Why do so many people hate walmart

[Michael DeSanta 258]

     Why do so many people hate Wal-Mart. I mean I hear from everyone It destroys small business it kills competition. I hear they destroy lives and underpay their workers. Some people say their lines are the longest in the world. And lastly they discriminate by not hiring minorities.

 

But is all of that true. I mean I know the longest lines in the world part is true I mean come on at midnight there will be a line for batteries, and etc. But can anyone explain the somewhat ridiculous hatred of Wal-Mart???

[TheEngineer 188]

I'm not a fan of Wal-Mart personally not because they drive out the competition, but because of the way they exploit labor overseas. Wal-Mart has been, true, responsive to the incident that happened in Bangladesh in which one factory owner's decisions led to the deaths of a variety of workers. Still, this incident only highlights the beginning of problems with outsourcing labor, the ethics of which are difficult to justify. Is it really worth it to pay $100 less for an iphone at the cost of a worker being payed minimally and treated without compassion in developing countries? 

 

Not only are workers in other countries paid considerably less than their American counterparts, but there are other ethical issues which companies in general choose to ignore when they outsource. In China, for example, Apple has factories which have suicide nets to keep factory workers from jumping out of their windows and killing themselves. Again, I ask, is this really something you want to support? 

Sure, Wal-Mart is probably good for the US economy at large, but I think it is time for consumers to grow up and realize that the choices they make and where they choose to shop have real effects on other nations. Those cheap products you buy at Wal-Mart and the prices of a variety of other products produced outside of the US have a heavy cost: human life and suffering. 

PS. Wal-Mart is currently under investigation for bribing officials in Mexico to build in environmentally sensitive areas and to illegally drown out the competition. 

Edited March 26, 2013 by TheEngineer

[Haven Celestii 9,385]

I freaking love Wally World! And I don't see much of what you're talking about myself. Lines aren't that long, I mean, they can be, but aren't normally. I see a decent mix of people myself as well. I don't really know where you heard that or who you heard it from, but its not completely true.

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,694]

I don't like Walmart either. But unlike these weekend activists you see protesting about it, I can articulate the reasons why.

 

Walmart is a popular target for people to rip on when they critique the modern retail economy. According to the numbers, they're a corporate success story. They've gotten where they are by having an excellent business model and tight organization--and most of all, by having the lowest prices on much of what they sell. But the numbers don't tell the whole story. Another factor is the intangibles, those little things in life that can't be measured, only felt. And on that score, Walmart fails.

 

I can tell the moment I walk into one. None of the shoppers are happy to be there. None of the employees want to work there. The company draws labor disputes and other negative publicity like honey draws flies. I worked for them myself, and discovering My Little Pony was one of the few joys in my life during that period. The inside of a Walmart is a sad, empty consumer wasteland. Every time people drive by one they are reminded of the local stores that it probably put out of business.

 

But we shouldn't just blame Walmart. Many of us should blame ourselves, because we choose to shop there. If people had stayed loyal to their downtown businesses and strip malls in the first place, that Walmart on the highway would have shut down and moved someplace else. But it's still there. If you care about the local economy staying local, don't shop there. It's that simple. And if enough people had done that, Wal-Mart would be a failed experiment instead of the wealthy giant it is now.

Edited March 26, 2013 by TailsIsNotAlone

[Michael DeSanta 258]

Hmm I see I guess I hear a lot of weekend activists spread so much disinformation about walmart I do not know what is true any more. At the same time I doubt they all get paid the bare minimum of 7.25 an hour or less.

[Zygen 6,065]

I dunno, I guess all big businesses can get alot of hate, I suppose alot could be justified expecially with big business names alot of times having done plenty of things to earn a bad rep.

 

I don't really care yet being 15, so yeah my opinion is somewhat non existent. We just go to wherever happens to be closest more or less.

[Phaeston-e12 173]

It's the consumer demand that gave rise to the modern superstore, and of course it works the other at the same time as well. I stopped going to Wal-Mart when I moved to Tucson. The nearest store is incredibly terrible in terms of atmosphere and it doesn't even feel clean to be even there. I've been preferring to shop in Target or Trader Joes for  food and stuff lately.

[Luna4256 110]

They kill small/local businesses. Also there are a bunch of stuck up A Holes half the time in my opinion. Sorry your job sucks you don't have to be rude.

[Ms. J. L. Snickers 101]

I actually really like Wal-Mart. It's convenient, and the one closest to us doesn't have that long of lines. The prices are good, and for the food I get, I pay a very low price. I can't afford to shop at Big Y, and Stop & Shop is just plain filthy, so I'll stick with Wally World.

 

Probably a minority on this...but whatever.

[Flutterdash. 52]

I don't really hate or like wal-mart but what I've seen so far about all the labor and lives lost just to make their products, I must say I'm really shocked. I don't go shop there as much but still the stuff there are affordable than any other store I go to

[Mephala 2,633]

Personally, I prefer to put small, local businesses first. Wal-Mart doesn't give a damn about your needs; their main concern is making money. Yes, it's convenient, but I put my friends in town first.

In addition, it always smells bad in there.

[Veylon 255]

Wal-Mart is the biggest box in town and so the one to hate. If K-Mart or Target was the biggest, they'd be the target of this thread. The problem isn't Wal-Mart as an individual company, but the culture that makes it possible and successful. If people insisted on buying American-made products and passed laws that boosted minimum wage, than Wal-Mart would sell American and pay it's employees better. It goes with the flow and sells what people want. They have only themselves to blame for buying it.

[Goose 181]

I mean I hear from everyone It destroys small business it kills competition. I hear they destroy lives and underpay their workers.

 

You pretty much answered your own question there...

 

Also they fire people for touching customers - like the granny who was fired when a rude woman shoved her backwards, or the three men who were fired for subduing a gunman.

 

Just saw this on Reddit:

 

TIL that until 2008 Walmart de Mexico was paying its employees with vouchers only redeemable at Walmart.

 

Come on, that's just sleazy...

Edited March 27, 2013 by Goose

[simba86 1,541]

I always laugh when people say they hate walmart"one reason being I see them their shopping" but you know what? walmart has very low prices and people will go shop there to get the lowest price. the reason they are so huge is because people will ignore the little guy and go shop there! if you hate walmart so much then don't shop there!

[Adente 1,000]

Don't ask me. I personally love Walmart! Whenever I go in there I feel like I'm at the top of the gene pool, consistently! Just stepping inside is an insta-ego boost!

[A Blithering Div 247]

Because it has turned into the poster child for retail conglomeration. The reason it's such is because most of the people who complain about walmart don't support the other businesses walmart is supposedly "crushing". I personally don't really care for walmart as they typically don't sell what I'm looking for and I buy elsewhere anyways (Amazon FTW). What I do hate is the "WalMarx" t-shirts that are floating around. Good greif, how dumb does one have to be to wear that in public?

[Sir.Flutter Hooves 2,953]

Could this answer your question? :  

 

Not to be mean, but  some people who I see at walmart just freak me out! Also, the killing of small businesses also get me.

 

But I will admit not all people who shop at walmart are like that, and they do have good prices. But I just don't like the stores!

 

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[Mightymags 1,053]

I don't really like Walmart all that much, but not for the reasons people usually do and it doesn't stop me from shopping there when I need to. 

 

I don't like shopping there because the atmosphere is just awful. You walk into the store and get lost in advertisements and pictures of Miley Cyrus. The employees stare into space with glazed over eyes and seem like emotionless robots. The customers aren't much better. 

 

As for the products in the store, they're terrible quality. Their "produce" isn't fresh and they don't have bakeries or delis or meat departments that a normal grocery store would have, I just don't get why people would want to purchase food there. The clothes they sell aren't "brand name" and usually fall apart in about two seconds. Especially the shoes, they're all obvious cheap knockoffs of good quality shoes. The rest of their clothing is usually found plastered with logos rendering the wearer a walking billboard for angry birds or the avengers. 

 

Finally, their selection just plain sucks. I went there once because I was on a trip and it was the only store available and I was trying to buy pens for a class. I had crappy, cheap ball point pens and I was looking for some nice once that would at least have an ink flow but found nothing. 

 

I would personally rather spend my money (even if it's more) in a livelier and friendlier place with quality products. 

[Evilshy 5,089]

It's hated because it's a successful capitalist venture and there are a lot of highly vocal people who don't understand how economies work bitching about it.

 

That being said, human rights violations are bad and all, and obviously I think they should stop, but a lot of grievances with Wal-Mart aren't bad. Competition is what makes things work. It's sad that Wal-Mart kills off local business, but that doesn't make them a horrible company. It makes them a successful one. People forget that every business starts out local. Wal-Mart really had their shit together and got bigger and bigger, until they expanded across the country.

 

I shop there because I'm a poor college student. I can't afford to care about any wrongdoings by retail companies; if I can get the same stuff for less, I'm going for it. If I did have money, I'd probably shop at other places simply because Wal-Mart has a bad atmosphere. I doubt I'd go very local, because I've yet to find a local retail outlet that isn't overpriced.

[The_One_And_Only_Punk_Pony 25]

I don't hate walmart, I just hate some of their cheap ass products. Like getting a bottle of mountain dew and calling it mountain fizz? I mean publix does make their own brand soda but its not that bad. And publix makes really good cakes, so I cant wait for someones birthday, because I love publix cakes

[TheDragoniteDestiny 23]

My beef with Walmart is NOT the contents of the store, nor their service (though it's shoddy at times), my troubles reside with the people that regularly attend the store. Now, I know not EVERYONE who goes to Walmart wears creepy costumes or wears nothing at all. In fact, MOST of the people that go there are pretty normal! The thing is, the people who ARE weird and DO do those crazy things are really discouraging from the store.

[Lady Leopardess 393]

My main issue with walmart is how they treat their workers , which is terribly . Or so I've heard from a bunch of people.

Not gonna lie though I do shop there sometimes for pony stuff and a couple other items.

 

Also my Walmart used to have a fabric section in it. They became a super walmart and took out the cutting board part so you have to buy precut fabric. Luckily now I work near a Joann fabrics....

[Tarilaan 47]

Personally, I don't hate Wal-Mart. People can talk about how much they hate how it kills local businesses, but in my view (likely not a popular one) it doesn't kill business any more than a McDonald's in the neighborhood makes people fat. A Wal-Mart opens up in a town. It has low prices so people shop there. then the same people who are shopping there cry bloody murder when the shops they used to frequent close - because, surprise, they aren't shopping there anymore.   You have the choice to support your local businesses. Don't start crying when you shop at the local mega-mart and suddenly the smaller shop has to make cuts to survive.

 

And while the jobs may not be the best, in a lot of situations a new store adds significantly more jobs to an area than any potential stores closing, and in this economy, any more potential jobs, regardless of the quality, is a good thing to me. Not to mention the only complaint I've really heard from people I know who work at Wal-Mart, is that they don't have enough people hired on, so everyone's doing more work.

 

Add to that the fact that many of the stores closing were already dying before the Wal-mart comes to town, and it simply gets blamed for the inevitable. I mean really, a Wal-Mart opened right next to another store in my area called ShopKo, and that place is still in business, as is the K-mart a bit further into town. I can't name a single business in my area that has closed as a direct result of the Wal-Mart opening.

 

As to the pay, the people I know working there are all getting paid above minimum wage, for a department store job. It may not be the best, but it's better than fast food places.

 

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Wal-Mart (Though I wish I were. Dammit Wal-Mart, hire me already! I need a job! And you need more employees!)

[Rainbow Dash 1,471]

I hate Wal-Mart due to the fact that they can't organize their stuff right and their horrible customer service. When i went there i walked up and down the aisles for car polish only to find out they didnt carry it. I saw another guy with the polish and he directed me into the right aisle.

[Titan Rising 2,156]

Because they hate capitalism.  Listen people, Walmart doesn't force anyone to work for them, and if people didn't think that their wages were fair they wouldn't accept them and they'd quit.  People don't need work, they can run off into the forest and survive on leaves any time they want