Results of my Open Carry Wal-Mart complaint

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mellow_c

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A while back, I started a thread letting everyone know what happend to me while open carrying at a Colorado Wal-Mart. I included a letter that I had sent to the store manager, stating that I was very disapointed in the way they handled the situation.
Over a month went by and I never heard from them. So I sent a shorter and sweeter letter to the District manager explaining my concern.
Ultimately I recieved a call from the manager from the store in question. I'm sure he got a call from his district manager asking him to resolve the issue.

This is what the store manager had to say.

* He understood that I was not happy with the way the sittuation was handled (no appology was given at any point in our conversation)
* He said that in todays society it's not uncomon for people to be afraid when seeing somone open carrying.
* He said he looked up Wal-Marts official policy on open cary, and found that it is leagal and permited where state law applies, however Wal-Mart (obviously) reserves the right keep you from open carrying in their store if they feel the need.
* Because I brought this issue to their attention, they have now had formal training on how to handle similar situations.
* He said, he would have hoped that the employees that spoke with me would have asked me to leave my firearm in my car or at home, rather than just kick me out of the store with out an invitation to come back.

That was about the extent of it... I was very nice and understanding with him, and thanked him a few times. I could feel that he had some empathy for what happened to me, but ultimately I could tell he didnt really care much, and was rather anoyed that his district manager got a letter from me. And he was really just happy to cross me off his list of things that needed to be taken care of.

So, I dont really feel like they have done anything to make me personaly at ease with shoping at there store, after all, I was never even offered an appology. However, I'm happy they atleast recognized there was a problem, and put their assistant managers through training on how to better handle such a situation... even if it was a simple talking to, explaining that just because they want the firearm out of the store, it's still best to treat the person carrying it like a customer, not a criminal.

The End
:o
please forgive my spelling:rolleyes:
 
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however Wal-Mart (obviously) reserves the right keep you from open carrying in their store if they feel the need.
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I think I would now go over district to home office in AR With my complaint I have never heard this. If its legal in you state is legal in walmart has always been my understanding .Their just being nice to be rid of you. Tell corp you want a apology for their treatment not just lip service.
 
I still would have approached it differently by inquiring about what things Wal-Mart does to insure the safety of their customers.

After all, if I'm not supposed to carry in Wal-Mart, then I want to know what they're doing to make me safe.

As reference, I'd have used the female employee that was abducted from a Wal-Mart in Texas about 5 years ago, and was later killed. It's a good example, because the killer took her car here to Arizona and tried to rob a RV park owner in Bowie. The RV park owner shot him, and my brother-in-law arrested him at the hospital in Wilcox.

It shows the results of the same perp up against an unarmed victim, VS an armed victim within a relatively short period of time. He was able to force his will upon the unarmed victim, but not so much on the armed one.

We had a murder here inside of a K-Mart store once, during open business hours, and the perp later killed himself.

To me, it's not a matter of how they handled it, or of someone being offended. I deal with facts, and I'd want to know what steps Wal-Mart takes to insure the safety of their customers.

We all know the answer to that, so if they refused to allow me to legally carry there, I'd simply thank them for the information, and tell them that I'd no longer be shopping in their store due to their placing feel-good policies above the rights of their customers.

Daryl
 
Now you have the ultimate power - vote with your feet and wallet and don't go there. Most of their prices aren't really THAT great, especially when you compare the quality of stuff they sell, so support your local businesses that DO support your right to open carry, and encourage all of your friends to do so.
 
Now you have the ultimate power - vote with your feet and wallet and don't go there.
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Amen! I go to Wal Mart whenever I'm in the mood for poorest quality Chinese junk. I think it's been about ten years now.
 
For God's sake, it's private property. They have the right to create and enforce their own policies. Because I suspect we have similar personalities, I understand it may be hard for you to let this go, but you really need to before you give yourself a stroke.
I can't imagine a bigger waste of time. You are not hurting Walmart. Corporate does not give a damn about you or this.
 
Why?

Tackdriver A/A +1.

To the O.P. other than the fact that you could why did you feel the need to carry a handgun in a retail outlet?
 
For God's sake, it's private property. They have the right to create and enforce their own policies.
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I don't think anybody has said otherwise. Yes, they have the right to say no to guns but this is about customer pressure to get them to have a more gun-friendly attitude at a local store. It could have been about an issue unrelated to guns. I'll give a true life example.

A number of years ago, I was shopping for a boombox (it's been that long ago). I wanted to be able to compare features and prices at a couple of stores and started writing down info at Walmart's. I was asked to leave because they had a "no written comparison" policy. I should have raised bloody hell with them but didn't for reasons I don't need to go into here. They had the right to that policy but it's an extremely stupid policy. They lost a whole bunch of customers for about five years as a result.

They may not have missed my money for those years, but I can guarantee that if Walmart or any other big business stops listening to customers, they're in for trouble eventually, no matter how big they are. Just ask Chrysler and GM.
 
+1 tacdriver
WALMART does not care about us!
You might get a response from Corporate, but I wouldn't hold my breath!!

Now you have the ultimate power - vote with your feet and wallet and don't go there.
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There are enough Walmart stores, like the one in my home town, that are the only source for the selection that they carry. I have 25 mile drive to a decent grocery store. They have littered the country side with stores. It would be hard to effect them in the wallet. We get a good plan & I'm in!
I CAN"T STAND WALMART!

@ the OP

Sorry you didn't get the response you wanted or deserved! They can ban guns with the proper signs. Which were not up.
It could have been handled a lot better!

Good luck & keep us posted!
"JJ"
 
I think I disagree with many here .

1) I carry to protect myself, period, and Walmart parking lots have more going on in them than anywhere.

2) Why carry into a retail outlet ? Why not ? You've got to be kidding me.

3) Walmart's Corp policy "is" to abide by whatever the State Laws are... period. If a particular store / Mgr is not living up to that, the Corp office's will educate their Mgr. ......

4) If I got a "gloss over" job, I would advise the Corp offices of it, and then move on. They will have a talk with the Mgr and the Dist Mgr about it.

5) It's NOT my concern if there are people out there who are concerned if they see a gun. Are they just as concerned about the criminals around too ? or ... are they hiding their head in the sand and don't want to be reminded we don't necessarily live in a totally safe world without evil people in it who will do you harm over $30. I carry concealed and the same sheep don't even have a clue, that I"m standing right next to them with an evil "gun" on my hip.

It's your Constitutional rights, so should everyone give them up..... because someone gets "concerned" about seeing a gun, and know nothing about guns ? Then the same person about runs me over and kill me while I"m on my motorcycle as they pull out of the parking lot.
 
+1 for Tackdiver and a reload for the accompying pic.

Get a CCW or 'accidently' let your shirt be untucked.
 
I recently had a similar experiance at a local franchise store that has since gone out of business.

The store manager approached me and asked if I was a LEO, "no", affiliated with LEO, "no".

He went on to say that a customer had seen my legally open carried, holstered Glock and had expressed concern over my being armed.

I had been standing in line to cash a check when the conversation began and after I realized what the manager was saying I suggested we continue speaking in his office.

He agreed and we then spoke for several minutes about Idahos open-carry laws and conceiled carry regulations on private property and in the end we agreed that in the future I would be allowed to carry my otherwise open-carry rig, conceiled on store property.

To be clear, I have a CCW permit but chose to carry openly because I can.

The store manager handled it pretty well and agreed that it was a case of someone making their hangups other peoples problem.

I agree that seeing someone armed might be offencive to some people but then again, aren't the people they will call to help them when trouble comes a callin, going to have guns?

Just my humble opinion.
 
I can see that none of you work in retail. I don't care how large you think Walmart is, something like this will get attention at corporate in Bentonville. It may not result in the changes you want, but it will get talked about and discussed, and a decision made. The decision may be to keep things as they are, but don't ever be misled into thinking this case was not reviewed in Arkansas!

I "always" let a company know when they've done something bad or have poor policies. I use the "contact us" email addresses provided on their websites.

How do I know what gets reveiwed? I work for a major supplier to some of the largest grocery stores, restaurants, fast food, and other bulk feeding (schools, universities, industry) establishments. Believe me, when something is wrong with one of our products, the store is quick to give it back to us.

You who don't give feedback to institutions probably don't vote either, thinking your single vote doesn't matter. Well, Florida would say you're wrong.
 
jason moore said:
He went on to say that a customer had seen my legally open carried, holstered Glock and had expressed concern over my being armed.

I had been standing in line to cash a check when the conversation began and after I realized what the manager was saying I suggested we continue speaking in his office.

He agreed and we then spoke for several minutes about Idahos open-carry laws and conceiled carry regulations on private property and in the end we agreed that in the future I would be allowed to carry my otherwise open-carry rig, conceiled on store property.
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If you had expressed concerned that a person legally wearing a green dyed spiked mohawk and nose ring was in his store, would he ask that person to not wear their nose ring and wear a hat in his store?

In a case where it is one customer's concern over another, it kinda rubs me the wrong way, personally, not saying you were wrong, when it is the law abiding gun carrying citizen that is always approached, and, in a case such as this, concedes.

I really like the idea, especially with large ticket items, of mailing a receipt from another store to the offending store with a note that says I would have spent this money in your store, but you don't support my right to have the means available to protect myself from violent crime by not allowing me to lawfully carry my holstered and secure firearm in your store. I choose to give my money to stores that do honor my rights.
 
Your pennies don't mean crap to Wal-Mart.

All you're doing is wasting your time and a postage stamp.

If you push the carry-issue with a corporation, expect a corporate wide ban rather than sympathy.

:rolleyes:
 
Your pennies don't mean crap to Wal-Mart.

All you're doing is wasting your time and a postage stamp.

If you push the carry-issue with a corporation, expect a corporate wide ban rather than sympathy.
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The anti-s are actively out there trying to get every company they can to ban guns. Why should we not be doing the opposite? The companies are going to listen to who has the louder voice, for the most part. So why is it that we should remain silent, rather than attempt to make our voice the loudest?
 
Guys...... repeat here.... Do you not know.... that Walmart's policy is that they will abide by whatever the STATE's laws are in regard to guns ?

I repeat, they go by the laws of the state, if it's legal .... it's OK in Walmart.

This "HAS" been brought up to Walmart Corp numerous times , and each time they have "educated" several Mgrs how wrong they were to not allow the person to carry , as long as it is legal to do so.... they are WELCOME !!

Walmart Corp has their policy, and stand by it. They were attacked by the Brady Bunch for it, and refused to change the policy ... if it's legal they are welcome in their stores.

What he ran into was a Mgr that either didn't know / understand the policy, or who is interjecting his own personal views into it and hoping the customer won't stand up or know Walmart's policy.
 
It's PRIVATE PROPERTY. They can require you to wear a coat and tie if they feel like it. They can require you to wear a skirt if that's what snaps their socks. You're free to take you business elsewhere.

The problem in "taking issue" with this sort of "windmill tilting" (It's a literary allusion. Look it up.) is that you reinforce the "nut" aspect of "gun nut." We don't need that.
 
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