# The Wal-Mart I work at sucks. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 28, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wal-mart-i-work-at-sucks/231640 "2004-02-28T17:32:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wal-mart-i-work-at-sucks/231640/61 "2004-03-02T02:16:28Z")
Sounds to me like the OP could use a union. ---
**Author:** ![ms\_mom67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc79bd/32.png) [@ms\_mom67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ms_mom67)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wal-mart-i-work-at-sucks/231640/62 "2004-03-02T12:07:58Z")
As for health insurance and benefit’s that is about the only good thing Wally World has to offer. After working there 5 years full time. I had very good health insurance and when I left in May of 2003 I was only paying about $30.00 every two weeks. In 2002 I had to have surgery three times and had a very bad illness which I had to stay in the hospital for a week. My out of the pocket for the whole year was around $1000.00 which without good insurance I would still be paying the hospital now. We also had good Life insurance and dental as well. So as benefit’s go Wally world is a good place to work… But that is about it. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wal-mart-i-work-at-sucks/231640/63 "2004-03-02T15:52:34Z")
> [@ms\_mom67](#): > > As for health insurance and benefit’s that is about the only good thing Wally World has to offer. After working there 5 years full time. I had very good health insurance and when I left in May of 2003 I was only paying about $30.00 every two weeks. In 2002 I had to have surgery three times and had a very bad illness which I had to stay in the hospital for a week. My out of the pocket for the whole year was around $1000.00 which without good insurance I would still be paying the hospital now. We also had good Life insurance and dental as well. > So as benefit’s go Wally world is a good place to work… But that is about it. And, here’s another take on Wal-Mart benefits: Former Wal-Mart worker Lance Hindman, now a member of Little Rock, Ark. Local 2008 and Kroger meatcutter, says there?s only one word for the benefit factor at Wal-Mart: “Lousy.” ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wal-mart-i-work-at-sucks/231640/64 "2004-03-02T20:14:17Z")
Well, seeing as how Lance didn’t make the post we don’t know if he really exist or if this is just some Local 2008 promotional literature. At any rate, it carries no more weight than the post to which you were responding. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wal-mart-i-work-at-sucks/231640/65 "2004-03-02T21:29:46Z")
> [@ms\_mom67](#): > > As for health insurance and benefit’s that is about the only good thing Wally World has to offer. After working there 5 years full time. I had very good health insurance and when I left in May of 2003 I was only paying about $30.00 every two weeks. In 2002 I had to have surgery three times and had a very bad illness which I had to stay in the hospital for a week. My out of the pocket for the whole year was around $1000.00 which without good insurance I would still be paying the hospital now. We also had good Life insurance and dental as well. > So as benefit’s go Wally world is a good place to work… But that is about it. I would have been paying $66, IIRC, for a three hundred dollar deductible. Oh, the hospitalization plan was great though. One of the managers had to have surgery and her total hospital bill was I can’t remember how much, but it was well over $100K. Her out of pocket was something like $11,000. Yes, that’s an eleven followed by three zeros. Of course this is Nevada, where labor law is virtually nonexistant, so very often a worker’s options are to work for a company that will kick you out the door after 89 days to avoid providing coverage or work for a company that treats you like dirt and provides lousy coverage. I understand that in different states, Wal-Mart has different insurance plans. **Aesiron** , you must have been lucky enough to work at the fabled Wal-Mart In The Commercial. At the one where I worked, if you didn’t have open availability, you got short hours, and the managers made it a point to let you know it would happen. If you did have open availability, you could forget about making any plans outside of work. It was nothing unusual for an open availability worker to work from 2:00-11:00pm a couple of days, then 4:00pm-1:00 am a day or two, then 7:00 **AM** to 4:00 pm the next. The would have people all around the clock in the space of a pay period. This, combined with the fact that a person could never have the days off they wanted/needed if they had open availabity- days off were subject to change every time the new schedule was printed, caused a lot of employees to either lock in their availability and take the short hours/less pay, or just flat out quit and hopefully find a job where they wouldn’t be getting jerked around on their hours and days off. This is the same Wal-Mart where cashiers are not allowed to count their tills in order to protect themselves from mistakes in the cash office because they assumed that if there was any overage, we would steal it, and they told us as much. Since the famous “pinks” were a major criterion in deciding which heads would roll come layoff time, and the cash office was notorious for making mistakes, this was a serious issue for the workers. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wal-mart-i-work-at-sucks/231640/66 "2004-03-03T00:40:30Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > Well, seeing as how Lance didn’t make the post we don’t know if he really exist or if this is just some Local 2008 promotional literature. > > At any rate, it carries no more weight than the post to which you were responding. And your point is? ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wal-mart-i-work-at-sucks/231640/67 "2004-03-03T01:58:28Z")
credibility If you are going to copy & paste an article, you might want to mention the source. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wal-mart-i-work-at-sucks/231640/68 "2004-03-03T03:14:53Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > credibility > > If you are going to copy & paste an article, you might want to mention the source. Next time just ask for a cite or source. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wal-mart-i-work-at-sucks/231640/69 "2004-03-03T14:33:15Z")
> [@occ](#): > > Hey, every time I’ve shopped at Wal-Mart (and assorted other Marts), my experience has been pretty much as you described. The stores are ugly, crowded, and just annoying to be in. > > The only reason Wal-Mart is such a draw is that the prices are low, and John Q. will generally accept crappy service to save a few bucks. Call it a peculiar Americanism, but there you go. > > Also, re: shopping carts, this is a beef of mine. Why does NOBODY ever return their damn carts to the Kart Korral? Every time I go to a cart-based establishment, there are carts all over the place, left blocking parking spots, etc. Return your damn carts, for fucks sake! Just because the stores have a guy who returns stray carts doesn’t mean you should leave your cart lying around, give the guy (and those who actually want to park in parking spots) a break, dammit! You must be referring to that woman in another thread who doesn’t return carts because _she doesn’t want to leave the children unattended for thirty fucking seconds. Waaaaahhhhhh!_ Makes one wonder what she does when she’s sleeping. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wal-mart-i-work-at-sucks/231640/70 "2004-03-03T16:46:17Z")
**county** , do not post plagiarized articles. It’s bad enough that you posted the entire article, but then you didn’t attribute it. Don’t do that again. Lynn For the Straight Dope [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wal-mart-i-work-at-sucks/231640.md?page=3)