My Debacle With a Big Box Store

First of all I want to say this was 150% or more my fault. I am not in any way trying to blame Walmart It was all me.

A few weeks ago Molly destroyed her dog bed. I will admit it was a rather flimsy one that I had gotten out of the basement to use as a replacement bed for her until I could get her a new one. I guess my time limit had worn out and she was sick and tired of trying to sleep on this thin, flimsy bed. I knew the time had come when I went into the laundry room early one morning singing the Molly song. It goes something like this: “Molly oh Molly it’s time to get up and start your day. The sun is shining and it is time for you to go out and play. Oh Molly my Molly wake up wake up” You are probably rolling your eyes right about now. Talk about indulging the fur babies, a lot of it goes on at this house.

When I went into the laundry room I saw dark grey stuffing all over the room. I blinked twice, I panicked. In my un-caffeinated state of mind It almost looked like Molly had been torn apart. I groggily realized it was the innards of her bed!!! I guess she must have discovered a small tear in the fabric and that is all she wrote.

Molly was gazing up at me like, see I told you I needed a new bed now get me a new bed woman!!!!

That same day I had a meeting in Maryville with one of our our advertisers from work, I decided that after the meeting I would go to Target and get Molly a new bed. Wrong move. Target had NOTHING in the way of a decent dog bed that didn’t cost less than $60.00. I wouldn’t have minded paying $60.00 for Molly a new bed but it looked like crap and certainly not worth $60.00.

I decided to go on down the road to the Walmart. I found an adorable bed at less than half the cost of the other one at Target. I did a little more shopping while I was there. I bought some CeraVe lotion. A friend had gone to a dermatologist and he gave her some samples of this stuff which she shared with me and I loved it. I bought some make up, nail polish, a big bag of dog food some yummy fabric squares, and a few other things.

I went through the self check out. I had the huge dog bed and the dog food in the cart and I unloaded all of the other things priding myself that they fit in one bag. Look at me being good for the environment!!! I got my stuff and headed to the car. It was cold and I was hurrying to get everything unloaded and return the cart and get in the car.

I got home and showed Molly her new bed. She loved it!!! As soon as she came inside for the night, she ran and jumped on the bed curled up and snuggled in. She looked so peaceful and happy.

A little while later I was upstairs and happened to remember my bag with the makeup and everything in it. I ran down to the car and opened the back. NO BAG!!! Maybe I put it in the car seat next to me. NO!!! I searched the entire car like maybe the whole bag had slipped under the seat. NOPE!!! I ran into the house. I must have forgotten and brought it in with me when I got home. NOPE!!!! My mind raced!!! Where could the bag be? The fleeting thought passed through my brain that maybe I had left it at the Walmart in Maryville. NO NO NO!! I couldn’t have done that. Not a big bag full of stuff!!! Of course I did have that big dog bed and the dog food that I was wrestling with but I just couldn’t imagine me leaving the bag behind.

Around 8:30 that evening I called it. Reality check. Yes I had left the bag at the self check out. O.K. Now you have probably left things at Walmart before, so have I. I would run back down to the local Walmart and pick it up. But this particular Walmart was about a forty five to fifty minute drive from my house. BUT, I estimated the contents of the bag to be more than $50.00. Remember how I crammed everything into one bag? I decided to call and see if they had found the bag.

I got the receipt out of my purse and found the store phone number and called. I hit three for customer service or something like that. The phone rang and rang. No one answered nor was there any way to leave a call back number. I called back and went through the whole thing again. The phone rang for about fifty rings and nothing. I then called back and pushed two for pharmacy, maybe they could connect me, NOTHING but the ringing of the phone. I called again and pushed for grocery pick up. NOTHING. The phone was never answered by human or otherwise.

I hated to drive the forty five minutes or so to the store and then them not have the bag etc etc. so the next morning I stopped at our local Walmart to see if there was anything they could do. Maybe they could replace the items HA!!! or maybe they knew a secret way to get in touch with the Maryville Walmart.

I went directly to customer service. The young lady behind the counter informed me that she had no magic way to get in touch with the Maryville Walmart any more than I did. I told her the problem with the telephone not being answered. She said the phones ring through the dressing rooms and because the dressing rooms were closed, due to COVID-19, that no one answered. WHAT???? I said what about when I called the Pharmacy? She just shrugged her shoulders. She also told me that because I had gone through self-checkout it was MY responsibility to get my merchandise. I told her, with my teeth slightly clenched, that I knew that. I was just hoping there was something I could do without making the forty five minute drive to the other Walmart. I knew with my work schedule I wouldn’t be able to get back to the other Walmart for a few days. She also told me that I would probably have to file a police report to report the missing items because more than likely the person behind me just took my bag. I just shook my head. Seriously!! A police report? I can just hear that conversation, well officer the lipstick was called Pink Flamingo. Jesus take the wheel.

My husband, had told me that morning ” honey just forget it, it’s not worth you worrying and running all over the place to get your stuff”. But it’s $50.00 wasted!!!! I wailed. And my husband, the voice of reason to my crazy ramblings said ” Just chalk it up. It was a mistake, no big deal it’s not worth stressing yourself over.” And you know what? After all of that, it really wasn’t. I had to lick my wounds for a few days. I tried to find the same lipstick color and nail polish I had picked out at the other Walmart and I can’t seem to find them or I can’t remember the exact color. I also couldn’t find those yummy fabric squares but oh well, in the grand scheme of things, so what. I guess the big thing was I was disappointed in myself. But hey those things happen. We’re not perfect and in the grand scheme of life it is nothing.

I heard a couple of days later that Walmart had had a nation wide glitch with their phone systems. I am not sure what to think about this. Maybe, who knows? just be extra careful if you are at self checkout. YOU are responsible for your items.

Always remember,

Love your day your way!!!