Friday, April 12, 2013

Walmart: Not the Place to Shop.

To be honest, I don't usually shop at Walmart, although not for any particular reason.

Last week I walked into the store after going to Costco because I needed some 60w old fashioned light bulbs.

The price point was listed on the shelf as $1.68 per package. The 60w bulbs were on more than one shelf, and under each one, the price read $1.68. That seemed reasonable to me and I was happy to find the bulbs and buy them. 

While waiting on line to pay, I noticed that many customers paid cash instead of using a credit card.  As my turn approached, the cashier said he is almost out of cash in his drawer and called for someone to get him more money.

That was when he rang up my light bulbs to the tune of $2.24 a package.  When I told him that the price was not correct, he deleted the amount and assumed I was going to leave without making the purchase.  Since there was this person at the cash register who was going to get him cash, I asked her if she could check the price on the bulbs.  

If I told you that I waited at least 15 minutes for an answer but no one returned, would you believe me? I had to leave because this store was not a place I wanted to spend more time.  I would rather wait on line at Home Depot, which was where I should have stopped in the first place.

So why would I not want to shop at this store again? First of all, $2.24 for a package of regular light bulbs is no bargain!  I can easily buy them for less.  When you walk into the store the lighting is so dull you feel as if you walked into a place where having to strain your eyesight was the norm and getting sleepy was the only mode they wanted you to be in to shop.  There was inventory missing from many shelves. Items were not on the shelves in a manner that made it easy to find, and finding help was difficult.  It looked like a store that was going out of business.

Maybe it was a fault of just this one store, but if you are next to Home Goods and Home Depot and up the road from Costco, why not try a little harder to make shopping at Walmart a better experience?