• Home
• About Me
• Auburn’s Mascots
• Disclaimers
• Terms of Use

Dear Wal-Mart…

February 11, 2005

TO:
H. Lee Scott, CEO
Wal-Mart
702 Southwest Eighth Street
Bentonville, AR 72716-8611

FROM:
Kyle
http://kylesblog.endoftheinternet.org

Dear Mr. Scott,

I would like to bring your attention a complaint I have about the checkout lines at your store, located at Woodstock, Georgia. Specifically, I’m writing about the speed of the lines. I am frustrated and annoyed by this, and I hope you are able to resolve this situation.

After making my selections, I went to checkout and found that 10 lanes were open, 8 Self-Serve Scanners, and 2 Human Cashiers. They were split evenly, half one one side of the store (near the food), and half on the other side (near the Pharmacy).

I picked the five registers nearest the Pharmacy, as that’s where I had just come from and could see long lines backed up down at food side. As I only had five items, I looked for the shortest line. The Human Cashier had only two people in line, but both people looked like they were doing their monthly grocery shopping as they had way more in the bascart than it was intended to hold. So, I checked out the dreaded Self-Serve Scanners. There I found a problem even worse, the Self-Serve Scanner itself. With four of these things open, we had three employees running around helping the customers who don’t understand how the Self-Serve Scanners work. I waited in line for twenty minutes and watched one man scan and handle each item like it was Waterford Crystal, the next customer was this woman who did about the same thing, then pressed “Pay Order” when she still had stuff on the conveyor belt. For a second, I thought she was going to try to steal those items… then she pushed more buttons on the screen, and then that red light came on and I to wait even LONGER for a human to come help her.

Once that happened, a customer service manager came over and said that she could help anyone paying with credit cards and opened up another cash register. I told her, I didn’t care how I had to pay, I just wanted to get the heck out of there. I went on to mention that I didn’t know why they put the Self-Serve Scanners in the stores to begin with… and your customer service manager AGREED WITH ME. She said “We complain about them all the time, they break down, have problems…” she then continued, “I’d rather have four cashiers than four self-serve lanes”. I asked why they hadn’t said anything to corporate, and I got the reply, “We have… we have…”.

I would definitely think twice before spending money at your stores again, and I will urge everyone I know to steer clear as well. Usually, I visit your stores 11-15 times per month. I spend $16-$30.

Here’s what I’d like to see Wal-Mart do about this: I would like Wal-Mart to listen to its employees and customers. We don’t like Self-Serve Checkout. Very few people understand how to use it, and those of us who do know how get frustrated waiting for those who don’t. If your employees are echoing the complaints of your paying customers, you should listen and remove the Self-Serve Checkouts. In the future, I will not use Self-Serve Checkout, and if you have less than 10 human cashiers when I walk in the door, I will walk out and go to Target.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,
Kyle

Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.

Copyright 2004-2008 TheBisch | All Rights Reserved
Theme by DailyBlogTips