Last Nov (2013), changed my health insurance provider and as a
result had to select an approved local pharmacy for drugs.

The closet place was Wal-Mart, not one of my favorite places,
but what the heck.

Last Friday, called in a refill which was ready within 4 hours.

Not bad, but wasn't going to be able to make the pick up
until Saturday.

Late Saturday afternoon, made the drug pick up as well as
a non drug item, something I've done before, so NBD.

For some reason decided to use plastic even though the
total amount was less than $15.00.

Signed the forms, picked up my merchandise, and was
on my way.

Just another day at Wal-Mart it would seem, but not so.

Returned home, put the items away and started looking
at the receipts.

WHAT THE HEY???

I've been invoiced $87 + Change.

Wal-Mart is closed for the day, so would have to wait until
Sunday (Today).

Called Wal-Mart, was told to bring receipts back and things
would be straightened out.

Other than having to make a 2nd trip, NBD.

Wal-Mart processes the paper and wants to give me cash
rather than credit the plastic.

Just didn't think that would be too swift and indicated I
preferred credit to the plastic.

Oh we are off to see the wizard, the wizard who could
override the system and manually issue credit to the plastic
rather than cash to my hot little hand.

Almost 30 minutes later, the deed was done.

It had been a classic 3 stooges act.

Credit was issued to the plastic and a 2nd plastic account
was used to charge the correct amount.

So much for my trip to Wal-Mart.

To summarize.

My insurance has approved another drug chain that is more
convenient.

As of 9:00PM tonight, the 2nd plastic account has been charged
the correct amount (Less than $15) and the first plastic account
has NOT recorded a credit ($87 + Change).

I wonder when the credit will show?

No, I don't know why I didn't pay cash as I usually do for these
items.

And no, I don't know why I didn't review things before I
signed the bill of sale, I just didn't.

Just another reason to stay away from Wal-Mart whose
aisles have become so small as to make it not worth the effort
to shop there.

Off the stump.

Lew

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in news:53ba2bfa$0$50641
:

*snip*
As of 9:00PM tonight, the 2nd plastic account has been charged
the correct amount (Less than $15) and the first plastic account
has NOT recorded a credit ($87 + Change).

I wonder when the credit will show?
*snip*

Lew


I sometimes see purchases and credits immediately, but other times it
takes a few days for them to show up. It's usually a delay in the
processing.

If you don't see it show up after a week or so, call your credit card
company and tell them what happened. They'll straighten things out.

Puckdropper
--
Make it to fit, don't make it fit.

On Sun, 06 Jul 2014 22:11:25 -0700, Lew Hodgett wrote:

Last Nov (2013), changed my health insurance provider and as a result
had to select an approved local pharmacy for drugs.

The closet place was Wal-Mart, not one of my favorite places, but what
the heck.

We started using Walmart for prescriptions back before I was eligible for
Medicare because we could get generics there cheaper than anywhere else.
Now that we're on a fixed income we do some of our shopping there and
still use their pharmacy.

We've only had two problems in 10+ years. Once they were out of a drug
and they called several non-Walmart pharmacies till they found it for me.
The other time their supplier jacked up the price of a generic a
ridiculous amount, but they had that fixed by the next time I needed a
refill.

Walmart is like Harbor Freight. Some good stuff and some junk. But I've
been pretty happy with their pharmacy.

I suspect it depends on where you live. We're in the Inland Northwest
and retailers in general seem to generate less complaints than elsewhere.

As an example, I wanted to buy a 12" SCMS from HF when it was on a
special sidewalk sale. I got there right after opening - both of the
ones on hand had been sold. The manager gave me a rain check. I said I
thought they didn't give rainchecks on special sale items. The manager
responded that this store did when ^%$#@ corporate only sent her 2 of a
hot item :-).

Larry Blanchard writes:
On Sun, 06 Jul 2014 22:11:25 -0700, Lew Hodgett wrote:

Last Nov (2013), changed my health insurance provider and as a result
had to select an approved local pharmacy for drugs.

The closet place was Wal-Mart, not one of my favorite places, but what
the heck.

We started using Walmart for prescriptions back before I was eligible for
Medicare because we could get generics there cheaper than anywhere else.
Now that we're on a fixed income we do some of our shopping there and
still use their pharmacy.


Walmart is like Harbor Freight. Some good stuff and some junk. But I've
been pretty happy with their pharmacy.


The problem with Walmart is not the quality of their merchandise (albeit
often low) nor their prices (unusually low), but rather the adverse effect they have
on other merchants in many small communities, and thus on the health
of the community businesses.

Harbor Freight has no chance of driving the local hardware store out
of business, whereas Walmart has done that routinely and on a wide
scale.

Costco has good pharamacy prices (the best in the area, around here).

On 7/7/2014 1:13 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:

Harbor Freight has no chance of driving the local hardware store out
of business, whereas Walmart has done that routinely and on a wide
scale.

Exactly how did WalMart drive them out of business? Did they put up
barricades that prevented people from going to them? Road closure?
Did WalMart harass their customers? Set up picket lines?

To my knowledge, WalMart has not put anyone out of business. What did
put them under is the lack of customers. It seems that their loyal
customers like the idea of going to a big store that carried a lot of
stuff and mostly soled it cheaper.

Much as some people complain about the bix box stores, they flock to
them in droves. They do it for the same reason you are telling us
Costco is a good place to go. Costco is replacing a hundred or more
little corner grocery stores.

And the we have on-line shopping. . .

On Mon, 07 Jul 2014 13:44:34 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 7/7/2014 1:13 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:

Harbor Freight has no chance of driving the local hardware store out
of business, whereas Walmart has done that routinely and on a wide
scale.

Exactly how did WalMart drive them out of business? Did they put up
barricades that prevented people from going to them? Road closure?
Did WalMart harass their customers? Set up picket lines?

To my knowledge, WalMart has not put anyone out of business. What did
put them under is the lack of customers. It seems that their loyal
customers like the idea of going to a big store that carried a lot of
stuff and mostly soled it cheaper.

Much as some people complain about the bix box stores, they flock to
them in droves. They do it for the same reason you are telling us
Costco is a good place to go. Costco is replacing a hundred or more
little corner grocery stores.

And the we have on-line shopping. . .

+1

Lurndal is a communist so, of course, wants to control everyone else.

Scott Lurndal wrote:
Larry Blanchard writes:
On Sun, 06 Jul 2014 22:11:25 -0700, Lew Hodgett wrote:

Last Nov (2013), changed my health insurance provider and as a
result had to select an approved local pharmacy for drugs.

The closet place was Wal-Mart, not one of my favorite places, but
what the heck.

We started using Walmart for prescriptions back before I was
eligible for Medicare because we could get generics there cheaper
than anywhere else. Now that we're on a fixed income we do some of
our shopping there and still use their pharmacy.


Walmart is like Harbor Freight. Some good stuff and some junk. But
I've been pretty happy with their pharmacy.


The problem with Walmart is not the quality of their merchandise
(albeit
often low) nor their prices (unusually low), but rather the adverse
effect they have on other merchants in many small communities, and
thus on the health
of the community businesses.

Harbor Freight has no chance of driving the local hardware store out
of business, whereas Walmart has done that routinely and on a wide
scale.

A very common misconception. Think about it - how much of what a hardware
store carries, does Wal-Mart carry and compete with? Very little. So,
here's something a bit more factual for you... a friend of mine used to own
a local ACE franchise and at the time Wal-Mart was coming into town. He
contacted ACE to ask how to compete, how to fight, etc. ACE responded that
the best thing that could happen for his franchise would be is Wal-Mart were
to go in right across the street. Consumers don't understand this and they
talk about how Wal-Mart drives business out of town, but it's simply not
true. What Wal-Mart typically drives out of town are the guys that have
been raping the public because they had no compeition prior to Wal-Mart's
arrival - and then they cry about the big giant driving the little guy out.
But... three years later - do you hear any consumer complaining about it?
The quality of the stuff in that "local" guy was no better than what
Wal-Mart sells, but was priced 2-3 time higher. Good thing that the rip off
artists got driven out of town. As for the hardware stores - ACE does
pretty well right next to Wal-Mart.

--

-Mike-

On 7/7/2014 4:29 PM, Mike Marlow wrote:

A very common misconception. Think about it - how much of what a hardware
store carries, does Wal-Mart carry and compete with? Very little. So,
here's something a bit more factual for you... a friend of mine used to own
a local ACE franchise and at the time Wal-Mart was coming into town. He
contacted ACE to ask how to compete, how to fight, etc. ACE responded that
the best thing that could happen for his franchise would be is Wal-Mart were
to go in right across the street. Consumers don't understand this and they
talk about how Wal-Mart drives business out of town, but it's simply not
true. What Wal-Mart typically drives out of town are the guys that have
been raping the public because they had no compeition prior to Wal-Mart's
arrival - and then they cry about the big giant driving the little guy out.

Similar is Home Depot driving the local lumber yard out of business. In
south central MA we have a family owned Koopman's Lumber that recently
opened a fourth location.

Local locksmith was building a new storefront. He price the lumber
needed at HD and at Koopman's. The price seemed to favor HD by a couple
of hundred bucks. The difference? HD would have made one delivery
while the local guy made 4 or 5 as needed. When it came to cabinetry,
the local guy had a better selection.

I'm in the midst of remodeling the second bathroom. The first was about
12K and this will end up the same. Of all that money, only about $400
is from the big box stores. If you want better quality fixtures, you go
to the local stores that carry the better lines.

On Mon, 07 Jul 2014 19:32:23 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 7/7/2014 4:29 PM, Mike Marlow wrote:

A very common misconception. Think about it - how much of what a hardware
store carries, does Wal-Mart carry and compete with? Very little. So,
here's something a bit more factual for you... a friend of mine used to own
a local ACE franchise and at the time Wal-Mart was coming into town. He
contacted ACE to ask how to compete, how to fight, etc. ACE responded that
the best thing that could happen for his franchise would be is Wal-Mart were
to go in right across the street. Consumers don't understand this and they
talk about how Wal-Mart drives business out of town, but it's simply not
true. What Wal-Mart typically drives out of town are the guys that have
been raping the public because they had no compeition prior to Wal-Mart's
arrival - and then they cry about the big giant driving the little guy out.

Similar is Home Depot driving the local lumber yard out of business. In
south central MA we have a family owned Koopman's Lumber that recently
opened a fourth location.

Local locksmith was building a new storefront. He price the lumber
needed at HD and at Koopman's. The price seemed to favor HD by a couple
of hundred bucks. The difference? HD would have made one delivery
while the local guy made 4 or 5 as needed. When it came to cabinetry,
the local guy had a better selection.

I'm in the midst of remodeling the second bathroom. The first was about
12K and this will end up the same. Of all that money, only about $400
is from the big box stores. If you want better quality fixtures, you go
to the local stores that carry the better lines.
If you a flipping a house, use the Borg. If you are keeping the
house, use the REAL suppliers.
If you are buying a house, look for Borg branded fixtures and
materials. Generally if they are in evidence, the seller cut corners
other places as well, so look REAL close, bid low, or WALK.

Larry Blanchard wrote:


Walmart is like Harbor Freight. Some good stuff and some junk. But
I've been pretty happy with their pharmacy.

Likewise - I have been very happy with their pharmacy. I can't think of
anything one would care about in a pharmacy that Wal-Mart has failed me in.
And - very cheap prices.


I suspect it depends on where you live. We're in the Inland Northwest
and retailers in general seem to generate less complaints than
elsewhere.

I'm in the North East.


--

-Mike-

On Mon, 7 Jul 2014 16:48:27 +0000 (UTC), Larry Blanchard
wrote:

On Sun, 06 Jul 2014 22:11:25 -0700, Lew Hodgett wrote:

Last Nov (2013), changed my health insurance provider and as a result
had to select an approved local pharmacy for drugs.

The closet place was Wal-Mart, not one of my favorite places, but what
the heck.

We started using Walmart for prescriptions back before I was eligible for
Medicare because we could get generics there cheaper than anywhere else.
Now that we're on a fixed income we do some of our shopping there and
still use their pharmacy.

We don't use Walmart Pharmacy (rather Kroger) but we're on vacation
and my wife forgot to pack one of her meds. She had her doctor send
the Rx to the WallyWorld (no Kroger here) here but as it turned out
they didn't have the drug in stock. They called all around the area
and found a drug store that had it. I thought that was rather good
since we never use them.

The woman at our insurance company gave my wife a ration, at first,
but she called back and got someone who was quite helpful. It turned
out that we had once-per-year "loss" coverage, so they just chalked it
up to a "loss" and covered it, resulting in a $25 co-pay rather than
$125 (for 10 pills).

We've only had two problems in 10+ years. Once they were out of a drug
and they called several non-Walmart pharmacies till they found it for me.
The other time their supplier jacked up the price of a generic a
ridiculous amount, but they had that fixed by the next time I needed a
refill.

Walmart is like Harbor Freight. Some good stuff and some junk. But I've
been pretty happy with their pharmacy.

The difference is that WallyWorld carries name brands, which are
exactly the same thing as more expensive stores carry.

I suspect it depends on where you live. We're in the Inland Northwest
and retailers in general seem to generate less complaints than elsewhere.

As an example, I wanted to buy a 12" SCMS from HF when it was on a
special sidewalk sale. I got there right after opening - both of the
ones on hand had been sold. The manager gave me a rain check. I said I
thought they didn't give rainchecks on special sale items. The manager
responded that this store did when ^%$#@ corporate only sent her 2 of a
hot item :-).

I had them give me the sale price on a mower lift when they had none
the week before when the sale was running. I'm pretty careful about
what I buy at HF, but they've always been more than fair. They did
lose my debit card number, though. That turned into a minor PITA
(three weeks to get a new one - but that wasn't HF's fault).

"Larry Blanchard" wrote:

We started using Walmart for prescriptions back before I was
eligible for
Medicare because we could get generics there cheaper than anywhere
else.
Now that we're on a fixed income we do some of our shopping there
and
still use their pharmacy.
snip
-------------------------------------------------------------
Prior to part D drug coverage, Sams Club had significantly lower
drug prices than Wal-Mart for the same drugs.

After part D became effective, it didn't make any difference where
you made a drug purchase, the part d plan chosen dictates the price,
not the retailer.

Where possible, I order a 90 day supply of drugs by mail.

The only drugs purchased locally are one time usage items or
when only 30 day supply can be purchased.

Based on the above, convenience and quality of service become
the deciding factors when chosing a local drug store.

As far as Wal-Mart itself is concerned, the place sucks.

The shelves are not stocked, every square inch of aisle space
is jamed with a display resting on a pallet.

In the event of an emergency, have no clue how to get out of the
place or how an EMT/fire/police would get in to provide service.

If I purchase locally, Wal-Mart is the vendor or last choice.

If I can't find it ANY PLACE else, will try Wal-Mart.

Off the stump.

Lew

On Mon, 07 Jul 2014 21:10:02 -0700, Lew Hodgett wrote:

The shelves are not stocked, every square inch of aisle space is jamed
with a display resting on a pallet.

In the event of an emergency, have no clue how to get out of the place
or how an EMT/fire/police would get in to provide service.

Like I said, depends on where you are. None of the above applies to the
Walmart we go to.

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 07 Jul 2014 21:10:02 -0700, Lew Hodgett wrote:

The shelves are not stocked, every square inch of aisle space is jamed
with a display resting on a pallet.

In the event of an emergency, have no clue how to get out of the place
or how an EMT/fire/police would get in to provide service.

Like I said, depends on where you are. None of the above applies to the
Walmart we go to.

That may also have something to do with local codes and enforcement. I know
that years ago, some of the smaller communities tried to make retail shops
have wider aisles to allow easier emergency access. The small retails
stores howled. After awhile, they said all the big stores had to have
access. Smaller stores could continue on as before.

And I have seen many large retail stores that I had difficulty walking
through because of massive amounts of displays on wheels designed to create
an obstacle course. Apparently, if you have to fight your way through this
mess, you buy more product.

I have only been to one walmart. But retail stores of all sizes have all
kinds of problems. You can tell where they exist in relation to each other
on a desirability scale. Some stores are in decline. Others are rising.
Some are in a death spiral And that can even apply to stores with a
particular chain. Retail is not for the faint hearted.

On Tue, 8 Jul 2014 15:28:08 -0400, "Lee Michaels"
leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net wrote:



"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 07 Jul 2014 21:10:02 -0700, Lew Hodgett wrote:

The shelves are not stocked, every square inch of aisle space is jamed
with a display resting on a pallet.

In the event of an emergency, have no clue how to get out of the place
or how an EMT/fire/police would get in to provide service.

Like I said, depends on where you are. None of the above applies to the
Walmart we go to.

That may also have something to do with local codes and enforcement. I know
that years ago, some of the smaller communities tried to make retail shops
have wider aisles to allow easier emergency access. The small retails
stores howled. After awhile, they said all the big stores had to have
access. Smaller stores could continue on as before.

And I have seen many large retail stores that I had difficulty walking
through because of massive amounts of displays on wheels designed to create
an obstacle course. Apparently, if you have to fight your way through this
mess, you buy more product.

Not me. I just head for the door.

I have only been to one walmart. But retail stores of all sizes have all
kinds of problems. You can tell where they exist in relation to each other
on a desirability scale. Some stores are in decline. Others are rising.
Some are in a death spiral And that can even apply to stores with a
particular chain. Retail is not for the faint hearted.


That's for sure. Nor is the service sector.

On Tue, 8 Jul 2014 16:43:12 +0000 (UTC), Larry Blanchard
wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jul 2014 21:10:02 -0700, Lew Hodgett wrote:

The shelves are not stocked, every square inch of aisle space is jamed
with a display resting on a pallet.

In the event of an emergency, have no clue how to get out of the place
or how an EMT/fire/police would get in to provide service.

Like I said, depends on where you are. None of the above applies to the
Walmart we go to.

Nor *any* I've gone to. There certainly are differences but all have
been run fairly well. I'm sure shift happens, like in all businesses
(with all people).

"Lew Hodgett" wrote:


As of 9:00PM tonight, the 2nd plastic account has been charged
the correct amount (Less than $15) and the first plastic account
has NOT recorded a credit ($87 + Change).

I wonder when the credit will show?
-----------------------------------------------------------
In all fairness, credits have been posted today (07/08/14).

Lew






No, I don't know why I didn't pay cash as I usually do for these
items.

And no, I don't know why I didn't review things before I
signed the bill of sale, I just didn't.

Just another reason to stay away from Wal-Mart whose
aisles have become so small as to make it not worth the effort
to shop there.

Off the stump.

Lew