Walmart . . . Again

[cdbeaver]

I suppose every one by now is tired of hearing the old WalMart stories about lousy clerks, terrible service, stupid people and all the rest. Hear one more that isn't all bad . . . probably about average.

First and only stop, the sporting goods counter. Had the place all to myself. No customers, no clerk. After about five minutes or so I spotted the familiar WalMart vest and asked if the clerk could send some one to the sporting goods counter to help a customer.

The guy apologized to me. "Just had to leave for a minute to help another customer," he said. Good grief . . . helped a customer.

I asked to see the Ruger stainless deLuxe sporter .22 autoloader in the gun cabinet. The gentleman took his key from around his wrist, opened the case and handed me the rifle.

I looked at it, checked it out, fondled it and said "I'll take it." He got out the necessary forms, I got out my pen and filled in the necessary blanks. "Are we ready for money yet?" I asked.

Nope. Had to wait for a manager-type to appear, check out the paper work, look important, and walk me out the door after the transaction was completed.

"We can't call a manager until all the paper work is done," the clerk said. "Sure, I understand. Keep the customer waiting, not the boss," I said. The clerk just acquired a sort of resigned look on his face.

Twent minutes and three phone/loudspeaker announcements later, the clerk answered his phone and was advised the manager would be along shortly.

When he arrived, the manager took one look at the paperwork and said, "This is no good. It has to be filled out in black ink. Do it over again."

I'd used my own pen, something I always do under every circumstance. Just a quirk of mine. It uses a blue cartridge. Any way both the clerk and I had to do it all over again.

Finally after more than an hour of fiddling around, the manager recorded the rifle serial number, stuffed the gun in its container, taped it shut and said, "We can go to the door now. Then you can open the box, load the rifle and come back in and shoot people. But at least I got you out the door. He was only being a bit sarcastic about store policy.

Guess, in retrospect, it wasn't such a hassle after all. Just not like it used to be. But then, hardly anything is these days.

 

[Wedge]

Sometimes I ask myself if the money I save is worth the time I waste when I buy a firearm at Wal-Mart. Fortunately for wal-mart they are usually about $100 cheaper than anywhere else on items they carry.

 

[Mulliga]

A 4473 needs to be in black ink? Pff.

 

[BluesBear]

Wal-Mart has what they refer to as an "Open Door Policy". That means that any employee or customer can go as high up the chain of command as they feel is needed to get proper resolution to a problem.

Someone above this doofus needs to be made aware of this. A 4473 does NOT have to be filled out only in black ink. In fact I ALWAYS fill them out with a BLUE pen. I sign ALL legal documents in BLUE.

Also, whoever said that they can't call a manager until AFTER the forn is filled out is WRONG.

If this had happened to me I would be on the phone to Bentonville, Arkansas the first chance I could. (479-273-4000)

You can also write to them at;

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Attn: Customer Service
702 S.W. 8th Street
Bentonville, AR 72716

Telephone calls to the home office and real-live snail-mail letters WILL get their attention.

 

[ducktapehero]

That's why I won't buy guns at Wal-Mart. I'll pay the extra money for a little good service. It really pays off if something is wrong with the rifle, at Wal-Mart it's up to you to deal with the gun company, at a gun shop the owner will help you out.(or at least he should)

 

[mtnbkr]

I sign ALL legal documents in BLUE

Why? Just curious.

Chris

 

[Third_Rail]

Photocopied blue ink signatures don't look "real" wheras photocopied black ink ones do.

 

[anapex]

Don't worry my local Wal-Mart thinks you can't abbreviate anything on the 4473.

 

[cameroneod]

My local Wallmarts gun counter is top notch. From the posts on here, I would think that they are the acception rather than the rule. They know me by first name and are pretty knowledgable. Sorry yours sucks.

 

[entropy]

The only firearms related item I buy at Wally World is WWB ammo. Can't beat their price, often it's cheaper than steel cased surplus, and it's reloadable! I still often have to hunt down any employee, just to have them find the one with the key; usually they are on break.

 

[George S.]

When I bought my last rifle from the local Wally World, I sort of went thru the same thing. The lady clerk standing behind the counter was selling a box of ammo to another customer and I told her I wanted to look at a rifle. She had to call three time to get somebody to show up with keys to the cabinets. Then I had to do the form (they told me it MUST be in black ink). Once I did that, it took them about 15 minutes and two other people tofind their log book and record the serial number and other info. Did anyone call for the NICS check while I was watching that little operation, noooo!

Finally they want money. They call the manager to check the paperwork and escort me any new rifle out and I find the guy loves to shoot and he does some competitive benchrest shooting! Really nice guy and we wind up talking at the store entrance for another 15 minutes. He said he didn't understand the policy that W-W uses for long gun sales and he said there is absolutely no way that it will change. It was set up at the Corporate level and no store can do anything different.

I was even back at W-W last week and I noticed that the prices of almost all the rifles and shotgun they had in stock had gone up about 3%. The basic Ruger 10/22 at the local store is now $167.83!

So much for the stupid little smiley-face guy and the ads about them cutting their already low prices.

 

[jobu07]

If you're in the mood to get someone repromanded in the wal-mart chain of command just call 1-800-wal-mart and ex(com)plain the situation to whoever answers teh call. THey are generally pretty good about this part as most peopel dont' go to the extremes. But, when you call that number on your cell phone or the stores phone, right there, with the manager still around, things get done real fast.

 

[SaLted_peanUTs]

I had a pretty similar experience buying a Winchester Super Shadow from Wally world. I didn't have to refill the paperwork, but from the time I said' " I'll take it," to the time the manager escorted me to the door an hour and a half had passed. Even with the deal I got I really don't think my time was worth it.

 

[Mulliga]

My Wally World is similar.

4473 has to be filled out with NO abbreviations (not even "FL" for Florida). Manager has to be called to check it over. Have to be escorted out the store like a criminal or something - I mean, I just laid down 600 bucks on a rifle, went through a NICS background check, and they STILL don't trust me?.

The prices there are pretty good, though, and I know basically everyone who works at sporting goods by name. The gun shops around my area overcharge a lot for guns, so it's either Wally World or private FFL transfer.

 

[Mr. Mysterious]

inally after more than an hour of fiddling around, the manager recorded the rifle serial number, stuffed the gun in its container, taped it shut and said, "We can go to the door now. Then you can open the box, load the rifle and come back in and shoot people. But at least I got you out the door. He was only being a bit sarcastic about store policy.

At least the guy had a sense of humor!

I bet that the Wal-mart by me beats all of yours. This Wal-mart is terrible...they make their own return policies, don't help customers, and are a general displeasure.

Last year my gf and I bought 2 bikes there...some el cheapos. Mine broke after 2 weeks, so I went to return it. They refused, said they don't return used bikes. I asked them to show me the posted return policy since the return policy on the receipt didn't say that. They couldn't and they returned it (all over a $70 bike). So I finally am able to exchange for the most expensiver Schwin bike ($200) they had. A couple weeks later my gfs bike starts to have trouble so we go to return it. They refuse and I was in a hurry so we leave. We call the 1-800-Walmart number in the car and tell them about it...a day later the manager calls and says to return it. We go in STILL get hassled and finally get our money back. We decide that Wal-mart sucks for bikes and that we should take our money and buy REAL bikes. This time though we decide that we would return the Schwin that I had to another Wal-Mart about 5 more miles away. I walk in, return the bike and am out of the store in about 3 minutes. It took more time to put the bike on the bike rack than to return it. We then drove to a real bike store and plunked down over a grand on new bikes and have been happy since. I know that I will never buy another bike at Wally World, and when I have kids I sure as heck am not going to buy them a POS from there.

Anyone in Indy want to guess which Wal-mart gave me the problems

 

[wingman]

I going to rant here, Wallyworld reflects much of our "new world" poor products, poor training and I don't care attitude because I have to work
at a place like this. On top of this you have extreme amounts of greed on the
part of company management. One day we can only hope some company
will suddenly appear giving service, quality products, at good prices.
I know I won't hold my breath.

 

[roo_ster]

You get what you pay for...get over it & shop elsewhere

I have just about given up on going to Wal-mart. I have never been a fan of the poor service, cramped aisles, and the like. Now they made it harder for me to pay by no longer accepting Master Card. It seems that Wal-mart demanded Visa & MC to lower the transaction %. Visa said OK, MC said no way. So, no more MC charges at Wal-mart. When a vendor/company makes it difficult for me to pay them, I reciprocate by not buying from them.

My wife and I also let our Sam's Club membership lapse and are giving Costco a whirl. Generally better merchandise & better service to be found at Costco.

/Rant On/
One thing that does irk me about the "Wal-mart is bad" commentary is that people seem to think that they are entitled to get more than they pay for. For the love of Pete, Wal-mart sells just about everything at lower prices than the competition. Given that they want to make a profit, they are going to cut somewhere. Evidence shows that they don't hire enough quality employees or hire poor quality employees. Wal-mart was even cheaper than a couple local thrift stores selling USED clothes. The only way you're going to obtain something cheaper than from Wal-mart (on many items) is to get them for free.

To be honest, some folks can't afford the prices provided at nicer stores and Wal-mart is thier best bet.

Giving Wal-mart h*ll for not being top-of-the-line is like cursing Ruger auto pistols for not being Sigs.

I am fortunate enough that I can forego most Wal-mart shopping and not worry too much about it.
/Rant Off/

 

[cracked butt]

If a 2-bit manager of a Walmart store told me to do the form over because the ink is wrong, I would have told him "no the store is wrong, either accept the form or say goodbye"

I fill out tons of legally binding paperwork everyday. Any color of ink can be used as long as it can be clearly read, though Blue or black ink is preferred. If Blue ink is ok to use on IRS, DEA, FDA, and Treasury department forms, then it better well be good enough for a wallyworld employee.

 

[roo_ster]

/More Rant/
Also, just what is wrong with a company making money from voluntary transactions? Nobody is forced to buy ANYTHING at Wal-mart. You don't like 'em, don't darken their doorstep. I have made the decision to spend much less $$$ there than I did in the past, because shopping at Wal-mart has become more unpleasant than I am willing to tolerate.

Also, Wal-mart management has an obligation to their shareholders to make a profit. How you would like YOUR pension fund/401K to be loaded with a bunch of companies that decided that showing a profit was "greedy" and to be avoided?
/End More Rant/

OK, I feel better.

 

[ScottS]

Don't worry my local Wal-Mart thinks you can't abbreviate anything on the 4473.

So does my local FFL, so there ya go.

Now they made it harder for me to pay by no longer accepting Master Card. It seems that Wal-mart demanded Visa & MC to lower the transaction %. Visa said OK, MC said no way. So, no more MC charges at Wal-mart. When a vendor/company makes it difficult for me to pay them, I reciprocate by not buying from them.

Not technically true, unless the policy changed in the last 15 hours. You can no longer use your Debit Mastercard as a charge card. You must use it as a debit card. Enter the PIN, etc. This does have something to do with a pissing contest between MC and WW over fees, as you alluded to. Last night I used my Debit MC, and was told I just had to enter it as a Debit Card vs. a Charge Card, which I usually do because my bank credits me a couple of cents when I do it that way. Regular MC is still OK, too.

Scott

 

[CZ-100]

I have NEVER had a problem at or with Wal-Mart.

 

[spacemanspiff]

correct me if i'm wrong, but arent the 4473's individually numbered? and FFL holders must account for ALL of their forms? if so, what does WM do with the 4473 that they told you was 'no good'?


i stopped by WM twice last friday. first was to pick up a bunch of .22 bulk packs and a few hundred rounds of blazer .45acp. my buddy said he saw that sportsmens warehouse had 250 rounds of federal 12 guage for $30, so we head over there. only to find that they are NOVELTY boxes, empty, for $30. empty wooden boxes for $30!
so we go back across the street to get some 12 gauge. for this trip, there was NO ONE around the sporting goods counter or in any of the aisles. they musta been busy. so i grab 3 100 shell packages off the far wall and head to the front register to pay for them.
the clerk was a middle aged woman who was pleasant, but after she started ringing me up she glanced up and asked 'were you escorted up here by management?'

i said 'no, should i have?"

clerk: "well anytime a person buys ammo outside the sporting goods, management is supposed to escort them with the ammo to the register."

me: "well, no one was back there, and its merchandise thats on the shelf that anyone can pick up, not behind the counter, so that doesnt make sense."

clerk: "oh well its federal regulations..."

me: "yeah, okay! anytime walmart management gets hinky about something involving guns or ammo, they tell their employees its 'federal regulations'."

she was real cool about it, so i did my best to not come off as a jerk.
then i was back in there the next day (ran out of 45, needed more!) and told the sporting department manager about it, and he was in stitches. but he was even more aghast that no one was at the counter, and said if it happens again, get someones attention that the counter is unattended.

ph, get this! the blazer .45 i picked up the first day? i'd never noticed them selling it before, but the clerk said no one was buying any until they dropped the price to $10 a box, down from $15! $15 a box for blazer!!!! their PMC is $13 a box?! someone was smoking rock when they priced the ammo.

 

[SteveS]

Don't worry my local Wal-Mart thinks you can't abbreviate anything on the 4473.

I've had two FFL's tell me the same thing. I've also had FFL's refuse an interstate shipment unless it was from another FFL. If I ever find a dealer near me that has great service and understands the laws, I will buy all my guns from them. Until then, I will shop around for the best price.

 

[AZ Jeff]

Spacemanspiff wrote:

correct me if i'm wrong, but arent the 4473's individually numbered? and FFL holders must account for ALL of their forms?
**********************************************
No, 4473 forms are NOT individually numbered. At least not as of the last one I filled out last September, but I doubt that has changed since that date.

 

[cdbeaver]

After very carefully obliterating my SSN, the clerk who waited on me tore the form into many pieces and dropped it into the trash can.

By the way, abbreviation is normally a no-no on firearms purchase forms. One seller even made me print out my full middle name! As well as "United States" rather than "USA."

Ain't progress grand?