Wal-mart
 

This not racing related but something every person should Know. The news keeps pumping up wal-mart saying how there profits are growing. Well let me fill you all in on a secret they do not own anything that they put on there shelves. And the suppliers who put stuff in a wal-mart do not get paid untill the item has sold. If wal-mart orders 100,000 T shirts and only sells 25,000 you the suplier eats the other 75,000 and if you dont deliver the 100,000 ordered say send 50,000 then when 25,000 have sold send another 25,000 they wont pay you one red cent at all. And if you are a private contracter doing work for them they will find a way not to pay you. For example 1st hand experience we did site excavation for a new store there were underground drainage tile that were unknown and not reported on any soil borings, Removing them was not part of our scope of work, When they were found we were told by wal-marts supertendent to put together an estimate on what it would cost to remove them and replace with compacted fill. Our estimate was 1.2 million lowest of 4 other estimates from other contracters. We had wal-mart sign a change order then did the work we completed the work 355,000 under our estimate took that amount off the change order price AND STILL HAVE NOT BEEN PAID 3 YEARS LATER FOR ANYTHING ON THE CHANGE ORDER. That is the reason wal-mart is making so much money they will not pay and for every lawyer we have they have 10,THANKS FOR LETTING ME GET THIS OFF MY CHEST.

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Always nice to here the inside scoop!!....but not to the little guys,from the big guys,sorry to hear bout your deal with Wal-Mart!!....I'll remember,next time I shop!!...was about to hit one here in Perris,Ca.!!
__________
Brucer'

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I just thought people should know how they operate they ARE NOT HONERABLE PEOPLE. And how they operate is buy screwing the small business.

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They definitely have given up the model that Sam Walton intended.

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SC96, being a former small engine sales dealer, I can't vouch for your difficulties with them, but a lot of the other things are true. Another problem is, at least in my case, by the time the customer finally got to me, for repair work, which I had to do, or lose my deal with the manufacturer, he was so upset, most of the time, I couldn't make him happy either, if he bought a lawn mower, and failed to put oil in it, or hit a piece of buried pipe, they told him it was covered, just bring it in, and I'd GLADLY repair it. That kind of stuff isn't covered, then I became the bad guy. People were led to believe, they were getting such a low price, there wasn't any need to shop anywhere else, they still don't realize, they let the customer do the final inspection, and they also have different grade engines they put on the products. Problem is, they've got people brainwashed, and one of these days, you'll have to go there for everything, new cars, homes, whatever, as long as they don't have any cost involved, or risk. I finally decided I didn't need unhappy customers, so I dropped all my name brand products, and just did nothing but repair work, on non-warranty issues, things went a lot smoother. Bob

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One of the problems with a company such as Wal-Mart is that they get people "addicted" to "cheap" products. Buts as everyone knows that buys their products is that most of the items such as electronics and clothes are only "cheap" initially, but you have to replace the products more often because of the shorter life span. They understand that with many peoples budgets that they will buy a product for $5.00 4-5 times over versus $15.00 once for a better product.

It's a cycle you get in and it's hard to get out of. We all get so focused on the short-term that we don't deal with the long term until we have to. I think it's basically human nature to a point.

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The only items I buy from Wal-Mart is anything I need in a hurry and can't get elsewhere locally. I'm sure I pay a bit more at Krogers, Best Buy, Kohl's, and others. but I've seen what they do to locally owned competitors (for sales and in recruiting from the labor pool), their employees, etc. Can't support their business practices. I don't presume to speak for anyone else. That's just me.

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we go to mijer. :O:

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Rodney,
Why don't you put a lien on the property? The paving company had to do that here to get paid for the parking lot. The holding company that owns the store let it go right up to the day of the sheriff's sale before paying them too.

PS- if you are thinking of taking court action you might want to edit your post and remove part of their name from it.

Re: Wal-mart
 

Originally Posted by #1Brad Kuhn Fan:
we go to mijer. :O:

We have also done work for mijer and although they have very strict policy they do pay for what they have signed for. On a change order we did on a project for them there was a cost over run ( it was for stone) the quary rased there price after we quoted it. Meijer refused to pay the higher cost and after several weeks the quary honered there origional price per ton.

Re: Wal-mart
 

Originally Posted by wbr:
Rodney,
Why don't you put a lien on the property? The paving company had to do that here to get paid for the parking lot. The holding company that owns the store let it go right up to the day of the sheriff's sale before paying them too.

PS- if you are thinking of taking court action you might want to edit your post and remove part of their name from it.

We did put a lien on it they bonded around it.

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Dang Rodney, wasn't that wal-mart job back in like '05? Still trying to get paid from them? They suck. :thumbsdown:
David.

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Every other car or truck in our local Wallyworld parking lot has a sticker saying;Pround to be a union ironworker, carpenter, millright, pipefitter etc.
They don't give a crap that the poor person working there is mistreated and low paid. As long as they get theirs.
If only the unions would have the balls to boycott Wallyworld. They boycotted Firestone rubber a few years ago because of union problem there. Trouble is, they boycotted the locally independenly owed shops too, instead of just the company owned shops.
Dale Weis
Valparaiso IN

Re: Wal-mart
 

Originally Posted by unclebuck:
Every other car or truck in our local Wallyworld parking lot has a sticker saying;Pround to be a union ironworker, carpenter, millright, pipefitter etc.
They don't give a crap that the poor person working there is mistreated and low paid. As long as they get theirs.
If only the unions would have the balls to boycott Wallyworld. They boycotted Firestone rubber a few years ago because of union problem there. Trouble is, they boycotted the locally independenly owed shops too, instead of just the company owned shops.
Dale Weis
Valparaiso IN

Dang Dale, your opening another can of worms here with the Union $&#@. Union people work for the cost of 2 or 3 workers but yet, when it comes to what they buy or hire done, they get the cheapest product or worker they can find. They should have to hire the same high priced workers and buy only union made products in my opinion.

As for Wal Mart, we have all known for years that they were going to put alot of small business owners out of business and I don't think that their prices are all that cheap.

I support the locally owned businesses.

Re: Wal-mart
 

Originally Posted by Ovalmeister:
Dang Rodney, wasn't that wal-mart job back in like '05? Still trying to get paid from them? They suck. :thumbsdown:
David.

Yep still trying I started this thread so people would have a chance to hear first hand how bad wal-mart is. I could really go off and fill everyone in on some of there other deals but some of it is so rotton people would not beleve it. Of the two stores we worked on they put 2 drywall companies out of business one concrete comp, one tile comp, and two paint companies. Those are the ones i know of. And the things they burnt them on were very minor.For example dry wall was supposed to be set at a certain height from the floor they were off by less than a sixteenth of an inch to high and they refused to pay for any of it. The tile guy got burnt because under a sink the grout gap was to narrow didnt get paid one red cent.

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I refuse to go to Wal-mart for anything unless absolutly no other choice exists! Interesting show about a year ago on how they do things, most of the comments coming from former district managers, etc, whose concious finally got to them.Ask some former Rubbermaid workers from Ohio how they feel about the scumbag Walton family. Even the mighty Bill Gates has donated millions to charities, but check the records for the Walton family, whose earnings almost match that of Gates, and you will find a grand total of around $600.00!!!!!!!
I get FIRED UP everytime I think of the Wal-mart and what they have helped in destroying our economy. BUY AMERICAN!!!!!!
I have been told that if things don't change, 50 years from now a crew of alien spacecraft will land on the lawn of congress and all our leaders will come out with the greeting: Hello, Welcome to Wal-mart.

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Funny thing happened a few years ago, I had sold an item to a buyer on ebay, and in some of our emails, he happened to mention a purchase he had made at Wal-Wart, I don't know if it was a typo, but it stuck with me. I have spent a total of $8.00 at a Wal-Wart store, and my wife was the one that went in, I've never been in one, figured I'd not lost anything in there. Bob

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I am glade to see that I am not alone on this one, What happened with the rubber maid thing I never heard about it.

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I have a buddy who worked for Cooper Tire and he told me that Wal-Mart demands that Cooper Tire build a tire for a certain amount. The only way Cooper Tire could do it and make any money at it was to take short cuts. I was told those short cuts are only on tires made for Wal-Mart. So I wouldn't buy any tires from Wal-Mart. I do have Cooper Tires on all 3 of our vehilces and they were bought from an official dealer.

So if tires are that way then I wonder what else is?

Re: Wal-mart
 

Originally Posted by tailtank:

So if tires are that way then I wonder what else is?

It's cheaper for a reason. Ever had an auto-loading Browning shotgun that didn't cycle correctly using Wal-Mart ammo? The reason...it's loaded lighter to be able to sell to them cheaper, although the box shows the same specs as ammo from your local gun store. As a union operator I would rather pay more elsewhere than to cut my own throat by walking into a Wal-Mart.

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Originally Posted by fishnman:
I refuse to go to Wal-mart for anything unless absolutly no other choice exists! Interesting show about a year ago on how they do things, most of the comments coming from former district managers, etc, whose concious finally got to them.Ask some former Rubbermaid workers from Ohio how they feel about the scumbag Walton family. Even the mighty Bill Gates has donated millions to charities, but check the records for the Walton family, whose earnings almost match that of Gates, and you will find a grand total of around $600.00!!!!!!!
I get FIRED UP everytime I think of the Wal-mart and what they have helped in destroying our economy. BUY AMERICAN!!!!!!
I have been told that if things don't change, 50 years from now a crew of alien spacecraft will land on the lawn of congress and all our leaders will come out with the greeting: Hello, Welcome to Wal-mart.

I find it amazing that people will post hearsay information without checking the FACTS. According to the Walton Family Foundation, they've donated over $241 Million Dollars to various charities.

Where the $600 figure came from, I don't know. But I found the post a bit hard to believe, so I Googled Walton Foundation, and found this....

http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/aboutus/index.asp

It took me about ten seconds to find it, and another 30 seconds to read it. So I know that it's not $600, which turns out to be a bunch of BS!

I've said it on other boards; you're complaining about Wal-Mart while typing on your Chinese-made computer, chatting on your Korean cell phone, and driving your Mexican-made Chevy. And whether you admit it or not, that's not buying American.

When you finally admit that we're no longer a production economy, but a consumption economy, you'll have taken the first step in accepting the harsh realities of the 21st century. Rising labor costs have driven industry to seek lower costs elsewhere, and have for over 200 years. Don't believe it?- do a little research into why the carpet and textile mills moved from New England, to the South, and finally off-shore, all in the space of 100 years.

80% of us could not enjoy the lifestyle that we do if it were not for off-shore goods and services; I'd be willing to bet that goods would cost 25-30% more, across the board, if they were made here....if not more.

You can hate Wal-Mart and choose to shop elsewhere, if you choose. Just don't kid yourself that the mix of goods at a Target, Meijer, Menards, Lowes, or anywhere else is different. It's not - and it won't ever be.....

Just don't post unverified BS: find out the facts before you look stupid by posting hearsay......

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My purpose in starting this thread was to inform people of wal-marts business practices of not paying for things that they signed for. To think that all products you buy are MADE IN THE USA ONLY is not very practical. I would say that most if not all electrical products have some type of foreign part in them. Wal-Mart is in the business of CHEEP and to maintain there profit levels they screw as many businesses as they can. When this happens we are forced to lay off workers and not expand. I know we had to lay off 75% of our people when we didnt get paid. And that is a fact.

Re: Wal-mart
 

Originally Posted by sprinter25:
I find it amazing that people will post hearsay information without checking the FACTS. According to the Walton Family Foundation, they've donated over $241 Million Dollars to various charities.

Where the $600 figure came from, I don't know. But I found the post a bit hard to believe, so I Googled Walton Foundation, and found this....

http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/aboutus/index.asp

It took me about ten seconds to find it, and another 30 seconds to read it. So I know that it's not $600, which turns out to be a bunch of BS!

I've said it on other boards; you're complaining about Wal-Mart while typing on your Chinese-made computer, chatting on your Korean cell phone, and driving your Mexican-made Chevy. And whether you admit it or not, that's not buying American.

When you finally admit that we're no longer a production economy, but a consumption economy, you'll have taken the first step in accepting the harsh realities of the 21st century. Rising labor costs have driven industry to seek lower costs elsewhere, and have for over 200 years. Don't believe it?- do a little research into why the carpet and textile mills moved from New England, to the South, and finally off-shore, all in the space of 100 years.

80% of us could not enjoy the lifestyle that we do if it were not for off-shore goods and services; I'd be willing to bet that goods would cost 25-30% more, across the board, if they were made here....if not more.

You can hate Wal-Mart and choose to shop elsewhere, if you choose. Just don't kid yourself that the mix of goods at a Target, Meijer, Menards, Lowes, or anywhere else is different. It's not - and it won't ever be.....

Just don't post unverified BS: find out the facts before you look stupid by posting hearsay......

I have no problem with Meijer,Target,Lowes,and I have done site work for them and never had a problem getting paid. I have not herd of a contractor getting burnt by one of those stores.

Re: Wal-mart
 

Originally Posted by sc96:
I have no problem with Meijer,Target,Lowes,and I have done site work for them and never had a problem getting paid. I have not herd of a contractor getting burnt by one of those stores.

Your contracting experiences with Wal_Mart may justify your decison to do business elsewhere. I think that its kind of a shame that you allowed them to break a contact and didn't have a legitimate contractor's lien to post on them...but I still don't think that peopke should post BS on the web......

And they're not the first company to weasel out on a deal, as you allege.....

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Wal Mart is the largest importer of chinese made goods in the country. I do remember a time when they used to pride themselves for selling american made goods but that is no longer the case. I choose not to shop there for my own personal reasons and if everybody would do a little research on the company I am sure there would be alot less of us shopping there. They did screw the Rubbermaid made company with their demands on what they will pay for goods and not just them, it is all of the companies who they buy from. That is the main reason most American companies can't do business with them. Not wanting to start anything here just trying to maybe make people do some research before they shop there.


Chad.

Re: Wal-mart
 

You would be surprised how many places deal in consignment. Most of your major retailers do right now, as they don't want to take the risk of buying 10,000 units of something that won't sell. The manufacturers of these places are taking the risk in getting them into the stores. The store that I work at, Epson, and Brother products are all on consignment, meaning we don't pay for them until they sell. This actually works out to your advantage, because you can get the same quality product for cheaper, and everybody makes money, and everybody is happy.

Yes, the economy is in the crapper. No, it's not Walmarts fault for that. Walmart is doing what every smart company does in this time, they cut costs, and do what they can to save money. The company I work for is doing this, and we're going to be there when the economy does turn around. The companies like Circuit City that didn't do these things, well... you see where they are at. The consumer has done it to themselves, we want everything cheaper, for the same quality. Well, when we're paying a Chevy plant worker 30 dollars an hour to put bolts in a bucket, you're not going to get it cheaper. That persons wage is put into every single car that one of those bolts go into. Do the math. Labor charges to build a car for Chevy and one for Toyota are totally different. Why are "foreign" cars cheaper? Becasue the labor is cheaper, and you know what, they're better quality. Like sprinter said, time are changing, and I buy "american" whenever I can, but the problem is they are few and far between.

I'm not defending Walmart by any means, and they should pay their bill that they owe the business you run, but before I slander them, I would have to see their case for not paying. I work in retail, and I know for a fact, that there is two bills at the store I used to work at before transferring that haven't been paid, because the services weren't done in the manner that they should have been, so it's being fought.

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I feel Wal-Mart may be one of the main reasons we are looking at many of our products being produced outside the USA. They are very demanding on price which leads to companies looking for cheaper labor, in turn, moving production out of the USA. Profitability is fine; to a point. That point is when it becomes GREED. Imho greed is why we are where we are today. Too many companies in for the quick buck with not much" over the long haul " strategies. Sadly the workin' stiff doesn't have enough of a voice in the work place. I do my dead level best to buy all I can that is produced in this country. In the current state of affairs it is impossible to buy all USA produced items, Wish we could. Jeff Skidmore

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How about this story, I bought groceries at Wal-Mart up until about 2 years ago. Not everything just probably 2/3. They had this turkey breast that came in a chunk that I sliced myself it was really good quality and was advertised at 4.49lb

The original sticker from the manufacturer was on the package and it was suppose to be sold at 5.49lb Wal-Mart would then place their sticker and say it was 4.49 and sell it at what looked like $1 off per pound. One day I happened to look at the cash register receipt. I noticed that I paid nearly the same price as what the manufacturer said. Not much less

Grabbed the calculator. The manufacturer said that the weight was 1.41lbs @5.49 = $7.74 The Wal-Mart sticker didn't have the weight but it printed the weight on the register receipt 1.57lbs @4.49 this was equal to 4.99 a pound because I took it back to Wal-Mart a few days later and they weighed it on their scales and it weighed 1.41. They manager didn't even argue with me he gave me a refund for the difference on the 2 that I bought. Only a couple bucks but it was about how they screwed me. I showed how I was being charged 4.99 and that they jacked the weight up of the product to deceive people. A couple weeks later I went in to the store and nothing had changed, I bought one and before I left the store checked the receipt had it weighed and got another refund. They are screwing millions of people every single day. I sent a letter to the Attorney General of Indiana proving this and heard absolutely nothing. Wal-Mart the low price leader sticking it up your a$$ every day. Imagine how many times a day they are taking advantage of people who probably would never check this.

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Not to offend, but what may be B.S. to some may be gospel to others. Everyone has an opinion. No need to go into details, just watch the documentary " Wal-mart- the high cost of living" and draw your own opinion. Pretty detailed in how business is conducted, and even dabbles in where reported Wal-mart charitable contributions come from. Approx. 2hrs in length.
And agreed, in todays world it is difficult to by anything not overseas, I just try my absolute best to always buy American, and if the product can't be found with a "Made in the USA" sticker, either regretably purchase or do without.
It is time I get off this garage sale bought old computer, call the folks on that damned old push button desk phone( the rotary dial can't be used anymore), drive that 20+ year old pick-up down to the garage and continue to work on my replacement vehicle, a 58' chevy truck on a 78' blazer chassis, complete with the fresh .030 over 283 cu.in motor. ( I wonder where my vehicles were made?)::D

Re: Wal-mart
 

Originally Posted by chad:
Wal Mart is the largest importer of chinese made goods in the country. I do remember a time when they used to pride themselves for selling american made goods but that is no longer the case. I choose not to shop there for my own personal reasons and if everybody would do a little research on the company I am sure there would be alot less of us shopping there. They did screw the Rubbermaid made company with their demands on what they will pay for goods and not just them, it is all of the companies who they buy from. That is the main reason most American companies can't do business with them. Not wanting to start anything here just trying to maybe make people do some research before they shop there.


Chad.

The reason there is so little at Wal Mart that says made in America is because (and here's a NEWS FLASH) so little is made in America. We live in a global economy and people in other countries will work for less than most American workers will. Unions have helped in breaking the banks for companies but they are not alone in that blame. CEO's, CFO's and company presidents have done as much if not more to push companies out of the US labor market. For instance Caterpillar has announced plans to move engine assembly to Texas from Illinois because Texas has no unions like the UAW and they can pay people less per hour and give them less benefits to do the same job people in Illinois did. That's just one example. Although on a personal note, I would move out of Illinois as well. Horrible state to be associated with in any form.

I shopped at Wal Mart today and am not embarassed or affraid to say it. I will continue to shop their. I don't make big money like most paper pushers sitting at a desk for 30 hours a week, I actually work and earn my paycheck, every penny of it. If Wal Mart provides me what I need at a fair price I'll buy it, if not then I will go to another store. Hell, what store was behind helping to raise funds to build the World War II monument in Washington? What store wants people to bring in the pictures of thier loved ones who have served in the United States Military? What store allows charities to be in front of their store and raise money for their causes? Wal Mart does all of that. Target doesn't. Target has actually had people arrested for that. That is the main reason I will never support Target.

The Wal Mart near me is actually being protested by people for not being "Fair to Local Workers" during their store remodeling. Guess what? Wal Mart hired 55 local people for this porject. The ones protesting are actually laid off Union workers from such places at Caterpillar, Keystone, Pipe fitters, and the local operators union. They are upset that local union workers weren't hired. Funny thing is several of these protesters have been insde shopping at the Wal Mart they are protesting.

Oh yeah, what did I purchase at Wal Mart: Quaker State motor oil.

Re: Wal-mart
 

Originally Posted by thebus79h:
You would be surprised how many places deal in consignment. Most of your major retailers do right now, as they don't want to take the risk of buying 10,000 units of something that won't sell. The manufacturers of these places are taking the risk in getting them into the stores. The store that I work at, Epson, and Brother products are all on consignment, meaning we don't pay for them until they sell. This actually works out to your advantage, because you can get the same quality product for cheaper, and everybody makes money, and everybody is happy.

Yes, the economy is in the crapper. No, it's not Walmarts fault for that. Walmart is doing what every smart company does in this time, they cut costs, and do what they can to save money. The company I work for is doing this, and we're going to be there when the economy does turn around. The companies like Circuit City that didn't do these things, well... you see where they are at. The consumer has done it to themselves, we want everything cheaper, for the same quality. Well, when we're paying a Chevy plant worker 30 dollars an hour to put bolts in a bucket, you're not going to get it cheaper. That persons wage is put into every single car that one of those bolts go into. Do the math. Labor charges to build a car for Chevy and one for Toyota are totally different. Why are "foreign" cars cheaper? Becasue the labor is cheaper, and you know what, they're better quality. Like sprinter said, time are changing, and I buy "american" whenever I can, but the problem is they are few and far between.

I'm not defending Walmart by any means, and they should pay their bill that they owe the business you run, but before I slander them, I would have to see their case for not paying. I work in retail, and I know for a fact, that there is two bills at the store I used to work at before transferring that haven't been paid, because the services weren't done in the manner that they should have been, so it's being fought.

The work we did was signed off on and approved by Wal-marts enginer.

Re: Wal-mart
 

Originally Posted by sc96:
The work we did was signed off on and approved by Wal-marts enginer.

A couple of thoughts....

The Wal-Mart engineer was not an "approved" signer, so the change order was illegal and not recognized by Wal-Mart.....so I am assuming that you did get a change order before initiating the work...

You had a very bad lawyer, who chose to give up(after all, it was your money, not his, on the line). He folded your case and your cards when confronted by what you inferred was a ton of legal opposition... Just a thought.....

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As to clarify why they dont want to pay is because they are arguing that the change order provided by them is not a legal contract. So our point is then why did you provide it sign off on it and send us a confirmation letter with a change order number that stated to proceed with the described work. And as for a legal contractors lien any lien can be bonded around as long as the bond is for the amount of the lien.

Re: Wal-mart
 

Originally Posted by sprinter25:
A couple of thoughts....

The Wal-Mart engineer was not an "approved" signer, so the change order was illegal and not recognized by Wal-Mart.....so I am assuming that you did get a change order before initiating the work...

You had a very bad lawyer, who chose to give up(after all, it was your money, not his, on the line). He folded your case and your cards when confronted by what you inferred was a ton of legal opposition... Just a thought.....

We are still fighting for our money,Our lawyers have not quit, The Wal-mart engineer does not sign change orders they are signed by the corporate office the engineer only verifies the work we did was completed it a timely and correct manor

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Well I take some of this with a Grain of salt but am upset that you haven't been paid. No way in hell would buisnesses sell their product to Wal Mart and not make a profit. It wouldn't last long and before long they'd have 0 suppliers.

That being said. What every happened to anti trust laws and monopolies being broken up? IMHO thats national security when one or two buisnesses in any field pretty much control everything.

CHuck

Re: Wal-mart
 

Originally Posted by Charles Nungester:
Well I take some of this with a Grain of salt but am upset that you haven't been paid. No way in hell would buisnesses sell their product to Wal Mart and not make a profit. It wouldn't last long and before long they'd have 0 suppliers.

That being said. What every happened to anti trust laws and monopolies being broken up? IMHO thats national security when one or two buisnesses in any field pretty much control everything.

CHuck

BINGO you have won the door prize.In one of our court hearings this was brought up. And the lawyers from Wal-mart motioned for a change of venue

Re: Wal-mart
 

Originally Posted by sc96:
BINGO you have won the door prize.In one of our court hearings this was brought up. And the lawyers from Wal-mart motioned for a change of venue

Wouldn't surprise me if they don't own a stake in the court