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Post by Metella on Aug 9, 2005 13:12:34 GMT -5
I got the below snipets from the latest issue of Consumer Reports - a totally independent magazine. It was a two page article - but in a nutshell .....
.... None of the major retailers out-priced the independents for ranges, refrigerators and other large appliances and only two were winners for small ones such as grills and vacumns. Wal-Mart no cheaper than other stores despite its low-price slogan.
Choice was another area where the mighty were humbled. Independent stores bested all but one large retailer for small appliance selection. Mom and pops stores scored far above best buy, Costco, target and Wal-mart on the personal touch scale.
Nearly 70% were very satisfied with delivery and setup, compared with 53% for large stores. .....
Down with Wal-Mart - the evil empire. It is what is wrong with the world.
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Post by NikkiGreen on Aug 9, 2005 15:02:51 GMT -5
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Post by Patcat on Aug 9, 2005 16:11:26 GMT -5
Wal-Mart is extraordinarily evil. I'm firmly convinced it's a symbol of all that is wrong in America.
Patcat (just don't ask me about Barbie...)
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Post by domenicaflor on Aug 9, 2005 19:42:03 GMT -5
I have found much better selections and service at local independent (Mom & Pop) stores - particularly in hardware and garden items. That is not to say that I boycott the big chains, but when I can I choose indie for everything from coffee/tea to books to hardware to clothes. I'm grateful to live in a city where I have Mom & Pop choices and also in a section of the city that tries to keep the independent stores going. I have been a member of a food co-op for over 8 years and I love that as well. (Yes, I am a card-carrying nutty-crunchy-granola Democrat. LOL)
Unfortunately other people do not have as many options. My sister lived in the mid-west and then in the mountain states in small towns and cities. With no car, she was forced to shop where she could walk or take public transit. And for many years, the closest supermarket and general store was the Super Wal-Mart.
I recently saw a great documentary on our local public station (WYBE, not PBS) that discussed how superstores are being allowed to open, given incredible breaks on taxes and service costs, all because local governments are counting on the sales tax revenue for their districts. In some cases, it works fine. But in many cases, they lose sales tax revenue when the Mom and Pop stores close down. Also in many cases, the superstores do not employ the same amount of people as the former indie stores, and if they do, they frequently offer subpar salaries and benefits. In the case of supermarket workers, because they earn lower wages and have little or no benefits, many families have to enroll in public assistance for medical insurance. Thus, the superstore companies reap the benefits while the local citizens have to absorb even more tax and insurance costs.
I'm not even going to go into the Dateline report about sweatshop labor in countries like Bangladesh....... all to make profit for places such as Wal-Mart. There has to be a better way.
D.
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Lilee
Silver Shield Investigator
Posts: 190
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Post by Lilee on Mar 4, 2006 1:36:50 GMT -5
Oh, folks after me own Heart!!! I just had this discussion with my neighbor, who wants to buy a flat screen television from Wal-Mart. She shudda know'd betta'! It just became a tangent - a monologue, if you will, where I griped about everything from their sneaky pricing games to the fact that they under-hire, pay shit and as a result the employees hate their jobs. This means all the wonders-of-technology the place sells are being dropped, kicked, sold, returned and resold. You can't call old Wally to come to your house when the t.v. breaks. Oh, don't get me started!!!
One of the cable news stations occasionally runs a documentary called, "Wal-Mart Nation". Really worth watching. There are interviews with folks from every conceivable side, including a big-whig at the Super-store. Idiot didn't even know that the feces spewing from his mouth was burying his rich ass more with each word he uttered.
I actually applied, out of sheer desperation years ago, to a store in Mass. Two of the things you had to consent to were: They had permission to do a freakin' credit check and you gave permission for them to access your bank accounts. Also you had to sign that they could fire your sorry ass at any time, for any reason, with no notice. I had spoken with the woman from the photo department and she was ready to hire me as soon as I filled out the ap. When I came back and not only refused to sign the disclaimers but also asked for explanations, I became last on a long list of "qualified applicants". There used to be a web site called, "I hate Wal-Mart.com". 'Nuff said.
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Post by Cassie on Mar 5, 2006 12:23:13 GMT -5
Before Wal-Mart came to town, everyone signed a petition to keep them out. Same people shop there that signed the petition, like myself. But there is no where else close to shop to pick up the basic stuff. Woolworths, Grants, Ames and Jamesway are long gone. Sooner or later, someone will take Wal-Marts place. for mom and pop shops, we go to the Farmers Markets in our areas. Zerns, camera advice and QMart , has Fredericks Meats they have the best tasting ring bologna in the world CD's and DVD's are at least $5 cheaper at these two places then any of the malls in our area
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Post by kawaiidragonfoe821 on Mar 10, 2006 13:18:05 GMT -5
Geeze LOL, a lot of people really don't like Wal-Mart, huh? I've shopped there before, I'll admit it when I lived in the city, because it was convenient. But for my technology needs, I'll go to Best Buy, Sam Goody, or Borders. They might be a little more pricey then Wal-Mart, but I'd rather pay a little more & now I'm getting a quality item.
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Post by Metella on Mar 10, 2006 17:27:04 GMT -5
pay a little more and get something that doesn't break in a year? and know that the employees of that store got health care? and know that it was not manufacutered by child labor?
Wal-Mart = EVIL
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Lilee
Silver Shield Investigator
Posts: 190
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Post by Lilee on Mar 11, 2006 1:16:02 GMT -5
A year??? I bought a small t.v. there a few years ago and it blew a gasket within an hour!!! There are still local businesses around here and they are who I go to for any kind of technology. yes, I know televisions don't have gaskets
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Post by kawaiidragonfoe821 on Mar 11, 2006 9:15:59 GMT -5
I have an 8 yr old JVC TV from Wal-Mart that is about to go out, I'm lucky enough to now be in a financial situation to afford a replacement (even though it may not be the LCD one I wanted). I vowed that that TV would be the LAST thing I ever electronic item I ever bought from them. At first I thought it was a fluke, but the TV a friend of mine bought (same model, also from Wal-Mart) broke around the same time.
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Post by Cassie on Mar 11, 2006 9:44:52 GMT -5
It's not just Wal-Mart, its all those Big Chain Stores. We bought a TV from "Best Buy" that was on sale. They told us it was out of stock. Call on wednesday, it should be in. I picked it up on wednesday. brought it home. We set it up on saturday, turned it off for an hour. Turned it back on. it was dead. We returned the TV, only to discover that they had given us the floor model. which I guess would have been ok. If they had told us that in the first place. Anyway, we went down the street to a mom and pop store and bought another one. Paid a few bucks more. got a 3 year warranty added to the deal. and they actually followed us home, and hooked the TV up to all of the other stuff, dvd player, vcr, and stereo, and gave us a lesson on how to operate everything together.
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Post by Cassie on Mar 11, 2006 11:12:28 GMT -5
You know, I bet if you where to delve into the histories of stores like Wal Mart and Best Buy and all the others. Most likely they started out as small stores. Wanting to give the consumer the best for their money. But the more they grew, the more they saw ways to increase their profit margin, which meant cutting back on some important things. I think its human nature, and we all struggle with it. Bruce Springsteens' song..."Badlands" says it well.
Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king And a king ain't satisfied till he rules everything
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js
Silver Shield Investigator
Posts: 143
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Post by js on Mar 11, 2006 18:06:20 GMT -5
Service and products at WalMart were so much better before Sam Walton passed away. Mr. Walton bought American, treated his employees well and so forth. His sons have let all that go by the wayside as they look for profit as their top interest. I'm sure Mr. Walton wanted to make a profit as well, but he also had some values.
Where I missed this next one, I don't know. I bought my son several pairs of Levi's at Sears for Christmas. He told me his leg length was 33" but Sears had no Levi's that length. Close to Christmas and all, I decided to buy the 34" length believing they could be exchanged at any Sears. Wrong!! Sears - ours at least - carries only the even numbered lengths and can't/won't order them. When I returned them, Sears would ONLY give me a gift card, something I didn't want since I can't get the jeans there. I argued, of course, but to no avail. I asked, "Whatever happened to 'Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back'?" Guess what the clerk said, right in front of the asst. manager. "Oh, that's when Sears was really Sears. Now it is really K-Mart. K Mart bought the store and use of the name" So, you pay Sears prices for k-mart merchandise and service. Who knows who makes the Kenmore appliances, etc. now??
For me, it's just another rip-off in a long chain of buy outs, mergers and the like, the kinds of things that undermine my faith in those stores.
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Post by NikkiGreen on Mar 11, 2006 19:59:50 GMT -5
JS, it's just not your Sears. Sears Canada only carries trousers in even lengths, as well.
Gee, I miss "Marks & Spencer". All the trousers they carried came already hemmed, in various waist and length sizes. M&S are a British department store. They had a number of locations here, but the ones located in British Columbia closed long ago.
Now, what I don't understand is why couldn't your Sears refund you in a method similiar to the one you used to make your purchase (i.e. cash, credit or debit card). Did you not have your purchase receipt?
Canada's oldest store, The Bay, was just recently acquired by a man based in the US. It will be interesting to see what types of changes this will bring. Nothing personal, but The Hudson's Bay Company is no longer 'Canadian'. And no, I don't care for either Sears Canada or The Bay.
Two store chains which really prided themselves on the good customer policy were Eaton's and Woodwards. Unfortunately, they both 'died' some years back.
ETA: Sears Canada acquired Eaton's after they filed for bankruptcy and opened a select number of stores across Canada. Unfortunately, they ran them like "Sears" and not Eaton's. This new Eatons only last about a year or so.
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Lilee
Silver Shield Investigator
Posts: 190
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Post by Lilee on Mar 12, 2006 0:14:31 GMT -5
I get my jeans at a family-run store in the next town, have since I was a kid. They help you find them, stay within ear-shot when you go to the dressing room. If you have the wrong size or want another brand - whatever, they are right there and you only have to take your pants off once!!! It's the son who runs the place now and it's the only place within half-an-hour where the service is as it was and should be. I did have an embarassing experience in town here, buying my first real bra: The saleswoman MEASURED ME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORE!!! I was thirteen and HORRIFIED!!! (pause for someone to giggle over my being a late bloomer).......
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