would this make you mad or is it just the way people are
@easymoney75503 (1702)
United States
March 23, 2008 11:22am CST
my husband got into it with walmart a few months ago over something that should of been just human kindness. the walmart we had was one of the small ones. i mean the town is small and the walmart had 3 isles of food. i worked there for a bit so they all knew my hubby. well one day he went to go get something and this lady was pulled over on the side of the road and well in the spot that had no traffic coming through there. our town is population 214. so he stopped cause it was really cold and he wanted to make sure she wasnt sick etc she was he said aboaut 70 years old. she had ran out of gas trying to get home after going to get her meds. she had spent her last cent to get them too. she was jsut sitting there crying and couldnt walk home to far and no gas no one to call. he told her to stay put and he would be back he had 10.00 on him so he could get what we needed i think it was milk, bread, sugar. and that was all we had for 3 days till i got paid. so he went to walmart and figured he could get milk and then 5.00 gas and we could do without the other stuff. he didnt have a gas can with him and he didnt have the money to get more gas for the week so he asked if anyone there had a gaas can he could use. the manager was there at the front and told him he could buy one. when my husband told him what it was for and said that he would bring it right backit was only 3 miles away to her and 21 miles to our house to get one of ours the manager told him nope buy one and the lady behind the register said she had one well he told her no that my husband needed to buy one. my husband was mad. so he put the milk back got a gas jug and went and got gas and got her on her way. he then stopped rinsed the gas jug out and took it back and got a refund for milk lol. the manager was mad and tried to argue but my husband read the policy to him and got his milk. needless to say we now spend extra on milk at the gas station instead of going to walmart. we havent shopped there since.
5 people like this
16 responses
@DESMASTER2007 (1130)
• United States
23 Mar 08
Yea people are a trip. But I do know that you guys will be blessed. When you help people like that you will get blessed, you may not know when, but something good is going to happen. When you do good to people, you will get good. And I saw the heart. YOu didn't have much but you still made some kind of way.
1 person likes this
@easymoney75503 (1702)
• United States
23 Mar 08
thank you both. i am rewarded daily by having my husband and kids. i consider myself to have great fortune cause i have a husband with a heart of gold. also a husband that teaches our kids that money doesnt make the world go around people do.
@mbcousins (116)
• United States
23 Mar 08
Good for you and your husband. Why do we find so many little p___ks like that manager in America. They are everywhere. I mean that there are just enough to ruin your entire day when you are trying to help someone out. I don't have enough societal refinements, I probably would have lost it on that manager. He did'nt have ANY right to tell him he had to buy one. Write the main office in Tennessee to see if they do anything about that manager, then if you can, let us know. (So if you had babies in your hometown you could sit and watch them change the number on the sign ?)
@easymoney75503 (1702)
• United States
23 Mar 08
thank you. lol pretty much about the town i am in. ilove it but the people are very nosey lol. we dont have a gas station, store, or even a place to get a cup of coffee. we hve 3 churches, a volunteer fire office which you dont call you call the mayor on her cell phone if you need them we have found out lol. we have a small community park. and that is it lol. at itmes i thik they count the dogs in the population
@Thoroughrob (11742)
• United States
25 Mar 08
I would be furious!! Especially when the woman had a can. I cannot believe that people can be so uncaring!!
@RobinJ (2501)
• Canada
24 Mar 08
I believe that there is a policy about storing used gas cans in a enclosed building and that it is dangerous to have a gas can that has even a bit of gas in it because gas evaporates and can cause an explosion. You will also find that service stations will not allow you to fill up any container other than a regulation gas can I am very sorry for that lady and you husbands kindness we very caring but the store was only following fire regulations. I am sure some where in you husbands job there are rules and regulations that if broken can cause him to loose a job it is the same here, I have been called every thing in the book because I worked at a service station that had that rule and trust me no one runs out of gas in a good place and at a great time.
@LRB1111 (356)
• United States
24 Mar 08
Wow. That was a wonderful thing your husband did for that lady! It's nice to know there are still decent people in this world. As I was reading the part about the manager not even letting the other employee lend him hers was just downright wrong. How did the manager benefit from this? I think your husband was indeed clever to get the refund and show him the policy. It's exactly what I would have done too. I think you are right to not shop there anymore. I have worked at walmart in the past and I can tell that a lot of the management in the store I worked just did not care about the customers that paid their salaries. But either way I am sure this woman was very thankful and it must have made her day to receive that kind of help from a stranger. It's just a reality check when you look at this situation and see how differently 2 people can act when someone is in need.
@Chey1970 (1186)
• United States
23 Mar 08
First off let me say, I think it is very admirable of your husband to do such a good deed.
I can understand the managers position about him wanting your husband to buy a gas can, I mean it's his job as manager. If he let your husband get away without buying one, he would have to do it for others if incident got out. People get played, or try to play you on a daily basis.
Now, the lady behind the register could have gave him hers, it was hers to give and the manager didn't have no say in that. But I guess she wanted to keep her job too.
In the end your husband won the battle and I guess that is all that really matters. Good for him!
@easymoney75503 (1702)
• United States
23 Mar 08
i mean i could understand if he didnt know my husband. but he knows my husband. also my husband wasnt asking for a new one just one out of somones car lol. he knew the manager had one in his truck. and for him to tell the clerk no was just wrong to me. i understand though why she said sorry cause this manager would take it out on her if she do ashesaid. he is like that.
@CinderInMySoul (4717)
• United States
24 Mar 08
omg i would have been livid! and chewed that a$$hole of a manager a new one, THEN reported him to the main office.
wal-mart is usually very good at being helpful (at least in my town they have been)
it was wonderful that your husband went out of his way to help that poor woman! sad to say that with med prices these days, i bet things like that happen far more than we think! or worse, going without food or heat!
especially in such a small population where you'd think that helping out the community in general would be a priority! i mean everybody knows just about everybody else right?
@TriciaW (2441)
• United States
24 Mar 08
A random act of kindness from your husband is a wonderful thing. The jerk manager won't have the blessings your husband will. Some people I think are just rude and don't care about anyone but themselves and that seems to be the case with this manager. He had the authorization to give him a gift card to help out this woman which I know many managers at Walmart in other places would have done. It is sad your husband was treated this way but his kindness will not go unnoticed. It is too bad we don't have more people in the world like your husband. I am sure you are just like him so bless you both.
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
24 Mar 08
Walmart has the best return policy of any store I ever shopped at. If your Husband had bought the can (like the manager asked him to) taken the gas to the lady, he could have returned the can and got his money refunded and then done his own shopping! I've found Walmart to be very fair and a good place to shop. I'm sorry your husband has a problem there!
@overhere (515)
• United States
24 Mar 08
First kudos to your husband for all he did for this woman .... To me guys like this are the true heroes of our society so you have yourself an extra special gem there.
As far as Walmart goes, the manager was perfectly correct in not allowing your husband to borrow one probably very wrong in not allowing the other person to lend him one.
I work as a cashier at Walmart and would have to say that it is the daily abuse by customers in general returning stuff and the like with the most amazing stories that make the average employee there view anyone asking for anything with total skepticism - so to a certain extent I see why no-one would believe your husband its other peoples abuse that make the genuine customers harder to believe.
I have to say your husbands solution was brilliant if you can't beat 'em join Well Done that man.
@dizzblnd (3073)
• United States
24 Mar 08
Shame on that manager! Especially in a small town. May God bless your husband, because know it or not, he was sent by her guardian angel that day. I hope that manager of the Walmart NEVER has his wife, or his mother in that position. If it happens, I hope someone like your husband will come along to help. I hope a different manager has the heart to load the gas can or at least allows the cashier to lend it.
What comes around goes around. I am glad your husband has a big, kind generous heart.
@catmint (628)
• Singapore
24 Mar 08
Reading the post, I am moved by your husband's kindness. In the eyes of the helpless old lady, and the cashier, your husband is all they would remember of this incident.
As for the nasty manager, he is just part of the vicious cycle call life. He is given the power to abuse and he goes right ahead to use it. Apparently he doesn't care two cents how he could make enemies in such a small community.
I applaud the way your husband went back for the refund and read him the policy. But I am worried for you, is there another cheaper place to shop? Oil station markups can be high.
@tessah (6617)
• United States
24 Mar 08
idve been angry. VERY angry. specially when the clerk said she had a can of her own he could use to help this woman stranded the the manager butted in saying no.. she couldnt lend it to him. dont blame you one bit for not shopping there anymore. idve taken it a step further and contacted corporate and filed a complaint. the walmart we used to shop at.. operative words "used to" practically strip searched my husband whenhis steel toed boots set off their alarm at the exit. had him taking his shirt off in front of customers at the door, then dragged him off into the office like a criminal, keeping him there for 45 minutes. weve never gone back there.
@Berniceann (4)
• United States
24 Mar 08
this sounds like the manager was just trying to play god. i get really upset with our local Wally World too. we still only have a small (not a super) one too and there are different managers that are flexible and there are some that are such PITAs (pain in the arses)
i think you're right to boycott them if you can. i know how expensive gas station food is... do you have a local Publix or Spartan grocery store? it might be cheaper than the gas station.
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
23 Mar 08
That is awful. tha sounds about right these days though. No one cares for one another like they should anymore. It is sickening. We go out of our way to care for people only to be crapped on in the process. I don't blame you for not shopping there anymore either. That is rediculous! I'm glad it all worked out in the end though, but the heck you have to go through to make it all happen. Whewwwww.
@twils2 (1812)
• United States
23 Mar 08
Hello Easymoney,
I have to hand it to your husband, not very many people would go out of there way to help someone-much less that far out of there way to help a helpless lady in distress.
I cant say that I'm surprised by the attutude of the Walmart manager, Walmart isnt known for there neighborly kindness. Walmart seems to pick and train there managers to not care about the public. All they care about is the almighty dollar. I think Walmart has gotten so big and powerful that the execs in Arkansas think they are gods or something. Its a nowonder there stock has been falling-they just dont get it. And the more there stock prices fall, the worst they get.
My wife used to work for Walmart and at first about 8 years ago they treated her pretty good but as they got bigger they started treating the employees pretty bad. To bad they didnt stick to the foundation that Sam Walton set up for the store to begin with. I dont shop there any more either.
Take care, Terry
