Sayonara Wal-Mart

Just in time for holiday shopping. I absolutely HATE Wal-Mart now. Oh sure, I've said this for years, but I really mean it this time. I am no longer a Wal-Mart shopper as of today. Why so? Let me count the ways:

• They tortured my poor sister there for years as her employer. Now she gets tortured by Verizon, but for more pay and better benefits.
• Approximately half of the cashiers make me feel like a thief for using coupons (correctly) and price matching. I am super organized about it too! I guess I'm just inconveniencing them.
• They have signs in their customer service deparment that state their raincheck policy, yet they "haven't done rainchecks in years". Go figure.
• They never have the items I need (hence the rainchecks issue stated above).
• I have bought moldy/rotton produce there before. Customer service didn't even flinch when I brought it back for a refund.
• Bathrooms are NASTY.
• If you have two young kids, forget about finding a grocery cart that suits your needs. Even the ones with the big blue chairs don't work because they weld the "baby seat" part of it closed...completely unusable for someone like me.
• Every day appears to be National Beat-Your-Child Day.

Now for today's rant:

• Their auto department--this is the straw that broke this mama's back.

I have Makenna today. It wasn't until I got all three kids out to the Blazer to take Andrew to school that I noticed a low tire. We just filled it up the other day, so I figured it had a nail in it. Our subdivision is still building, so we have gone to Wal-Mart many times for a flat repair. I wasn't overly excited about taking two ten-month olds to Wal-Mart for car repairs, but I really felt it was a safety issue. The lady in the auto department assured me it would be about 30 minutes to do the fix because "it was a slow day". With that I handed over my keys and prayed for the best.

Thankfully I ran into Lisa S. We hung out and I helped her shop (or kept her from shopping rather). I checked on the Blazer once after the 30 minute mark. They said "it's not done yet". Fine. After a full hour had passed by, I decided to see what was going on. The lady (different one) basically said that mine was the next one to be worked on. I told her that I was told that an hour ago...what is going on??? She said, "well, there's only one guy who is working tires today and he's the only one who can unload the shipment of tires we just got."

What??? Have I SERIOUSLY been waiting for an HOUR while somebody was unloading a semi-truck of tires? Apparantly so. Nevermind that I had two (now crying) babies in tow and that I was much more frazzled than when I dropped it off. I would have fared far better at home with an during that hour.

I told the lady to forget about it and please hand over my keys. She knew I was about ready to blow my lid. Fortunately for her I didn't. I will save that for my not-yet-composed complaint e-mail...for Wal-Mart's sole viewing pleasure.

So in the end, I got to drive my unsafe vehicle with two babies inside of it back home. It's been hours since this has happened and I am still livid. Can't you tell? Like shedded snake skin, Wal-Mart's walls lay behind me. I'm sure they'll survive without my measly contributions. I'm just glad this happened before payday and before I bought another grocery cart of stuff from those heathens. I will now be shopping at Target (that smells of Rubbermaid and burnt popcorn), Aldis, and Kroger.