I Work At Wal-Mart....Ask Me Anything

[THUNDER HANDS]

I've been there for 3 weeks now so I have a pretty good handle on how things are run there.

Ask away. I know some of you probably have questions.

[LiberallyInclined]

1. did you lose a bet?

or do you just look good in a blue polyester vest?

[THUNDER HANDS]

6. I happen to look quite dapper in a blue polyester vest

but no, I did not lose a bet.

[davidinalameda]

2. how crappy are the benefits

forgot, there are no benefits

[THUNDER HANDS]

7. the only benefits I've seen

are having vending machines in the employee lounge where you can gets "Sams" soda for 30-cents a can. Which, is pretty good. But I'd still prefer health insurance.

I know. I'm such a communist.

[DelawareValleyDem]

3. Two questions

WHY?????

and does your handle refer to a Springsteen lyric?

[THUNDER HANDS]

9. okay...

1. I went there because believe it or not, they paid more than the two other places I got hired at - Target and Office Max.

2. Yes, it's from the Springsteen song 'Jungleland'

[AlCzervik]

4. can you get one of those tiny spycams sewn into your vest

and then you could document your experience, kind of an undercover thing?

[THUNDER HANDS]

11. I'd love to do that

especially in this store. Its brand new (just opened Wednesday) and alreayd its a mess - managers losing keys to the cash box, bags of money gone missing - employees complaining about not getting breaks.

Oh, and all the fish died already in the Pets section.

[AlCzervik]

12. maybe you can figure how to do it

i bet plenty of people would be interested in it. I know i am.

[THUNDER HANDS]

18. I would love

to get a hidden camera, and just video tape pissed off customers. I think a highlight film of just people yelling and screaming at Wal-Mart employees and managers would be a best-seller.

[miss_kitty]

62. make sure the employees who aren't getting their federally mandated breaks

report it to the federal gummint! :D

[THUNDER HANDS]

65. are 15 minute breaks federally mandated?

because I never get those. The lunch one's, yes, but the 15 minute breaks are something I've noticed you have to request, or else you don't get them from management.

[miss_kitty]

66. I THOUGHT so...

I have been searching like mad for the statute. Now It turns out I MAY BE TOTALLY WRONG! ARGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!

I was involved in a huge messy action in the late 80s early 90s in which my employer was fedeally pursued for 'encouraging' off-the-clock work, discouraging break time...I might be wrong on the break thing. Check with your state for local laws-you're in New York? I have a lawyer pal there. I'll ask her and quit talking out my ass for now!

:dunce:

[NuttyFluffers]

74. can you keep a diary and write a novel later?

i think a novel about surviving retail hell, with enough humor and zaniness, might be a big seller. give it a snappy title like, "The 8th Circle of Hell."

[Salviati]

5. Have they made you work extra hours off the clock yet?

[THUNDER HANDS]

14. no

I'm part-time, so I don't get scheduled for any more than 30 hours a week.

Its funny, when I was trained we have to watch these computer video simulations and one of the simulations was explaining how working off the clock is BAD BAD BAD and should NEVER be done.

The video featured employees saying things like 'I've been here for 9 hours and my work isn't done, maybe I should just clock out and finish my work'

or

'If I stay longer I'll go into overtime, maybe I should tell my boss to roll over my hours to next week so I don't go into overtime.'

As if the EMPLOYEES were suggesting these things in the first place.

:D

[NuttyFluffers]

76. now that's classic! that's gotta go in the book! n/t

[Rabrrrrrr]

83. OMG! So the off-the-clock working is always at the suggestion

of the worker!

Dang. Here and I thought it was the fault of evil, tightwad managers. But it's because the workers feel a strong need to keep working and they're afraid of racking up overtime because that might hurt the father company!

[chelsea0011]

8. three weeks?...so you're seniority ?

[THUNDER HANDS]

15. basically

the store opened on Wednesday and employees have been around here since November packing out freight.

There are 400 employees at this Wal-Mart. I'm probably in the middle 150.

[Langis]

10. How much do you make an hour?

If you don't mind telling.

[THUNDER HANDS]

16. $9.50 p/hr

I'm a cashier, which pays more than people who do stock or work on the floor.

I don't know why, I expected cashiers to get less, but hey, it's more than a dollar I got offered anywhere else.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

32. Whoa... where do you live?

Most Walmart's pay much less than that.

[THUNDER HANDS]

37. Long Island

yeah, I heard that was high for Wal-Mart. I came in expecting to be lucky to get $7.

I guess down south (or upstate NY) its less, depending on the cost of living in the area the store is in.

I've also heard the prices of the merchandise is less down south and upstate also.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

39. Oh.. well that makes sense then. n/t

[ikojo]

48. My niece worked at a Wal-Mart in Springfield Illinois for three

years and only made $8.00 an hour when she left.

She now works at a day care making $8.50 per hour and they provide health insurance.

[Solon]

58. Yep, I worked there 2 years...

St. Charles store off of I-70, started at $6.25 an hour, left at $6.76 an hour. Pathetic, and the casheirs started at $7.50, what type of BS is that?

[sakabatou]

13. Have you been asked, "Do you work here"?

If not, what queston really annoys you?

[THUNDER HANDS]

17. yes, today in fact

the only question that kinda annoys me is 'Are you open' when I'm standing right behind a register with my light on and I'm motioning them to come over. I'll wave them over, say hello, and they'll be like 'you're open right?'

No, I just felt like chatting with you. :eyes:

:D

[DainBramaged]

19. You are not dealing with the intelligentsia, mind you.

[THUNDER HANDS]

24. no, but I'm am shocked at the types of people who shop here

granted, Long Island isn't exactly a poor community or anything, but I expected Wal-Mart customers to be pretty, well, on the low-class scale economically.

And while that is partly true, I've also seen plenty of people who are solid middle and upper middle class. Probably even rich, based on the cars in the parking lot I observe.

[DainBramaged]

28. They love all that 'Made in USA' stuff, don't they? (snicker)

As soon as it gets crowded and a pain in the ass to shop there, the Brie set will leave. It's the 'novelty' of the 'experience' for them.

[RebelOne]

38. Why do you assume that people who shop at Wal-Mart

are of low intelligence? I have a Wal-Mart just down the street from me and have seen plenty Cadillacs and Mercedes in the parking lot. So I doubt that these shoppers are stupid. They have money because they know where to shop for bargains. I don't shop at Wal=Mart much, mainly because the parking sucks. I hate parking out in never-never land and then walking a half-mile to the store.

[DainBramaged]

41. They may have money, but they don't know quality....

Hence the label 'stupid'.

I'll give you a question to ponder. If you had the money to buy a BMW, would you buy a Chinese made car? And don't tell me BMW's suck, just compare the lifetime value between the two.

[Pirate Smile]

20. What have you learned that would interest us the most?

[THUNDER HANDS]

27. that if something is marked wrong

you get $3 off the price. Even if the thing you bought is under $3.

Say, you're buying a $3 bottle of shampoo, and its listed for $2.99 on the shelf and it comes up $3.50 at the register- you get the shampoo for $2.99, minus $3 for the error, making the shampoo free.

This only works on the first thing though, so if you want to keep getting free shampoo, go back in and out and just keep getting one bottle at a time.

As for working there, the most insane thing is that when we open the store we have to do a Wal-Mart cheer.

I shall now explain the Wal-Mart cheer:

GIVE ME A W!!!!

W!!!

GIVE ME A A!!!!

A!!!

GIVE ME A L!!!!

L!!!

GIVE ME A SQUIGGLY!!!!

(employees do an embarassing version of "the twist"

GIVE ME A M!!!!

M!!!

GIVE ME A A!!!!

A!!!

GIVE ME A R!!!!

R!!!

GIVE ME A T!!!!

T!!!

WHAT'S THAT SPELL????

WAL-MART!

I CAN'T HEAR YOU!

WAL-MART!!!!

WHO'S NUMBER ONE???

CUSTOMERS ARE NUMBER ONE

and so on and so forth - every morning - while customers circle around us like confused drivers observing a 50-car pileup on the highway.

[crispini]

34. Ok, that's just.....

:puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke:

[orleans]

79. hahahaha

good one

and i agree!

[Pirate Smile]

50. My husband worked at Bed, Bath and Beyond and you can return

something to there without a receipt for up to 3 years. It isn't advertised but that is their policy (or was, it has been two years since he got out of retail, Thank God). No questions, you get credit for what it costs.

[THUNDER HANDS]

53. if you complain loudly enough

you can return anything anywhere without a receipt. But you have to be the type of person who really has no compassion and will literally come within inches of killing another human being.

The rage has to be real. You either have to be a real asshole or a real good actor.

[ikojo]

51. My niece told me that one time she was sitting in the break

room on break. There was a meeting and after the meeting they did the Wal-Mart cheer. My niece did not participate in the cheer and when asked why said, "I'm on break." She hated working at Wal-Mart.

[THUNDER HANDS]

54. lol

I can understand that. I don't know how it works in other stores, but the cheer in my store is done early in the morning, so we wouldn't have anyone on break - unless they came in at like 6:45 a.m. or so.

[ikojo]

68. The cheer was done following a meeting of

some sort..probably to "psych" people up...also, my niece worked at a Super Wal-Mart which is open 24 hours.

[patdem]

63. K-Mart is the king of mis pricing...I think it is stealing just as if I

stole from them. I was SO angry at K-Mart...the posted price (marked down) is seldom the price at the register..they are losing customers because of that. I consider it as them stealing money out of my pocket as surely as my stealing products from their store! :grr:

[THUNDER HANDS]

64. yes, people tend to get pissed off

Personally, I could care less if its mispriced. Luckily, I can override a price from my register without a supervisor coming over, so I just give it to them for whatever price they said it was.

99.9% of the time, the customer is telling the truth.

[barb162]

85. a lot of chains do this. Meijer, the grocery, and Menards, do

it BIGTIME and you have to watch them like hawks every time you go in.

[Downtown Hound]

78. Who the hell comes up with this crap?

You know whoever did never had to actually say it.

[barb162]

86. that 3 buck off thing doesn't work here. I have had that happen and

you end up standing in a 20 person long line at customer service and they never offered 3 bucks off. Is that a national policy or for your store only?

[THUNDER HANDS]

94. I've never set foot in another walmart

but its the policy in my store for sure. The policy is actually written at all the registers, though most people probably don't notice it.

[DS1]

93. OMG!

I'd stand there stunned, waiting for the "What's that spell" and yell
GO FUCK YOURSELF, hang up my coat, and walk out.

[chelsea0011]

21. What is the one thing I should be buying there

[THUNDER HANDS]

29. phone cards

they are insanely cheap there. Like, 60 minutes for $3.

Also, if you can stand soda that's not coke or pepsi, Sam's Club soda is like $2.50 for a 12-pack or .60 cents for a 2-liter bottle.

[Glenda]

22. Can you do anything to get the customers

to vote Blue?

[THUNDER HANDS]

30. most do in my area

Long Island has voted Democrat for the last three presidential elections going back to 1996.

The specific area the store is in is one of the strongest Democratic areas on the Island.

[Taverner]

23. Are you going to do what you can to hide your identity here?

From what I hear, Wal Mart could use posting on DU as a reason to fire you. They do shit like that, and I'm sure some Freeper would love to *out* you. Theyve done it before with reporters here...

Be careful, bro...

[THUNDER HANDS]

31. I'm a part-time cashier

If there are any trade secrets the organization doesn't want known, they're not going to come out through me.

Plus, they would probably not fire me. Believe me, if you saw the other people they have hired to work the front end, it would take me walking out the front door with a tv under each arm to get fired.

[Taverner]

36. Thats good

But keep in mind they have fired employees in the past for the great sin of maintaining a blog.

[Solon]

60. Actually, they can fire you for your opinions on a board...

like this for just disagreeing with them. Its happened before at the Wal*Mart sucks boards. They call it insubordination.

[barb162]

88. I went on some of those boards and they were hilarious. The K-Mart one

had ex-employees who could have been comedians

[LostInAnomie]

25. Are you caught up on all your CBL's?

You have to do you CBL's

[THUNDER HANDS]

33. pretty much

I love doing those, especially when the store was still unpacking freight. I hate working on the floor and constantly walking around. Doing the CBL's (computer based learning, the computer training videos) was the only time I could sit down.

Believe me, anything that gets me off my feet is a good thing.

I don't have any more due until the first week of February.

[LostInAnomie]

43. When I worked there my manager was always on my ass to finish...

... all my CBL's.

What did you think of the anti union movie that they show. "Unions can't do anything for you. They only want your money."

[THUNDER HANDS]

55. i haven't seen that one yet

But during orientation, the manager said that Wal-Mart doesn't have unions because "why should you have to pay to have someone speak for you, when Wal-Mart has an open door policy. You can just come right in and say anything you like. You shouldn't have to pay for that."

Oy.

[Solon]

57. That's a funny excuse...

heard it before, the proper response is, yeah sure, you can say whatever you want with the "Open Door" policy, but then you can get fired for it too, unlike with Unions.

[ikojo]

70. Wal-Mart isn't the only employer who says "why should you have to

pay to have someone speak for you..." I worked at one of the VERY large and INFLUENTIAL hospitals in the St Louis area and they spew this garbage during the employee orientation. They are proud to be union free.

[mitchum]

89. My father was a union-buster for a textile company...

and that's one of the propaganda lines he would always feed the workers.
mitchum's dad now regrets his past life and is now a progressive Democrat

[jeff30997]

26. Is it true that they whip their employees ?

[THUNDER HANDS]

35. no, that is not true

they stone them. They have an official Sam Walton stone they use to throw at employees who dare go to grab their coat before punching out - lest they be TAKING AWAY WAL-MART MONEY!!!!!

[Solon]

40. Hey Magic Rat...

They still use those stupid bar codes for punching in and out? If they do, get this, its a bar code of you SS#. If you don't believe me, check it on a telxon, very cool. So if you ever lose it, print out a new one on a telxon, if you can find one logged in. (or hack one like I did at my store, telxon's have MS-DOS Rom embedded version 5.0, even the three fingered salute works on them!!!)

[THUNDER HANDS]

42. yes they do!

If I knew how to hack into a telxon I would probably try it. As it is, I'm lucky if I can get it to print a label. :D

[Solon]

44. OK, 'nother question.

Have they warned you to never punch in your numbers when clocking in and out of the machine?

BTW: You can get to a Dos Command line on the machine by hitting, if I remember right, control (function)alt, delete. The key layout is like a calculator, with button like function, usually colored yellow I think, for the other commands.

[THUNDER HANDS]

45. I don't think I remember hearing anything about that

I was just told to swipe the badge through. If, for some reason, it didn't take, I don't know if I'm supposed to punch them in or not, or just go get a supervisor.

[Solon]

47. OK, nother question...

Have you had to participate in all that crappy cult shit, like the Wal*Mart clap in the morning meetings?

[THUNDER HANDS]

52. oh yeah, i wrote about that above

I thought it was just something they did before the store opened, but they did it today at like 8:30 a.m.

The store opened at 7.

Oh, that's another thing. The store is open from 7-10 EVERY DAY. Even Sundays.

Who shops at Wal-Mart at 7 a.m. on a Sunday?

[Solon]

56. Sunday morning are slow...

But, I will say, the store I worked at was a 24 hour store, and they did the Wal*Mart clap 3 times a day, around 7 am(1st shift), 3 pm(2nd shift), and around 10 pm(3rd shift). My store was open for years before I worked there, and they still do that shit. We are only one state(MO) away from the Wal*Mart capitol of the world after all.

[hatredisnotavalue]

46. Do they really have $3 refridgerators?

Sorry this is only funny if you watch Jon Stewart. Glad to see you got a job. Many of my friends also work there after our shoe plant closed.

[warrens]

49. Have you learned to squeeze a nickel til the buffalo screams yet?

A wal-mart insider joke that is getting a bit long in the tooth, given they don't make nickels with buffalo heads anymore.

[Blue-Jay]

59. How much is a pack of smokes at Wal-Mart?

:shrug:

[THUNDER HANDS]

61. at my store

It depends on the brand, but usually between $4.25 and $4.75 a pack. New York is a very expensive place to buy cigarettes.

[Skittles]

67. need location and work hours

I have some business with you :o

[ikojo]

69. Skittles, while I would never try to suggest what you should

or should not do....I do beg mercy for our friend, Magic Rat...after all he IS working for Wal-Mart.

Whatever business you have with him, surely he is doing penance by working for the Walton family.

[Skittles]

71. I WANT TO KICK HIS ASS

for miscellaneous reasons, I assure you. :D

[THUNDER HANDS]

72. you'll have to find me

I'm on Long Island. There, I narrowed it down for you. :D

[Skittles]

73. LI is populated but there is only one MAGIC RAT

yes INDEED!

[intheflow]

75. Have you ever been hit in the head by

the bouncing, price-slashing yellow smiley face? Seems all that bouncy and slashing would be an insurance liability or something.

[Strawman]

77. When the in store display of the company stock price goes up...

Does your store management expect that the employees who are earning minumum wage and forced to work OT for no pay should act like they actually give a shit?

[orleans]

80. "the corporation" is a great movie that will explain how walmart

is taking over the world. ok--maybe not that--but it shows you how they told their suppliers in the u.s. that they can buy shit for real cheap overseas so these suppliers were closing up shop here and going to china -- so the suppliers can compete with other suppliers.

it has totally screwed up this economy

and cost thousands of jobs.

i used to shop there--but i've been boycotting it for over a year now.

i won't be seeing you in the little blue vest. besides, i live near chicago.

good luck with your new job. make the best of it then go find another job in your spare time. don't get into the rut of walmartism.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

81. Will you do the following?

1) Think of this as an opportunity;
2) Use your imagination;
3) NEVER EVER EVER give away ANY information here that could lead to your "Secret identity"?

[Nikia]

82. Were you drug tested? What test did they do?

At my local Walmart there is a sign that says something like "Don't apply here if you use illegal drugs, we use advanced scientific methods to detect drug use. You will not pass if you use illegal drugs." Do they do randomn drug testing as well? I am just curious.

[THUNDER HANDS]

90. I peed in a cup

they said something about random testing, but I doubt they do it unless they have reason to suspect you're showing up to work stoned or foaming at the mouth or something.

[Glenda]

84. What things at walmart sell at a loss?

And if I buy enough of these, can I bring the company down?

[THUNDER HANDS]

91. beats me

But today I rang up a egg beater that didn't have a price tag on it, so I gave it to the lady for 20 cents.

I'm sure it costs more than that, but I felt generous, plus I had a long line at the register.

[peekaloo]

87. Let's say you drop something heavy on your foot and curse

and another employee rats on you....will you be fired for cursing?

I once worked for an organization that was bought by a Walmart Board member and he used to humilate senior management by making them do Squigglies.......sad.

[THUNDER HANDS]

92. I don't think you'd be fired for cursing

unless it was at, like, a blind 5-year-old little girl and her seeing eye puppy, whose mommy went to management and complained about you.