Joomla! site syndication http://griped.com Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:16:54 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://griped.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://griped.com Joomla! site syndication http://griped.com/index.php/2008020814/Wal-mart-doesn-t-want-my-money.html Wal-Mart doesn’t want my money I’ve had a love hate relationship with Wal-Mart for a while now. I love the convenience of buying groceries, clothing, cleaning and home supplies in one place, but I hate their poor customer service and arrogance. Even though I know my only power as a consumer is choosing where I spend my money, I’ve continued to shop at Wal-Mart. Until now…. I went Christmas shopping on my lunch hour one day. The store was buzzing with holiday shoppers. I purchased two DVD players which were not placed in bags, along with several smaller items which were placed in bags. I was feeling really good about my purchases, in particular the gifts I bought for my Christmas Angel kids. Basking in warm holiday cheer, I failed to notice the greeter (you know the old folks that loiter by the baskets) making a beeline for my cart. She asked to see my receipt, even though no buzzers or bells sounded on my way out the door. I declined. I could have shown my receipt. In fact, most days I would have shown my receipt and not given it a second thought. But on this particular day, I really didn’t appreciate being stopped and having my, I repeat MY, bags pawed through. It’s none of her business what I bought and I was pretty firm about my refusal. She held onto the basket, so I couldn’t leave the store and called the manager. I waited for about 5 minutes for the manager to come over. I told her that I would not show them my receipt, and she said the greeter had the right to ask. Ok, fair enough. And I have the right to say no. Our voices gradually rose and she called security. I was absolutely fuming at this point. I was ready for the police to show up and book me for causing a disturbance. But I was standing my ground. Security arrived and once again we went through the whole story. People coming in and out of the store are staring at us. I’m sure they all thought I was some sort of mental case, since I was surrounded by blue vested employees. The only thing I could think was they were trying to intimated and humiliate me until I complied. The security guard told me that the policy was in place to ensure the “comfort” of their guests. I wasn’t feeling very comfortable! I was then told he could charge me with trespassing and prohibit me from shopping in Wal-Mart. I couldn’t believe it! I asked how long I was going to be detained, and he became very defensive, saying “Has any one prevented you from leaving?” I told him yes, the greeter grabbed my basket. He said “The basket is our property and she can stop it from leaving the store.” The whole scene was really for nothing, because I didn’t show my receipt and they eventually let me go. I was so furious at the whole ordeal, I wanted to go back in and return everything I had just purchased, but I had to get back to work. I just couldn’t believe how Wal-Mart dehumanizes their customers. I know I have to submit to searches at the airport, because people’s lives are at stake, but I do NOT have to submit to searches because a billion dollar company is concerned about their bottom line. I know shoplifting is a problem, but I’m not confronted and detained when I shop at Kmart, Target, Kohl’s, Frye’s, Albertsons or a dozen other stores. How do these companies control theft and still respect their customer’s privacy? Obviously it can be done; Wal-Mart just doesn’t care enough about their customers to do it. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, The end of the Wal-Mart Era, “Rival retailers lured Americans away from Wal-Mart's low-price promise by offering greater convenience, more selection, higher quality or better service.” (October 8, 2007) Customers are sending a message, but is Wal-Mart receiving it? Tell us what you think, or share your own experience. Articles - Large Corporations Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:50:56 +0100 http://griped.com/index.php/2008020813/Our-news-isn-t-real.html Our news isn’t real? Bush controls the news? What a revelation, and it’s getting big headlines. Independent (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article621189.ece) is reporting that American news and radio programs are running canned pieces put together by the American Government and large American corporations. Is this supposed to shock me somehow? I’ll tell you what shocks me. The fact that people think this is actually news shocks me. If you are over 16 years old and have ever read a newspaper, watched a news broadcast, or listened to talk radio then if this comes as a shock to you then you should really seek professional help. By professional help in this case I mean you should run not walk to your nearest university and enroll immediately in a course on critical thinking. I am sorry if you are one of the people who actually believed this was news, but you really are naive. This website griped is about all of the things that really gripe me. And when someone thinks that this is news I get griped because of the lack of understanding that the people of the world really have about the way things in a capitalistic society work. Everyone has an agenda right down to the news agencies who are airing corporately produced propaganda and passing them off as news stories. Their agenda is to have access to material that they can air at zero cost to them. A win win situation if you ask me, the corporation gets the word out that they wanted to get out, and the station doesn’t have to pay as many real reporters as they would have to if they were providing a legitimate service. I am also griped with the Independent reporter who intentionally chose to use a quote from their source that made their source seem ignorant. They have got very good at mimicking what a real, independently produced television report would look like, is the quote they chose to use from Diana Farsetta whose company produced the original report. When later in the article they state very clearly that the people producing the reports take great care to make sure it is branded and clearly stated that it was produced by the corporation. Why would they intentionally use a quote that makes their single source look very poor? Or the other possibility is that Ms. Farsetta during the entire interview never said another thing worth quoting but somehow I doubt that is the case. Especially since the Independent also chose to headline their article “Bush 'planted fake news stories on American TV'”. An obvious tell that the independent has an agenda of their own, to discredit the American President. Most of this article is about corporately produce propaganda and not about anything that “Bush” has directly done. I have to say that the independent has done a very poor job of both communicating a stupid article and a poor job of reaching their objective. Independent you win this week’s booby prize for crappy reporting and a job done half assed. Maybe you should look into getting your hands on some of the articles you are reporting about, I am sure they are better than this piece of crap. Feel free to leave your comments. Articles - Politics Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:36:16 +0100