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HomeblogUh-oh...I bought something from Wal-Mart.

Uh-oh…I bought something from Wal-Mart.

I try to avoid Wal-Mart whenever possible. I have read to many sketchy things about the way they treat their employees to shop there on a regular basis, not to mention it’s always crowded and I feel like I need to take a cold shower when I leave. Also, I’m a fan of supporting the “little guy” and try to shop at local businesses when possible.

That said, I took the plunge and headed to “The Wal” yesterday to make a purchase. My girlfriend’s birthday is right around the corner, so I wanted to surprise her with a b-day beach cruiser. She is not an avid bike rider, but enjoys the occassional cruise sesh while I longboard (skateboard) next to her. It’s undeniable that Wallies has some incredible deals and there bicycle prices are super reasonable. I walked out the door with a $94 bike…much better than the $350 cruisers at the local shops. I brought the bike home and surprised her with it today- note: I bought the bike knowing I was probably going to pick the wrong color or style and would be returning or exchanging it so I kept the receipt like a good frugal boy.

Sure enough, after surprising her, we agreed the color was probably not the best for her personality (I knew I should have gone with light blue). I told her it was no problem at all and I only bought this bike as a physical representation of the gift I wanted to give her and not necessarily because this bike screamed her name. We went to target today and looked at a couple other beach cruisers and decided we will be returning the one I got her. Well, I came home and read the The Wal’s return policy and all appears good (90 days baby). But then the skeptic in me comes out and thinks “I wonder what others experiences have been returning bikes to Wal-Mart?” The verdict….not so good.

Apparently a bunch of people have been screwed and Wallies has not accepted their bikes. Now I sit here fearful that I’m gonna be stuck with a bike my girlfriend doesn’t particularly like. I am flying to seattle tomorrow so I wont be able to try and return it until next week. I’m sure some of you PFers have made a return to Wal-mart at some point. What were your experiences? Good, bad, ugly? Should I be ready to take it up the…nose? (get your mind out of the gutter). I’ll be sure to let you all know what goes down when I go in for the return. If they don’t take the bike, I’m going to punch the Wal-Mart manager in the face.

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12 COMMENTS

  1. I’ve never bought a bike at Wal-mart, but I have bought quilting supplies there and will tend to over-buy knowing that I would rather have an excess than a shortage. I’ve not had a problem returning any of those supplies.

    I also try not to shop at Walmart. I heard a story once of them handing out a wellfare app with their job app, that did it for me. I haven’t been back in close to 3 years.

  2. I bought a bike at Walmart for the wife and they charged us for two. We bought other things too so we didnt notice till we got to the car and looked over the reciept. We went back in right away and returned the mystery bike. I said, “I drive a corolla..the one bike is filling the entire car, and the trunk houses the rest of our groceries.” they didnt argue.

    I have never really had a bad experience returning anything to Walmart, even a cooking spice I bought that I ended up not needing (it was like 4$ an ounce!) though they mentioned to me that all returned food regardless if the seal is broken or not is thrown away, so I got a bit of a guilt trip with that but returned it nevertheless.

    I think you should be fine, and if they give you crap, make a big deal about it. I would NOT mention punching the manager in the face though, they may throw you in jail for that as they have done that before…

  3. I’m disappointed with this post. It’s not educational or constructive. You haven’t even had a personal customer service experience with returning a bike yet.

    People who successfully returned their bikes to Wal*Mart probably won’t be logging on to their blogs saying “Yay, Wal*Mart let me return a bike today.”

    I think you’re getting riled up over what will probably be nothing.

  4. Sorry for writing a personal opinion piece on my blog? I’m simply indicating that I may be facing rough roads ahead…maybe not.

  5. I think your taking his post the wrong way Miss N, not that I am defending his writing style as it is appauling 🙂 but he did clearly state the point to the post, “What were your experiences? Good, bad, ugly? Should I be ready to take it up the…nose?”

    Other people have been screwed, so he has every right to worry.

  6. Confession: I really struggled with what to say in my comment, and I’ll freely admit that I need to work on the phrasing of my (hopefully sometimes) constructive criticism.

    I want you to be a better writer, because I really like what I’ve read so far. I also think I took this post more seriously than it was intended, but what is communication but a dance where we occasionally step on each others’ toes?

    Looking forwards to what comes next.

  7. Good post once again D. Ninja. You do have to be wary of these big chain department stores.

    I just want to point out to Mrs. Onassis who commented above that it’s spelt ‘appalling’ not ‘appauling’. If you are going to criticize someone’s writing style it’s best if you can spell yourself sweetheart.

    I wonder how Mrs Onassis and The Divine Miss N’s blogs are going…..

    D. Ninja has a really good writing style, and is hella funny too. It’s PF for us younger people, the MTV generation.

  8. Miss N- constructive criticism is always welcome…no harm no foul 🙂

    Josh- Thanks for your support. If you weren’t a dude I would ask you to marry you and make finance babies with you because you seem like a good person. Keep it real homie!

  9. Josh, I was criticizing the writing style not the spelling but thanks for the correction.

    I am in a new browser as of yesterday and rely on spell check far too much, yet spell check is mysteriously not present in this browser.

    I can dish it out so I better be able to take it right? 🙂 especially since I dont write blogs, just read em.

  10. I have only had a bad experience once trying to return something to Walmart. I demanded the manager and got my way. You can return two items a year without even a receipt as far as I know. They ask for ID and keep a record in the computer.

    Even if they were to give a gift card for the amount you could just by something else and turn around and return that. 🙂

    So how did it go?

  11. Are you kidding me? This guy is a nut with nothing better to do, he's writing down his mindless thoughts instead of just returning the bike, and THEN posting a story with an actual point. what a maroon. too much time on his hands, and now he wasted my time reading his DRIVEL. Anyone defending his useless entry also needs their heads examined. LOL

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