Have you ever "lost it" at Walmart due to poor customer service while trying to keep your toddler happy/safe?

Question

I will never again cross Wally's threshold.

I took my 2-year-old to the toy section because my daycare provider is in the hospital and I needed something new to keep her entertained. She saw the balls and walks right into this protruding wire thing that holds the small ones in her excitement to get at the bigger ones and gets a long wire-shaped welt on her face. This thing is sticking out right at toddler eye-level. I ask an associate to get the manager because I want to alert him/her to the danger so that no one else gets hurt. I wait 15 minutes for him and he said they'd take it down right away. OK-my good deed for the day was done.
I get to the checkout and there are 4 lines at 7 PM. MY toddler has HAD it from waiting for the manager. We wait and get to the front. I ask a guy if he is a supervisor and he says yes. I tell him that this is poor customer service and he replies that half of the cashiers called in sick. I said that that was a sign of mismanagement. CONTINUED...

My little girl is crying now because she is tired and wants to leave. I tell the guy never mind and start walking from my cart. He says--you're at the front--you might as well check out. I say"OK" and in my haste --because my daughter is having a meltdown am throwing stuff on the belt. He says " lady I can't help you--I am getting someone else to help you because you are throwing things at me." What? you're kindding me, right? AT this point I am mad. I grab the cereal box my daughter is holding and say "I wasn't throwing anything at you but now I am" I throw it at him and leave." I have never behaved in this manner but I was so angry. Have you ever been in a similar situation? I am a mild-mannered--professional, nice person and I do not have fits of anger. Are you like me and have you ever been driven to this sort of behavior?

NO FLAMERS PLEASE.

By the way--I don't drive a big car--Walmart is close to my house. I purposely chose the town I live in because I wanted to live in a diverse community. There are million dollar homes and apartment complexes within blocks of my home. I am not a whiny privileged upper middle class snob who wants to lord it over anyone. Let's get that clear right now. I smile, say "please and thank you" and I am friendly. I don't care what you wear or drive--if you are a polite considerate person you are OK by me.

I am also not asking for your admonishment, or moral judging. I know that I was out of line--and I am embarresed that this happened. But I believe that it was not entirely my fault. The point is I was driven to it. I am wondering if this has happened to you. If you haven't lost it, good for you--you obviously are perfect and never get angry. Must be nice. If you have---please share your story.

Answer 1

Ok what freaking Wal-Mart are most of you all shopping at. I shop all the time at Wal-Mart and yes I've had rude employees be crappy to me, but that happens at lot of different stores too. I think the problem is not so much Wal-Mart but that certain individual that is being a jerk. Plus I'm not one to keep quiet or afraid to make a scene. You can yell all you want, that crap doesnt embarrass me. You want to cause a scene I'LL give you scene. I like Wal-Mart and I go there alot w/ my kids and if I have problems w/ anybody it's b/c of that person not the store. Now I havent been to ALL the Wal-Marts, but that's just sad that b/c of some retarded employees people dont like it. If you complained about these people and nothing has been done then, sure I can see why you hate it. Either way, if I go to Wal-Mart and I get some rude employee, there gonna hear me complain. Let them make there threats. I really dont care. I'm still gonna shop there regardless of some prick who works there. If I stopped going there b/c some idiot wanted to have a fart attack on me then I'd have to be out of places to shop b/c everywhere I go there's gonna be someone rude. I've shopped in the bigger,expensive stores and still recieved the same treatment. It doesnt matter. As for the manager some people let a title go to their head. It doesnt matter if he's a manager at Wal-Mart or some bigger,expensive store some managers are just pricks. Maybe you shouldnt have thrown the cereal box at him, but you got mad and he was being a butthole. I'm not going to judge you, cause who am I to judge you when I would have got mad too. I dont cause trouble for nothing but at the same time I dont let someone disrespect me either. People can be pricks sometimes and most of the time they'll keep at it b/c people are afraid to make a scene.

Answer 2

Wow, your behavior was WAY out of line. They may not have handled you well, but the only person's behavior you can control is your own, and boy did you fail.

Walmart, or any other commercial business, is not a place to "entertain" your child. Children should not be allowed to run around a store because they might get hurt (like that welt your child got).

I think that the person who'd "HAD it" waiting for the manager was YOU, and on top of that you had a fussy toddler (we've all been in a store with a fussy toddler, and most of us recognize it's our fault for not planning our time better to get home before sleepy time).

The manager immediately fixed the wire problem when it was brought to his attention, that's great customer service! So it took longer than you wanted to alert him to the problem, its not like he was waiting somewhere watching you on a camera just to see how long you'd stand there waiting for him.

Then, rather than casually asking why there were so few cashiers, you jump right in accusing them of mismanagement, trust me if all those sick cashiers had come to work you'd be on here complaining that now you were probably going to get sick!

I've certainly lost my cool in Walmart before--the time I tried to return a can of baby formula that I removed the plastic top from only to find that the seal was broken and they told me they weren't going to take it back, and yes they did take it back after I asked for a manager--but take some ownership for your own behavior.

Answer 3

Walmart drive me crazy. My 2 yr old touches everything b/c the superwalmart that we are near has incredibly crowded isles. It seems every time I get in line to check out some item from the prior customers basket doesn't run up on the scanner. Then I have to wait with a screaming toddler, angry me, melting who knows what groceries, and agh... I could go on and on. Oh ya and I live in an area where old people are and they are so rude and shove me and right now I am pregnant and I just want to shove back. I am so there with you. Good luck next time! I wish there was a store as inexpensive as walmart with LESS people.

I am proud of you. You did what we with toddlers should all do!

Answer 4

She was being a Bad Customer ! Any Normal person would have seen you were having Difficulty performing your job and they would have been patient and cut you some slack. I would have been more understanding towards you . She sounds like a Crabby Old lady and probably lives her life that way ! So it may not have been just you ! I say don't worry about it and take the time off you need to get yourself better before going back to work ! Hope ya get better ! :o)

Answer 5

I think you overreacted. I've certainly gotten angry in a walmart before, but you really didn't have any excuse for your behaviour. Also, I don't see why explaining what type of neighborhood you're from should change the matter. It sounds like you're trying to justify your actions when you secretly know they were wrong. A walmart at 7pm is a very busy place, and you can't expect their often overworked, always underpaid managers to come running every time you have a question or concern. That's what the rest of their (also poorly compensated) employees are for. As for the cashier saying she couldn't serve you- she probably just didn't want to deal with you at all. After all, she probably just witnessed you yelling at her manager, and for minimum wage it's probably just not worth it to deal with customers like you.

Answer 6

It's Walmart- one has to expect crappy customer service and crappy merchandise stocking/crowded aisles from them. The wire should have been dealt with better from the management, of course, but as far as the customer service goes- that is why I DO NOT shop there EVER, especially with my 3 year old.

You should write a letter to their corporate headquarters and send copies to the regional managers and your particular store manager.

Answer 7

I understand where you are coming from! My husband went to Walmart with our kids (6 and 2)...well, he needed a game, as did another couple that were in the area. The person who was attending them got the couple their game, and then ignored my husband even though my husband is the one who got the person. My husband then went back after waiting about 10 minutes (it was Christmas time) and asked if he was ever going to get to help him. The guy, then whipped around saying out of the blue that he was going to get a manager and call the cops because my husband was being disruptive and making threats...which wasn't the case...so the guy ran off. My husband then asks the other person working in the area about that guy, and the person just shook his head about it like it happens a lot that the person who went to go get the cops overreacted...then my husband asked if he could just get the game, and he did it without making a scene.

I totally understand where you are coming from!! I mean, they work at WALMART! It isn't like they work at some big, expensive store like the "Bon" or something else like that! But that could be the reason...they have to feel like they have power over someone because they need to give their sorry existence purpose in some way.

Answer 8

We have 3 walmarts in my area and I will only shop at one because of the customer service issue(although my dad and sister both work at the walmart that I shop at) I have many times walked out of walmart leaving my cart right by the registers because of lines. I was at one of the walmarts and when I was walking down the lane one of the managers cut me off and I almost hit him it made me very upset. So anyway yes I dislike walmart very much and I don't even have a toddler. If i can't get to the store that my dad works at i just go to target.

Answer 9

I almost lost it before christmas and my child is already 3, so we are in the self check out because all the lines are tooooooo loooooooonnnnngggggg. well if you are in the self check out lane you expecto to get out faster and that the 3 persons in fron of you know how to use the darn thing but they dont and it takes longer than an actual cashier, well we finaly get to the front after 45 min of waiting for people to check between 1 and 3 items, we are about to pay for our 4 items and the machine doesn't take our credit card, so the atendant comes and she doesn't know how to handle the situation, all she had to do was to punch in a 4 digit code, and she could not do it.
I just told her, to get out of my way and I started walking away, so my son starts crying about his christmas gift that was on the register, so we walked for like 3 minutes, just to have my son stop crying, I went back to get his toy, and the cashier was still trying to figure put what to do, so we ended up gettin the stuff after waiting about 20 min after the 45 min wait in line. but still I go there all the time.

Answer 10

I can certainly understand your reason for getting upset. Sometimes you have to wonder how these people get a job, some are just so lazy or just dumb. I will share my story with you, one time I was at Walmart, (walmart must bring the worst out of us haha) and I needed help in the pet department finding filters for the water bowl, I walked all around the department looking for someone for help, not one employee around, so I see the phone, picked it up and got some lady who gave me trouble for using the phone it was for employees only, and I kindly asked her to page someone for the pet department, she did and I waited for another 10 minutes, so I went right to customer service and asked for the manager, she refused to get me the manager/supervisior. Said it wasn't necessary, she would page him again and to go and wait. So I walked back over and noone, so I headed right back to customer service and just freaked, everyone was looking at me. The lady said "with this behaviour I will have to get my supervisor." My response "I guess I am finally getting what I asked for". The supervisor came, and after another 10-20 minutes of waiting, finally realized, he had nobody in the pet department. I walked out.