Walmart and its employee issues.

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Hansam

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I recently attempted to make an ammunition purchase at my local Walmart and I had a rather unpleasant experience doing so. I figured I'd bring it up here (I'd already involved the closest thing to management that was available at the time - a department supervisor) and see what you all think.

My wife was with me at the time of purchase and while my wife is considerably younger than I am we are both over the age of 21. I was the one purchasing the ammo since I happened to be the one who had the money on me at the time although in all honest truth my wife would probably have been the one shooting the ammo since it was for her gun after all. The clerk who "helped" us didn't know this however and it was not made known to her at any point in time.

So I was asked for my ID by the clerk (who when I asked what types of handgun ammunition they had in stock she opened their cabinet that held the handgun ammo under lock and key and hidden away from view then proceeded to read off the different calibers... 9mm, 40sw, 40mm, 45 automatic... oh yeah she'd read the end of a scope box they had down there 40mm objective and listed that off as a caliber). Anyway I showed her my ID and when she verified that I was old enough to purchase handgun ammo she looked at my wife and asked if she was with me.

My response, "Yes, she's my wife although I don't see how that is relevant to this purchase." She then asks to see my wife's ID. I responded that I was the one purchasing the ammunition and not my wife therefore seeing her ID was not necessary. To that she stated that she needed to see my wife's ID to make sure she was legal to purchase AND POSSESS handgun ammunition. Now by law you must be 21 to purchase a handgun and only 18 to purchase ammunition. My wife is clearly older than 21 yet the clerk stated she could not and would not sell me the ammunition till she saw my wife's ID. I asked her then if it were store policy and she stated that it was not only Walmart's policy but also state law. That came as a surprise to me since I considered myself quite knowledgeable about our gun laws here and not once did I hear about other members of the party needing to be ID checked for age. I told her that and she proceeded to insist that I was wrong and that I would not be able to purchase the ammunition unless my wife provided an ID as well. I then told her that EVEN IF my wife were under aged if I purchased the ammo and then provided it for her use it was not the store's nor the state's concern since she is after all MY WIFE and the ammo would then be my personal property and so long as it was not being used in the commission of a crime it is mine to deal with/ dispose of as I pleased. Nonetheless the clerk refused to finish the transaction. I asked to see a manager and the best I got was a supervisor. The supervisor repeated the same thing. At this point I told them that I was not going to purchase the ammunition then and go elsewhere. I was then told that every store I went to would do the same thing. I told them they were wrong and left.

Now I shop at Walmart quite often and have made ammunition purchases there before without this sort of an issue. This is making me not want to purchase ammunition from Walmart anymore though. Not that I've made an ammunition purchase from Walmart lately - Cabelas (while further away) has all of their ammo on shelves available to their customers and easily found. They also do not feel compelled to card EVERY member of the party making the purchase.
 
Your mistake was in believing the clerk had the intelligence to be reasoned with. Their training makes them more robots than thinking people. There was nothing to be gained by arguing the issue with the clerk. Clerk was obviously wrong but you gained as much as if you argued with a brick wall. Next time suck it up, make the purchase and leave. It is just part of today's world.
 
If you want Walmart employees with better education, better training or better customer service skills, then prepare to pay for those traits through much higher prices.

I shop at Walmart because of the relative low prices, not the level of intelligence or specific knowledge of their employees. I do not expect their employees or department managers to be experts on the product they are selling nor do I expect them to adapt corporate policy to meet my individual needs.

In my experience arguing with any employee or manager these days is pretty much like arguing with your wife. You will not win. Employees making not much over minimum wage are not interested in keeping your repeat business. They are only interested in following policy and keeping their job.
 
I would talk to the general manager of the store versus the department manager. It sounds to me that the associate simply doesn't know the rules. People whine about Walmart, but overall they do a good job.

Was the associate reacting to something you said?

In some states, you can only purchase ammunition for the firearms you own.
 
Were you there to make a point or buy ammo. Your wife could have simply produced her ID and you'd have your ammo.

Walmart is not the government. They could decide not to sell you ammunition for almost any reason, even citing Martian Code Sec. 3423 stating "no man and woman shall be jointly permitted to buy 9mm ammo without valid Martian identification."

We all have the right not to have the government unreasonably restrict our ability to purchase ammunition. But, no one has any right to purchase ammunition.

Of course, you do have the right to come here and tell us about Walmart's idiotic policies - and that might influence some of our decisions on whether or not to purchase ammo at Walmart. However, I suspect that Walmart knows there are gobs of scalpers just waiting (with ID in hand) to purchase all the ammo you turned down.

The bottom line: There is no shortage of idiots in this world. You will encounter plenty of them along your life's journey. The responsibility is squarely on the smart and capable to learn how to successfully navigate around idiots.
 
Buy Local

Best thing is not to buy ammo at Wal-Mart. We should be patronizing our local gun shops. The few bucks we save are needed by family businesses
 
If you want Walmart employees with better education, better training or better customer service skills, then prepare to pay for those traits through much higher prices.
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This is the salient point. The store/department/district manager can't change a corporate philosophy, nor are they going to override the implied wishes of the majority of their customer base.

Wal Mart is about price and convenience. We have to understand that, because they're not changing.
 
You could have told your wife to go to another part of the store while you made the transaction by yourself.
They could not card her if she is not there, only you.
You gave WM the power to rule over you and you lost.
Sometimes you got to be smarter than they are and rule over them. Maybe it would come down to actually lying to them, I'm not married, or its your step sister, or something that is as dumb as what they are saying.
 
Employees of WalMart are that way. They are force fed WalMart policy (right or wrong), and threatened daily with dismissal if they do not comply. After seeing half a dozen fellow employees get fired, the remaining turn into drones and comply. Also, the counter person you dealt with makes minimum wage. The department supervisor makes minimum wage plus 25 cents. For that kind of money, do you think these people really care?

If it was me, I would go there when the store manager was available and ask for that particular policy to be clarified, maybe even see it in writing, and better yet ask for a copy of it. If the counter person was wrong, ask the manager to correct them. If the counter person was right, there is nothing you can do. WalMart has the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason.

Now with all that said, I have in the past bought ammo at WalMart with under aged children right next to me. My own kids when they were under 18, and now grand kids. The under aged persons with me were not carded, and I have never been refused an ammo sale.
 
it is policy, and federal. no handgun ammo unless your 21.

The cashier did nothing wrong. The cashier simply applied the alcohol/tobacco rule and checked everyone buying a controlled item. So get off the horse and learn to live with reality.
 
Best thing is not to buy ammo at Wal-Mart. We should be patronizing our local gun shops.
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That’s not going to happen. Not me anyhow. My local WalMart sells Tulammo .223 for $6.95 a box of 20. My local gun shop sells the same stuff (probably bought it at WalMart) for $25.00 a box of 20.

If you can afford a mark up like that, you are very well off Sir. Congratulations, you made it to the American dream!
 
WalMart

There are only two basic approaches to the problem, accept it and go on, or do something to change it.

I wonder, if my 9 yr old granddaughter were with me at the sporting goods counter, would that clerk ask for her ID? Would the clerk refuse to sell me 9mm ammo because someone under age was with me?

And does the store manager know, and approve of the practice? Is it corporate policy? Store management policy? or just that particular clerk trying to cover their own butt?

Personally, since I have little better to do, usually, I would have asked to see the manager. Just for clarification, you understand. After all, having associates (are they still that, or are they just employees now?) incorrectly carrying out store policy (and state/Federal law), doesn't reflect well on the management, and just might result in reduced business....

The manager just might be interested in knowing how things are really running in their shop....

I have been carded (rarely) at my local Walmart(s) when buying an R rated movie. Now, I'm mid 50s, and sporting a beard with more white than brown, but some clerks still ask, when the register promts "is customer 17?". Most just look at me, and hit the right key, but some do ask to see the ID. Not because of me, because of their management's rules. They aren't allowed to use their own judgement, although most do, when its obvious...
 
I was dependent on econoball at cheapmart for a year or so before I could reconstitute my reloading shop.
There were two main clerks I ran into repeatedly in the sporting goods dept. buying pistol ammo. One was grouchy but efficient. The other was an absolute jewel, a pleasure to do business with. A shooter herself.
 
does a clerk have to be 21 to sell handgun ammo? if there was some question I would have asked to see her I.D. also.
 
Ok, this is my fake. You are there with your wife and YOU were buying the ammo. It is irrelevant how old your wife is as she was not purchasing the ammo. What if you had a child with you? Same thing, based on how this turned out. The age or status of anyone else with you is irrelevant, when it comes to legal status. A 21 year old can be with his 20 year old friends and he can buy alcohol. He is the only person who will have their ID checked to verify legal age. Why is purchasing ammo any different? It's not! Ok, to play devils advocate, this clerk can refuse to sell you the ammo for no reason whatsoever. However to state an incorrect or non existent policy or law is not a good reason. At least that's how I view it.
 
After our usual Sat morning trip to Krispy Kreme for a sprinkles (Daughter age 5), a chocoloate cake (Daughter age 3), and a chocolate creme filled for me (Dude age 37), we stopped by the local Walmart as is our custom after doughnuts.

There in the sporting goods dept I saw Norma (not her real name, because you never know who's listening) who is usually there on Sat mornings, stocking up the fishing shelves.

I said "Hey Norma, I see there's a whole case of Federal .22 from last night... could I get a few boxes."

She said, "Sure thing. You want 3 boxes of that .22, because I sold the last box of 9mm a few minutes ago and I know that's what you usually buy".

I say, "Yeah, 3 boxes of the auto-match should last me the month."

She says, "Whatever, I know I'll see you and those beautiful blonde girls here next Sat like normal."

So I walked out of there with 975rds of Federal Auto-Match .22lr for a tick over $60 with no need to show ID for my kids... AND THAT'S HOW I ROLL AT THE WALMART!
 
it is policy, and federal. no handgun ammo unless your 21.
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First off I had no problem with her carding me. I do however have a problem with her wanting to card my wife just because she happened to be there with me at the time of purchase. I suppose Bezoar that you're one who just happily follows along with things like that. Personally I think its an infringement on my rights and privacy. No high horse, just standing up for my rights - something many people are failing to do.

I hadn't given the clerk anything to react to in the purchase until she insisted on seeing my wife's ID before selling the ammo to me. Afterwards I reacted to what she was demanding of me and then she started getting defensive - trying to explain herself that it was state law and that its bad that other stores didn't do this too when in fact it is NOT state law.

Now with all that said I actually plan on never purchasing ammo from Walmart again. I do make many purchases of other household items from there and will continue to do so but frankly I'm not going to give them my money for ammo when there are places you can get ammo from that are friendlier and easier to deal with. The difference in price - usually only pennies on the dollar - isn't so great that it outweighs the inconvenience of not buying ammo from Walmart.

Thanks for all who replied.
 
"it is policy, and federal. no handgun ammo unless your 21.

The cashier did nothing wrong. The cashier simply applied the alcohol/tobacco rule and checked everyone buying a controlled item. So get off the horse and learn to live with reality. "

so does this mean if I walk into a walmart with my 8 year old son and 10 year old daughter that I won't be allowed to buy ammo or a gun?
 
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