good customer service at walmart
Don K
of "fixing" the new VCR/DVD combo they had bought.
Their old VCR broke, and all they want is to be able to record Judge Judy,
Jeopardy, etc. while they're out and then watch them later.
Looking at what they bought, I saw that it wasn't going to work because
the new VCR/DVD didn't have a built-in tuner. I called the cable company
and found that it would cost $10 per month to rent a cable box with video
output.
I checked whether BestBuy or Circuit City sold external tuners that
tuned the basic cable channels, but they didn't have anything.
So the only recourse was to return the VCR/DVD to Walmart.
The only problem was they had bought it "sometime last month", they
threw away the box, and they threw away the receipt.
So I go into Walmart, tell them I'm from out-of-town, and live 2500 miles
away, but my wife's 90-year-old aunt bought this VCR combo from them
last month, in order to tape Judge Judy, but she can't, because she didn't
know she needed a tuner, and she threw away the box, and she threw
away the receipt, and I know it's not Wal-Mart's fault at all, but would
they be willing to allow me to exchange it anyway?
Of course the customer service clerk referred me to the electronics
manager, who patiently listened to my story, and said, "hmmm, I guess
we could mark it up as 'doesn't record' ".
Anyway, they gave a full store credit refund!
A lot of people like to complain about Walmart, but IMO, they do
have very impressive customer service.
Don
P.S.
I ended up buying them a DVD recorder with tuner at a lower price.
Apparently VCR's are now antiques.
George
all because they will simply ding the vendor. They will even accept
stuff that has been obviously misused or damaged by the user and just
nail the supplier so they can look good.
clams_casino
>A lot of people like to complain about Walmart, but IMO, they do
>have very impressive customer service.
>
>
>
I've always found Walmart to have impressive customer service (along
with JC Pennys / unlike Macys).
Perhaps it's the current recession, but I've found even Home Depot to be
friendly / helpful over the past few months.
tmc...@searchmachine.com
> I ended up buying them a DVD recorder with tuner at a lower price.
> Apparently VCR's are now antiques.
They are. You can still find DVD/VCR combo machines, but there are no
VCR only machines anymore. I found a VCR for sale last year for $29,
and it was marked "close-out/discontinued". I bought it and stashed it
in the closet. I have a huge videotape collection that's really not
worth transferring to DVD. This way, when my current VCR dies (and
some year it will), I'll still have a machine which plays this
technology. Maybe they will continue to make DVD/VCR combos, but I
doubt they will forever. It was VERY hard to find a good turntable in
recent years, although they seem to be making a comeback from online
sources.
hchi...@hotmail.com
wrote:
>I found a VCR for sale last year for $29,
>and it was marked "close-out/discontinued". I bought it and stashed it
>in the closet. I have a huge videotape collection that's really not
>worth transferring to DVD. This way, when my current VCR dies (and
>some year it will), I'll still have a machine which plays this
>technology.
Maybe. Electronic components can fail over time, whether you use them
or not, and sometimes just because you DON'T use them. Ask any
old-timer about "dried-out caps" and be prepared for a story or two.
If there is any rubber in the drive mechanism, it'll dry out,
lubricants will congeal, unplated metals rust, springs lose tension,
insulation get brittle, etc. Using old electro-mechanical devices can
be a crap shoot.
Seerialmom
Good story. And you must have sounded "genuine" about the problem;
then again they'll put it on the shelf as "out of the box" on
clearance for maybe $5 less. As for Wal-Mart in general having
"impressive customer service"...that's kind of an oxymoron since it's
a self-serve store and most departments have little or no on the floor
assistance. I think it would also depend on what state/city you're
in; Kentucky or Tennessee would probably have better customer service
at Wal-Mart than California or New York just because of the people
available.
Seerialmom
You know those VHS tapes degrade over time, right? They don't have an
infinite shelf life (then again, the jury is still out on DVD shelf
life). I've started transferring my home movies to DVD (Sam's Club
had a killer deal on a DVD recorder, no PC needed for $99 before
Christmas, I bought one for me and one for my brother). However I
still have 4.5 VCR's at home (.5 is for the one I retired because it
started wanting to eat tapes).
Seerialmom
> On Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:57:23 -0800 (PST), tmcl...@searchmachine.com
I found that out the hard way. I bought a CD/TV (looks like a CD
boombox with a 5in color TV) combo at JC Penney for about $150;
finally broke it out of the box almost a year later and within 10
minutes of turning it on it blew a fuse. My dad is an electronics
tech; he suggested a slightly higher amp fuse; installed that and it
doesn't blow the fuse but does have a high pitched whine sound only
when playing the TV. I learned my lesson....try out the device ASAP
because I could have returned that if I had tested it earlier.
WaterBoy
i like their liberal return policy
customer service is good...when found
waterboy
brother mouse
> Actually walmart deserves little praise because it didn't hurt them at
> all because they will simply ding the vendor. They will even accept
> stuff that has been obviously misused or damaged by the user and just
> nail the supplier so they can look good.
I was in the CS line with a product that was missing parts (a previous
return). The lady in front of us had two kids with freshly-shorn
buzzcuts; they still had hair bits on their shoulders and shirt.
Lady returned the buzzer because "it doesn't work". Ahhh, the American
consumer.
rick++
the "W" maybe, the third one lasts the warranty period.