The worst shopping experience I’ve had in my sixty-three years was at Walmart in Pembroke Pines, Florida (Pines Street and 184 Avenue)
For my son’s birthday, I’ve decided to purchase a Coleman two-burner stove for camping. At the mentioned Walmart, I purchased the last one on the shelf (it cost me $49.99 plus $3.00 for the extended warranty plus tax) and, three days after, I gave it to my son on his birthday. That was the 17 January 2011.
Two days later, my son called me to ask if the stove was refurbished or used. Upon my negative answer, he asked me to go and see it. Indeed, the stove had portions of caked grease in the bottom and the chrome grills were blue with use.
I was angry and surprised that at a place with a name like Walmart you could spend good money on garbage like this. But mostly, that my gift to my son on his birthday was trashed.
I took it back to said Walmart store, to Customer Service, and asked to speak with the manager. The CS manager said she was busy but she could take care of me. When she looked at the unit and said that I could pick another one, I started feeling annoyed for, of course I knew I could pick another, but it would have felt better if someone would have apologized for the mishap.
There were no more of the unit at the store. I spoke with the department salesperson that got someone else with a sku reader. He said that there were supposed to be 2 units in the store. In any case, there weren’t so he promised they would be ordered and received from the warehouse within three days.
I waited one week and returned. There were no units at the shelf. As I was leaving swearing I would never return, I saw several managers and approached them. Lucky enough, one of them was the store manager, Denise, whom I explained the situation. She called on Jose, an assistant manager, with instructions to solve the case and give me a gift certificate for my troubles. Jose investigated and said that the units were never ordered, that he would do so, and offered to give me one of two compensations: a certificate for $15.00 or the unit, when it arrived, for $10.00. I said I needed the unit. Thus he said he would call me upon their arrival and keep one aside for me at the front.
Three days later, I received a phone message from Jose, saying that the unit had arrived and I could come to pick it up. I went on Monday (today, my day off from work) and asked for Jose at the CS desk. They said he wasn’t in. I explained the situation to the CS manager and whether he had left anything for me. She said no one there knew anything about it, but she would call another assistant manager.
Tony came in. He knew nothing. We went to the back, the camping department. The units were there, as Jose had said. Then, Tony said he could not honor Jose’s word but rather he could drop $10.00 from the price of a new one.
I was really angry and frustrated by now. I decided to leave and never to enter another Walmart store the rest of my life. But, on the way out, I decided to speak with Denise, the manager. The CS manager said that she was in the store but not available.
At this point, I just want to close the page. I will buy the stove in another place, any place, any price, I don’t care, as long as it is not Walmart, for this or any product. Amen.