Wal-Mart Pissed me Off

The "day off" is over. It makes me sad. I know that I only have to work two more days and then I will have two more off. I am really thinking that if I ever have an opportunity to work less than full time, I would prefer to have every Wednesday off. Like a break in the middle of the week. Wouldn't that be fabulous!

So. I didn't want to wake up this morning. I snoozed for 45 minutes. Ugh. Then Liz called and wanted to know what I want for Christmahanakwanzaa and I was so braindead I couldn't think of a single thing. I was like "can we talk about this when I am awake?" So I have been thinking of things that I would like that are NOT on my Hallmark 2005 Filigree bell. I collect Christmas Bells you see, and every single year I get one for a gift. Well I got one this year, but Hallmark came out with a new one, and it is rare that I see a bell and say I really love it and I want it. But this one I do. So I told Liz that. And she bought Evan's gift online also. He will be so thrilled to see it.

Wal-Mart pissed me off today.
Royally. I had sent like $50 worth of pictures to be developed, submitted online to the one hour photo. I also submitted our new year's cards. What was INCREDIBLY frustrating, was that when I picked them up (or tried to) they told me that I couldn't have any of the holiday cards or some of my prints because they "looked" like they were taken professionally. I said "that's flattering, really, but they are my photos" and the girl looked at me blankly and said "well I can't give them to you." and I was so upset. She said you have to bring us your camera to prove that you took them. And I said "well, they aren't on my camera anymore, they are on my computer. And I don't think you need my entire camera, you just probably need the card." And she said "bring in your card" and I said "THEY ARE ON MY COMPUTER. Do you want me to put them back on the card and bring you the card?" and she said "yeah. Bring the card and we can look at it." OK. So then I said, you have two telephone numbers associated with that order. Why didn't you call me and tell me to bring the card when I came to pick the pictures up, instead of having me make a special trip here, which I did, to pick them up and then tell me that I have to go home and get my card and come back again?" and she just shrugged and said "Because it happens all the time" and then stood there. So I said "Is there a manager I can speak with?" and then a kid about my age or likely younger came up. I posed (politely) several questions to him. Firstly, why did no one call? Now I have to make a special trip home, and I DON'T live in Princeton, so that is a royal pain in my ass. I was hoping that they would just give me the pictures this time, but not so lucky. The manager said "I don't know why they didn't call you" and then said "I am sorry." But of course no offers were made to reimburse me or give me a percentage off my orders. I mentioned that I spend HUNDREDS of dollars a year on photo developing in their store, and submit them all online. I also mentioned that I spend THOUSANDS of dollars a year in the rest of the store, and that a courtesy call to my home is not asking too much.

The thing I didn't discuss, is the fact that they are charging me ONE HOUR PHOTO prices for photos that now I can't pick up until I go home and get my camera card, so probably tomorrow. And I had submitted them at 9pm Wednesday and was told that they wouldn't be ready till 10:50am on Thursday, even though they open at 8am and one hour would have been by 9am. They already have this problem in the Princeton Store, when you submit photos online for the 1 hour, they tell you that they are "too busy" and processing a high number of orders- and that the photos will be ready after xxx time. Usually 4-12 hours later. But they can still charge you 1 hour prices? That is a problem. To me, that sounds downright like cheating. If they are unable to keep up, then they need to hire more help and put another machine in there. How frustrating is that? And the problem? They have the corner on the market. There is no other place in Princeton that does one hour digital photos, let along prints them from your online submission. What we need is a Walgreens!

I also asked the manager why, a couple of months ago, I had all of my PROFESSIONALLY taken wedding photos printed at Wal-mart and I wasn't even asked ONCE between the 5 different orders that I placed, for proof that they were mine. Duh. And I DID have permission, as I purchased rights to them all from the photographer, and also had the CD that he provided me. But when the pictures WERE professional, and obviously so, they didn't bat an eye. Whatever. So, as a royal pain in my ass, I have to take my camera card back to Wal-mart to prove the pictures are mine before they will let me have them. Argh! You would think that Wal-Mart would have to realize that with the expensive equipment that we have today, namely digital cameras and photo editing software, that anyone can create photos that look professional.