Interesting encounter at WalMart (don't kill me until you read the rest!)

[karlrschneider]

I live in a county with exactly ONE grocery store which happens to be a WM "supercenter". I can shop other stores but it's a minimum of a 70+ mile round-trip which these days translates to about 8 bucks worth of gas and a couple of hours so it's a Catch-22 for me and others out in this area (or is that a Hobson's choice?)

So I do make the journey now and again to 'stock up' but obviously I'm not going to drive to Tulsa for bread and milk, knowwhatImean?

One of our best and oldest friends is coming for a visit and we were 'stocking' (!) our little camping trailer for him to stay in down at the park on the lakeside so he's right there and can go fishing whenever he wants. I got supplies and a Black & Decker coffee-maker so he can wake up with fresh coffee. Brought it home and it was DOA...wouldn't turn on.

I took it back (with my receipt) to get another one. The clerk said "well, that's strange, I've never seen one of these be bad from brand new"

"Well," I said, "I don't think there's a lot of quality control in some of the Chinese factories these days.

"Oh, NO!" she replied, "This is BLACK AND DECKER! It's made in CONNECTICUT!, see here?" (pointing to the name on top of the box)

I turned the box upside down and pointed to the somewhat small print "MADE IN CHINA"

She almost dented the counter as her jaw dropped. "I can't imagine that!"

I said "Lady, 95% of everything in this damn STORE comes from China...just look at the labels!" Well, she gave me my money back and as I walked back to find a replacement, I noticed her whispering to 2 other clerks.

No, this isn't any world-shaking story but I thought it was interesting.
;-)

[mconvente]

1. hahaha

Interesting story - what a dumb lady... :shrug: :P

[xultar]

2. I almost broke down and went to Mao-Mart. Shit is hell-a expensive.

[Supply Side Jesus]

13. mao-mart....lol

never heard that one.....i like it. you should get that trademarked!

[noahmijo]

15. Second that and I am stealing it :)

[xultar]

28. Can't. I stole it from Whitehouse.org...they have bumperstickers

in their gift shop with Mao-Mart

Check it out... http://www.cafepress.com/thewhitehouse.38224576

[Inland]

17. Mao-Mart. I'll never get that out of my head, now. nt

[formercia]

42. or the Great Wall Mart of China. n/t

[Jeanette in FL]

22. That makes me almost want to go there

buy a few things and write a check made out to Mao-Mart. That is way too funny.

[Kansas Wyatt]

37. "Mao-Mart"

:spray: :rofl: Good one.

WalMart is the worst at selling products that are defective, and buying appliances there is a mistake and/or risk. Sooner or later, their Chinese crap will stop working, but they'll be glad to sell you another Chinese piece of shit. I stopped buying stuff there years ago, when I figured out WalMart was only selling defective junk that didn't go through any Quality Control, for only a few bucks lower than their competitors.

WalMart buys cheaper defective products, but takes the risk that a few will be returned, as they undercut their competition, who isn't selling defective products.

[Captain Hilts]

3. Good on you. nt

[noahmijo]

4. The only thing made in America anymore are Hondas and Babies

go figure :)

[karlrschneider]

5. LOL! How ruefully true.

;-)

[noahmijo]

12. Well I'm sure there are a few other things too but off the top of my head

I think BMW has a plant in one of the Carolinas...North Carolina I want to say...


I remember a few months ago some guy was razzing me for buying an '06 Civic (in fact I hate to say it a couple of morons here on DU were telling me I should be ashamed for screwing the American autoworker like that)


Hey everything except the engine in that car is made in a plant in Ohio. This guy that was giving me shit drove an Escalade. After I told him the facts about my car I had to comment "Your Caddy over there is nothin but a Korean Family Wagon in panties.....hope you can do without a kidney come the gas price increase next summer"

[A HERETIC I AM]

20. His Escalade was probably assembled in Mexico.

GM has 2 plants that build the Tahoe/Suburban based chassis models which includes the Caddy Escalade. The other one is in Wisconsin.

[noahmijo]

23. DOn't bother me with the facts when you use Korean it sounds funnier

so just SHUT UP okay?

;)

[A HERETIC I AM]

25. Actually, "Fijiian" sounds even funnier but i digress

n/t

[BlueEyedSon]

7. and multi-millionaire CEOs

[AlCzervik]

9. hey i got both of those, cept the baby is 11 1/2 now but she was made

in america!!

[Inland]

18. There's still debt.

We print and sell bonds by the shitload.

[mongo]

30. America still leads the world

in production of porn and lube

[knitter4democracy]

31. Not true.

My brother runs Cobra motorcycles, the only American dirtbike, and there are many mills still making wonderful American yarns. I'm just sayin' is all . . .

[kestrel91316]

39. And Harleys, too.

[noahmijo]

6. First off someone like you should NEVER be flamed in your case

Hey man if All Box Mart is all you have within 50+ miles especially with today's gas prices what can you do short of starting your own damn farm?

I was in that situation about a year ago before I moved into the city where now Trader Joe's and Costsco get all of my business.

That rocks though man way to plant some seeds of discontent.

[karlrschneider]

10. Heh, thanks...we actually do have a (very small) farm...

or a 'large garden' actually. We'll be picking fresh veggies in a few more weeks. :D

[noahmijo]

14. People like you are I say are the best weapons against curbing illegals

Without going too much into I always tell the "Nativist" types "Hey if you hate those damn Mexicans crossing over here so much go out and pick your own vegetables or buy from the hippies at the Farmer's Market on Wednesdays downtown (they really are hippies) at least then you know that American hands picked it right? so I can put you down for signing a pledge that you'll never set foot into another grocery store or hotel okay very good.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

21. Actually No One Deserves Flames For That.

I don't give a fuck if it's the only thing within 50 miles or not. If people don't want to shop there that's their call. If people do that's their call too. But no one deserves flames for that choice.

[noahmijo]

24. Well personally for a price I'd do about anything...

except pull the trigger..;)

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

26. LOL

:)

[NJCher]

8. I'm laughing

and crying.

Laughing 'cuz they don't know the origin of the products they sell but crying 'cuz you have to drive so far to a store!




Cher

[DuaneBidoux]

11. It was most certainly the box that was made in the USA

That's how a lot of people get fooled.

[Cleita]

16. I'm happy you rattled her world a bit, but I can't

believe that anyone is so dumb they can't read where their stuff comes from.

:eyes: Of course maybe that's why WalMart is the only place that will hire them.

[tulsakatz]

19. that's funny!!

I'm glad you pointed that out!!

Wal Mart used to advertise that they sold mostly American made products so evidently the clerk thought they still sell American products!!

Where do you live? I live in Tulsa.......

[NewJeffCT]

27. B&D was never in Connecticut, were they?

I know Stanley is the big toolmaker in CT. They recently tried to move their HQ to Bermuda for tax purposes, but got a ton of bad publicity around the state... so, they decided to stay put (for now)

[karlrschneider]

40. I might have misremembered the state, it was New England I'm sure

...

[justice1]

29. Wal-mart can't be blamed for all of it.

About 10 years ago, my mother-in-law was asked by a Filipino hairdresser to buy her a curling iron, made in the U.S. She was to embarrassed to admit she couldn't find one, so she kept saying she forgot.

[Robbien]

34. When Walmart refuses to buy any product except the lowest cost product

and ignores that the lowest cost products are those made in sweatshops of China, India and Taiwan, then yes Walmart is at fault. Walmart is the largest buyer of consumer goods. If you are a supplier of consumer goods and Walmart doesn't buy from you, you go out of business. Walmart is the gateway.

[JohnyCanuck]

38. Have you seen the PBS documentary "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?"

If you haven't seen it yet, you can watch it online in Windows Media Player or Real Player from the link on the PBS/Frontline web page.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/

This PBS/Frontline documentary shows how Wal Mart has little compunction about holding the threat of purchasing products off-shore from cheap labour countries as a means to force US suppliers to comply with their pricing demands.

Frontline gave the example of Rubbermaid who went to WalMart sometime in the 1990s and explained they'd have to pass on a price increase as their costs for the plastic resins, the raw materials for their products, were increasing significantly. Rubbermaid explained they had searched extensively to find alternate suppliers with better pricing but had been unsuccessful. Wal-Mart told them to take a hike as they weren't interested in hearing Rubbermaid's sob stories, even as Rubbermaid warned them they couldn't stay in business if they couldn't pass on the increased cost in raw materials, especially since Wal-Mart was such a major chunk of their businsess. Wal-Mart, to all intents and purposes, said to the Rubbermaid execs, "You've obviously got us confused with someone who gives a shit," no doubt counting on the fact that there were lots of factories in China paying workers at 50 cents a day and not bothered by trifling details like environmental regulations etc. who would be happy to supply plastic food containers and garbage pails more cheaply than Rubbermaid - regardless of how much raw materials costs were increasing.

As a result of Wal-Mart's inflexibility on the pricing issue, Rubbermaid had to shut down much of their US operation, layoff a bunch of their US workforce and were taken over by a rival company in a deal to avoid bankruptcy.

Rep. Berceau: Thank Wal-Mart for the Loss of 240 Madison-based Rubbermaid Jobs

Wal-Mart’s Cut-Throat Tactics Forced Rubbermaid into an Economic Tailspin from Which It Never Recovered

MADISON—State Rep. Terese Berceau (D-Madison) decried the decision by Newell Rubbermaid to end 240 Madison jobs as part of a three-year plan to shed 5,000 workers and close one-third of its factories, but placed much of blame squarely on Wal-Mart.

Rubbermaid’s economic problems date from 1994, when the cost of resin (a key ingredient in its plastic containers) rose suddenly by 80 percent, costing the company an additional $250 million. In response, Rubbermaid sought to raise the price of some of their products to compensate for the loss, and pleaded with Wal-Mart headquarters (which was then the largest retail outlet for Rubbermaid) to allow them to do so. Wal-Mart steadfastly refused, and responded by pulling Rubbermaid products off their shelves, and replacing them with those of Sterlite.

Rubbermaid saw its yearly earnings drop by 30 percent, before finally succumbing to Wal-Mart’s demands. However, it never financially recovered. Nearly in bankruptcy, Rubbermaid was absorbed by its rival, Newell, Inc., in 1999 ― a mere three years after Fortune magazine named Rubbermaid its “most admired company.” Since then, Newell Rubbermaid has been shedding plants and jobs to keep afloat. Since 2001, Newell Rubbermaid has shut down 69 of its 400 facilities, and fired over 11,000 of its employees.

“Here is a stark example of how Wal-Mart’s rapacious corporate appetite resulted in the loss of good local jobs,” said Rep. Berceau. “Wal-Mart’s obsession for ever lower cost, came at a dear cost to Madison jobs,” she added. “Wal-Mart has grown from an economic player into an economic plague. Sure, you can buy some cheaper plastic item at Wal-Mart, but the lower cost results in lower wages and fewer benefits for their employees, and the loss of Main Street businesses and American jobs, as larger competitors and suppliers are forced to ship jobs overseas in order to compete. As a community, we end up paying for Wal-Mart’s low cost in other costly ways.

http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/Berceaurubber060105.pdf

[Arkansas Granny]

32. I can't remember where I saw this, but it was on TV in the last

week or so. A couple decided for one year to buy only American made products and it was really difficult to find them at all and when they did, they were very expensive. Apparently, some things, like the pegs for the husband's tools in the garage, are not manufactured here at all anymore. If you start checking labels on most of the items you buy, very little is made in the U.S.A. Wal-Mart is not the only culprit when it comes to importing foreign made goods.

[Broken_Hero]

33. Very true...n/t

[Skarbrowe]

35. Ok, here I go spouting off the top of my head again..never good, BUT

what Wal-Mart started, I think, was the bullying business ploy of threatening anyone who made any of the products they buy to move their businesses to China where labor was dirt cheap. I think I remember an example of a American company that made socks. The company had been in this man's family for a generation or so. Wal-Mart was or would have been a major account. Wal-Mart told him that he needed to have his products made in China before they would buy from him.

This is just an example of how Wal-Mart got so many American companies..well, not so much got but extorted them into moving out of the American job market to be able to sell to the Mao-Mart (yes, most appropriate!) to be able to get accounts with them. Since these once American companies with American employees were now moving their businesses to China (mostly) other places like Sears, Penneys, whatever, had to compete with Mao-Mart so they moved all their factories out of America. It was all generally started by the the evil empire of Mao-Mart. Totally destroyed the present and future of any American made products.

Greed, greed, greed. If you have land and are able to grow some basics on your own, maybe sew some of your own clothes ( but I checked stuff to make clothes with and it all comes from China or somewhere other than America), or can find any way to avoid certain items that you can't get without building up China's war machine, well, good on ya! It's almost impossible to do these days.

The future of this country as a super power of any kind is going to become quite obvious very soon.

[msgadget]

36. First thing I thought,

"what a great host!" You've got a generous liberal spirit, karl.

[Ian David]

41. My mom's last purchase at Wal-Mart:

Chronicles of Narnia and Brokeback Mountain on DVD.