Consumer Reports: Wal-Mart comes up short in rankings

Walmart has long been known to knock the competition out of business by under-cutting at a loss, until the competition has gone bankrupt or just closed. Remember Marks & Spensers quality clothes? I still have 2 o their suits that were made to last in style and good material!

Remember when Walmart bought the hair-stylists of a Simpsons Dep't store, then refused to honour the agreement to keep the former owners for a few years! Ha! "Sue us" and the former hair style owners did, and won, but Walmart did not care from their reactions. No apology, just business I seem to recall Walmart's reaction. Well, that is not my kind of "business" to plan to take advantage of the long standing quality services of others from the start and then just pay-up when the court forces you! Disgusting and why I am proud to have never bought anything at a Walmart.

Those "models" in the ads are employees and their families being exploited I think as "everyone wants to be a model, eh"! The Sam Walton philosophy is the opposite of a Bill Gates who "gives back" to the world and society through not just quality and innovation but also helps in needy areas.

Check the story of The Body Shop. During her lifetime, Body Shop founder Anita Roddick built a reputation for innovation, integrity and social responsibility.[ About The Body Shop Story from Encyclopedia of Leadership, Volume 4] No you won't find anything much good about Walmart and yeah I am one who will be happy to see Walmart go down the drain if we ever wash them out of our hair! JM

To Jan-Michael.... well said.

I think Wal-mart is a great place to shop if you are looking for a bargain and you understand it is a bargain. But as far a food goes i find they are in some areas more exspensive then let say no-frill but the same quality. but if you are looking for clothing for everyday use, i find that Wal-mart falls very low in adult clothing, especially womens fashions. They only seem to gear toward the teens or very much older females. Nothing I would wear for 30-40 yr. olds.

Again, it comes down to the bargain thing. You either want to save money for ok quality or go somewhere and pay alittle more for something that will last throught fashion week!

People need to eat a big ole slice of reality pie! Wal-Mart is no different than any other corporate giant out there. They're called chain stores, and they all have the same mentality. If you can't beat em, Eat em. Independent retailers are swallowed up every day in all areas of business. Just ask an independent gas retailer in Atlantic Canada how Irving opens up on 3 different corners all around you and undercuts you till your out of business. then they close up 2 of the 3 and own the corner.
The problem is quite simple. Consumers are hypocrites. They love to bitch about the Wal-marts of the world but the fact is, if they can buy the exact same goods down the street at Walmart and it's cheaper then that's who gets the sale. When you buy a new car, do you shop around for the best deal or do you pay hundreds of dollars more because the Mom and Pop dealer called you by your first name and gave your kid a free hotdog and a coke? Wake up people! We made Wal-Mart what it is, and as long as they bring us the goods cheap we will continue to flock to their stores.

I do not have problem with low prices and bad quality, what I have a problem with is the child labour and sweatshops we are contributing towards as a society. Sure you get a good bang for your dollar..but did anyone think where products like clothes, bags, etc. are coming from???
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/WalMartsweatshops
http://www.lilithgallery.com/articles/2006/WalmartsSweatshops.html

I would rather pay a few more bucks and buy from a retailer that understands human rights.

Well we are all very good at complaining but seem to never do anything about it. This post will seem to side on both sides but both are valid. On the big chain side, they may be using cheap labour from over seas but look around us here in Canada (and most likely the USA) and you will see those of us that are so high and mighty that we won't work the menial jobs that pay minimum wage so where do the giants go...to where they will work for lower wages and they are thankful for the wages. They are now able to feed themselves, clothe themselves, possibly put a roof over their heads and send some of their siblings off to school. No on the down side, yes they are eliminating the mom and pop stores (their competition) and when they are alone, they start playing the pricing game. If you want a bargain, know your pricing. There are some good deals out there both at Wal-mart and the other giants in the field. If you are a knowledgable shopper you can always come out ahead. Personally they burnt me a couple years ago and I consistently buy their products when I know they are losing (or not making much) money on them.

Lets not forget people, that Walmart when setting up a new location anywhere, also pays for the infastructure of the roads, etc. surrounding its location. They add a huge amount of dollars into a cities/town economy. They hire your kids, your neighbours, they pay huge taxes to our economy,.
Give me a break!!! do you really care about these giant supestores taking over the world? yeah right, only when its convenient for you to whine!!! get a job - maybe at Walmart!!!

good shot Mia

In regards to the sweatshops, eventhough it is wrong by our society's standard, in some countries, those working kids are the only ones bringing in an income in the house, because no one else can get a job. A lot of people are boycotting WalMart and truthfully, many don't even know why. Just ask. You might be surprised by some of the answers. Too much of the stuff in WalMart comes from China. THAT is something you should worry about. China is putting one heck of a kicking to the global economy not to mention local businesses. As for human rights? China doesn't know the meaning. Is that any better than the sweatshops?

My comment is the same as "Mia's"...GET A JOB! Quit with the attitudes...and Get a job!
Sweatshops?? Maybe instead of complaining about "human rights"...you should get off your a** and go get a job...or let someone who's hardworking do it...but quit gripping when someone ELSE actually gets ahead in life because they worked and didn't gripe!

what kind of response is "get a job!" ???
if it didn't sound so stupid, i'd think you were telling everyone they had no right to complain or point out what is wrong with wall-mart and other corporations as well. or that maybe our only purpose is as consumers who have no choice.
"shush everyone, there's nothing going on here. uh huh, no way. shut up"

you're supposed to be working on the wall-mart floor, not messing with the boss's computor!!!

When Walmart first started it was good for lower end cheap goods. Now the goods are low quality and shoddy. This is in Canada. The American shops had a better variety but now are no better. Now other chain stores are trying to compete with Walmart and have lowered their Quality standards and are selling the same shoddy goods

The last two things I bought in Canada were both 'Made In Canada'

Jon

I think the parents of these kids working in the sweatshops would prefer them sewing shirts rather than selling sex.

Jon

Well I love WalMart - at least they care about their customers. Has anyone been to that Canadian store that begins with a Z? terrible service with higher prices. Ask anyone for help in a Zellers store and it's the same old answer "I don't work in this department"!!!
WalMart does very well in a recession, a great place to shop for people with lower incomes.
WalMart is also a great place to work, they do take care of their employees even though they don't pay high wages. They employ a lot of people and don't discriminate against older workers.
I hope we see more WalMarts

All my Walmart experiences have been aweful, from long lineups to immigrants who cant speak english at the tills. Not only that everytime I go through the checkout my bill seems higher than what I anticipated. Far cry from their commercial ..If you really look at the lady in that commercial you could take it the other way as well. i do believe that Canadians do deserve a break in pricing god knows we pay so much in taxes its scary. We need to support our small Canadian businesses first.

I agree with those that have noticed the quality of many products at Wal-Mart continually decrease. You think you're buying durable goods but the the products are shoddy and don't last, especially small appliances, electronics, and shoes. I don't mind shopping at Wal-Mart for other household goods like bathroom supplies, snacks, toys, and the occasional cheap DVD, but I would not really buy much else and I definitely try to avoid weekends when it does get very busy. You can't blame Wal-Mart for the line-ups. If you're waiting in line, it's because you've chosen to go shop at Wal-mart with everyone else in your neighborhood. I think Zellers and Canadian Tire are worse when it comes to service and line-ups.

i believe that if you could accurately determine the annual income of all walmart shoppers, you would find that about 5% truly can't afford to shop anywhere else, the other 95% are there because of the "bargain"...........there is no such thing as a bargain in life..........the model is not sustainable...........if we truly want to uphold the middle-class concept in north america, we all have to pay for it every day as consumers...........i'm afraid north america truly will be the new 3rd world inside of 20 years.....

To all you fools who advise people to stop griping about walmart wages and get a real job, you are a bunch of uneducated cock suckers. Walmart profits and exploits workers, just because they make their employees lives a little bit better by providing a crappy job that they wouldnt have otherwise, doesnt mean they are giving these people with a service. You people are the reason why exploitation exists.

To: Hello...DumDums: Maybe before you go spouting off at others and calling them Dumdums you should learn a little basic english grammar and spelling. If it wasn't for WalMart there would be alot more people out of work. Maybe all the people badmouthing WalMart are the ones who couldn't pass muster and get a job there.Are there problems and greivances; sure...but you show me one company the size of WalMart, that employs the number of people that WalMart does, that doesn't have problems...I'll just bet you can't find one!