Sam's Club did it to me again today. I've shopped there for over a decade, but lately, I've come to hate it. This isn't about politics, but about the lack of respect that Sam's shows its
customers. Still, I foolishly let them renew the membership card each year, so I have myself to blame. I
really want a Costco to come to town, but I could lose myself in an Ikea, too.
Gripes below.
Today I went shopping mid-day. Sure, that's a busy time, but Sam's knows that it's a busy time as well. Where were the checkout staff? Who knows? Who cares? Certainly the store manager did not. Maybe Bentonville doesn't care if he treats his customers like dirt, maybe the only thing that matters is labor cost. I guess if the customers don't walk away, they don't care. I don't know. I don't work there. I don't ever go across the parking lot to the Wal-mart, which I am told is uncharacteristically bad. That may be true. If all Wal-marts were like my cluttered, understaffed neighborhood Wal-mart, I cannot imagine how the company could have managed to grow and prosper.
Well, after waiting in line for 20 minutes to check out, I complained to the checker who told me there was enough staff to have all the stands open, they just weren't. Maybe Sam's thinks that its customers expect to be treated badly -- that's how they know that they are getting a good deal. I'm not. I've come to hate Sam's enough that I don't go there often enough to save the money I spend on their membership card. I really have to stop it.
The first time I really began to loathe Sam's was the time I bought a set of Goodyear tires from them. The price seemed fair and there was a special payment plan. I bought. A few weeks later, one of these fine Goodyear tires was damaged by a covered road hazard. Oops. I didn't really have a Goodyear tire when it came to warranty. I had a Sam's tire. Only Sam's had replacement tires, but Goodyear was willing to let Sam's make them look bad to get their business. Well, that's fine. I won't be buying any tires from Sam's again and Goodyear, by prostituting its name, has lost my business as well.
Speaking of which. General Electric is another company that doesn't seem to care who drags its name through the mud. I know that GE sold its small appliance business to Black and Decker (which changed the name to Black and Decker) many years ago and sold its television and related products business to Thomson. Someone decided that Wal-mart could sell GE coffee pots as a house brand. The one I got lasted for one pot of coffee before failing. Shouldn't someone at GE care what people are doing to their brand names? Can I trust one of their washers or refrigerators or medical scanners if they don't even care what the quality is of the product that has their name?
Please Costco, open a store on Madison's West Side. We need you. I promise never to shop at Sam's again if you open a store near me.
[also posted to my rarely updated blog no free lunch]