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If you're not going to stock the stuff I need, then why even have a store? Login/Join 
Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best
Picture of 92fstech
posted
It seems like every time I need something for a project or some activity that I'm wanting to do, local stores are out of stock. WalMart is the worst offender, but there are others as well.

I hate going into our local Walmart because it has been overrun by meth heads, 500lb women on scooters who block the aisles, and millennials in pajama pants. But they do carry cheap full-synthetic oil, and when it's time for an oil change, they're by far the cheapest place in town. I can't tell you how many times I've gone in there instead of stopping somewhere else, and found an empty shelf where the 5W30 is supposed to be. Same thing with 22" wiper blades, which is the size I need for both of my trucks.

Yesterday my son and I wanted to go skeet shooting, so we stopped by. Grabbed a box of shells and went looking for the clay targets that are usually on a pallet in the sporting goods section. Nowhere to be found. Associates had no idea where they were, either. Ended up driving across town to Big R (which is where I should have gone in the first place, but Walmart is right next to the range) to get them.

It's not just Walmart, though. Menards and Lowes do the same thing to me on a regular basis. I go looking for an item, and find the empty spot on the shelf where it's supposed to be. Or I need four of something and they only have 3. In the whole store. This turns what should be a 20 minute run to town in the middle of a project into a two hour affair running from store to store to find the item (usually something simple and common that should be in stock) that I need to get the job done.

And don't tell me you can order it. I can order it myself, probably for less money, have it shipped to my house and save myself a trip to the store. The reason I'm standing in your store is because the need is unexpected and immediate. If you're not going to keep what I need in stock on the shelves, then you might as well not even be here. Mad
 
Posts: 8419 | Location: In the Cornfields | Registered: May 25, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fly High, A.J.
Picture of tk13
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by 92fstech:
And don't tell me you can order it.


Now if you want Dapper Dan, I can order it for you, have it in a couple of weeks.
 
Posts: 1645 | Location: Suffolk, VA | Registered: March 23, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His diet consists of black
coffee, and sarcasm.
Picture of egregore
posted Hide Post
Is somebody hoarding those items or what? 5W30 oil and 22-inch wipers are common.
 
Posts: 27835 | Location: Johnson City/Elizabethton, TN | Registered: April 28, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Three Generations
of Service
Picture of PHPaul
posted Hide Post
I like a particular kind of tart cherry juice. There are NEVER more than 2 or 3 bottles on the shelf, and lately there have been none.

I asked an employee about it. His response:

"We can't keep it in stock so we quit stocking it."

I vapor locked and just stood there with my mouth hanging open.




Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.
 
Posts: 15181 | Location: Downeast Maine | Registered: March 10, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Just Hanging Around
posted Hide Post
There’s a reason Lowes, Menards, and Home Depot are all within a quarter mile of each other.
If you need several items, you’re going to need to make 3 stops.
 
Posts: 3220 | Location: NE Kansas | Registered: February 24, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Staring back
from the abyss
Picture of Gustofer
posted Hide Post
Yeah, you would think that they would keep track of what needs ordered/resupplied and when.

Unfortunately, a lot of retailers don't.

Even in my podunk little town, the hardware store is pretty good about stocking even the most obscure items, but occasionally I'll find the bin empty. The response? "We can order it".

So can I, and I'll get it quicker and likely cheaper.

I'm a big supporter of local brick and mortar stores, to the point of paying more for items, but sheesh. When you can't keep the items I need in stock, what's a fella to do?


________________________________________________________
"Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton.
 
Posts: 19975 | Location: Montana | Registered: November 01, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
No, not like
Bill Clinton
Picture of BigSwede
posted Hide Post
Which is why I grab three or four when I see an item I will need down the road



 
Posts: 5302 | Location: GA | Registered: September 23, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Spread the Disease
Picture of flesheatingvirus
posted Hide Post
Fate, man. What an asshole.

Same thing happens to me at the grocery store. Fresh basil and I have a love/hate relationship because of this issue.


________________________________________

-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --
 
Posts: 17248 | Location: New Mexico | Registered: October 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Too old to run,
too mean to quit!
posted Hide Post
I experience much of the same frustration.

Wallyworld is by far the worst, but I can understand why this is so. We have 2 stores in this area, and they both have the same issues. I think it comes from trying to be the major provider in the region. They do not have room to stock everything that anybody might want. So the provide links on their site where you can buy it and have it shipped to your house or to the store.

Lowe's is doing much the same thing now, too.


Elk

There has never been an occasion where a people gave up their weapons in the interest of peace that didn't end in their massacre. (Louis L'Amour)

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical. "
-Thomas Jefferson

"America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." Alexis de Tocqueville

FBHO!!!



The Idaho Elk Hunter
 
Posts: 25640 | Location: Virginia | Registered: December 16, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Freethinker
Picture of sigfreund
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by PHPaul:
I vapor locked and just stood there with my mouth hanging open.


My Winchell donut story:
There was a store on the way to work where I often spent long hours. I would stop there at odd times, but wanted one and only one kind: cake with chocolate frosting. Many times, however, that would be the one kind they didn’t have. The cases would be filled with innumerable other varieties with every flavor and color frosting known to man, plus a few extra, but no chocolate covered cake donuts.

I finally asked, “Why are you always out of the chocolate cakes?”
“Oh, that’s because they’re so popular.”

I stopped going there because I was afraid I’d be dragged into a back room and have my brain sucked out like had happened to the people who worked there.




6.4/93.6

“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”
— Plato
 
Posts: 47365 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
E Plebmnista; Norcom, Forcom, Perfectumum.
Picture of OneWheelDrive
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by PHPaul:
I like a particular kind of tart cherry juice. There are NEVER more than 2 or 3 bottles on the shelf, and lately there have been none.

I asked an employee about it. His response:

"We can't keep it in stock so we quit stocking it."

I vapor locked and just stood there with my mouth hanging open.


I've always suspected Sam's Club of this. They want manageable turns.


================================================
Ultron: "You're unbearably naive."
Vision: "Well, I was born yesterday."
 
Posts: 4779 | Location: St. Louis, Mo | Registered: March 23, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by BigSwede:
Which is why I grab three or four when I see an item I will need down the road


So you are the reason they are out of oil and wiper blades!! Big Grin
 
Posts: 1994 | Location: DFW Texas | Registered: March 13, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Corgis Rock
Picture of Icabod
posted Hide Post
Over the years I’ve used 9” notebooks to record meetings, phone calls and such. Early last month I ran out and went to Walmart.
The office supplies were in disarray. Empty boxes, material scattered and no notebooks. Staff didn’t know when the supplies would be restocked.
Sadly I know the answer this. Early summer they ship school supplies. That’s when the sales start. Believe me, that’s when I went out of pocket for my students.
It as the same with men’s underwear. Unlike office supplies you’d expect that there would be a pretty constant demand.
In both cases, it’s pretty sloppy. Would it be unreasonable to just straighten up and toss the empty boxes?



“ The work of destruction is quick, easy and exhilarating; the work of creation is slow, laborious and dull.
 
Posts: 6060 | Location: Outside Seattle | Registered: November 29, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by 92fstech:
And don't tell me you can order it. I can order it myself, ...

I love it when they do that.

Them: "No, we don't stock that, but I can order it for you."
Me: "No need. I can order it for myself, and have it more quickly, for less money."

Hello?!?!

I think some of these companies don't understand the one overwhelming attraction to a brick-n-mortar store: Customers can lay their hands on it now, pay for it, and walk out of the store with it.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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92fstech,

I understand your frustration. I work p.t. in retail and tell the bosses frequently that we need items a, b and c because they are popular with our customers. We document every requested item that we carry or customers are interested in, including the number of inquiries.

The boss tells the buyers who are in another state.

The buyers say that we have 100 stores and have to divide up what they are able to obtain between the stores. For this reason some stores never get any product. This is obviously short sighted thinking.

I give customers the corporate phone number and e-mail advising them to contact the company, explaining that if they wanted to order the item, they wouldn't have come to a brick and mortar store. By the way, corporate doesn't want me doing this but I am helping my customers. I have told the regional supervisors to keep us supplied with stock items and I won't have to advise my customers. A customer contacting corporate carries a lot more weight than a p.t. employee.

Unfortunately, some corporations lose focus on the basic desires of customers and concern themselves with how much add on merchandise they can sell. Ex: I came in to buy targets and cleaning supplies, which you don't have in stock. I didn't come here for a Trail Camera or pop!
 
Posts: 617 | Registered: December 30, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best
Picture of 92fstech
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by egregore:
Is somebody hoarding those items or what? 5W30 oil and 22-inch wipers are common.


Exactly. Which is what pisses me off. It's not like I'm looking for something obscure that they're not going to be able to sell...it's common everyday stuff. And they repeatedly don't order enough to keep up with the obvious demand. So they lose money on sales that they could otherwise have made, plus they reinforce my inclination to shop elsewhere next time since they never stock what I need.

quote:
I finally asked, “Why are you always out of the chocolate cakes?”
“Oh, that’s because they’re so popular.”

I stopped going there because I was afraid I’d be dragged into a back room and have my brain sucked out like had happened to the people who worked there.

Big Grin
 
Posts: 8419 | Location: In the Cornfields | Registered: May 25, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
five wal marts here, the best one within 20 miles is just ok-so,so,
two are very bad about stocking , one is worse





Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency.



Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first
 
Posts: 54501 | Location: Henry County , Il | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Cogito Ergo Sum
posted Hide Post
Drove to the big city to shop for a NOAA radio. Stopped at Cabelas to browse. Was trying to find a price on a Ruger Scout rifle and a Guide gun. Neither was on the racks. As we started to leave a young lady asked me if I needed help. I asked if they had the Ruger Scout or Guide gun in stock. The young lady looked puzzled and said she would ask the firearms manager. She was gone for a few minutes and said the manager says I must be mistaken that there is no such thing as a Guide gun and that we could order a Scout and it would be here in a couple days. I have been to that Cabelas several times over the last couple of months and have never seen the Scout in stock. They must sell pretty quickly.
 
Posts: 5691 | Registered: August 01, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Not really from Vienna
Picture of arfmel
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Years ago, in Austin, there was a tire store that had a huge sign painted on the building that read ”IF IT’S IN STOCK, WE’VE GOT IT”. I used to think that was an attempt at humor. I’m not sure anymore.
 
Posts: 26852 | Location: Jerkwater, Texas | Registered: January 30, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
My other Sig
is a Steyr.
Picture of .38supersig
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by straightshooter01:
quote:
Originally posted by BigSwede:
Which is why I grab three or four when I see an item I will need down the road


So you are the reason they are out of oil and wiper blades!! Big Grin


Guess he may shop at the same store I do, but I'm shopping for 10W30 and 28 inch wiper blades. Wink




 
Posts: 9112 | Location: Somewhere looking for ammo that nobody has at a place I haven't been to for a pistol I couldn't live without... | Registered: December 02, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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