November 7, 2002

November 7, 2002
Coleman Peterson
Executive Vice President, People Division
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
702 S.W. 8th Street
Bentonville, AR 72716

Dear Mr. Peterson,

I was accosted by a Wal-Mart employee today in a way that upset me enough
to write to you directly. This was a standard "customer buys goods,
ineffectual security system goes off as customer exits, wackiness ensues"
situation, except it brought several issues to a head which I believe
should be brought to the table at an upper management level.  If this
letter has actually reached you, then I thank you for your time in reading
it.

I finished checking out at the Loudon Road, Concord, NH store just at 3pm
today, November 7, 2002, and headed out the exit. The alarm went off, as
it does, realistically, about 25% of the times I pass through it.  The
woman at the exit podium came dashing after me, per routine, and politely
informed me I would have to return to the store. Please understand that
each time this occurs, as of this moment in the transaction, from the
customer's point of view, Wal-Mart has accused the customer of stealing,
and is demanding that the customer prove otherwise. That simple
unavoidable fact places the onus on Wal-Mart to go to great lengths to
avoid further offending the customer.

I permitted the woman to examine the contents of my bags, whereupon she
took one of the bags and went back to her podium. A full five minutes of
playing with a wireless scanner she clearly didn't understand, I went
back, retrieved my items from her and told her I was leaving. I told her I
had never shoplifted in my life, and I was leaving with my belongings.  I
wasn't rude, I was simply done accommodating a pointless situation. I
turned and walked out of the store with my merchandise.  Almost
instantaneously a large man appeared and tried everything short of
physical restraint to stop me from leaving the store. He was rude,
condescending, and blatantly attempting physical intimidation from the
very start. At that moment I passed through the security scanners again,
and they didn't go off.  The manipulations with the handheld at the podium
had apparently disabled the offending tag.   He made some comments about
the security system and the lady at the podium, and as I began to respond
he turned his back, walked away, and waved his arm back at me in, suffice
to say, a dismissive and insulting manner.

Up until that point I had been tolerant and resigned to the situation,
but at that point I became irritated, and followed the man back into
the store.  After several exchanges (I was actually confused, thinking
he was a customer, since I'd never seen a Wal-Mart employee without
the trademark vest) I asked him point-blank if he was an employee, and
he said he was. I asked for his name (already sensing this was going
to result in a conversation with the manager) and he refused, saying
he was an undercover security guard, but would I like his badge
number. I said "Very much so."  He then pulled a small badge, perhaps
1 1/2 inch diameter, from inside his shirt, and waved it quickly in a
large circle in front of me, and immediately stuffed it back inside
his shirt. I thought "I'm being deliberately taunted by a Wal-Mart
security guard. This can't be happening." I told him no, I really
would like to get his badge number, as I felt his conduct was
inappropriate, would he please let me see the badge?" and he
replied "Nope."

He told me that everything about this was entirely to his liking. His
security system had worked, his employee had done what she was supposed
to, and he was quite pleased. I told him that I didn't think pleasing
undercover security guards was the primary goal of Wal-Mart customer
service policies.  He replied "Why not? Everything worked!"  I said "What
about the regular customer who has been delayed, accused, detained,
offended, and insulted, and is now angry and shaking?"  He said "Call my
boss. He's in Arkansas" and walked away.  At that point I asked the woman
at the podium to page the manager.  I never did get a name or badge number
from the security guard, he was unwilling to provide either.

About 10 minutes more, Carol, the on-duty manager, appeared. Carol played
it right out of the training videos. She was polite, warm, empathetic,
took down the information, apologized skillfully for the situation without
acknowledging that anyone at Wal-Mart had done anything wrong, and even
though I knew she was doing it exactly as she had been trained to do, it
still worked. It had a calming effect on me and helped to defuse the
situation.  She took my name and telephone number and assured me the store
manager would call me tomorrow to discuss the incident. Despite Carol's
professionalism, I still left the store shaken, demoralized, and angry.
The observations I took away from this are: 1) Until you reduce the number
of items that pass through the register without disabling the security
tab, you should stop using the system. 2) This anonymous security guard
should never ever be allowed contact with customers. It betrays the
efforts all your other employee make providing good customer service to
have one loose cannon destroy all that good will in three minutes.  3)
I've read the book. I believe if Sam Walton was alive today, and had
witnessed this situation, and could have seen how greed and ambition have
perverted the principles of customer service he held so dear, it would
bring tears to his eyes.

I hope (against all reason) that my letter will have some positive effect
and help prevent future incidents like this. There are errors being made
which do damage you cannot undo. And for what it's worth, I will continue
to shop Wal-Mart, because I have no choice. The presence of a store means
the absence of market space for alternatives. But I'll never stop for that
alarm again. If Wal-Mart thinks I've stolen something from them, they will
have to physically detain me, call the police, file shoplifting charges,
and only then will I allow the police to search my bags. Since I do not
shoplift, I think we can both anticipate the ultimate outcome if that ever
takes place.

Sincerely,

Marc Lippmann
cc:     Store Manager, Loudon Rd. Concord NH
        S. Robson Walton
        John T. Walton

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