I honestly don’t think Sam Walton wanted Wal-Mart to become what it has become! It’s really a pathetic joke to the American people! “Let’s all shop at Wal-Mart, where 80-90% of the items are made in China, who owns our debt”! “Let Wal-Mart (Devout) customers become the face of America”! Yeah right, a bunch of brainwashed idiots who act like zombies in that store. And I shop at Wal-Mart too, but my god, so many people who shop there are complete idiots! Mindless zombies wondering around!

People of Wal-Mart

I don’t mean the website, I mean the actual people that shop at Wal-Mart. Not only are they hardcore deal-finders, but they all seem to have some sort of an issue they feel it absolutely necessary to share with the world. Some of them have an issue with dressing – wearing clothing that is entirely inappropriate, and even unnecessary, for shopping at the big box retailer. Some of them have significant other issues that they feel it necessary to blather around the store on their cell phones, screaming at each other, or even sharing with the Wal-Mart employees. No matter what the issue may be, it seems like every person that shops at Wal-Mart seems to feel that it is their duty to turn the Wal-Mart experience into a therapy session/hillbilly fashion show. I just want to get my discounted goods and get the shit out of here. Why must I stand here and endure your issues?

A lot of people hate Wal-Mart for a lot of different reasons. In addition to these I have listed, I hate Wal-Mart and refuse to shop there because for years they have systematically broken down the notion of loyalty to a company. Big box retail took over small, locally owned businesses and the people of this world fell for it in the name of getting a good deal. In the end, though, there is no deal that is worth what Wal-Mart represents.

First Things First

•Give the merchant the first chance to solve the problem. Contact the salesperson, retailer or business when you have a complaint about any goods or services you bought. When there is a complaints department, use it. When there isn’t, talk to someone in authority, such as a manager. A face-to-face discussion is best. Be firm and businesslike, but polite. Calmly and accurately describe the problem and what you want the company to do to resolve it.

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If the problem is not resolved that way, ask for the telephone number of the company headquarters and contact the customer service department. Request specifics about how and when something will be done, and get the company representative’s name in case you have to refer to the conversation later. Write down any details of your complaint and keep them in a file. Make sure to date your notes.

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If your call doesn’t produce satisfactory results, write a letter to someone higher up, such as the general manager or owner (see sample letter). Provide all the details of the problem and explain your efforts to resolve it. Ask for action. In the case of products, send a copy of your letter to the manufacturer, and be sure to keep a copy of it yourself.

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If none of these steps work to your satisfaction, consult the key consumer contacts of this Handbook for government offices and consumer organizations that apply to your situation. If you don’t know where to start, call the federal-provincial-territorial government consumer affairs office where you live. Someone there will direct you to the right organization. Or, use the Complaint Courier to file your complaint online.

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Taking legal action should be your last choice. If you decide to sue, remember that there are often time limitations on filing lawsuits. You may wish to check with a lawyer about the legal process and any limitations that may apply to your case in your province or territory.

Strategies for Success

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Do not be afraid to complain. Good businesses will be pleased to correct any mistake on their part. They know that customer goodwill is the best form of advertising.

•Always keep a file of important information related to your purchase, include the sales receipts, repair orders, warranties, cancelled cheques, contracts and any letters you have written to or received from the company concerned.
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Do not procrastinate. When a product is defective or unsatisfactory, it is important that you return it quickly so that you do not lose the right to get your money back or to collect damages in some cases. Always check the return policy before you buy.

What to Do When You Have Complained Without Any Results?

If you feel you have given the company enough time and that your problem has not been resolved, send a copy of your complaint letter and copies of supporting documents (not originals) to, or file a consumer complaint with, your provincial or territorial consumer affairs office or Better Business Bureau. If you use the Complaint Courier it will give you the option to automatically forward your complaint to the appropriate government office.

Small Claims Court

Small claims court can be an informal and relatively inexpensive way to resolve disputes when the amount involved is less than $3,000 or, in some provinces, up to $25,000. However, you will have to pay a fee to file a claim. Once the suit is launched, you may have costs for such things as serving orders, payments to witnesses and travel expenses.

You do not need a lawyer to go to small claims court, although in most provinces and territories the help of a lawyer is allowed. The court staff is experienced in helping consumers prepare the necessary forms, and the judges have the power to settle disputes. This court allows each side to explain its story and does not expect consumers to know legal technicalities.

For information on how to proceed, contact the small claims or provincial or territorial court nearest you (look in the government listings in your phone book). The websites of these courts also often list the procedures to follow and have copies of the forms you will need to complete.

Wal-Mart’s London, Ky., distribution center denied jobs to qualified female applicants from 1998 through February 2005, and regularly hired male entry-level applicants for warehouse positions, the EEOC said.

“Wal-Mart regularly used gender stereotypes” for filling certain positions, the EEOC said in a statement.
Executives with hiring authority told applicants that order-filling positions were not suitable for women, and that they hired mainly 18- to 25-year-old men, the EEOC said. Excluding women from employment or excluding them from certain positions because of gender violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

As part of the settlement, WalMart agreed to pay $11.7 million in back wages and compensatory damages; its share of employer taxes; and up to $250,000 in administration fees. The settlement also requires Walmart to provide order-filler jobs, as they become available, to eligible and interested female class members, as determined by a claims administrator.

“We’re pleased the matter has been resolved,” said WalMart spokesman Greg Rossiter. “The claims do not reflect WalMart’s continuing commitment to build an even more inclusive workplace through hiring and training initiatives.”

Traffic through electronics purveyor Soundsaround was strong but it was harder to make a buck, said Tony Scaffeo, the chain’s vice-president.

“Sales-wise, it’s been unbelievable — the only complaint is, we’re not making any money because the customers are getting such good deals,” said Scaffeo.

Holiday season 2009 will become known as the year of the television, he said, with the 32-in. model proving king among all the flat-screened bargains.

But he said the recession, teamed with price erosion and product saturation, weighed heavily on profits.

“It was the perfect storm — I’m glad 2009 is over and we’re looking forward to 2010,” said Scaffeo, adding customers conformed to retailers’ advice to wait until Boxing Week.

One of the city’s biggest shopping centres — Market Mall — reported Boxing Day traffic by 5% compared to 2008, though Christmas Eve was 7.7% better.

The prime shopping week beginning Dec. 14 was down by 1.3% at the northwest mall versus the previous year.

Retailers say an increase in Internet shopping has reduced foot traffic.

At Southcentre Mall, final sales numbers weren’t available, but spokeswoman Krista Moroz said shopping crowds were reasonably robust.

“On Boxing Day, we did over 35,000 people,” she said.

Crowds compared well with those of 2008, when the recession was just beginning to bite in the city, said Moroz.

“It seems people are still out shopping — hopefully it bodes well for 2010,” she said.

Hanging on the wall behind a bank of cabinets, the flag and its red maple leaf are almost obliterated by dangling spider webs and creepy creatures. Every few minutes a witch’s head lets loose with a hideous cackle and flashing eyeballs
“Oh boy, you can’t even wish people Merry Christmas any more,” she grumbled when told a shopper found it offensive.

A woman who identified herself as the store manager, but wouldn’t give her name, said she wasn’t aware of any objections.

“It wasn’t meant to be disrespectful,” she said of the display. “If someone complained, we’d take it down.”

She said the display and flag weren’t part of a corporate program but something her store has been doing on its own for years.

“The flag is just something this store put up and left up.”
“Are they trying to say Canada’s dying?” he said, peering at the ghosts and tombstones perched on cabinets. “I wouldn’t do that.

“They should have removed the flag first.”

While there are no laws governing how Canada’s flag can be displayed, the federal agency Canadian Heritage offers a long list of guidelines

It should be displayed “only in a manner befitting this important national symbol; it should not be subjected to indignity or displayed in a position inferior to any other flag or ensign,” their website says.

Activists complained when they learned the costume was sold in stores or on Web sites of retailers including Target and Walgreens. It was priced at $27.49 to $39.99.

The costume makes a “mockery of the status of millions of immigrants in need of Immigration reform,” said Chicagoan Jorge Mujica of the activist group the March 10th Committee.

Joshua Hoyt of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights urged a boycott of stores. “When a corporation dehumanizes immigrants, the best thing is to stop buying from it,” he said.

Target halted sales. “It was never our intent to offend the consumers with the products we offer,” Target said in a statement.

Walgreens spokeswoman Vivika Vergara said the costume was never in its stores and was pulled from its Web site. “We received feedback from customers and decided it was best to stop carrying it so it would not be subject to varied interpretation,” she said in an e-mail message

When lottery officials opened bids Wednesday for the contract to run Arkansas’ instant-win games, they found three submissions, one of them from Providence, R.I.-based Gtech. Last week, Gtech said it refused to submit a bid to run the state’s drawing games — or games involving a number drawing as opposed to an instant-win, scratch-off ticket — because the bidding process was flawed.
Gtech has contracts with 26 lotteries in the U.S. It is not unusual for a lottery to have one vendor for drawing games — known in the industry as “online” games — and another vendor for instant-win games, Wiczek said.

Passailaigue said today the letter of protest Gtech submitted last week will have “zero” impact on the process of selecting an instant-win vendor, a process in which points are awarded for meeting certain criteria.

“Whoever has the highest amount of points, that will be the company that I will recommend to our commission and the legislative oversight committee to award the instant-ticket contract,” he said.

Athens, Greece-based Intralot was the only company to bid for Arkansas’ contract for drawing games. The Lottery Commission voted Wednesday to issue a notice of intent to award the contract to Intralot.

Denial of the Nazi Holocaust is a crime in Germany, punishable by a possible five years in prison.

AJC member Benjamin Schoeler, reached by telephone, said the goal of the complaint, however, is to get Amazon.de to evaluate the books they sell, and pull ones that promote Holocaust denial or anti-Semitism.

Though the books cited by the AJC are all available via second-party sellers through Amazon.de’s “Marketplace,” Schoeler said buyers order and pay for the books through Amazon.de.

“We see the firm as responsible for what they are selling,” he said.

He conceded that even if banned on the German site, the books could be purchased elsewhere — like in the U.S. via Amazon.com — but said nothing could be done to stop that.

“It is legal to purchase such books in the U.S., but it is not here,” he maintained.

They can concentrate their shopping efforts in other directions, helping to drive a competitive market that keeps costs low and encourages innovation in convenience, durability, and style. Consumers entering the market to buy financial products should enjoy the same protection. Just as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) protects buyers of goods and supports a competitive market, we need the same for consumers of financial products — a new regulatory regime, and even a new regulatory body, to protect consumers who use credit cards, home mortgages, car loans, and a host of other products. The time has come to put scaremongering to rest and to recognize that regulation can often support and advance efficient and more dynamic markets. She describes what her ideal consumer financial product safety commission (F.P.S.C.) would do:

Like its counterpart for ordinary consumer products, this agency would be charged with responsibility to establish guidelines for consumer disclosure, collect and report data about the uses of different financial products, review new financial products for safety, and require modification of dangerous products before they can be marketed to the public. The agency could review mortgages, credit cards, car loans, and a number of other financial products, such as life insurance and annuity contracts. In effect, the F.P.S.C. would evaluate these products to eliminate the hidden tricks and traps that make some of them far more dangerous than others.

An F.P.S.C. would promote the benefits of free markets by assuring that consumers can enter credit markets with confidence that the products they purchase meet minimum safety standards.
Indeed, there can be no doubt that some portion of the credit crisis in America is the result of foolishness and profligacy. Some people are in trouble with credit because they simply use too much of it. Others are in trouble because they use credit in dangerous ways. But that is not the whole story. Lenders have deliberately built tricks and traps into some credit products so they can ensnare families in a cycle of high-cost debt.

The vouchers are offered as promotions by retailers including furniture stores, electronics chains and car dealers, among others.

According to reports, the vouchers are sold to retailers via brokers by BBZ Resource Management of Mesa, Ariz. Consumers send BBZ receipts from gas and grocery purchases, and BBZ is supposed to issue gift card rebates adding up to the total offer of the promotion.

Stories in the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch say that hundreds of consumers have complained that they haven’t received the rebates as promised. Some Ashley Furniture HomeStores and Chicago electronics chain Grant’s Appliances were listed as among stores that use the vouchers.

BBZ claimed to have issued 160,000 certificates in March, the St. Petersburg story said.

Customers said inquiries to BBZ went unanswered or rebates went undelivered.

The St. Louis story reported that an owner of several Missouri Ashley stores was “deluged” by complains from customers whose vouchers have not been redeemed. It said Ashley has filed a complaint about BBZ with law enforcement authorities in Arizona.

A Better Business Bureau office reported more than 225 complaints from customers who did not receive gift cards, the St. Louis story said.

A story in the Phoenix Business Journal reported that the company has recently changed its name to Incentive International.