Oh yes, the holiday season is upon us. 10 days until christmas and the shopping crunch begins. We live in what I consider to be a very small town, (remember my comparisons include places like the overpopulated Florida, and New York) and so, the store choices leave MUCH to be desired.
Our biggest and sadly, "best" option for holiday shopping is Wal-Mart. I say sadly, because since WalMart has become the giant superstore for one stop shopping, thier service, and product variety has declined horribly.
some examples of said declines ?
This giant corporation expanded its stores, yet neglected to expand STAFF. You can go shopping for everything you need, groceries, clothes, toys, all in one tiny cart. Being that we live out of town, we do bulk shopping. I have been known to fill two carts on my own , with two small children in tow. On these glorious rare events, I am expected to bag all of these items myself (if I can't keep up with the cashier, they don't HELP, they stand and glare until there is space for them to continue) .Once the two carts are stacked with all the bags, I am somehow expected to push both carts, complete with two small children across the parking lot to my car on my own. If I request help, I'm told they have no one to do it. (not that they attempt to find anyone)
sorry folks- this peeves me. I just spent more money in one spot than I even see all year, and they can't help me to the car? I've lived in CITIES and shopped at poor mom/pop shops that make sure they bag your items,and you get help out, even if the cashier themselves have to close the registers to do so. This is a multi- million dollar corporation, and they can't extend this simple courtesy? They pay multiple people to stand outside and inside the doors to make sure you have a cart, need it or not, and a cheerful hello, but can't hire people to bag items or help to cars??
Again a staff issue here : each department has its own staff, to stock shelves and be helpful assistance if you can't find something. each of these staff members get 2 or 3 aisles to care for.
Why then, is it seemingly IMPOSSIBLE to find one of the helpful associates? You stand in the aisle, looking lost and confused, and no one shows up. however, if you know what you need and where it is, they flock to you, one after another, to make sure you've found what you need, even after you're holding it.
The "need help" crisis is amusing in itself. no one comes. You find one of those buttons they have which convieniently pages said helpful associate to their department for customer assistance. IF the associate is paying attention, they may arrive in the next half hour. Once they do and you ask them about what you need, either the store doesn't carry it, or they have NO idea what you are even talking about!
This is what I was faced with on my holiday "stakeout" . Rather than go blindly from store to store snatching items off shelves, I do a "dry run", take notes of prices in stores and then figure the best way to do the actual shopping. (this actually saves us a ton of money) .
I was looking for a Lego kit. simple enough. I go to the aisle with the lego products, and all I see are duplos, and the lego bionicle kits, or star wars kits- neither of which is what my 5 year old has asked for. he has asked for the Pirate ship. (available in stores now!) WalMart 's lego shelves had virtually NO legos! (besides of course the sets we already have)
I look for one of our handy helpful associates. no luck. I push the pager button. and begin the wait. amazingly this particular staff member broke the 30 minute record with a 20 minute one."can I help you?"
well, yea, thats why I pushed the button 20 minutes ago. I'm looking for Lego kits. I was hoping for the pirate ship set, but at this point , I'd be happy with whatever you guys are getting.
"getting?"
yes getting, They ARE going to restock these shelves with actual legos this week right?
"uuuum... legos?"
yea LEGOS.
well we have these- and shows me the twelve dozen duplo kits, among the rows of empty lego shelves.
no, I need LEGOS. I show him the star wars kit- you know, like these, only a pirate ship, or a little town...
Kid looks at me like I'm on drugs.
"these are legos. "
you don't have kids do you? those aren't legos. legos are much smaller, and come in kits for older children than the 2 year olds that duplos are made for.
I get the look again.
ok kiddo- back to square one. I point to the empty shelves, and say" these are labeled for lego sets. these are empty. you work in this department right?"
yea
"ok. will these shelves be restocked with legos at some point before christmas?"
I dunno.
'wow. you've been VERY helpful. thank you soooo much."
I continued my price seeking and repeatedly had problems finding items, which were advertised from the store- and every time I asked, the helpful associate had no clue what I was talking about.
I asked a MANAGER as well, who also gave me replies that didn't answer any of my questions, and didn't know what half of the requested items were - from thier own ads!
So , after an amazingly frustrating 2 hours in the "superstore that has it all" , finding nothing I needed, I left the store, joyfully skipping past the manager, the dopey helpful associates, and other frustrated shoppers, singing my wal-mart song.
"we hate the wal-mart .. .we hate the wal-mart... we hate the walmart 'cuz THEY SUCK!!!"
This is not the first time I have followed this tradition. And I'm also pretty sure my song was enjoyed by other shoppers as they watched, some smiling, some laughing, and some even gave me a thumbs up, a sure signal that I was not the only patron in the store that wished it to explode.
I've made it a point over the past few years to avoid the wal-mart at all costs. But like I said, store options are minimal in my area, and for the holidays I am forced to deal with it. ok, well.... depending on how you look at it, perhaps they are forced to deal with me.
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