Wal-Mart Just Keeps on Getting Worse

Just when I thought I couldn't despise the retail chain any more... they given me a reason.

I've sworn time after time that I will never go there again, and yet keep getting dragged there by others because it's "convenient". Admittedly, it is convenient, but I think that's all they really have going for them. We've gone there because it's easier to run all our errands in one place, household, clothes and groceries all in one location, but it's always immensely frustrating in the end.

First of all, their selection of groceries is awful. They don't carry some of what we buy regularly, so we end up having to stop somewhere else anyway. The meat they carry is simply disgusting, either already turning brown or is the cheapest, toughest, stringiest cuts they can possibly get their hands on. The fruit turns brown or molds within a couple of days of bringing it home, which makes me think they only purchase from people who can't unload their goods at any decent store.

But we've worked around that. We simply don't buy meat or fruit or anything else that's "fresh" there.

However, the other day, they dropped below the lowliest thrift store in my book. Now don't get me wrong, I've shopped thrift before. I like browsing garage sales and thrift stores, because sometimes you find absolute gems there. And I enjoy saving money on something that would have cost me a lot of money in a department store. I don't like throwing money away, and I'm not a shopping snob that will only buy name brands. In fact, I very rarely pick up name brand when I can get the exact same thing for less somewhere else and under a different label.

I was trying to find a couple of little things in the clothing department that I could wear to work. Nothing fancy, really, just a little skirt and a couple of shirts to help extend my wardrobe a little. I usually look things over before I buy them, but this time I didn't, so that part's my fault. However, there was nothing on the tag to indicate it was anything but the standard price or that it was "irregular". I got to the cashier and the skirt rang up as $3.00, which amazed me. I thought "wow... I got a deal." Little did I know that deal meant there was a quarter-sized hole in the back until my husband pointed it out right before I tried to walk out the door on my way to work the next day.

I hadn't worn it, hadn't washed it, hadn't abused it. Nothing was done but taking off the tags and hanging it up in the closest. Which means that SOME industrious employee/manager/whoever had KNOWINGLY put this back on the rack, marked down, still with a huge hole in an unmendable location, but without a sale sticker to indicate anything was amiss.

Now I know that Wal-Mart marks down items and advertises their "low, low prices"... but this is just shoddy and completely unprofessional, even by discount store standards. However, I realized that with their emphasis on low prices, nowhere do they ever mention "with high quality". Now I really and finally understand why. They just flat don't care about quality. They have the convenience and prices locked down, but completely ignore everything else. Customer service, quality, and now even friendliness, have all gone out the window.

It's a shame, really. Sam Walton has to be rolling over in his grave, cursing the name of his own creation. I'd think the family that carries on his legacy would want to have some say in how terrible their stores have become. But then again, why would they when they're making money hand over fist? It's always a pity when greed overcomes what a company originally stood for. Here's hoping someone can eventually do something about it, not to put them out of business, but just to get them on the right track again. There's plenty of huge, multi-national companies that can pull it off. So why can't they?