I realize many of you prefer Target anyway, and I would too, except there is nary a Target anywhere close to our neighborhood nor is there one conveniently located on any of my many driving routes during the week.
Most of our produce and all of our meat is organic and/or hormone/antibiotic-free. Thus, all that stuff comes from places other than Wal-Mart. There are some things, like cleaning products, sandwich bags, and a lot of dairy products, that are just as good and whole lot cheaper at Wal-Mart. And, let's face it; since I'm spending twice as much on all the organic/hormone-free stuff we eat, I kind of need to spend the least amount possible on everything else.
(Although, can I just say how much I enjoy shopping at Central Market and Sprouts? I love the gourmet foods, the abundant samples, the sparkling cleanliness, the beautifully bright produce departments, the meat that looks perfect, and the quiet atmosphere. I wish I could do all my shopping there.)
However, yesterday was the last straw with the Wal-Mart. (Except, of course, for the multitude of gift cards I still have to use.) About eight months ago I bought a box of quart-size plastic bags at Wal-Mart. I remember because I opened up the box to bag up all those blueberries we picked last summer. I think you can even see part of the box in the background of this picture.
Well, that box, which was supposed to have 25 bags in it, had exactly seven. SEVEN! I took the box back, explained the ridiculousness of seven bags when there's supposed to be 25 and was given a brand new box in compensation. The people at Wal-Mart did not seem to care too much.
Then a few weeks ago I bought a can of beans only to open it up about a week after the purchase to discover the can was seriously only 1/2 full, at best. 1/2 a can of beans, sealed and everything! I was none too pleased. I wasn't sure how to get my money back on that one. I sure was not going to bring back an opened can of beans to the store.
Well, yesterday I went grocery shopping again. One of my purchases was Land-o-lakes fat free half & half. While putting up the groceries I pulled the half & half out of the bag and I though it seemed a little light - a fact I, unfortunately, did not notice in the store. (Although, I had bought more beans and spent a couple minutes weighing the cans in my hand to make sure I was getting what seemed like adequately heavy cans.) Sure enough, I unscrewed the top of the half & half to find the seal had already been broken and half the carton was missing!
Who chugs half a carton of half & half in the store? (Fat-free or not, that is disgusting.) Or maybe someone thought they'd just order black coffee somewhere and take a trip to the back of the Wal-Mart to smuggle themselves some free creamer for their beverage. Uuughh.
So, I grabbed the half & half and my car keys, went straight back to Wal-Mart and vented to the customer service lady...who just looked at me and asked if I'd just like to exchange it. Which I did. Even though it meant walking to the back 40 of the store to retrieve another carton (which I checked to make sure no tampering had occurred.)
I guess until my gift cards run out I'm just going to have to carry a scale with me to weigh my canned goods and unscrew the tops off of every container I intend to purchase to make sure the seal has not been tampered with. What has happened to quality control?!?
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