Post by: Mayo on July 24, 2009, 06:38:19 PM
Excerpt:
"At the big discount stores, most discounts are applied to everyday necessities like toothpaste and lettuce. Brand-name clothing and appliances may be no bargain at all. “Wal-Mart actually has higher than average prices on about one-third of the stock it carries,” Ruppel Shell writes. “On those items for which prices are lower, the average savings is 37 cents, with about one-third of items carrying a savings of no more than 2 cents."
Post by: kimmer on July 24, 2009, 09:39:41 PM
I have privately boycotted them since Sam died and the greedy %^&*(#$%^ kids took over. Their business practices turn my stomach and upset my BP.
Post by: sandbox on July 25, 2009, 12:13:15 AM
We are a consumer society we seek the lowest prices or the easiest avenue of acquisition.
Industry seeks larger markets. America was saturated with consumer goods and most of the planet's population could not afford to purchase our products. The only option available was to create markets.
The markets are created, the question is: can we compete in the nightmare that we have create?
I think not.
As soon as we create a new technology the corporations will outsource the labor for profit. The winner of the contract will steal the new technology and sell it on ebay to the highest bidder.
I don't use wal-mart but I do use Sam's Club for domestic wholesale items. If the article included Sam's Club the discount would reflect a true value.
Of course you have to join and pay $25 out front but if your truly an All American Consumer you can pay for that fee in one visit.
Post by: beacher on July 29, 2009, 03:39:19 PM
Post by: Mayo on September 03, 2009, 05:05:30 PM
No more paychecks. And if they decline direct deposit to a bank account they will be paid via a debit card. "So what?" you may ask: The employees opting for debit cards will incur bank fees for accessing their funds.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on September 03, 2009, 06:19:52 PM
And, you think $2 is high to withdraw money, wait until you write a bad check! Of course, many of our high-school graduates have no idea how to balance a check book...
We had a renter for over twenty years who, in the last ten always paid with a money order! And he was paying almost triple what the monthly note was! And that note had been paid off at most of that ten year period. I suppose it's my fault that he didn't buy a house, because all his money went to me and the money order store? I don't think so, he could have moved any time he wanted, if he could have found a better place at a lesser cost! I guess I'm saying I have little sympathy for those who continue to refuse to become educated in the simplest financial instruments and how to budget.
Post by: Mayo on September 03, 2009, 06:36:34 PM
Post by: Xairbusdriver on September 03, 2009, 07:49:55 PM
Blaming someone else for the consequences of your own actions is a futile and time wasting endeavor. In my humble opinion. YMMV. Just today, I heard a fellow receive an award for helping his land of birth, Nepal. He arrived in New York in 1975 with $300. He is now an American citizen, owner of several businesses and first went back to Nepal in 1987 (I think) with several doctors and nurses to tend to the mass of health needs. Since then, he has built three hospitals and the organization is now world-wide and self-supporting. No, I simply don't accept that handing out money for doing nothing is a solution to the problems of being poor, uneducated, underpaid, etc. Nor does the Constitution even promise that handout. It is not a "right." 'Success,' no matter how it is defined, is not a gift, it is earned by talent or work or imagination and most of all, by desire and belief in ones capabilities no matter what current environment one finds oneself. That is what is promised by our Constitution; "the pursuit of happiness."
I dare say, Mr. Sam Walton did not let his poor condition during his childhood prevent him from succeeding. But some legislators have seen fit to identify a corporation as being a nearly human entity, with all the privileges accompanying same. Unfortunately, many corporations have vast amounts of power (money) to get what they want whether they deserve it or not. That, my friend, is the problem with Wal-Mart, AT&T, BP, Haliburton, GE...
Post by: krissel on September 04, 2009, 04:20:49 AM
Any guesses?
Post by: sandbox on September 04, 2009, 07:47:06 AM
There is less money moving around so their opportunity to grab a piece has diminished. Let's make a deal….Corporate America….you scratch mine and I'll hide yours? We'll suck it out of the captured audience, the labor class, because the investor class is to smart to get caught up in our shenanigans.
Plastic is use to supplant paper, and we all know where the plastic grows. Your welcome Exxon/Mobile.
Eventually it's going to be bank credits, online payments, direct withdrawal in a cashless environment. If nothing else it's more sanitary. Just put a dollar bill under a microscope one day and see all the creepy boogers that have made their way to your pocket. If you saw where that $10 has been you'd never touch it.
70% of the bills in Florida have cocaine on them, H1N1 any1?
Post by: Xairbusdriver on September 04, 2009, 05:13:02 PM
As far as I know, they do not have the main protections of a CC; stop payment ability/payment dispute access, fraud protection, etc. And, apparently many more fees/costs! An aside:
A couple of years ago, the younger granddaughter saw Nana take some cash out of that 'stash.' "So that's where you hide your cash!" "That's correct, but no one really knows where it is. Can you keep the secret?" "Of course, you can trust me!" Not five minutes later, the older granddaughter come in announcing she knows where the cash stash is! The 10 year old just couldn't keep such a powerful secret to herself!
Post by: krissel on September 05, 2009, 07:01:00 AM
And never trust a child with a secret, ever. In fact don't trust adults either.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on September 05, 2009, 09:14:02 AM
That was sorta my point, one does not always need to bend to the demands of many 'banks.' There are alternatives, almost always (I never say always!) less expensive, more friendly and user-responsible. My real point, I suppose, is that there is no reason I can think of not to have these kinds of services, no matter how much or how little one has. And it is several hundred dollars a year cheaper than pay day check cashing "services" or even money orders!Don't worry about your secrets, they are safe with me and all my friends!
Post by: kimmer on September 05, 2009, 03:38:00 PM
On the subject of those debit VISA cards ... Staples now uses them for all their rebates and the fine print states that you either use it entirely within 3 months or they start charging a fee. I much preferred the check I could cash.
Since I hate WM anyway, you can guess my opinion on this move.
Post by: RNKIII on September 05, 2009, 06:18:46 PM
Bob K. rnkiii
Post by: kimmer on September 05, 2009, 09:20:24 PM
QUOTE(RNKIII @ Sep 5 2009, 03:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Kim... you better move to Minnesota..... same as Oregon only a little colder and/or hotter, not as wet, no ocean or mountains.....well maybe not just the same... but they can't charge a fee on those cards and they can't expire... Minnesota law says so...
A little colder and/or little hotter?!?!?!?!
No thanks, I'll stay here in Oregon. 
There is an Oregon law (as of 1/1/08) that does cover certain gift cards, fees, time period for useage, etc., but I don't think these are covered. No matter I spent my refund at the grocery store this afternoon.
Post by: gunug on September 12, 2009, 06:48:24 AM
http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=in_walmarts_image
I spent quite a bit of time sitting on the bench in front of the changing rooms of this Bigger Walmart waiting for my wife to try on about 25 things. I listened to the conversations of the people working that desk and who also answer the phones and I'm sure that they appreciate having jobs and that they don't spend a lot of time wondering about how moral Walmart is. I really don't like Walmart but I know that I can find some things there at prices that I can afford.
Post by: sandbox on September 20, 2009, 04:38:34 AM
History demonstrates time and again that success such as Walmat's is derived from the resources of others.
You may indeed not have any choice, but walmart, and their system was designed to create that condition.
They are now too Big to Fail and should be regulated so that they cannot hold our economy by the throat.
The sooner the global economy achieves equitable distribution the more peaceful we will be. Using our military to defend the exploitation by corporation under the guise of need, capitalism or national security requires closer examination. These corporations are subsidized with our tax dollars and the price we pay is too high.
When nations say enough exploitation, no more taking of resources and cheap labor, the hollow headed point their fat fingers and call them communists or socialist, when what they are really doing is protecting their sovereignty, national pride and human dignity.
When Kennedy past the minimum wage law many corporations began smuggling illegals into the country, payed them less than legal wages and placed them on the public dole. In spite of the law they continued and found ways or payed politicians to look the other way. That is the sort of Scoundrels we're dealing with in walmart, exxon, at&t on and on. It's repackage slavery with human trafficing, rape and exploitation all rapped up in a 21st century bow.
Unfortunately many don't have choices, the walmart in their area put everyone out of business so there are no local options. Online shopping is the best option today if people take the time to find a reasonable retail outlet, and know the products. If consumers saw the conditions of the people in these sweat shops that produce the goods that reaches the walmart shelves, I'm sure some would think twice about shopping there.