame, too, because they had a NICE selection of fabric ... at least 4 double-sided aisles worth. :cry:

I try to buy from the nearest Walmart whenever I can (when they have what I'm looking for), but usually I end up ordering online due to their decreased selection.

I had this happen in a LQS. And it was one of the owner's standing about 20 feet from me visiting with another lady. She saw me standing there because we made eye contact.

I left 4 bolts of fabrics (so figure at minimum about a $40 sale) on the cutting table.

I don't shop there anymore unless I'm really desparately looking for a fabric.

The sad part is it's the closest LQS to my house.

OH....our WM stopped selling fabrics. We only have Joann's and Hobby Lobby now.

a great deal of the "reports" in this topic are inaccurate and misleading. it happens every time somebody starts one like this.

one person has a bad experience in one location of a chain operation. she automatically assumes the every location is the same. she posts to vent her dissatisfaction. other individuals who are less than 100% thrilled with their experience(s) in their local chain store will pile on with their own horror stories.

since most people don't have the time or patience to slog through obviously negative topics, we don't hear equally from people who've had good experiences. it's only those who are willing to "go the extra mile" to support truth, accuracy and fair play who try their best to provide some balance.

how many hundreds or thousands of walmarts are there in the world? how many departments, managers and employees within each store? there's no way they can all be perfect. like anything that involves human beings, you'll find a mixture of good and bad. my local walmart is a good example of that. i usually walk out satisfied, but not always.

the same can be said of most places we shop nowadays.

anybody looking at this topic during their first visit to our board will likely think we're just a bunch of cranky old broads with nothing better to do than complain, complain, complain. (and to encourage each other to resort to all sorts of bad behavior to get what they want.)

if the pattern holds true to its history, this comment will now be followed by a few dozen more negative comments about walmart in general and my addition in particular.

that's how we roll. :roll: :lol:?

I haven't had that kind of problem at our WalMart. There is always someone there to cut fabric and help in any way possible. However, saying that, it won't be that way long cause we are losing our fabric department. They are rearranging our Walmart and changing the location of a bunch of departments so now we don't know where anything is! It took me 30 minutes to find puff paint the other day. I am just going to wait about 6 months before I go back again to give them time to get it all together. Then I will take an afternoon stroll around the store to re-orient myself to the change. I hate that we are losing our fabric dept!

Sad to say, but with the retail chains, the bottom line is profit. Your bad, disappointing, frustrating shopping experiences with walmart is happening with other retail stores all across the country last friday i did grocery shopping at food city for my 90 year old mother....had to stand in a check out line for 35 minutes....there were 10 check out lanes, but only two were open, with lines backed up halfway in the store. If i had been shopping for myself, i would have parked the cart and left. My local walmart fabric dept. Has a couple of really nice ladies who know what they are doing --but usually have to go look for them as they have to maintain several other depts they sell tons of fabric...the quilt of the month fabric usually sells out the first day--but despite this, guess we will be losing the fabric by the yard within the next year.

I have not had a problem like that. I would not hesitate to have gone and asked for the main store manager. That usually works.

At our WalMart the craft/fabric dept has no staff. When you want fabric cut - you go hunting to find someone. I also notice that the WM employees (not all) are not as accomadating as when WM was trying to take over everything.

Patrice, I certainly understand your point and I agree with you, up to a point. However, when I posted my frustration, I did not "automatically assumes the every location is the same". I simply was so very frustrated that I just could not hold it inside any longer. To do so would have been detrimental to my health.

Many of the members here look upon this board as a friendly place to share, chat, and yes, even vent our frustrations. It's like having a neighbor to chat with over the back fence. When I made the original post, it was nearly 36 hours after the incident and I was still furious with the lack of common courtesy I experienced. I did not ask for "solutions", although I did ask if "... this [is] typical of your fabric department experiences in Wally World???" I have noticed that there have been others who have posted that my experience is NOT typical of their fabric department experiences there. Sadly, that may be because too many of the WalMart stores have discontinued their fabric department altogether. Even more unfortunate is the number of posts that confirm poor treatment at WalMart fabric departments all over the country.

I must tell you, this thread has been quite cathartic for me. I have laughed -- hard -- at some of the solutions others have suggested. They are very creative ways to make a point without "going postal" at the place. It has reaffirmed my feeling that humans are generally decent people. And that quilters in particular have incredibly creative solutions to most anything that comes our way. Most of these solutions would be acceptable ways to make the point that Customer Service SHOULD BE #1. It DOES bring people back to your store.

It has been very helpful to hear from employees of WalMart in this thread. They have a unique perspective on this kind of situation that I, as a customer, simply do not have. Yes, there are employees at my particular store who don't generally know what they are doing with fabric, and don't care to learn it, either. But there are some who do, and they seem to be the exception. And when I am particularly happy with the treatment I get there, I make a point to tell that person TO THEIR FACE that I appreciate their efforts.

What saddens me is that we have come to a point in our society that we feel it is more important to snipe at everyone and everything than to be pleasant. I have contacted the corporate offices, but have not heard from anyone associated with WalMart on this issue. I realize they are a large corporation, but I do expect more from a company whose advertising (which is seemingly everywhere) says that they care about saving US money and actively attempts to get my business. If they want my business, then they need to treat me as a valued customer, not just a distraction or an "issue" to "deal with".

I have come up with some solutions that could help make this kind of experience minimal, if not altogether extinct. But I am waiting for contact from either the corporate level or my local store. I would like to share these suggestions with them first, to provide an opportunity for reform. Until then, I trust that we can all take a deep breath and try to relax on this issue for now. I have really appreciated all the support I am getting (even if it is just others chiming in with their experiences) on this issue ... lets me know that I am not rowing in this big ol' boat all alone.

Agreed! It's not just one store, one "named" store, it is customer service everywhere. I can't believe the way the economy has changed the way our "services" are handled. It's not just Wal-Mart, DQ, LQS, it's everywhere...why has our mentality changed to...I'm just here to get a check..and I don't really care..have you watched the commercial for McDonalds and the customer service employee says that it's his "my time" when a customer is complaining and it's Not His Fault...

It's become a social issue.

I am sorry if I have said something that offends someone. That wasn't my intentions, I was making a point that our society has changed it's idea of customer service

Thoughtful, very well-stated reply, Odessa. I too appreciate Patrice's comments. However, your points about needing to vent on issues that are still with you after a few days as a cathartic, solution-seeking outlet are so true. I can think of several instances where I felt wronged and did nothing about it (not related to fabric/quilting but once to medical records having been "borrowed" without my permission.knowledge from my official file and data not being available when I came in for appointment w/ my doctor to discuss said condition). I felt much better when I finally talked about it with my book group members when we wandered into talking about our experiences with the health care system.
BTW, I also know that we shared good experiences as well during that discussion.

I substitute teach at a local high school. Ask any school teacher about this and they will probably say that it's endemic to our culture. I would estimate that at least one-third (possibly more) of the students are not there to learn anything, haven't any interest in learning anything, and only want to socialize with their friends, go to the football games and parties, etc. They expect to be passed on to the next grade with little or no effort.

We allow these young people to develop extremely bad work habits and ethics for twelve years and then turn them loose on the public working for places like WalMart and then we want to complain because they aren't polite, enthusiastic, helpful and knowledgeable. We need to get real. This situation is only going to continue to go downhill until the schools and parents get a wakeup call.

Catmcclure sure hit the nail on the head. Our whole culture has a problem. Kids are taught by newspapers, movies, tv etc. as they grow up, that they do not have to bother with math, english, history etc., just learn how to hit, throw or kick a ball and they can make millions. Aren't you sick of picking up a paper and reading that someone just quit his twenty million job because someone else on the team was offered fifty million? And we wonder why they have the attitudes that they do. Sickening!

I agree with Catmcclure. I also beleive that we can't lay all the blame on the schools. We parents need to start teaching our children early. My son just turned 5. He gets a dollar for each year of his age for an allowance. He receives 1/2 in change for his bank (savings) and the other 1/2 for trips to Wal-Mart. But he has to earn this each week. He has jobs like picking up toys, staying quite in Sunday school and helping to fold laundry etc. (He folds wash cloths.) He's been doing this for nearly two years now. We feel that he will be a better man someday if he doesn't expect to have everything given to him. This is just my opinion I don't want to start anything.

Whole heartedly agreed. Someone sent me an email about the differences between high school in 1957 and 2007 and I had to agree with most of what was said.

i absolutely understand the need to vent in a supportive environment. any one of my friends here in non-cyberspace can testify to the fact that i am a championship venter. walls melt when i'm on a tear.

however, that's in the privacy of my "real world".

our back fence here at the board is very much in the public eye. thousands of people read our posts - not just the people we know we're sharing with. everything we say and do here can have a ripple effect none of us could predict. i know of at least one case in which a rant here about a commercial product was so devastating to an employee of the company that she nearly quit her job - even though she had personally been working very hard to solve the problem. do you want to be responsible for a thing like that? do you want to cause that kind of humiliation, heartache and despair for a person who happens to work at walmart but not the one(s) you don't like?

what we say and do here reflects on the entire membership and the impression we create for our unseen audience.

i beg you to remember that.

I have been blessed to make friends at each Walmart I have ever shopped in. They are most always understaffed but as long as they let me hang around and look and touch the fabrics I dont mind waiting for someone to show up to cut my fabric. I have gone to Walmart in the midnite hours and sometimes at 3 or 4 am and there was no designated person to work Fabrics so I just walked around with my fabric choices and asked who ever I saw if they could get someone to cut fabric for me. They always found someone to help me and lots of times it was some guy who dint know anything about fabric so I coached him and actually this happened often enough that the manager s had instructed that in such instances the employees should cut slightly more for us than what we asked because it was not cut accurately. I think this is great because I can always use a bit of extra fabric!! Honestly my beef with walmart is on the corporate level. Local employess dont make the decision to ignore what customers want or need.Corporate Wal mart has gotten too big for their breeches.

next time get on the phone and tell them you are going to measure your own fabric. but you are not sure you well get it right. Help comes in a hurry

Perhaps it is the area you are in. While in MI and in a Walmart, a customer behind me was angry as the customer before me was asking for a price quote. The customer behind me was very irrate because she had to be somewhere and was late and everyone was holding her up, she said. I felt bad for the checkout gal to have to bear it. Another time, in the same state and area, a customer pushed me out of the way cuz she wanted to be first. (In a hurry, ya know). Perhaps the gal with a cart was upset that she almost hit someone with her cart? Whose to know what her face and feelings are.
When I can't find something in the large stores, I find someone to ask for help. Kindness has to begin somewhere.I hope you feel better and find your fabric.
Sorry to put in my 2 cents. In SC I am always treated well and always with a smile and courtesy at Walmarts.

Funny you should say that...Our WM has a small fabric dept. The other day (or actually night) about 10pm, I meandered through the dept and found a really cute fabric that my brain screamed "You can't live without this one"! Well, no one came to my gentle "ding" on the bell. No one came to my demanding "ding, ding, ding,,," on the bell. No one answered my call to the service desk...Hummm. What options do I have? I cut my own length and carried it and the bolt to the register. To say the least, the cashier was very surprised and had no clue what to do. She called her CSM, who was just as clueless. She called the night manager, who put his hands on his hips and declared that I had damaged store property and could be held liable for purchase of the whole bolt...I handed him my cell phone and suggested he call 911 and see if anyone really cared? I got 2 yards of wonderful fabric for free after I added at a less than quiet voice that if departments are available to guests 24/7/365, they should be staffed appropriately...I received applause from several guests...and took the appropriate bow upon leaving the checkout lane.

good for you! Like I stated before, it's not so much the employees who are at fault, but rather the way large corporations work.

Our walmart doesn't even have fabric anymore. tear. But as for the help one recieves it is very sparatic.

My Walmart in Missoula, Mt. carries fabric. The sales girls are friendly and nice and I got on the list to be called for the fabric of the month, and get a friendly phone call every month. I don't have any complaints about the Walmart and they are enlarging to be a super WM but said they will keep their fabric dept. I am hoping to see more bolts come into the store, but the 2 ladies that work there seem to know what they are doing and are helpful. I agree with the quote I am replying to. We need to only print the truth, and not come across as complaining quilters/sewers.

The impression I am getting from reading some of these posts is that people are more intent on telling us how they got one over on Walmart by "standing up for themselves" than they are in complaining about Walmart.

I always thought quilters were a kind, generous bunch for the most part. It is a bit unsettling for me to read posts by several people who are describing their own rude behaviour and seem to be proud of it.

Janie

come over here so i can hug you! :thumbup:

WalMart has many, many good employees, managers, and stores. However, complaining to WalMart about bad customer service is like trying to take a child's spade and bucket set to clean up the Gulf Coast beaches. It's not going to work. They're too monolithic and control too much of the market. In many cases they're the only game in town. The only thing you can do is vent.

Also, I do not believe that standing up for yourself is being rude. Just like disagreeing with Congress, the President, your governor, local Sheriff, etc., is not unpatriotic.

My primary physician winces everytime I refer to another doctor in his organization as "that idiot doctor". However, as I pointed out to him, he has never misdiagnosed me and is in no danger of ever being referred to in that manner. On the other hand, when I complained about having had a cough for six months that wouldn't go away, "that idiot doctor" made a snap diagnosis that because I suffered from the fatal F's (fat, female and over forty) there was nothing wrong with me but Acid Reflux disease and gave me Pepsid. Turned out that I had lung cancer - fairly advanced. That's why I call him "that idiot doctor."

OMG - I have never heard that one LOL what's after 3 F? I'm definitely in that catagory

:lol:

Maybe the associates should start their own thread called
"guests/customers from hell"

When our WalMaart carried fabric we had a great fabric dept.The lady always took time to chat and cut at the same time.

Yes we have walmarts here that are the same way. My husband used to hate to wait with me so he would keep ringing the bell or get someone to help.

Wally seems to have gotten rid of all but a few people. Then they don't know what they are doing there. It certainly isn't like the ole wally we knew. A shame. When fabric left-I go in and out. I always used to come home with fabric. Now no fabric and very little craft items. If you need party stuff-you got it.

I'm going to jump in here only one more time. I generally respect store employees and I am bothered by the comment that some of us are trying to get one up or over on WM. My misadventure was definitely to my benefit, I admit that. But my issue with local stores is the message (whatever the problem: pharmacy, hardware, auto or fabric departments) never gets heard any higher than the district level. I called the customer service line to discuss my misadventure and they were non-commital about the event. I even offered to return to the store and pay for the fabric or return it...the comment from the service rep..."Please don't do that; it will get the night manager in trouble." HuH! Walmart is who they are; no longer a company that respects their customer or selective of who they buy their merchandise from, and how they negotiate contracts with vendors using strong arm tactics. In other words, WalMart considers themselves King of the World at the expense of anyone who gets in their way. I write this info from personal knowledge of the system. So, I'm done with this tirade and this thread. Live on quilters, however and wherever you find the fabrics and tools of our craft. Complain to whomever you must and complement those who deserve it.

Hey my WallyWorld stoped selling fabric in March of this year.
Now I only have Hobby Lobby,Michaels, JoAnns,and Hancock.
You can't buy any sewing needs at WalMart now in OKLA. :D

All I can say, is that you can't always assume that the associates are to blame. Either they can't cut fabric, can't find someone to cut fabric or, to be honest don't want to cut fabric. I know some that don't like cutting fabric because it's nerve racking and sometimes the customers are quite rude. I don't mind doing it, but I am waiting for the day I get one of those fabled customers who reems me out because "You didn't cut my fabric right!"
I havn't had a bad one yet, in fact I've had some customers with EXTREME patience. Like for example, one time I had just finished cutting like 20 different things of fabric when the scanner quit on me and deleted all of the information. I had to hunt down a lady who could help me (I was in panic mode) and we had to rescan everything.

Employees for some companies started doing that. Then they all got fired.

There are both good & bad places to shop as far as Customer Service goes. I've worked Retail and I can vouch for the fact that a little bit of kindness to the employees, goes a long way. They are doing what they have been ordered to do. We all have had a bad shopping experience or two from time to time & will cont. to have them in the future. But we do not always know if the employee in that dept. is just screiwng around & being lax on the job or if they have been told to do whatever. My point is that we don't know what is going on with them, so it is unfair to chastize them. And treat them as we would want to be treated if the positions were reversed.

Last, we do sound like a bunch of old crabby clucking hens sometimes. :D We all need to remember: "How do we probably sound or come across to the many many lurkers here." Therefore try to set a nice tone. If we post a negative, try to add a positive along with it. :thumbup: It is a well know fact everywhere, that some of the help in Stores are far from good at their job or like it was way back when. Maybe they were having an off day. Maybe they had been up the night before tending to someone sick and was just exhausted that day. They are as human as we are. Just be kind to them. Whether they really deserve it or not, we don't know. It sure can't hurt. :wink: Okay I am off this topic & going to read on some other topcs.