Why all the wal mart hate

Discussion in 'Transformers Toy Discussion' started by megatron10824, Sep 17, 2009.

  1. megatron10824

    megatron10824 taghdhjk

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    I keep hearing bad stuff about wal mart why does everybody hate it
     
  2. Luxor

    Luxor Office Ninja

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    i dont hate it. I live there
     
  3. Bigbot3030

    Bigbot3030 Well-Known Member

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    The good: cheap prices.
    The bad: how they get there prices. they are horrible to everyone that wants there products in the store. demanding lower and lower prices (sometimes literally cents) to the point where it will kill some companies. case and point, they single handely ran rubbermaid(an american made product) out of business, then bought up there name and equipment and continued to sell it. Wlamart is the biggest (and sacriest) example of a giant company that does whatever they want beacsue they have money. I am not against large companies (though i tend to shop wiht the little guys), just ones that are socailly responsible. Target is a great company. they treat there employees well, and things they don't sell, they donate to goodwill. that is why you'll find a good will within close proximity to every target. not saying they are the golden child, just didn't want to come off as a corporate hater.
     
  4. barrelks

    barrelks Captain Funtastic

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    I personally love Walmart (atleast the ones in my town), very clean, and very nice employees. However, some Walmarts are really ghetto with employees who just don't care. In some cases, I think it can be attributed to a series of bad experiences, which can happen at any store. I was off Target for a while because of this, but now just know which Targets not to deal with.

    But at the same time, most of the general hate for Walmart comes from two things. One, they are seen as the driving force behind lower standards and poor work conditions overseas (rightfully or wrongfully). Though many of their innovations in supply chain management have benefited the end consumer with lower prices, and brough a lot of technological innovation to the entire retail world, it is also argued that this has led to oppression and lower quality products. A second motive is political. The founders of Walmart (now their offspring) have generally been very big conservative backers. This leads them to many attacks by the far left side of this country. Couple this with (until recently I think) dwindling Union numbers nation wide, and the largest employer in this nation is subject to attacks, maybe in an effort to bring retail level employees into the Union ranks (may have to research that for a better explanation). I know one Walmart was closed when there was heavy talk of the employees Unionizing. Labor Unions would drool at the chance to unionize Walmart, and who knows, it may someday happen.

    Now this is a very dumbed down version of some of the arguements, but they are a couple reasons why there is some hate in certain circles. If you google some of the terms, there may be more expanded content on both sides of the arguement.
     
  5. sacha88

    sacha88 Well-Known Member

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    I love low prices as much as the next guy but lower prices means lower wages for the people who make the toys and who work in the actual store.
     
  6. Travicon

    Travicon Nerdbot

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    i dont know that much about the politics of walmart but the way i see it, this is america, they started as a small company, they grew and grew and are still growing, isnt that basicly what anyone would want for their buisness? so yeah i dont know why all the hate either.

    i was at Trader Joes (an oregon local company, i think) buying over priced CRAP but my wife wanted to go so we went. anyway at the check out i asked the cashier if they was a walmart in the area he wasnt sure so he called over a coworker and asked him and his coworker just said, "pfff i hope not i dont think the people of Beaverton even want a walmart here taking over, i sure dont." and so thrown by that i just said uhh ok and left but then i thought about it and im like, hey, i just bought something from you, a local store, you dont have toys walmart does, wtf! i cant believe he treated me like that. so because of that and similar cases im so annoyed by walmart hate. and ill never go to Trader Joes again, self righteous assholes! i wonder is it lonley way up on the pedestal of local buisnesses?

    the diapers i buy for my baby are 15 bucks at walmart and 20 bucks elsewhere, im not made of money and im not stupid, im going with the cheaper product and i dont think that is wrong.

    dont get me wrong its not like i LOVE wallyworld, and i do shop plent of other places and well.... ehh i could go on but this is long enough.
     
  7. barrelks

    barrelks Captain Funtastic

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    This is my biggest concern with them (and most companies who import). With the advent of the internet, globalization of the economy is a reality. Technology has made it possible for people to communicate effectively and efficiently throughout the world. With this, retailers (especially our nations largest) should step up to provide better working conditions and resorces to advance/educate the citizens of these countries. We are turning into a world society and need to act in ways that help enhance this.

    As far as wages for actual store workers. I have worked retail at both Target and Home Depot. My personal belief is that lower store-level hourly jobs are a step in the process and not a destination. Life is about stiving for something better, and if someones goal is to stock shelves, then IMO they set the bar low, or they are just lazy. Walmart, Target, Home Depot can be a great career if you focus on your goals. I have seen friends of mine become Store Managers within 1.5 years of working at the Home Depot. And hell, if you are going to have to deal with angry customers everyday anyway, you may as well have to deal with them as a manger.

    Sorry if that got off the original topic.
     
  8. barrelks

    barrelks Captain Funtastic

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    Lol, sorry, I had to post again. I lived outside of Beaverton about 4 years ago when Walmart was trying to open a store there. They actually had a beautiful design with a park, walking paths, major upgrades to the surrounding area, and the residents of Portland/Beaverton were outraged. It took a while, but Walmart either had their plans denied or finally walked away. The people there were convinced that if Wallys came in, it was the end of the world. But Portland Metro people are a little over dramatic. It is definately an interesting culture.
     
  9. Travicon

    Travicon Nerdbot

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    haha you got that right!
     
  10. sacha88

    sacha88 Well-Known Member

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    Its nice to see someone concerned with conditions of third world workers. Its something I am conflicted with when buying toys but the reality is that practically everything that ends up in north america, and the west as a whole, are made under questionable conditions.
     
  11. WhiteMocha

    WhiteMocha Well-Known Member

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    Without dipping too deeply into politics, which is forbidden on this site, I dislike them for political/ethical reasons. If you search the web, I'm sure you'll find plenty of cogent reasons to dislike Wal-Mart (as well as counter-arguments, so you can come to your own conclusions).

    I try to shop there as little as possible, but I admit I do still pick up their many of their Transformer exclusives. So I take a bit of a karmic hit to continue in this hobby. :) 
     
  12. msterling21

    msterling21 Well-Known Member

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    in the ghetto
     
  13. Nightwing24

    Nightwing24 00 Agent

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    It's pretty simple, they advertise low prices, but most of the stuff they sell is about on par with targets prices. Of course there are some exceptions like tvs and clothes. Whenever I go I have to park pretty far because all of them are overcrowed. The stores usually aren't the cleanst I've seen many unattended spills. The backroom employees only have pdas so checking for something in the back is a nightmear. They also usually have terrible service. I can never find someone to ask a question and if I do most of them barely speak english. I've tried callin and sometimes they don't even answer the phone. The good thing about target is we have call botons so if someone can't find somebody to ask, they just hit the botton and we show up in 60 secs or less. Target also had walkies and pdas for all teammembers so we can check in the back for stuff really easily. So in a nutshell that's why wal-mart sucks. Sure you can get low prices, if you're willing to wait in line to park, wander around the store to try and find somebody and then wait in the huge lines to checkout.
     
  14. guard convoy

    guard convoy The Big Daddy

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    now now, i will say this, using rubbermaid is an BAD example. the rubbermaid here worked the workers to almost death (my mom's health went down the tubes). they treat their employees like crap, wal-mart alone wasn't the reason what happened to rubbermaid happened to rubbermaid
     
  15. jorod74

    jorod74 Psycholagnist (Ret.)

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    It isn't hate for me, it is just shock and awe and frustration at how they stock the shelves and the incalculable process by which stock is rotated and new waves are put out.
     
  16. barrelks

    barrelks Captain Funtastic

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    Yea, I hope my answer didn't go into the political realm, I tried not while providing some answers to the question posed. If it was, I appoligise mods and members.

    My buddy down in AZ really hates his Walmarts, dirty, messy, bad workers, lack of workers, lack of stock. I had to drag him to the one in my town, and he couldnt beleive it was actually a Walmart, so like many chains, they vary from location to location. A strong/motivated store manager really makes a difference in retail, but if it is a whole area, they may have problems at the district level. I know my Home Depot wouldn't put up with messes and lazy employees. Probably why it bothers me so much going into my local target and finding it a mess. Even if it wasn't my department, if I walked by something that was in the wrong place, or off it's peg, I would clean it up (still do when I go to a Target or Walmart, maybe it is my OCD kicking in).
     
  17. KingGrimlock

    KingGrimlock Assuming Direct Control

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    pretty much this
     
  18. T-money

    T-money Cake is good

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    I prefer Target. Or, as the french say...Target.

    Target seems to be cleaner, while Walmart has a certain ghetto-esque about it.

    Gotta love those low prices, though.
     
  19. amd098

    amd098 En taro Artanis!

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    its my walmarts employees i hate
    they are definatly toy fans, but they scalp like crazy
    i watched one employee years ago checking out an entire case of marvel legends, we rarely see any varients of ML, and never at walmart
    the entire walmart exclusive waves of ML, i never see, i check WM twice a week due to working 2 minutes from it, but never a thing, save empty pegs and shelves
     
  20. grimlock1972

    grimlock1972 Optimus, serving up the primest of ribs since 1984

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    a business is only as good as its employees from management on down