Why I am Boycotting Wal-Mart--A message to all artists

[PrairieGhost]

I am an artist, and while I can't yet make a living doing what I love, I at least can make a few bucks to help me through thin times...provided an egotistical corporation isn't standing in my way.

Over a month ago, I sent in an order to walmart.com for 10 prints of a watercolor painting I'd done, and I opted for store pickup so I wouldn't have to pay shipping. I waited until the date my receipt said my prints would be available for pickup and went to the store.

Only my prints weren't there--instead, I'd received a letter from walmart, saying something to the effect of, "We're sorry, your image looks too professional, and since we don't want you getting us sued for copyright infringement, we were not able to make your prints. Please sign the paperwork enclosed to cover our legal asses, and return it to us, and we will proceed with making your prints."

Now, I started shopping on walmart.com for my art prints because I was tired of getting this same BS all the time at local stores. "You'll need to bring in photo ID to prove this is really your original work," they would say to me, because you couldn't possibly write YOUR name on someone else's picture--that would be impossible.

So needless to say, I was already annoyed enough to do any further prints via another business, but the real doozy is what happened when I told them to cancel my order.

I canceled this order over a month ago and still have not received a refund. I have called them no less than SIX times in regards to the matter, and apparently, all I'm waiting on is for someone in the "fulfillment" department to switch the status of my order to canceled. Maybe this wouldn't be such a big deal, if my art weren't my ONLY source of income right now, and maybe if my last $21 wasn't hanging in Wal-Mart limbo, preventing me from even buying food in the meanwhile. Every scrap of food I've had this past month has been by the benevolence of friends and acquaitances, mostly, however, from my boyfriend. I have sent them a very angry e-mail, and received an e-mail in response saying, "We're so sorry we're screwing you over! We've forwarded your message to the appropriate departments, and you should receive a response from us within the next 2-3 business days. Your satisfaction is our goal, guaranteed!"

It has now been FOUR business days. No refund, no peep from anyone telling me what's going on to prevent me from getting my own money back. Another angry e-mail is in the works.

Is this personal insult the only reason I'm boycotting Wal-Mart? No, of course not--it just happens to be the pile of bricks that broke my camel's back. I've been watching Wal-Mart screw people over for years. When my brother died, my aunt went to get prints done of a family photo that had had him in it. When the woman at the photo department asked if my aunt had permission from the photographer to use the photo, my aunt told the woman no, because the photographer had passed away some five years prior. The woman in the photo department tore the stack of prints in half, saying "Oh, then, I can't let you have these."

I've watched them go out of their way to destroy the last struggling businesses of a dying community when I lived in Colorado. In southeastern CO, roasted chilis are a big deal, and every produce stand in the area pulls out the chili roasters and sells roasted chilis for a price. So what does Wal-Mart do? Start selling roasted chilis for half the price of the produce stands, a price SO low, that Wal-Mart was actually losing money by doing it. So why do it? To draw every last droplet of business away from the competition, even competition as small as a roadside produce stand.

Wal-Mart also used a tactic that I find equally despicable... When it first moved into town, it chose a location that was by far inferior to its other options. The traffic flow was poor, the space was cramped, parking limited, and generally, it was just not a good place to be. Why did they choose it, then? Because it was right next door to one of its competitors. Wal-Mart used the same predatory pricing technique it uses on the produce stands now to drive its competitor to bankruptcy, and the moment it closed its doors, Wal-Mart was building a new store in a prime location outside of town.

Some other facts of note--Wal-Mart is so determined to bring you ever-lower prices, that it bullies its suppliers into selling their goods for SO cheap, that the supplier has to either make pennies worth of profit or send all their labor overseas. Every year, Wal-Mart buys $15 BILLION dollars worth of merchandise and goods from China--that's $15 billion that will never return to the US economy, every year. If a supplier doesn't let Wal-Mart set the price, then Wal-Mart doesn't carry the product, and the supplier loses a prime source of exposure. Wal-Mart also has an obscene amount of lawsuits filed against it, for everything from sexual discrimination, to blatant discrimination against the handicapped, to actually locking its employees in a building and forcing them to work off the clock. In each and every one of these cases, Wal-Mart made a point of publically remedying the situation, showing commercials of happy employees that were disabled, elderly, and female, touting the claim "we buy American!" when they are the largest customer for Chinese-made goods in the country, and so on. One thing, however, doesn't change--every time Wal-Mart tries to save face with one lawsuit or fiasco, another crops up to darken their doorway again. What does that say about a company to you?

Personally, I can't stand being treated like a criminal in the first place, especially not by a company as devious as Wal-Mart. They ask for your birthday if you're going to be buying anything that might be used for meth production or to get a high, because in their minds, only kids run meth labs or do drugs. They make you jump through hoops to make prints of any image that looks halfway professional--all to cover their own legal a**. They breathe down your neck and follow you, in person or with cameras, to make sure you don't swipe their Made in China merchandise.

I'm fed up. If Wal-Mart can't be bothered to treat me like a human being, then I can't be bothered to shop there. Once my job starts and I start getting a paycheck, I'm going to be buying things. I'm going to be buying furniture for my apartment, food for my cupboards, shoes for my feet, a new outfit to replace a few worn-out ones, gifts for family and friends, music, DVD's, games, toys, art supplies, and, yes, prints--and it will all be someplace OTHER than Wal-Mart.

So my plea is simple--to artists everywhere who know already how hard it is to make a living on your trade as it is, don't feed this corporation any more of your sweat and blood than you already have. If at all possible, if you have any choice, find alternatives that won't treat you like a criminal or deny you the simple act of a refund.

~*~I apologize for the length of my rant, and hope that my meaning was made clear without being overbearing.~*~  

[Mivzi]

DX Thats horrible.

Your image was too professional to be printed there?
Thats stupid D:  

[PrairieGhost]

Mivzi

DX Thats horrible.

Your image was too professional to be printed there?
Thats stupid D:

Oh, it -could- be printed there, but I would have to fill out paperwork saying I either had permission from the copyright holder or WAS the copyright holder of that image. I don't know about you, but when I order prints of photos or art, I expect them to be ready for me when I'm told they're going to be ready for me, so that I'll have them when I need them. I'm running out of time to get those prints done, and Wal-Mart is still just screwing around.  

[Umberella]

Having worked at both Walmart and Target, I feel I must say with great alarm that Target has begun using the same business practices as Walmart.

My husband, who also worked at Walmart for a time, has his own horror tales to tell (he is now employed by a rather nice Courier company, thank goodness. He says it broke his heart to work at Walmart and quit when they began violating labor principles.)

Working for this company is a nightmare, dealing with these companies is a nightmare, the only thing that they have going for them is low prices - and for what? Inferior merchandise, desperate workers and disgruntled vendors.

Sadly, Sam Walton (the founder of Walmart) is treated like a kind of demi-God by many employees at the chain. If you sneak into the back area of any Walmart, you can find a room which is a veritable shrine to the horrible old man. It's like something out of a twisted occult film - one without any style what-so-ever.

We haven't shopped at Walmart or Target for at least a year. There are tons of huge specialty stores that want your business. And some cute little ones that have just what you're looking for.

I live in Colorado and have a freezer full of green chilis, and none of them came from Walmart. THAT idea scared the heck out of me, that Walmart could even sink that low. Why steal the roadside chili sales from AMERICAN FARMERS?

Walmart treats it's employees badly, but Target is close behind. I loved shopping at Target, until I got a job there. It was a nightmare. I can't even look at the store sign without feeling a bit sad. Those employees are worked to death. "Fast, Fun, and Friendly" is the motto of all Target employees. And FAST is the most important one that causes all the accidents in the stockroom. I lost my job because I sprained my knee and couldn't "stock" fast enough. No insurance for part-timers and no requirements for workman's comp.

Arg. I rant a lot when provoked.

Avoid Target if possible (it is hard to resist their cool stuff though).

Don't shop at Walmart. I agree.

Resist it with all your might. Not going there makes me feel like I'm saving the ozone layer or something very beneficial to all mankind.  

[Lychee Fruit]

HEB may or may not be any better, but they opened up a big-a** new store that's cleaner and smells better than our local Wal Mart, so you know where I go shoppin' for foodstuffs.

As for the non-food stuff, I stick to stores that specialize in those products. I don't care if I do end up paying more - I want to see seven different brands of each color of yarn and three different special editions of the same movie before I make my choice. 3nodding

My work history with Wal-Mart ended after only three days on the floor. The first day I misplaced $300 (heh... too bad it really was an accident), the second day I wasn't given a break until I fainted over some woman's groceries, and the third day I just sort of stood around and contemplated shoplifting until they fired me. They tried to bully me before handing me the pink slip. I was thinking "b***h, please. I play in the GD."  

[Adain-chan]

stare I'm never shopping there again. I always hated it anyway.  

[jbeth]

our walmart recently upgraded itself to a super walmart, complete with gas station. I don't usually go there unless I absolutely have to. I hear meijer stores (I think they're mostly in the great lakes region) are trying to be more like walmart stores - no full timers, as few managers as they can get away with, they've even gotten rid of their baggers and put in stupid turntable things with bag racks so the cashiers could bag as they ring up. I've heard neither place is really worth working for.

too bad meijer is so convenient for me to shop at. there are so many things there, and I get distracted by everything so that I end up spending way more than I should. >.>;  

[curli]

Yeah, I can't say I'm too too happy with Wal-Mart these days either.

I live in Quebec, Canada. There was a Wal-Mart in my province where employees got so fed up with the way they were treated, they decided to unionize. So they did, and although they were one of (if not the) first, the employees were finally happy with their jobs.

No more than six months later, the Wal-Mart closed down, claiming that that particular branch "wasn't bringing in enough profit". So now a whole wack of people in that small region of Quebec are out of a job, because, true to it's nature, the Wal-Mart ran a whole lot of other stores out of business before shutting it's own doors.



I'm so glad I don't have a Wal-Mart near my house.  

[Mesu Kittami]

Wal-mart is so crap. You know they don't lable the fabrics properly. Everything may say 100% cotton but its really not. Those assholes! But i just can't stop shopping there. Fabric paint is half the price of anywhere else gonk .  

[Termisu]

I only shop there for fabric and even then it isn't spectaular...


Did you know a majority of sexual assults on childeren take place in Wal-marts?  

[Supreme Leader Mandy]

I HATE Wal-mart. I only go there ever so often to buy fabric when I really really need it. I shop mostly at Target for anything (Mostly because its right by my house and I have made friends with the manager.I am so sorry about your prints and all that and wish ya the best of luck heart  

[DecemberFlower]

AH, MY FAVORITE TOPIC! domokun

I worked for Walmart this summer. Unfortunately for me, they were the only place to call me back about my application, so I really didn't have much of a choice. It was humiliating to work there. Not only because they do so much that I despise, but they also symbolize things I don't like much either. It was like selling my soul. After a couple weeks, I was ready to walk out, but I really needed the money, so I stuck with the job. I was a part-timer, one of a handful in the store. I can't say I ever actually worked part-time hours. I always got fulltime shifts, and full time hours each week. Several times I was told it "wouldn't happen again", but it always did.

The customers and the management treat you like crap -- customers because you're just a lowly Walmart employee. Who cares if they're some retarded degenerate who doesn't even know what they want to buy when they come up to the register? You work for Walmart and are the scum of the earth. And the management abuse you because you're not management.

And that's really just the tip of the iceberg for me. I just really don't want to continue ranting about it.

But I've heard of Walmart giving people a hard time about making prints before. A friend of mine is really into making posters and things for campus events in Photoshop, among other things, and he was telling me that he tried to get something printed recently, and they gave him a hard time about it because it might have been art theft.

I hate shopping there, but I do anyway. Why? It's got the best selection of groceries in town. Unfortunately. If Kroger or some other supermarket started carrying the kind of stuff Walmart has, even if it cost me a little more, I'd go there.  

[~neko neko kitty~]

I'm sorry to hear about your horrible experience. I personally wouldn't be able to survive without my walmart. I need the cheap prices since I can barely support myself as it is. I really never had trouble there but I really only go in when I can actually get down there since the closest one is like an hr bus ride away and I don't have a car.  

[Adain-chan]

The only reason I ever went there was for yarn, but I discovered that Porter's is closer and now I have no reason to go there, so I won't. Just about everything they sell I can think of some place closer to get it that's higher quality, if a bit more expensive.  

[Sweet Fix]

I love Wal-Mart. If there was one just a bit closer to where I live, I would shop there everyday. It sates all of my needs, for an extremely low price.