Taking on the Giant

I've been putting off doing this. But I'm still irritated. I'm mad at Wal-Mart. Here's a letter I recently wrote and sent to the manager of a local store:

On Thursday, June 15, I purchased two 32 oz. bottles of hydrogen peroxide from your store. Upon arriving at home I discovered that one of the bottles was lacking its tamper-proof safety seal. On Saturday June 17, 2006 I returned to your store to return the defective bottle of hydrogen peroxide. I expected the return process to be straight-forward and easy based on Wal*Mart’s published policy.

Instead the attendant at the customer service desk, Keasha, proceeded to accuse me of trying to return water instead of hydrogen peroxide. I recognize that water and hydrogen peroxide have similar physical properties, so although I was taken aback, I was not upset when she initially asked if it was water in the bottle. I assured her it was indeed hydrogen peroxide and again explained my reason for returning it. Before accepting the return Keasha called over her manager, who in turn called someone from the pharmacy. I’m sure that these actions were according to protocol, but I found it quite offensive that when each of these individuals arrived Keasha said, “She wants to return water.” The pharmacy representative confirmed that the bottle contained hydrogen peroxide and authorized my refund of $1.03.

I understand that loss prevention is an important issue for a major retailer like Wal*Mart; however, I think the way I was treated was offensive and unacceptable. I shop at Wal*Mart because of the reasonable prices and the convenience of your store to my home, but after my recent experience I don’t anticipate returning to your store. Additionally, I will be sharing this experience with my friends and family.

I appreciate your time in addressing this issue.

So far my letter has gone unacknowledged. And that bugs me too. I wasn't expecting free stuff, but I'd appreciate a letter of acknowledgement. Apparently Wal-Mart doesn't care about me and my $1.03 or how many other dollars I might or might not spend there because they make plenty without me anyway. Nevertheless, my Wal-Mart boycott has begun (at least of that store, I'm ambivalent about other ones).