From: TProphet
To: Jeremy Smith, Manager
Wal-Mart
743 Rainier Ave S
Renton, WA 98055
CC: Lee Scott, CEO
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Bentonville, AR 72716-8611
6 April, 2006
Dear Mr. Smith,
I am very disappointed with the rude manner in which I was treated when shopping at your store this evening. After paying at the register, and proceeding directly to the door under the watchful gaze of both security cameras and numerous Wal-Mart employees, one of your employees yelled at me and demanded to see my receipt.
I don’t understand why I was singled out for public embarrassment, but it certainly wasn’t because I didn’t pay for the items I purchased. There were only three, one of which was in a bag and the other two of which (a can of paint and a lawnmower that was precariously balanced on top of the cart) were too large to be bagged. The woman yelling at me didn’t demand to see anyone else’s receipt. I was holding the receipt in my hand and held it up—balancing the lawnmower with my other hand. That wasn’t enough, and she demanded that I hand it to her.
All of the extra scrutiny might have been understandable if I’d set off an alarm on the way out the door, or if I had items in my cart which should have been bagged and wasn’t holding a receipt. None of these conditions applied. Wal-Mart cashiers appear to be well-trained in disabling security tags when items are paid for. I’d had enough, and headed for the door. The employee bellowed “I’M GONNA CALL SECURITY,” and I told her to go right ahead. After all, my entire shopping trip was recorded by dozens of cameras, so I figured your security department would very quickly determine that I did, in fact, pay for the items I purchased. Or they might have instead asked the cashier at the register where they’d just watched me pay for the item.
Instead, a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt pursued me into the parking lot. He introduced himself as the security manager and asked why I had a problem showing my receipt. At that point, I lost my temper and snapped “This isn’t Costco. I bought the items, I paid for them, and they’re mine.” Admittedly, I was probably rude, but after having been yelled at, publicly embarrassed, and treated like a criminal in your store, I was pretty tired of hassles—especially since the lawnmower was again trying really hard to fall off of the shopping cart.
On that point, it’d be nice for your customers if Wal-Mart had flat carts for large items like Costco and The Home Depot do, but that won’t matter to me anymore. I will not be returning, because the security manager of the Renton Wal-Mart told me “That’s right, this isn’t Costco. I don’t ever want to see you at Wal-Mart again. You can’t shop here anymore. Now get out of here.”
I’m sorry to hear that Wal-Mart doesn’t want my business. Your company is relatively new to the Seattle area and if your employees continue to treat good customers this way (you’re welcome to look up my credit card purchases in your database; you’ll see that I spend—well, used to spend—a lot of money in your store), I doubt you’ll ever be as successful here as in other parts of the country.
Very truly yours,
TProphet
P.S.: On the way out of the parking lot, my roommate remarked “Some security! They’re harassing you for buying a lawnmower, and while you were arguing I just watched a crack deal go down in the parking lot.”
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