After what I went through this weekend, I decided that Walmart has lost my business.
First, a little information about me as a consumer: I am honest and have high integrity in myself. I worked in different retail stores over the years, so I know what happens to employees if their till is short and I also know what it's like to be yelled at from irate customers. If an associate gives me back too much change, I hand it right back. I don't return items even if it doesn't work out for me; I end up giving stuff away to people who I would think need it more than me.
So here's my story...
I purchased a battery for my truck back in February 2010. This past Sunday, it finally died so we took it into this Walmart since the battery was under a 3 year warranty. We didn't have a receipt, but the "customer service" associate (I use that term lightly) looked up our purchase with the serial number on the battery. When she pulled it up, the computer showed that our battery warranty had a 2 year warranty, so we were out of the time frame. She tested the battery, resulting in a dead battery, and printed out the results. The front of the battery clearly shows "3-year warranty" so she told us to grab a battery upstairs so we can swap it out.
Here's a little side note about this "customer service" associate: A couple months ago, my husband and I were purchasing baby formula, and we had coupons that the manufacture sent us. The associate explained to us that we couldn't use all the coupons at once, and we can only use one coupon for the entire purchase. She also added that we could get the formula for free. When I asked her how, she stated, "Apply for WIC and don't tell them that you two live together." Hmm... so I let her know that we live together because we're married.
SO back to the battery fiasco. While we were browsing upstairs, a different "customer service" associate came looking for us to let us know that there was an issue with our battery. She stated that our serial number sticker had been tampered with, and they can't swap out the battery. She brought us back down to customer service to show us that part of the UPC barcode had been lifted off of the battery. She said, "I'm not saying you folks tampered with it, but it has clearly been tampered with." The part of the sticker she was referring to had debree under it, like a band aid that someone's been wearing for a week. That was the only part of the sticker that was no longer sticking to the battery. My husband lifted more of the sticker to show her that the sticker has never been removed, but she didn't want to believe us, so we asked to speak to a "manager" (again, using this term lightly).
When the manager came over, the associate explained the situation to him and let him know that the computer shows the warranty was expired. He let us know that the battery couldn't be swapped out, explaining to us everything that she told him, while standing in front of us. He didn't know what was going on, didn't ask us questions, didn't inspect the sticker -just went off what she said. My husband explained to the manager that we have years of retail customer service so we know how the system works. Things happen, exceptions can be made.
When I asked him why we couldn't return the battery, he said that the computer system wouldn't let him. When I asked what he could do, he said that he couldn't do anything. When I asked him what he was going to do, he said, "You need to go back to the store you originally purchased it. We're not going to eat the cost here."
I'm pretty sure that managers shouldn't say those things to customers. Sounds like poor ethics to me. He didn't listen to anything we were trying to say, and ended up telling us that they weren't going to "eat the cost" of an $80 battery that was still under warranty.
Before going to the original purchasing store, I asked the associate to call them to let them know we were on our way over. I overheard her tell the associate on the phone, "Yeah, they ripped off the serial number sticker" to which I corrected her (while she was still on the phone) to ensure the 3rd party could hear me.
I have never had such horrible service in my entire life. I will never go back to that store because of the bad experience that we had. For them to question my integrity as a customer is such a slap in the face. Why don't they question the integrity of their employees, who talk about cheating the government? read more