Wal-Mart - Customer Service

[The Ponzzz]

So I went to Wal-Mart last Friday to pick up some things. I been wanting a carbon steel pan(Wok) to cook rice on for awhile, and figured I'd see what Wal-Mart had to offer. I had already went to Target, and their selection sucked! Anyways, I saw a few there and said, what the hell, let me give it a whirl. I generally wouldn't buy my cookware at Wal-Mart, but it was $50 so I figured the quality had to be there.

So I cook with the thing Saturday, made hibachi steak, chicken and rice(came out fanfuckingtastic), clean it(yes I know how to clean carbon steel properly), dry it off and throw it in where I keep my pans. Monday night I decide, "hey, I'm gonna make some rice!" So I pull it out, and for only having ONE use, it was looking too seasoned already. I ignore that, rinse it out, heat up the pan with some butter to make me some fried rice and, HOLY KITCHEN FIRES!!!!!!!!!!! The whole center burnt the fuck out and the butter caused what appeared to be a small mushroom cloud in my kitchen!

So after the flames were put out and what remained of the pan was moved to the sink, I was furious! I quickly searched for my receipt to march down to Wal-Mart and get me a new pan! By the time I found the wad of paper that had the pan on it, I was too tired to head there and Tuesday I was too busy.

Today rolls in and I head over there... OMFG, I show the pan, the receipt and explain the story to the customer service lady and she was like, "Shooot, you tore dis shit up, you a liar you didn't buy this Friday." THE FUCK I DIDN'T YOU BITCH LOOK AT THE DATE!!! So, because the pan isn't called that on the receipt(it was the only thing on it) she calls over a manager who proceeds to telling me that this is not what I purchased. So they go back to get the same pan I bought and sure enough it comes up as the same thing!

After me bitching out Pedro the manager for about 20 minutes, his manager comes over and informs me it is impossible for a pan to be destroyed the way it appeared mine was. His exact words were, "I must have poured gasoline all over the pan and had a camp fire around it for days!" So I then proceeded to act like the Italian-American I am and and yelled at him. Now we have both handicapped greeters over here along with a security officer to tell me to calm down. The store manager comes out and asks me what the problem is. I explain to him the whole thing, and says, "So what's the problem, just go get another pan and exchange it out." So then I point out everything that has occurred so far and go get my pan.

I get back to the customer service desk and no one is there. I can hear Pedro from behind a door screaming at the manager which is quickly followed by the girl who called me a liar along with Pedro walking right out the front door. Another lady comes out, does my exchange and refunds me the $50 as well. :) Bonus for her being an idiot!

But yea, anyways, WTF is wrong with customer service lately? I felt like I needed to tell a story... Heh!

[Gan]

You need to keep up with the times.

The customer is always (sometimes) [a little] {never} right.

Sounds like the manager needs to give Pedro and his lackey the curb treatment for that.

I know if I ever came across any of my employees arguing or heaven forbid yelling at a customer they would be in my office as soon as I could get the customer calmed down and taken care of for a complete chew out session and formal disciplinary preceedings if not flat out termination.

There's no excuse for EVER raising your voice to a customer, for ANY reason.

[The Ponzzz]

Yea, i was cool, calm and collective til Pedro sees I wasn't lying about buying the pan but still wouldn't do anything for me...

[Gan]

Nothing says you cant meet up with Pedro out in the parking lot after he gets off of work. ;)

To discuss the error of his ways of course. :whistle:

And to defend your honor.

[Shari]

I can understand their speculation, but they CANNOT call someone a liar. Wal-Mart makes millions of dollars. What is 50 bucks? Unbelievable. Glad you got a new pan. Hopefully it doesn't combust. :D

[The Ponzzz]

I'm honestly scared to use it...

[Sean of the Thread]

Marijuana is bad man.

[Artha]

So I pull it out, and for only having ONE use, it was looking too seasoned already. I ignore that, rinse it out, heat up the pan with some butter to make me some fried rice and, HOLY KITCHEN FIRES!!!!!!!!!!! The whole center burnt the fuck out and the butter caused what appeared to be a small mushroom cloud in my kitchen!
Madness, everyone knows the stuff Walmart forces the dealers to sell to them at bargain-basement prices are made with the same materials as regular stuff.

[Gan]

If that one blows up, here's some more ideas on woks.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/shop/ckw/ckwi/ckwwoki/index.cfm

[Shari]

I got all my cookware from Target as wedding gifts...Calphalon. They're fabulous non-stick pans. Only downside is they say to not put them in a dishwasher. Fuck that...


Washed em about a dozen times with no problems but I anticipate the coating coming off. Oh well, they still work great for now!

[Parkbandit]

Madness, everyone knows the stuff Walmart forces the dealers to sell to them at bargain-basement prices are made with the same materials as regular stuff.

Artha's still bitter because he was fired from Walmart.

:P

PS - Dear Harmnone, I am kidding and in no way want to personally insult Artha.

[Some Rogue]

You need to keep up with the times.

There's no excuse for EVER raising your voice to a customer, for ANY reason.

Bullshit. Have you ever worked at a retail store? Have you seen the shit some people try to pull? I was a manager for a large retail chain for 4 years in Chicago. I gained a whole new perspective on this subject.

[Flurbins]

Before I worked in food, I believed in the customer is always right. After working in food for a few years, I learned that the customer is generally wrong, often lying, and usually trying to scam us into a free meal.

[Gan]

Bullshit. Have you ever worked at a retail store? Have you seen the shit some people try to pull? I was a manager for a large retail chain for 4 years in Chicago. I gained a whole new perspective on this subject.

Yes, I've worked retail, counter sales, service sales, etc. There is never any reason to yell at a customer unless said customer punches you in the grill.

If you can not objectively handle customer complaints, issues, etc. and maintain your professionalism (or maturity) then you are in the wrong profession, period.

[Some Rogue]

How about the guy who won't take no for an answer? You refuse his refund and he won't leave. He stands there yelling at you or follows you around the store?

How about the kid who's lingering around the store 15 minutes after you close then decides he wants a basketball but all he has is a gigantic bag of loose pennies to pay for it? Then throws a fit when you refuse to accept them.

When a person gets verbally or physically abusive, steals from me, or is trying to cheat my business out of money, I really don't care if I keep that kind of customer.

[ElanthianSiren]

My first job was working in then running a copy center. We got irrate people fairly often and some weird whack jobs that would stalk the girls (ask if we were taken, ask when we were getting off, or just generally hang out all the time, trying to engage in conversation with people who 1. weren't happy to see real customers in the first place really 2. were less happy to see some desperate retard trying to flirt BADLY in a copy shop). In fact, every girl basically had "her stalker".

One guy took it too far with another girl there named Johana and brought her soup, made advances, etc after she'd told him no. The cops were called, and the guy never showed again. The store manager, Mike, also had a talk with the guy as they were waiting for the cops.

If an adult is tossing money at you or being abusive, it goes to the superior. If they're a threat, the superior will escort them out or call the cops. If it's a kid, generally you just grab their parents and note that the kid is being a problem. I've never worked in a store where 1. you didn't get paid for overtime 2. we kicked customers out just because they were in a few minutes longer. That's retail.


-M
(MIA retail vet never going back)

[Gan]

Before I worked in food, I believed in the customer is always right. After working in food for a few years, I learned that the customer is generally wrong, often lying, and usually trying to scam us into a free meal.

The initial philosophy was that the customer is always right. However, with the advent of dishonest or ignorant customers, that ideal has changed somewhat.

Bottom line is what counts is the customer's perception of right. If they perceive themselves to be right then its your job to either uphold that or re-educate the customer to what is the 'right' perception is.

Now, expectation of that level of skill from a minimum wage employee is somewhat unrealistic. However, if said minimum wage employee receives the appropriate instruction and supervision then the issue of yelling at customers would be an exception, not the norm.

[Back]

Haw... the first post reminded me of the Target SNL skit...

Ter-git!

[RichardCranium]

How about the kid who's lingering around the store 15 minutes after you close then decides he wants a basketball but all he has is a gigantic bag of loose pennies to pay for it? Then throws a fit when you refuse to accept them.

Pennies spend just the same as any other currency. If you actually did this you suck at life.

[Artha]

Pennies spend just the same as any other currency.
Not when you have to count out groups of 100 to see if they actually have as much as they say.

[Stunseed]

Pennies spend just the same as any other currency. If you actually did this you suck at life.

15 minutes after close, I don't care if you handed me hundred dollar bills, personally. :)

[Skirmisher]

If that one blows up, here's some more ideas on woks.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/shop/ckw/ckwi/ckwwoki/index.cfm

Can't go wrong with teh All-Clad baybee.

It is cooking goodness.

[Back]

Uh, good point. Don’t buy your cookware at Walmart in the first place?

[Kyra]

Or just skip the teflon. Anything that when overheated kills animals is nothing I want to inhale myself, blech.

K.

Oh yeah, Walmart sucks monkey balls for customer service.

[Stanley Burrell]

Just a tip about buying stuff at Wal-Mart:

You don't actually have to look guilty for opening and/or using and/or applying the fist of the white lotus to any of the merchandise on display there before you steal it :thumbup:

[Gan]

Not when you have to count out groups of 100 to see if they actually have as much as they say.

Send him to the local coin-star machine and tell him you'll give him an additional 15% off if he comes back in the morning with cash. ;)

[Gan]

Can't go wrong with teh All-Clad baybee.

It is cooking goodness.

I can do some serious damage at a Williams Sonoma store. Thats as dangerous as being turned loose at a Home Depot or Fry's.

Cha Ching!

[ElanthianSiren]

Or just skip the teflon. Anything that when overheated kills animals is nothing I want to inhale myself, blech.

K.


Agree 100%. Nice signature style BTW :)

-M

[Tsa`ah]

Your first mistake was buying cookware from Wal-Mart.

If it's not the brand of junk food you like, computer software (games), console games, or automotive lubricant/coolant ... there's no reason to buy it.

Your second mistake was expecting a CS rep that has a competitive wage comparable to the fast food industry to act like any other CS rep.

While I generally agree that customers should not be yelled at, there are instances where the customer is asking for it. One can also argue that it falls on the business to educate the customer on what is right, but a majority of "those" customers don't want to be educated ... they already know what is right.

It sort of reminds me of the IHSA state football finals last year. We hosted a 1A team, 2 3A teams, and 2 4a teams. We had tentative reservations for a 6th team, but they cancelled. When we notified the other schools of available rooms, they in turn notified parents, who in turn called us to take up the last of our rooms (because the entire county was booked).

Now as the parents made reservations, they were informed that we were hosting a number of high school football teams. We could not guarantee placement close to their kids, nor could we ensure that noise levels would be acceptable.

Needless to say, the complaints and refund demands rolled in the next morning. Almost everyone dropped it when our desk personnel told them no refunds or discounts would be provided as each and every person reserving a room (outside of the teams) were informed about potential noise conditions. Not to mention that we didn't hike our rates like everyone else in the area did).

I had one soccer mom with way too fucking much vicarious living through her kids, get in my manager's face, and then my face, about how she was going to litigate the business into bankruptcy ... that she was member of the PTA and she would see that her team never used our facilities again (despite having used them for 3 straight years) ... and she would tell everyone she knew about how crappy our hotel was and we would lose that business.

First I was calm, then annoyed, and finally snapped. I told her she could check out and I wouldn't charge her for the next 3 days she had reserved. I pretty much told her she could say what she wanted ... BUT PEOPLE FROM FUCKING WINEBAGO (outside of the football team) IL DO NOT FREQUENT MY HOTEL ... EVER (that year being the exception) and that she wasn't my fucking market. She continued with the threats and demands, I had the clerk check her out, informed her that she had until 11 FUCKING AM to get the fuck out of my hotel and after that she could deal with the local police.

I certainly don't feel I crossed the line when I yelled at the bitch and I really didn't give a shit if I lost her business ... she wasn't my market. When a customer resorts the yelling and threats, despite any attempt to educate them on what is right ... it's fair game from there.

Lose a customer over it? Chances are you're losing a customer you could do without to begin with.

[Ignot]

I can do some serious damage at a Williams Sonoma store. Thats as dangerous as being turned loose at a Home Depot or Fry's.

Cha Ching!

Best thing that ever happened to me was my girlfriend getting a job there. Now we have all kinds of good cookware and she cooks great food. William Sonoma is the shit.

Fucking buy that stock and sell WMT.

[Some Rogue]

Pennies spend just the same as any other currency. If you actually did this you suck at life.

Yeah, you count out 1100 pennies 15 minutes after the doors were locked for some kid who "desperately" needed a basketball at 10:30 pm. And just because the doors were locked didn't mean we were going home. We still had work to do for another hour. Not the best way to end a 14 hour day.

[CrystalTears]

Customers lie to get what they want. They lie to me daily. I never yell at them despite them yelling at me.

The customer walking in with the product and the receipt within the timeframe for refund/replacement should just get what they want and not even bother going over why you need to do the refund. Just do it. The argument isn't even worth it.

[DeV]

At Walmart the customer should always be right. Just on general principle. This is also what happens when you have young children in third world countries producing your shit.

The above mentioned may or may not have been said in jest.

[Jazuela]

I was trained for CServ with a different addage: The customer isn't always right, but he is always the customer.

So you figure out how to explain to the customer that he's wrong, in a way that he will appreciate your correction.

If he makes a big stink, you accommodate IF - and only IF - the value of -that- customer's return business is worth it.

We get seniors who come in just for a coffee, because they pay less than a buck and get free refills. That's fine, we're happy to have them visit. But when a senior comes in with a cup he saved from a month ago and proceeds to fill it up without buying anything, then he is -not- being a customer. He's being a thief. And he will be asked to pay for today's coffee, or take his "business" elsewhere.

What's worse is the customer who re-uses a saved coffee cup, comes in for his stolen refill, and leaves with around 6 inches of napkins, fills his pockets with creamers and sugar, and absconds with the 4 newspapers that we buy out of our own pockets for the reading enjoyment of those customers who actually come in to buy something.

And then they have the nerve to some day show up, and complain that we went up a PENNY on all our 99-cent foods. So I just tell them, in a very sweet, calm, and pleasant tone, that we had to raise the price to cover the cost of all the newspapers, sugar packets, napkins, and coffee that some of our *other* customers have been stealing over the years. And that if they really want to complain to the right people, they would mention that to anyone they know who does that. Of course - I'm telling this to the guy who does all that, heh. But I'm pretending that I'm talking about all those "other" people. He knows it, I know it, we both know each of us knows it, but I save him whatever little bit of dignity he has by pretending I'm talking about someone else.

He gets the point and either stops stealing our shit, or finds another place to steal from. Either way, our store doesn't lose money on that guy anymore, and no one has had to raise their voice.

If a customer is losing your business money, then he isn't a customer. He's a leech and you are absolutely in the right to prevent his return or correct his leechitude.

As for the original post - You had a receipt. You brought in the item. If the code on the receipt didn't match the code on the item, the first people should've immediately, and politely, explained that they had to check with his senior manager because the two things didn't match. There's no reason why they needed to blow up on you like that. Even if you were lying to them and just trying to scam them out of a new wok, there are ways of correcting the thiefly behavior without causing a ruckus, and ensuring that you, the thieving scamming customer would either stop thieving and BECOME a valued paying customer, or simply take your scamming ways elsewhere.

They just don't teach this stuff anymore, and it's a damned shame.

[zhelas]

Customers lie to get what they want. They lie to me daily. I never yell at them despite them yelling at me.

I usually get a kick out of watching them get angrier because I won't get angry at them.

[zhelas]

Sams Club/ Walmart all the same company. I was turned away at Sams club when I had a flat tire because I didn't have a membership. The person at the door wouldn't let me in. I made it to the service counter and the girl said sorry we can't help you without a membership. The manager was some how unavailable.

They just happen to be the only store in my immediate area that could have put a new tire on my car.

[Gan]

Sams Club/ Walmart all the same company. I was turned away at Sams club when I had a flat tire because I didn't have a membership. The person at the door wouldn't let me in. I made it to the service counter and the girl said sorry we can't help you without a membership. The manager was some how unavailable.

They just happen to be the only store in my immediate area that could have put a new tire on my car.

You mean they would not let you to the member services counter to purchase a membership so a tire could then be installed on your car?

Something doesnt sound right.

[zhelas]

You mean they would not let you to the member services counter to purchase a membership so a tire could then be installed on your car?

Something doesnt sound right.

It is called language barrier. You and I both know that in Texas, English is the second language. I called the coroporate office and within a couple of hrs I had someone call me and appologize.

[Gan]

It is called language barrier. You and I both know that in Texas, English is the second language. I called the coroporate office and within a couple of hrs i had someone call me and appologize.

If language was the issue, as it can be in Tejas, then yea, I'd be pissed and on the phone to corperate as soon as I could get my hands on my cell phone.

I've done that at another store while standing right in front of the manager who was acting an idiot. Its funny to watch their demeanor change when you actually get through to someone who reverses the manager's decision.

[Sean of the Thread]

My experience with Wal-Mart returns has always been great. Recently took back an opened..6 month old broken DVD player with no box or manual and they just swapped it out no question without a receipt. Can't argue with that.

[Snapp]

I know if I ever came across any of my employees arguing or heaven forbid yelling at a customer they would be in my office as soon as I could get the customer calmed down and taken care of for a complete chew out session and formal disciplinary preceedings if not flat out termination.

There's no excuse for EVER raising your voice to a customer, for ANY reason.

Agreed. There are times when it's so tempting to yell at a customer, but that's when you go in the backroom or office and vent.

Also, as a side note, I went into a Walmart about a week ago with a couple friends. We walked down an aisle where some employees were putting up stock and one of them actually asked if they could help us find anything. I almost shit my pants, as usually we'd just get glances and sighs if we got in their way.

Although I still hate Walmart as a company, I was impressed. :shrug:

[Alfster]

You should have just gone and taken another pan, it's not like Wal-mart has an asset protection department anymore.

[Ignot]

I think a good customer service rep knows when they need to be forceful with a client and when not too. Some people are just complete dicks until you show them who is boss but some people will be very upset if you treat them poorly. it is a grey area and I always use my gut when talking to clients. Dont get me wrong though, if the client does make us any money i will fire them for giving me a hard time. I think somebody mentioned something like that earlier.

In this case though, at WMT, it sounds like you got a really hard time about it and i think they should have just given you what you wanted to keep you happy. i dont know how you started out though, if you started out like a dick then dont always expect to get what you want. but if you were very rationale about it then they should not have given you a hard time.

[The Ponzzz]

I show the pan, the receipt and explain the story to the customer service lady and she was like, "Shooot, you tore dis shit up, you a liar you didn't buy this Friday."

That's the exact thing she said to me. You tore dis shit up. Not, wow, that pan did that? Not, I'm sorry to hear that? Not, well I see you did buy it Friday according to your receipt, that really does sound bad. I really didn't expect a problem due to Wal-marts 90 day policy when you have a receipt. I can bring in a broken coffee maker 78 days after I bought it and I'm getting a new one.

[Sean of the Thread]

rofl just remembered.. I had asked the cashier jockey at Wal-Mart for Cigs once and of course they were more expensive than a corner store. When I remarked about the price being high she went into a lecture about how their founder "Sam" didn't approve of smoking and that's why he sells them for such a high price. I almost shit myself.

[Janarth]

"Shooot, you tore dis shit up, you a liar you didn't buy this Friday."

I think we pinpointed the problem...say what you want about Walmart, but the whole thing went bad when you got an uneducated worker.