Because I am “so in the know,” when a price goes up, my whole grocery shopping experience is thrown out of whack forcing me to recalculate my costs and my trips. Over the past few months, I have developed a Love/Hate relationship with Wal-Mart. Yes, I admit Wal-Mart is like a drug. I hate using going but I can’t get enough…..
Wal-Mart truly has some better prices on certain items and they have the largest selection. You can pretty much find anything and everything at the place. The superstores make the one stop shopping ideal. That is why I love Wal-Mart.
I watched a documentary on Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart. His store began as a 5-and-dime store, a idea replaced by dollar stores. Anyway, Mr. Walton would shop at the other stores then find clever ways to beat their prices. He was always thinking about his customers. Growing up in Arkansas, I can remember the first Wal-Mart ever being built in Little Rock. It wasn’t any bigger than a Dollar General store. And now, Mr. Walton’s “customer centered” visionary business practice has gone to the deep pockets of his reigning corporate managers….. and I say that with such love.
Now to the hate….I have noticed some “practices” that I have grown to despise.
1. Coupons: Wal-Mart know exactly how much the coupons are worth. They are jacking up the prices to compensate. It is true. Recently, I was purchasing an OTC medication. Someone was kind enough to leave their coupon behind. I got the medication at a REALLY good price. So at the next visit to the library, I raided the coupon basket and got another coupon. The following week, I went to get the deal…..Oh Dear! The steam coming out to the angry ears………The price was up the same amount as the coupon. Oh and you can forget the printable coupons…. Wal-Mart (at least where I shop) no longer takes them. I heard about a coupon for a free product. I found it on the internet, printed it, and headed to Wally World and they wouldn’t accept it. I was told they were no longer accepting computer generated coupons….that came from a manager’s mouth…. yes, I hunted the poor guy down.
2. Off Brand Squeeze-Out: Have you noticed the price of saltine crackers?? The Wal-Mart brand of crackers jumped from $1.12 to $1.34 in a week’s time. I was sick. But, there was a brand I had never heard of down a little ways on the bottom shelf for $.88. I got a box. The next week, there was a whole in the aisle where the cheap crackers were once placed. Disheartened, I licked my wounds and went back to Dollar General for the $1.00 box. Anyway, I have watched for that brand to come back…. it hasn’t…..it’s spot has been taken by a $2 box of crackers. So the better deal was squeezed out and we consumers are forced to purchase the higher priced Wal-Mart brand…..or do like me….drive a block to the Dollar General. Where is the vision????? Gone just like the crackers. I felt sorry for the little guy restocking the shelves…. he got an ear full….. I told him that I wanted him to pass the message along to his manager….. I went on a hunting spree and the manager was “unavailable.”
3. Price Matching: Okay, so the one-stop shopping idea is great and Wal-Mart will match other stores prices in advertisements. And here’s what I have discovered: store brands vs. Wal-Mart brands are not matched. Okay, I will give them that one…. but it only makes sense if the Kroger brand is at a really good price, Wal-Mart should want my business and match their brand price. Buy an item and get something free isn’t accepted. For example, you buy a pound of Hormel Sausage and get Pillsbury canned biscuits for free. Tried it with three separate cashiers…. won’t accept it. Needless to say we didn’t get the sausage nor the biscuits…..and the manager, like when I just wanted to know why the milk prices were higher, had gone to “lunch.”
I must be on some sort of “crazy customer” watch list. I never can see the manager to give him some loving advice on how to undo the economical sting of their “games.” They must have “big brother” cameras in the parking lot and warn the manager that “SHE” is here for her weekly hunt. There is no harm in finding out why these things are happening…… right????
So see… I truly have a love/hate thing going on with Wal-Mart.
God Bless……..oh and happy hunting!
Inspiring Text
