TommyK Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 ... I picked it up and I could tell by the heft it was built lighter and seemed..... I dunno' date=' [i']junkier[/i]. I turned it over and saw the label that said "Made in China". *sigh* An American icon. Who's next? It's called being, "Walmartized." Cheapened to the point that it neither longer functions properly, nor provides good value for your dollar. Bloody 'ell, they got to sell you one next week...right? Where do you think all them Chinese intermodal containers are heading? Walmart. Usually your local hardware store has replacement parts of this sort. Try out your friendly TrueValue or Ace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJustice Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 ...Even the original I Phones are better made than the original ones. So... do you mean to suggest that I should go for the original rather than the original? DJ -- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjuju342 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Walmart...."USA all the way!" More like "proud of its long standing tradition of sucking all the money out of your community and sending it to Arkansas and foreign countries". Thanks for shopping! When Sam Walton died , so did the "Made in USA"angle WalMart crowed about. That place has no conscience or morals now , just "Let's buy this crap as cheap as possible , mark it up, and tell everyone about our low everyday prices". I boycotted them a loooong time ago and have not set foot back in there since.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 I hate WalMart I hate WalMart I hate WalMart I hate WalMart I usually end up muttering this to myself and others within 20' of me when I exit WalMart without what it was I came in to get.... which is seldom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjuju342 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 It is also a bad place to try to meet quality women! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 Some people find yellow sweat pants and muffin tops a turn on. And if she has a muffin top even WITH sweat pants, maybe she ought not be buying any more Blue Bunny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky4 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 They're terrible for companies to deal with. You don't tell them what your charging, they tell you what they're paying. Not to mention the employees.... http://walmartwatch.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Someone once told me the sidewalks of Japan are teeming with 'last year's model' TVs' date=' stereos etc on garbage day because they are obsessed with new new new allatime new and last years anything is just junk. I don't know how true it is. Said the man who has a 1967 Grants electric can opener, a 1952 Sunbeam deep fryer, an electric iron from the Lucy/Ricky era and an '82 Ford pickup. Oh, my main bike is a 1974 [b']HONDA[/b] 360 but that was a whole different era. That was when they made them to last, not fade away in a few years. Hadda co-worker with one of them table top griddles for making pancakes and such. She gets it out once a year when her sister comes to visit, as it was this sister what gave it to her. Thing is, the third time (3 years later) she got it out to griddle with it. It wouldn't heat up. I asked if it was one of those with the dial on the big end thingy that plugs into the side of griddle. She said now it was just molded in. No heat control dial, just plug it in. It was then that she related its diminutive age. She then asked if she thought someone could fix it (me). I told her, quite honestly, though I am up for an electrical challenge, anything made since 1979, most probably is not servicable. And that's the sad, dog gone truth. aka Walmartized. Is it any wonder our landfills are being turned into ski slopes? ... says the man with a 1975 lawn tractor, 1963 roto-tiller ... and up 'til last winter a 1962 Toro-SnoHound snow thrower... and no the Briggs on Scrapiron motor runs like a scared deer. The blower was fallin' to pieces underneath it. I replaced it with a newer model self-propelled. Might even be a 1980's! BTW, anyone ever work on a 1880's SethThomas wind-up clock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 When Sam Walton died ' date=' so did the "Made in USA"angle WalMart crowed about. That place has no conscience or morals now , just "Let's buy this crap as cheap as possible , mark it up, and tell everyone about our low everyday prices". I boycotted them a loooong time ago and have not set foot back in there since....[/quote'] That's the trouble with family owned businesses. When the founder dies, all the kids, who have been given highpaying, jobs doing pretty much nothing, figure they need to ALL be making the bajillions old 'Pap' made. Then either the prices have to go up, or qualtiy goes down. Used to be able to go to Merrimec Caverns near Sullivan, Mo. Last time I took the kids there it cost me near 100.00 for admission for the family. Nope, we skipped the tchatchke corner and got back on the highway after takin' the 10¢ tour that wasn't as high a grade tour we took when the kids was younger. I related that to my FIL and he says, yep, ever since the old man died..... Same with FLWright's House On The Rock. Costs a King's ransome just to get in the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Some people find yellow sweat pants and muffin tops a turn on. And if she has a muffin top even WITH sweat pants' date=' maybe she ought not be buying any more Blue Bunny.[/quote'] Blue Bunny I get... I love their Rootbeer Float bars. But Muffin Tops? I don't get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 They're terrible for companies to deal with. You don't tell them what your charging' date=' they tell you what they're paying. Not to mention the employees.... http://walmartwatch.com/ [/quote'] If you don't expect change, expect more of the same. I read an article in a BusinessWeek magazine a few years ago. It reported that whenever there is a rumor of, 'Union', at a store, Bentonville has a designated team and strategy for puting the Union idea down. This team of about six managers wing their way to the 'front' and have mandatory store meetings, letters go home to spouses, extoling the virtues of 'freedom to work', yadda, yadda, yadda. Their, adversary, The Food And Commercial Workers Union, always, ALWAYS, caputulates! My son worked at a warehouse that used to be unionized. About a year after he started working there the rank and file voted to dissolve the union... The Teamsters. There wasn't much opposition to dropping the Teamsters. Almost to the day, after the union stopped representing the rank and file, the abuses started, mandatory overtime, last minute shift changes, firings, just because I don't like you, loss of benefits and wages.... After a year of this, my son approaced The Teamsters again about getting representation... he and other workers were ready to go back. The Union rep asked him, what is the name of your company? It's "XYZ" logistics... The rep, said, Naw... we can't go up against them. The Teamsters.... THE TEAMSTERS!!!!! (remember Jimmy Hoffa?). Those guys USED to play rough. Now they're just school yard putzes. TODAYS UNIONS ARE WIMPS. There, I said it. My wife belongs to a union and the nit-wits that get elected to their executive board are just looking for a way to get in good with management. Therefore, what management asks for, management gets.... Mark my words, until there is another Haymarket riot, the rank and file won't appreciate what their union is doing for them. I'm not for violence, but I predict this must happen. WALMART should be the battle ground as WALMART is the head of the snake and should be dealt with first. Until the Unions get tough and take these users to the matt, we will continue to see our wages... all wages approach 3rd world status. BTW, I'm not a union member and don't suspect I ever will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Even the original I Phones are better made than the original ones. Something doesn't sound right here.... "Even the original I Phones are better made than the original ones" Isn't that like saying that the first I phones are made better than the first ones??? Isn't that the same thing? What am I missing??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSG_Standard Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Walmart...."USA all the way!" More like "proud of its long standing tradition of sucking all the money out of your community and sending it to Arkansas and foreign countries". Thanks for shopping! Arkansas is a foreign country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted May 16, 2009 Author Share Posted May 16, 2009 But Muffin Tops? I don't get it. :- This should clear it up. Funny' date=' I don't recall seeing muffin tops before the internet generation. The girls I grew up with in the 70s were much more attractive, IMHO. [img']http://hairtoday.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/muffin-top.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 I avoid Wal Mart. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html page 5: ":The way to avoid being trapped in a spiral of growing business and shrinking profits' date=' says Carey, is to innovate. "You need to bring Wal-Mart new products--products consumers need. Because with those, [b']Wal-Mart doesn't have benchmarks to drive you down in price. They don't have historical data, you don't have competitors, they haven't bid the products out to private-label makers. That's how you can have higher prices and higher margins.[/b]" For you Star Trekkies, it sounds sort of like dealing with The Borg. Do something they don't expect and have no experience with. Then change your approach with never ending innovation before they 'adapt.' Bain's other critical discovery is that consumers are often more loyal to product companies than to Wal-Mart. With strongly branded items people develop a preference for--things like toothpaste or laundry detergent--Wal-Mart rarely forces shoppers to switch to a second choice. It would simply punish itself by seeing sales fall, and it won't put up with that for long. Exactly why I and my wife HATE shopping at WalMart. You get used to a brand, and in some cases, are locked into a brand for allergy reasons, and apparently, due to Bentonville bullying, the brand you have come to depend upon is gone from their shelfs replaced by a look-a-like made God knows where, wit God knows what ingredients. The upshot is that once you re-find what you've loved all these years, you discover WalMart is NOT the low priced leader. As a matter of fact, we've found other places to shop and spend as much or less money. Stick that in your pickle jar WM! ""At that price we no longer think it's a good value to our shopper. Therefore, we don't think we should carry it."" Ah... WM, our alterparent. Tell us what is a good value for us. What chutspa! No, WM, I don't shop there because I know what is good value for me and it isn't at WalMart. It's Wal-Mart in the role of Adam Smith's invisible hand. And the Milwaukee employees of Master Lock who shopped at Wal-Mart to save money helped that hand shove their own jobs right to Nogales. Not consciously, not directly, but inevitably. "Do we as consumers appreciate what we're doing?" Larrimore asks. "I don't think so. But even if we do, I think we say, Here's a Master Lock for $9, here's another lock for $6--let the other guy pay $9." We only have ourselves to blame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 This should clear it up. Funny' date=' I don't recall seeing muffin tops before the internet generation. The girls I grew up with in the 70s were much more attractive, IMHO. [img']http://hairtoday.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/muffin-top.jpg[/img] Ahh... a top that shows the muffin! We used to call it a bun in the oven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 One other thing on the FastCompany article. Have any of you seen the movie Wall-E? Great movie about a sole surviving mobile, self propelled, self motivated trash compactor. His job was to clean up the cast-off and refuse of a society who exited the planet Earth because of all the trash that was being built up faster than could be cleaned up. The villain in this story? A company called Buy-N-Large. Buy-N-Large seemed to have infiltrated the government and every facet of human society from consumer goods, to health care, to convenience stores, mobile self propelled, self motivated trash compactors and. yes.... the ship that took the human beings away from a trash filled earth. Quite a prophetical movie I might say. That 'muffin Top' thing brought it home KSDADDY. The surviving population of humans, traversing the galaxy, several generations removed from those who left the planet were quite over fed, and under exercized as Buy-N-Large had supplied their every want and desire... except love and self motivation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mick Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Lighter and cheaper maybe it was weight relieved or even chambered ??? People complain all day about how everything is made overseas and is so cheap. are these the same people that complain how expensive Gibson are after being hand made in the USA. In the world we live in you get to choose between high end custom made and low cost imports you just can't have both... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MReynolds Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 I avoid Wal Mart. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html +100 I haven't shopped at Walmart in ages and will NEVER go back to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MReynolds Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 My rule for shopping at wal mart is never to buy anything there that is expected to be durable. Expendibles are OK' date=' like toilet paper, magazines, batteries, etc.[/quote'] You got part of that right..."My rule for shopping at wal mart is..." NEVER SHOP AT WALMART! Check out the last Consumer Reports...Walmart and Sam's Club ranked the lowest...Costco was tops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MReynolds Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 WalMart is the summation of all that is evil... I will not shop there...ever.... To quote South Park...."KILL THE HEART OF THE WALMART!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bostonpaul03 Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 ksdaddy: Just as an aside, I love your signature... "The person who is not nice to the waitress is not a nice person." I find it a truism. I've had aquaintences for years whom I had never dined with. And have been shocked to see them acting rude to the waitress when we finally did dine out with. Their "likeability" instantly went down with me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted May 17, 2009 Author Share Posted May 17, 2009 You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat people "under" them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basshole Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Literaliy when people shop at Wal-Mart people buy themselfs out of a job. It placed more demand for labor and that labor is going to come from a low wage, tax free, extremly poor environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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