Walmart re-sells damaged goods!!!

[Cirrus]

Imagine my surprise...here's the story, sad but true.

A friend of mine wanted to start exercising with me...always easier with a buddy. She has neck problems, so anything with impact is out the question. We decided on biking, but the problem was she didn't have a bike. She's also a single mom to 2 boys, so she doesn't have much money. We went to Walmart in search of a cheap but decent bike. Hell, I have a Huffy that's lasted me 6 years.

Now, I know Walmart is Walmart, so they don't have top of the line stuff. But we found her a decently priced bike that she liked, and I helped her bring it home. It was one of those deals with the shocks on the front fork. We went riding the next day, and she went over a pothole and heard this "sproing" sound. We stopped and checked it out, and the front shocks weren't working any more. We took it to the bike shop, and they said they couldn't do anything with it since the shocks are sealed. So back the bike went.

We were in Walmart tonight, and went back to the bikes again, just to look. Lo and behold, there was the bike SHE returned, back on the sales floor. How do I know this? She's tall, so she had to adjust the seat. When she did so, she took the back reflector off and we noticed a couple of days later that she forgot to put it back on when she returned it. The bike on the sales floor had the seat raised all the way, and no back reflector. When I pushed down on the handlebars...the shocks didn't work. Big surprise.

Moral of the story: caviet emptor (not sure if I spelled that right, but you get it)

 

[registered "^^"]

It's called cutting store losses. Every retailer does it in some form or another.

 

[mrbenh]

The lesson learned?

If you value your life....never buy a bike from a department store!!
They put the cheesiest shocks on those things.
You could go somewhere with that, at least ask them to re-sell it as-is and warn people that the fork is fucked!
For your mommy friend, I recommend a Raleigh M-80. I bought mine for about $500- and it is easily worth way more. A good ride.

 

[Cirrus]

She can't afford anywhere NEAR $500. We're going to the bike shop later next week and we're going to see if we both can get used bikes for around $200 or so, give or take a little.

 

[mrbenh]

I understand, but...

You should harrass the store about this, because Walmart is too big for it's own britches and people need to be more aware that these huge corporations are ripping them off on a daily basis!
Stop the madness my friend!

 

[Cirrus]

Nice pic.

I did call the manager. He just seemed like he was placating me though. What am I supposed to do, sue them? If I don't have the $ for a decent bike, where am I gonna come up with it for a lawsuit?

 

[Adoratrice]

I once licked an apple and put it back.....................does that count?















Kidding sheesh

 

[mrbenh]

true enough

Good luck to both of you, and ride safe!!

 

[tmuyo]

fry's electronics does it to...not sure if it's just a cali store or not...

they resell anything that comes back, and they sell it even if it's missing stuff for the same price of a perfect one.

 

[scylis]

i have it on good authority that Office Max doesn't do that. in fact, if the unopened, still sealed delivery box of items is damaged, they throw away the box and its contents. now, the enterprising manager would then take those "damaged" goods and sell them co-workers, say a good friend of mine, for dirt ass cheap. like say 256 mb of RAM for $5.

this is, of course, theoretical....

 

[Thomas Paine]

Cirrus, a little unsolicited advice from a longtime bicycle rider...

You should be able to find something in your price range that will do a fine job. However, stay away from useless gadgets, like those front "shocks" that broke on the WalMart bike. Bicycles don't need shocks, big goofy handgrips or fancy finishes, or all the other crap that gets loaded onto lower-priced bikes to attract buyers. Stick to something basic -- you can always add or upgrade parts later if something doesn't suit you.

Get a frame size that fits you. If you straddle the top tube of a bike, you should have comfortable crotch clearance, though not a vast gap, when you stand flatfooted.

Check out used bikes in the classifieds. Bikes rarely "break;" people just get tired of them. Some great deals are to be had...

 

[nasty]

Makes me ashamed to say it, but I just got a job working at Walmart.

 

[Samuari]

I can't speak for every store, but I do know the policy, and the policy is that if an item is defective it is to be either repaired, destoryed, or returned to the claims center. For this to work, every one has to do thier job, from the service desk associate who fill out the defect tag, to the claims associate who sees that it is repaired, destoryed, or returned, to supervising management who sees that the policy is followed. Anytime that you are dealing with people, mistakes can be made. If the defect slip on Cirrus' bike did not show defective front shocks, it could eaisly get past the claims clerk who sees no ovious defect, and returns it to the sales floor.

Much more distirbing is a sistutation that apaerently happened in one of our districts, where returned defective excerise equipment was resold in a patern that appears to have been generated from above the store level. The Management folks are being replaced out there in job lots and criminal and civel remedies are being sought.

The simple fact is that in an organization the size of Wal-Mart, there are going to be the folks that can't or won't fill out a defect tag corectly, and there are going to be the criminals that are looking for ways to cheat the customers, and/or the company. When the company finds either, it deals with them.

 

[Cheyenne]

Moral of the story: caviet emptor (not sure if I spelled that right, but you get it)

Did you just assume the store was guilty, that it wasn't an honest error?

Edit: I see later in the thread that you did see the store manager. Nothing more you can do.

 

[tmuyo]

i have a friend working at the office max in modesto, ca

he just picked up a really nice laptop for about 30 percent of the cost.

 

[Samuari]

i have it on good authority that Office Max doesn't do that. in fact, if the unopened, still sealed delivery box of items is damaged, they throw away the box and its contents. now, the enterprising manager would then take those "damaged" goods and sell them co-workers, say a good friend of mine, for dirt ass cheap. like say 256 mb of RAM for $5.

this is, of course, theoretical....

Scylis, if the packaging is damaged, and can be returned to the manufacture for credit. To sell it or even give it away would get you fired at my store, and may result in criminal charges bein filed.

 

[scylis]

the items were to be destroyed b/c the box itself (not anything inside) was slightly damaged. that's just stupid policy.

and it's all theoretical.

 

[Beebeeblue]

Makes me ashamed to say it, but I just got a job working at Walmart.

Ive been there 5 yrs. Just a bit of advice...purchase stock.

 

[Samuari]

Ive been there 5 yrs. Just a bit of advice...purchase stock.

Absublutly! The only investment that I know of where you make 15% immediatly

 

[KillerMuffin]

Walmart isn't perfect and it isn't exactly an evil creature waiting to devour millions. This is how the return thing works.

You bring your stuff to the service desk. You're either farmed out to jewelery, sporting goods, or electronics, or you're kept at the desk, depending on your stuff. The service desk takes your stuff back and fills out a little claim ticket that goes on the returned merchandise. If there is nothing visibly wrong with the merchandise or of the customer fails to adequately define what is wrong with the merchandise or the service desk person is an idiot, then the merchandise is returned to stock to be resold. If the merchandise is damaged or has been noticeably used, it is sent back to claims. Claims returns the damaged merchandise to the manufacturer for a refund or it is written off as a loss.

If they saw nothing wrong with the bike right off the bat, they're not experts, and all they had was your friend's statement that the bike was damaged and your friend just wanted her money back, then the bike would be returned to stock to be resold. Why? Dishonest customers abound. People buy things, like shoes, bikes, clothes, tents, sleeping bags, lawn chairs, TVs, stereos, barbeque grills, fishing poles, etc. use them for the weekend or whatever big event there is, then return them to the store for a full refund. It happens all the time.

Since your friend is the honest sort, you could find out who is the toy department (they handle the bikes) manager, they're there from 7 am to 4 pm, generally, monday through friday, and put them in contact with the bike shop who told you the shock was busted. In my experience, store managers are a waste of time and effort. Of course, I rather hate our store manager and I rather hate wallyhell. Our store manager is an idiot. Unfortunately undereducated beggars can't be choosers.

 

[OUTSIDER]

Forget new, go retro for real style, I got my last bike through a free add's paper for £30 and it was a beauty.

Here's a pic of my favourite bike from my childhood