Wally World Guidelines

Okay as promised here is my little something about Wal-Mart. I have worked there for almost 3 years now, and I have realized some things about the people who shop there. I'm not sure if it's all Wal-Marts or just the one I happen to work at, but I have a feeling it's all. So I figured I would make a guideline list since there are some issues that people who shop at Wal-Mart continually do not understand. This is just something that I thought all people should know.

#1: Pricing is not done through us, that is an issue you can take up with the CEO of Wal-Mart not the cashier checking you out. We have no way of knowing why something was $2.97 last week and is now $4.50 so don't get angry with us.

#2: Bags are limited we DO NOT have an endless supply. So asking us to double bag everything or to only have two or three items per bag is only taking away from other people. So instead of only thinking of yourself, how about you share.

#3: If a light is on...the lane is open. There is no reason to ask "Are you open?" obviously we are especially if there are people in the line. I mean really?

#4: Something has happened to America, because apparently people can no longer read. If a lane says 20 items or less, that means 20 or less not 50 not 30, but 20. I realize this must come as a shock to most of you, but this is true. Those lanes are for people that do not have many items if you have more than that, then go to a big register those do not have a limit.

#5: DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CHILDREN ALONE IN THE PLAY AREA. We are not your babysitters so that you can let your children run free in there while you shop. If you don't want to have to watch your children while you shop then leave them at home. There are children that get kidnapped from Wal-Mart and the play area is a big spot where people take children. So unless you want this to happen Don't Leave Your Children unattended in there.

#6: Do not get upset if you choose to ask just any employee walking where something is and they cannot tell you. Contrary to popular belief, not every Wal-Mart employee knows everything about everything in the store. We each have a department to work and we can tell you the things about that department. Another thing, management are the only people with walkie talkies so when we cannot help you that does not mean we can always find someone that can so that's another thing you cannot get upset about.

#7: Just because you know the name of our store manager, does not mean you have some kind of power over us. Dropping their name in a conversation or even saying you are going to call them, does not mean anything. The store manager of Wal-Mart has a lot going on...they run a store, so do you honestly think they are going to stop just because one person has a complaint that someone was mean to you?

#8: Re-usable bags, they are helpful, yes, but it would be a lot easier to use them if you could hand them to us before the transaction. Not after we have bagged half your groceries, this is not easy for anyone, we do not have enough time to ubload everything back to put it in your bags and you don't want to have to do that. Just let us know it's not hard.

#9: When you notice that your cashier is stacking bags all over our turn thing as well as on the floor...you could help. If you are still unloading your buggy then stop to get another one [we are not allowed to leave our register] or if you aren't still unloading then stop staring at us and put the bags in your buggy.

#10: Don't turn the turn thing. You could end up stabbing us and those things can break bones, I know it seems unlikely, but it has happened. Even hitting someone lightly can leave bruises and they are extremely painful. Don't let your kids play with them either for the same purposes. Are job is to scan your merchandise then bag it which means that is being used. Your cashier should be the only one turning it.

#11: For the debit card machine, I know it hard for children not to sit there and constantly push the buttons to make the sound, but you as the customer should know that those buttons do, do things. If the wrong ones are pushed the machine will shut down. That means all that has been done so far will have to be started over, so please don't let your kids touch that.

#12: Returns, we do have policies. That means rules that we must follow. So when you try and return something and are told that we cannot do it, don't get angry and start screaming at the woman or man trying to help you. We are told in training that we cannot do it so we don't. A lot of the times managers will come through and tell us to do it anyway, that does not mean gloat to the person that told you no ten minutes before. They were only doing what we were all told to do in training.

#13: We know how to do our jobs. Like I said, we all go through training so we know what we are doing. I do not know why customers continue to tell us what to do. Would you tell a fireman how to put out a fire? Would you tell a cop how to arrest someone? No, so why do customers feel the need to tell us how to put things in bags, or how to check them out. We know are jobs and we know how to do them. We do not come to you at your job and tell you how to do things.

#14: Not all Wal-Marts carry the same merchandise so just because you found this oh so adorable dress at a Wal-Mart in Nashville does not mean that the store in Los Angeles will have it too. This is something else that is not controlled by your Wal-Mart employees so do not get upset with them because they have never seen the Nashville dress.

#15: Sales ads, they are not that bad, I mean yes it's kind of a hassle, but it's not terrible so long as you can do them the right way. The ad has to match exactly, if we don't carry what the ad says so you get the next best thing, you will not get the ads price...it has to be EXACT. Another thing about those Wal-Mart does not match an ad for another Wal-Mart. Such as if that Nashville dress was on sale for $20 at that store, but you see it marked $45 sorry, but we do not match our own prices. We are not in competition with ourselves.

#16: Okay I believe that I have ranted enough, so I will leave you with one final guideline this one is probably the most important of them all, but it will make your Wal-Mart shopping experience the best. BE NICE. Remember the golden rule at Wal-Mart. Treat others the way you want to be treated. There is no reason to act like you are above your Wal-Mart employee or to be snotty with them. Treat them nicely and you will find you will not have to complain as much. Now I won't say this works on every employee, there are some that no matter how nice you are they just seem to hate life. Don't let them bring you down though, be nice to everyone else, and you will be rewarded.

That's all I have to say, I hope you listened and will follow the guidelines, it will make things a lot better, you will see.