Why do people hate WalMart ?

[CometSpeed 38]

i ask this question, because just a few months ago i got hired on, and now that i work there the negatives about the store really stand out 0.o

[Malinter 3,064]

All I know about wal-mart is that they own ASDA here in the UK.

[Mlpfan185 1,763]

Something was here. Something was here. Something was here. 

Edited October 10, 2018 by NONAME

[Treble Bolt 1,122]

Walmart started out as small general store turned mega franchise. Sam Walton seemed to have wanted to keep Walmart part of the small town vibe despite his stores being franchised.  However, come the 90's Walmart exploded as a MEGA retailer, making Walmart a store that wasn't overtly common, but everyone knew the name, to every major city within 100 mile of pretty much anywhere USA having 1 if not 2 Walmarts, as well as upgrading regular Walmarts into Supercenters. 

Today, Walmart is either despised or loved. Why it is hated is pretty clear coming from the rural perspective. Any mega franchise retailer helps to make cities grow while the rural communities suffer as they shrink. Another problem Walmart, Target, and any mega retailer also does to small towns is make it outright impossible for small town grocery stores to compete. I don't mean 2nd rate stores such as IGA, Piggly Wiggly, Shopko, or other localized franchises.  They are able to get by because most towns they are in have a substantial enough population to bring in revenue, but not enough to have Walmart build a store there. I'm talking about the REALLY small town grocery stores that all but dead and gone. The little family owned stores that are bit more $$$ but save you gas, and keep the revenue within the town. I work at one of these as the only employee, and if it wasn't for the meat locker aspect to our store, we wouldn't survive.

Financially speaking now, Walmart is like the McDonalds of retailers, low-moderate wages for employees, super cheap second rate crap. If you want real goods/food, you go to a local, non/small franchise restaurant or to higher end good stores such as Kohls, JC Penny, or really any store in a localized mall. It's all more expensive, but for the most part, it's most likely to be better quality. Also, speaking of quality, just take a look online at what any mega franchise company does to the workers overseas that MAKE the stuff you buy, they make pennies working in dangerous, poorly controlled conditions and aren't even able to care for themselves let alone families with their wages. Walmart is not the only one guilty of this though! To get "cheap" prices for us, they make it cheap on everything but higher up (office, CEO's, etc) wages. They are most likely doing what they can to get out of taxes since they have to money to do so, misa-advertise goods that are "Made in the USA" (oftentimes read the small print, MADE in China/somwhere else, packaged in the USA), and often have poor quality foods that are either too old to sell (out of date), or are made on mega farms that use gratuitous amounts of pesticides and herbicides (I'm not even talking about environmental friendliness here, most mega retailers overdo themselves in keeping perishable products "last" longer and "go farther" than any smaller franchise). It is LEGAL to keep selling goods that are expired/out of date, and you won't win if you sue for food poisoning. It's the fine print of walking into any store that you may buy outdated products and it's perfectly legal.

Walmart is the biggest name in American retailing, so if they do anything wrong (or any other retailer), Walmart is the scapegoat (just as McDonalds is for fast food wage wars going on right now in the media). All mega retailer's/food sellers cut as many corners as they can to get more bang for their $$$ at the expense of customers, employees, and any taxpayer who doesn't go to such places.  Everyone suffers, whether it be through cancerous goods in food, cheap clothes from Bangladesh, employees who live paycheck to paycheck just to put food on the table, and anyone who has to pick up the slack of these companies getting out of taxes (i.e. all taxpaying Americans). 

Now don't get me wrong, Walmart has done a few things right, making goods available under one roof, allowing for busy people to get in and out without having to store hop.  They just about anything you need (on the cheap side of the coin) or want. But it all comes at a price.

Remember everyone, There Is No Such Thing As a Free Lunch!  TINSTAFL

 

pardon my bad spelling, I just went through the spell check quickly, oftentimes my hands type too fast for my brain to keep up

Edited December 13, 2013 by Treble Bolt

[PlunderSteed 1,252]

It tends to be a fucking cesspool. There's a reason for the existence of sites like People of Wal-Mart. I only go as an absolute last resort.

[repsol rave 2,963]

i have no idea, we don't even have walmarts here! 

tough when i look at some of the posts i think we're better off without them XD

[SnowZero 4]

In Brazil we don't hates wallmart because the girls ( and boys ) make meet's around there. 

[lomk 20,663]

I hate Walmart because:

 

1. They tend to drive out any smaller business in town because they can't be undersold

 

2. Their employees don't get the benefits they deserve. Lots of them are overworked and looked down upon by the people who shop there. I mean, the greeter has to have one of the worst jobs out there. Not because it's hard. But it's got to be emotionally degrading to say hello to so many people who pretty much pretend you don't exist. Do them a favor. Say hi. Ask them about their day. You don't have to carry on a 15 minute conversation and get to know them. But don't pretend they're not there. 

 

3. They never have what you need when you need it. But they did have it last week when you never planned on needing it. This is true of every Walmart I've ever been to.

 

4. It's impossible to go to Walmart and spend less than $100. They might advertise the lowest prices in town, but a trip to Walmart will nearly always cost you $100 or more.

 

5. Refer to #1. Walmart is a mega corporation. They can drive out any small business they want to. It's a strong personal belief of mine that when small businesses do well, the local economy does well. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong. But I believe that when local economies do well, then the economy as a whole does well. We need our small towns just as much as we need our large cities. Each has an important niche. 

 

EDIT: Something funny I had to note was that I actually applied to work at Walmart. They make you take a test and I failed it. So did my brother. I guess we're not cut out to work for the Walmart team. Probably because we didn't agree to sell our souls to a mega corporation

Edited December 13, 2013 by ~Sadistic Luna~

[ReverseFaller 2,483]

Wal-Mart is okay I suppose. My Wal-Mart has a ghetto vibe to it though. The pipes on the ceilings, the dirty floors, the way everything is stacked on the shelf. Target has a vastly homier feel to it than Wal-Mart could ever hope to have. At least my Wal-Mart, anyways.

[MLPForums Phanact 1,374]

Walmart is ASDA in the UK so I'll give my opinions on that.

 

People hate it because it's seen as driving away small businesses. I don't really care personally, I'll always shop wherever it is cheapest be it a big or a small business.

[Clover Heart 978]

I guess my main reason is that they treat their employees like crap. Having worked a job where I was constantly denied benefits that I was legally entitled to (though not Wal-Mart) I can sympathize and I feel bad for them.
 
The only other complaint I've really heard about Wal-Mart is driving small businesses out of business. I can't really say where I stand on this, and I can see both sides of the argument. However, having grown up in a city where there really aren't any small businesses, this has never affected me directly in any sort of way, so I don't feel qualified to comment on it and I don't feel educated enough on the matter to take a stance on it.
 
Also, it's so trashy. I went to a Wal-Mart when I went home back in May of this year. It was grody. There floor was littered with merchandise and the whole place just felt dirty. It was gross. Though I do know of another one in my city that's not as bad as that. At the same time, I feel like it tends to attract sort of low-brow people. Not that everyone who shops there or who's ever shopped there is low-brow, but generally speaking. Actually, on that matter, I think it speaks for itself.

[Tech Pony 64]

Let's not forget the fact that Walmart is essentially a showroom for everything that rolls out of China. A lot of stuff that they tend to stock is of lower quality because of that. Not that I'm saying international trade is bad, but trade deficits surely are, and Walmart isn't doing anything to help the cause. 

[Shanks 10,816]

Employees there are paid practically nothing, have no benefits and there is a culture is systemic bullying by management to scare employees into not reporting any labor law violations or abuses and not demanding any improvements in working conditions. Walmart views their workers with such contempt that they actually take out life insurance policies on their own employees (especially elderly and disabled employees) without their knowledge or permission and have collected when they kicked the bucket. This de fact grave robbery has been called "dead peasant policies" and if they aren't already banned than they damn well should be.

 

 

The products there are mediocre at best with cheap plastic crap from China and "food" which has been so packed with pesticides, preservatives and genetic modifications that you wonder how the stuff was ever alive to begin with. Walmart has taken the corporate race to the bottom of monopolistic business practices of relying on sweat shop labor and buying its way into kickbacks and special favors to a low only surpassed by the big banks, big pharma, big oil and the "defense" industry. Wal Mart are by no means the only company guilty of these things but are one of the worst, I may complain about my job alot but I can at least thank God I don't work there. 

[RED20 289]

It's walmart? It's a store where you buy stuff, like today I bought this really cool hat.

[DoomOtter 17]

I've worked at Wal-Mart for a while now and I have to say that anyone who says employees don't get any benefits has no idea what they are talking about. For a crappy service job Wal-Mart gave me the best benefits I ever had. better than any of the small businesses I worked at. That rumor was started because Wal-Mart does not allow for unions. I'm not a fan of the company for my own reasons, but I just can't stand by while people put out misinformation.

[Somepony is Evil 14]

This is why i DESPISE Walmart: http://www.meatvideo.com/ whoever decided it was okay to do buy from these people should rot in hell and drow- okay maybe i'm going a little far but still... HOW IS THIS LEGAL?! and i'm sure this doesn't make the meat taste any better... I AM RAGING SO HARD RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!! 

Edited December 13, 2013 by Slender Stallion

[~Silver Essence~ 2,625]

I never did mind them too much.

 

However, lately wal mart has been known to underpay their workers, hence why some are on strike to this day.

[Dark Qiviut 22,430]

I'll be the first to admit it. I HATE Walmart. Hate, hate, HATE, HATE!

 

Why do I HATE Walmart?

1. It drives smaller businesses out. When you have a big corporation that doesn't support the smaller markets like Walmart, it monopolizes the city.
2. The treatment WM gives their employees is absolutely horrendous. WM gives their employees the minimum wage, but the majority of them never work full-time and sometimes at grueling hours. The average annual income for a Walmart employee is under $18,000, forcing them to rely on food stamps to keep food on the table. So to those who claim we don't affect Walmart by not going to the stores, we do every single day by paying our taxes. Without taxes, Walmart would be closed by now.
3. Walmart's CEOs are disgustingly greedy. The Walton siblings are among the wealthiest in the world (about $20 to $30 billion per person), paid around $20 million per year. Then with the stocks jumping up and down, they earn even more money. Greedy and unwilling to care for their employees? No, thanks.
4. Their products are garbage. So much stuff is Made in China, and the quality control is factually horrific.

With its abusive practices, horrific quality control, and greed, I HATE Walmart and refuse to even go anywhere near one for anything.

 

Not even Pony.

 

Not even for the bathroom!

[CT-1138 3,182]

Because their corpulent owners are raking it in and are so damned disgustingly greedy they can't even pay their employees a decent wage and to top it off, they hire d-bag managers out of office so there's no hope for promotion. Walmart should pay people better wages so that people can have more money to spend. That stimulates the market and makes a nice back and forth between consumer and company, which is how capitalism should work. The Walton Family don't see that. They want to take, but not to give, and that is their weakness and that is why I hate Walmart.

And before you say "the Walton's earn that, they worked hard for that company!" No. No they didn't. Their father, Sam Walton, DID earn that money, and he was also a decent man and a decent employer. Unfortunately, his legacy are greedy, lazy, immoral pigs who don't do anything to deserve the billions they receive.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Walmart drives away small businesses who try to make a living, their management is very greedy, and it is very hard for the employees at Walmart to make a living with the wages they pay them.

[Koelath 445]

i ask this question, because just a few months ago i got hired on, and now that i work there the negatives about the store really stand out 0.o

 

If the negatives are standing out, then why do you even have to ask?

 

Wal-Mart is hated for the same reason Mcdonald's and the government are hated. It's big and greedy and stomps all over the little people while not caring whether they have enough to even feed their families.

[Tech Pony 64]

Capitalism at its finest. 

Edited December 15, 2013 by Tech Pony

[Sloggobbler 31]

I don't really like WalMart to be honest, but I don't HATE it. I just don't go there...

[Spartan 433]

I dont think this has been posted.. but i believe this site, http://peopleofwalmart.com, is a perfect example to why you should avoid walmart..

 

WARNING: I am not responsible for any harm that may come from that site. You've been warned

[Virulence 254]

Well walmart is always packed to the brim with people. I don't want to cause discussions, but it seems more riff raf are there. Not going to lie, but the prices are exceptional there, but usually I prefer target. It's less crowded usually and they always have what I need.