wow. it's been a crazy weekend.
and friday was just the tip of the iceberg...you'll see...
friday started off beautifully. i got to sleep in. the boss came home from work early...things were getting done. heaven. one of the last things on my to-do list for the day was to send some printables to wal-mart so i could drop off our "boos" to our neighbors...see,i had a plan.
i've been using wal-mart to print off my printables for quite some time now. never once have i had a problem. until yesterday.
when i got to the checkout, i gave them my name, they took one look at the envelope and immediately started treating me strangely. they proceeded to tell me that i had printed off these documents illegally. that i was stealing. that they would not be a part of it. i'm not kidding. they took my name. documenting the situation. i'm on some list now.
keep in mind. this was going on in front of other customers. lovely.
i explained to them what a free printable was. i even pulled up a few of them on my phone-to show them the wording.
they weren't hearing it.
now...here's the deal. to get through grad school, i worked as a supervisor for a major airline (awesome job, by the way...but that's for another post). i know how to handle awkward customer service situations. i've had to remove passengers from planes. i've had to tell people they "gave me the appearance of being intoxicated" and thus couldn't fly, etc. and never once did i have a customer leave unhappy. so i know how to remain calm in stressful situations. i know how to handle awkie moments. i wish these employees had had the same training.
they were rude. insulting. unreasonable. in front of other customers.
i've never been so humiliated in a store, in front of people. not to mention, my little boo printables are now sitting alone. in wal-mart.
never to boo a neighbor...being wasted.*siiiiigggghhhh.
while i do have a dramatic personality, i'm getting pretty good at letting things slide off my back. not this one. i think it's because i was accused of being dishonest. that's a big one in my book. i may be many things, but i really do try to be as honest as possible with everyone.
so.
as a family, we're officially boycotting wal-mart.
but my point is...
i can't be the first person this has happened to. some of the super awesome printables look expensive/professionally done, etc.
so how/where do you print them off? have you ever been confronted about printing them?
if/when it happens, what do you tell them?
thoughts?
14 comments:
Wow. I'm no help when it comes to the printables, but I'm thinking a few letters to management and corporate are in order, with copies of the printable and the disclaimer thingie that says you can re-print. The W is evil. So sorry you went through this.
Boycotting Walmart isn't necessarily a bad idea anyway... there's a documentary on them that puts them in a not-so-great light. Aside from that, I print mine at Walgreens or CVS... I've never had a problem!
I agree with Amy. I'd talk to the manager and be sure to have the disclaimer/permission form with you when you go. I'm pretty sure you can report those people to HR too.
Have you tried Shutterfly or Snapfish? They print greeting cards, so I'm pretty sure you could have your Boo cards printed at one of those places.
walmart = hellmart. I always print my stuff at home, unless it's Christmas cards or something. So sorry they crapped on your day! And your project!!
That's nuts!! I've heard about this happening with pictures too... Pictures that were permitted to be printed, then Wal-mart taking them away. I'm sorry you had to go through that. Official complaint is definitely in order!!!
thanks for the support and freaking kind words, ladies.i *might agree about the hellmart comment. i mean, sure, if you have to work there, i get it...but i'm feeling might fine about our decision to stop shopping there.
i've heard good things about shutterfly and snapfish-i just never plan that far enough ahead...more of a 1hr/express person.
but i did try cvs yesterday and they were super nice/helpful. until they make me feel like a criminal, i'll be using them.
I'm putting my vote in for an official complaint. As someone who works in retail (not Wal-Mart!), I'm really sorry to hear how you were treated. That's completely unacceptable.
On a brighter note, I love your creativity and your blog! And, I ADORE the ghostie printables you came up with! (The ones in your next post, of course) :)
That stinks! I don't know how you remained calm, I would have been freaking out. I'm not a calm person. ;) I had an experience like that where a friend took some pics of my daughter and when I went to pick them up from Walgreens, they wouldn't let me have them for the same reasons! I was pregnant and hormonal and started crying, and they STILL wouldn't give them to me! I think what upset me most is that Walgreens now has these random pics of my kid! I couldn't go back in there for like, a year. Too many hard feelings!
Ugh! I hate Walmart. My two-year old calls it "Wart-mart", and I think that's pretty accurate. They're a pesky thing that's difficult to get rid of. I haven't done anything with free printables yet, but when I do, I know to stay away from W.M.
thanks, again, ladies. i won't lie, it's been challenging staying away from the w.m.-because of costs, especially for spraypaint...-but i feel good about sticking to my decision. i can't justify giving my money to a place that treated me that way.
I had almost the exact same scenario happen to me, only with pictures I HAD TAKEN MYSELF of my 2 year old. The photo person demanded to see the copyright from my photographer!! I guess I committed a crime of taking pictures that looked too good?! They absolutely did not believe me and wouldn't let me buy the pictures. UGH. That's why my hubby bought me a really good photo printer for my birthday lol. -Kelly, Semi Homemade Mom
I also had this happen to me two times at Wallyworld. I had to sign a paper stating I was the photographer (so I guess we're both on that list. LOL) After all that, when I looked at one of the photos it was cropped wrong. Now, I am a photographer and was careful to crop correctly in Photoshop. As we were still in the store, my husband told me to return to the counter. She insisted that was the proper crop, then I said "I don't think so because I cropped to make sure the aspect ratio was correct for that size." She looked at me blankly and reprinted with the correct crop. I told me husband she didn't understand a word of what I said did she, and he replied, I don't think I did either. LOL. I'd boycott the store except we have Big Lots, Dollar General,and Dollar Tree for department stores and only a locally owned grocery store for groceries.
hate walmart.
I think you should march in there and talk to a manager and insist that A. you are not leaving without your printables and B. you expect them to be free now since you had to deal with such rude, poorly trained staff.
No way! That is completely crazy. Wow.
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