Wal-Mart
Why is it when a young male, like myself, goes into Wal-mart all customer service goes out the window and we are immediately suspected of being a potential thief?
Perfect example: One day I went to Wal-Mart to shop for a gift for a friend. I was 16. At the time I had no idea what I was going to buy, so I looked around a lot. I had gone into the electronics department 3 times already searching and when I entered the department a fourth time, I was the only customer in it. I was looking at phone cords or something when I heard over the pager "could I have a member of management to electronics for customer service please?" I thought this was a little strange because I was the only one in electronics, but I ignored it, intent on finding the perfect gift. It wasn’t more than a couple of minutes later when I heard the same page repeated, only this time with much more urgency. I looked around again, and saw that I was still the only customer in electronics. I realized that I must have been identified as a potential shoplifter and the Wal-Mart team was "going into action." It was then that the employee working in electronics came up to me and asked if she could "help me find anything." In retail, this is the first thing one does when trying to deter a potential shoplifter. I gave the standard "just looking" answer and she left. By this time I was starting to get angry, but I still needed to find a gift, so I kept looking. No more than a minute later, the almighty "member of management" showed up and asked again if I needed help finding anything. Again I answered no. By this time I was really angry so I decided to just get the contact lens solution I needed and leave. I walked out of electronics and headed for the pharmacy, my newfound best friend in tow. As I walked, 2 more employees started following me. Can you believe it took a grand total of 3 employees to follow little old me? Kinda flattering in a way. Apparently they saw me as this big threat to the future security of Wal-Mart international or something.
What a bunch of crap. Not to mention a waste of time, it really doesn’t take 3 people to follow one 16-year-old kid who is looking for some contact lens solution. I would’ve had to steal like two VCRs to equal the wasted wages of three employees wasting time following me around the store.
When I finally got to the pharmacy and started looking for my contact solution, I hadn’t even been standing still for 30 seconds when I was again asked If I needed help finding anything by none other than the same manager that had followed me through the store. I said no, I had found what I was looking for, paid for it, and left. All under the watchful eye of the overzealous manager with too much time on his hands. They did everything short of calling me a thief and hanging me right there. Where do these guys get off doing crap like this?
This is just one specific incident, many times I have shopped at various Wal-Marts and been followed without provocation. Perhaps going in and out of the electronics department was a little suspicious, but nothing close to warranting the convicted felon treatment I received. Every time I go into Wal-Mart now I feel like I am being watched. Many young guys I have spoken to feel the same way, many of them have been followed without provocation and many feel "watched" when they shop there. These are normal, inconspicuous, unassuming guys like me. Nothing outwardly suspicious about them. In today’s society where frivolous lawsuits are all the rage, I think I might just have the basis for a discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Inc. Perhaps them shelling out a couple million might make me feel a little better….
Another example of Wal-Mart’s distrust occurs when entering the front door. Everyone knows about the infamous "Wal-Mart greeter." You know, the guy (or girl) that always says "hi, how ya doing today?" in the commercials. Most of the time the greeter is a minor annoyance, which is quickly dealt with by the standard response of "fine." However, this greeter can also be conspicuous by his absence, or the absence of a greeting from him.
Just the other day I went into a Salem Wal-Mart following a young woman with a couple of kids. The greeter extended her a warm greeting and said hello to her kids, just like he is supposed to. But when I passed him, just after the young lady and her children, he extended me no greeting. Instead he stared at me with a look that said "don’t you be a stealin’ nothing from my store, you thievin’ punk bastard."
Okay, I admit it, I probably precipitated the incident with the greeter. After all, I did have my hat on backwards, so that gave the man all the reason in the world to suspect me. Everyone knows that anyone wearing their hat backwards is a criminal, heck, having your hat on backwards should probably be a crime for that reason. Or perhaps it was my fault because I didn’t wait until I was at least 25 years old to go to Wal-Mart, after all, everyone knows all teenagers are criminals, right?
I wonder if they teach this in their training program? I can just see the instructor standing in front of a class of future employees saying "remember to smile, greet at the door, and oh yeah, immediately suspect any male under the age of 25 to be a thief." I know that most thieves fit into this category, and that is probably part of the reason for the excessive suspicion. I just want the employees to treat me like a person, not a statistic.
The point I am trying to get across is that Wal-Mart is losing potentially lifetime customers due to their overzealous security measures. I know quite a few people who have sworn off Wal-Mart completely because of this. I still go there on occasion to purchase contact solution and other small items, but I always make my expensive purchases somewhere else. Somewhere where I am treated as a potential customer, not a professional thief.
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