Yet another reason to hate Wal-Mart

[Morden]

Maybe the reason they can't ship it is because they messed up on the price and listed it for close to $10 below the MSRP? Limited printing my hairy arse! This order is for the Minbarri Fact Book.

Dear Darrin Drader,

We are writing to let you know that we are unable to fill your order for Babylon 5. It was special-ordered with the publisher, and unfortunately it is out-of-print and can't be reordered at this time.

We have removed it from your order 2677049280374. Please check back on our site at a later date to see if it is available.

If you paid by credit card, your credit card will not be charged for this item. If you paid with a check online, the funds will be credited back to your account within 10 business days.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any questions or would like to order another item, please contact one of our Customer Service Associates at help@walmart.com or at 1-800-966-6546. We appreciate your business.

Sincerely,
Customer Service at Walmart.com
http://www.walmart.com

Edit: I just spoke with Wal-Mart's customer service over the phone and they said that the publisher isn't making it available to them. Is there any truth to this? If so, then I applaud you, but if not I think you may want to find out why Wal-Mart is refusing to sell your product.

 

[LoneStranger]

Probably the same reason they don't sell a lot of stuff there, something about it "offends the standards of the community" which you can take to mean "Wal-Mart is pulling it now before someone complains about it". I say forget them and go shop somewhere else that embraces gaming, there's certainly enough places online.

 

[Black Campbell]

More likely a problem with the distributor they are dealing with.

If you're in the US, you might want to go through these guys: http://www.usacomicbooks.com/

I've found them to be pretty good on prices and quick on shipping.

 

[Golem2176]

Community benefit(s), my left nut! I refuse to shop in one of their stores, in reality and online!

 

[Brucifer]

And if youre on England try


http://www.orcsnest.com/

I have bought every single one of my B5 books from them including my famous bulk buy before xmas and have handled them all with aplomb.

Last i checked they had B5 CCG boxes too tho that was while ago now.

 

[Golem2176]

I was not aware that there is (was?) a B5 CCG!

 

[Satai Delenn]

I have never had a problem with Walmart and I certainly didn't a problem with ordering the Minbari factbook or any others either.

 

[Black Campbell]

Community benefit(s), my left nut! I refuse to shop in one of their stores, in reality and online!

And why is that? Wal-Mart seems to be the locus of a lot of hate, but why? It pays all of its workers better than mnimum wage, 82% of their workers have health care at some level, they provide cheap, high-quality goods -- that's good the poor. As for creating a non-competitive marketplace, that's crap, too; other chains could use a similar market strategy and do as well. As for smaller vendors, if you want to patronize them instead, do so -- I prefer the small game store, marketplace, etc...but I also don't want to pay $50 for a pair of jeans that are worth the $20 I'd get them at CostCo or WalMart.

I've always found the anti-WalMart complaints to smack simply of elitism ("I only buy real brand-name jeans..."), and a distrust of success. I may not shop there often, but it's a damned good deal for the those on a budget -- both as an employer and a supplier of reasonably priced goods.

 

[CARTMAG]

imm black you wouldnt say that if you worked there.. I had worked at walmart in the past.. and they royaly screw there imployees..... they work you to death... and most managers realy dont give a rats ass about the health of there employees..... and compared to most companies for the same job they pay alot less to start... soo the truth is.. what they say publicly is a bunch of BULL>.. and this is from someone that has workd there.... and the truth about there products.. the last few pairs of jeans I bought at Walmart .. fell apart within the first 2 weeks of Purchising.... so they do deserve alot of the bashing they get... especialy when it is former employees saying thoes same things...

 

[Ranger66]

I buy all my mongoose stuff from Amazon.ca in Canada they stock most if not all the B5rpg stuff and I bought Cybernet from them as well.

In Australia I used to buy all my stuff from Military Sims. http://www.milsims.com.au/ As far as I know they stock all of Mongoose stuff or very darn close to all.


Only time I shop at Walmart is when the price is the best. Otherwise I avoid them. The " Non-offensive family store." is a big pile of garbage. I bought Kill Bill there and there is no way thats a family movie with the violence. They stock Bad Boys I & II and a ton of other films which certainly are not of a family variety. Not to mention many of the cool PS2 and Xbox games they stock are not family orientated.
It isn't a family store it just sounds great to market it that way. They only pull the stuff that is a marginal sale. If its going to be a big seller like Kill Bill, Last Samurai etc then they stock it and ignore their self-rightious statements.

Never would have thought of Rpg books at Walmart though.

 

[magestar]

Never bought any rpg books at wal-mart...as I have mentioned elsewhere, I work for Barnes & Noble, so I can get it through them.

However, to go OT for a moment, I agree that they screw over their employees badly. I heard that they would routinely alter the timeclock punches of its employees so that they would never get overtime, even going so far as to delete some punches, and in one instance scolding one employee for working something like 45 *seconds* overtime. For those of you who don't know, altering the timeclock is *extremely* illegal. When I read about that, I stopped going to wal-mart. Well, my $0.02 anyway. Later

 

[Golem2176]

I've always found the anti-WalMart complaints to smack simply of elitism ("I only buy real brand-name jeans..."), and a distrust of success. I may not shop there often, but it's a damned good deal for the those on a budget -- both as an employer and a supplier of reasonably priced goods.

Which is why I use Amazon.com, eBay & Overstock.com. So I can get my stuff at a discount.

 

[Anonymous]

Which is why I use Amazon.com, eBay & Overstock.com. So I can get my stuff at a discount.

As do I, just curious about the virulence directed at Wal-Mart. The former employee made some good points, but the level of hatred directed at this chain has always seemed...overwrought.

Just my opinion.

 

[redlaco]

It's the hypocrisy, I guess. Just like when McDonalds tries to sell their junk-food as "good for your health"... :shock: :roll:

 

[slingbld]

I've always found the anti-WalMart complaints to smack simply of elitism ("I only buy real brand-name jeans..."), and a distrust of success. I may not shop there often, but it's a damned good deal for the those on a budget -- both as an employer and a supplier of reasonably priced goods.

Actualy it's the anti-union, anti-decent pay & anti-benefits tactics that Wally World uses in order to under cut every mom & pop store in the area.
They offer some 400 jobs per store, but then cause other businesses to go under. the net result is quite simply a neighborhood that has more working poor & a retail giant that sits back, reaping the rewards of a draconian serfdom that hinders developement far more than it helps.

 

[Max_Writer]

I ordered the 3.5 books from Wal-Mart via the internet to save $20 and it took them roughly six months to get them to me. Seems like a long time just to save 1/3.

 

[Golem2176]

Actualy it's the anti-union, anti-decent pay & anti-benefits tactics that Wally World uses in order to under cut every mom & pop store in the area. They offer some 400 jobs per store, but then cause other businesses to go under. the net result is quite simply a neighborhood that has more working poor & a retail giant that sits back, reaping the rewards of a draconian serfdom that hinders developement far more than it helps.

Exactly. Slngbld has hit the nailon the head.

 

[slingbld]

Exactly. Slngbld has hit the nail on the head.

Thanks,
Glad you agree. I live in the Chicago area (out in the 'burbs, not hte city proper) & I'm watching very closely the debate on allowing the first Wally World within the city limits of Chicago. You have the alderman of one of the wards to get the store rallying for it, then you have many people IN that ward rallying against it.

The continuing argument is:

Pro -> More jobs for the unemployed. Helps to revitalize the neighborhood by moving into a vacant building & providing some 400 jobs.

Con -> More small businesses going under. One building being occupied, several going vacant. Also the net pay for Wally World workers keeps them at or below the poverty level & the benifits are poor to say the least. Net result is a more depressed area as the small mom & pop stores go under or move to other areas far away from Wally World, making it the only place conveniently located for the working poor to go to get items.
That sounds like a serfdom to me. Being virtualy forced to buy items & supplies from your employer.....

I'll get off ye olde High Horse again....
Sorry to bring up politics....

 

[Elfman]

If you want to order gaming books online, I heartily suggest FRPGames. They get the product either on release day or the following day, and their site has a standing 20% off everything, with decent shipping cost and speed. They also do international shipping.

Example of pricing: Narn Regime Factbook [May Preorder] Retail: $34.95, FRP price: $27.95.

Just thought I'd offer an alternative to Wal-Mart that has good prices and none of those bad practices.

Share and Enjoy!

I am not affiliated with FRP games in any way. This is not an advert for FRP, I do this because they have always done right by me and I wanted to share the info.

 

[Anonymous]

[That sounds like a serfdom to me.

:roll:

You don't bloody know what serfdom is. Nor Naziism, nor fascism, nor all the other crap people spew to show 'how bad it is' in the western world. If anything is wrong in the industrialized world, it's we're spoiled and melodramatic about everything.