March 15, 2012

Ode to Walmart

I'm about to say something that I never would have thought I'd say, and most of you who know me will be shocked as well. Are you ready? Brace yourself! …..I Love Walmart!

There, I've said it, and at the moment, I truly mean it. For the most part, Walmart is everything I try to avoid in life - cheap, mass produced, soulless. However, I'm not a snob, or not much of one anyway, and I do occasionally patron the giant box, primarily for things I can't easily come by elsewhere. And for tires and oil changes. In this category, I fall in the everyday American pattern of seeking cheap and easy.

Last night, Joe came home from school with a tire rapidly loosing air from a nail in the sidewall. Yep, unrepairable. And, because we have an AWD car, apparently all four tires must be replaced at the same time or else you risk serious damage to the transfer case. (Aren't you impressed with how knowledgeable I sound??) I found out all this information from one repair shop that I took the car to because it is directly across the road from the office I work in on Wednesdays. I tend to avoid this particular repair shop because it is one of those places were you walk into a pristine storefront, deal with a clean, well groomed salesperson, and never actually see a speck of grease. There's something way too sterile about it all. However, the across-the-street convenience occasionally has me permitting them to deal with minor issues that I'm pretty sure even they can't find a way to rip me off on. I didn't doubt their information in this case, but I couldn't help but imagine their joy as they handed me a $500.00 quote for a whole new set of tires.

After briefly wondering if this was a sign that I should break my Walmart tire streak, I folded and headed to Walmart to see about getting new tires. I can't even explain what happened at this point. I didn't want to ask too many questions lest I break the magical spell. They did have record of us having bought our tires there last July, and although the tires came with a 60,000 mile warranty I didn't assume this situation fell within that warranty. However, after looking at the wear and tear on my other three tires, they said they would pro-rate the price of the new tires and discount them to $13.00 a piece!! At that price, I decided I was definitely going to add the additional $10.00 a tire for the "road hazard warranty", a program which would give us the benefits we were somehow getting for free at this moment.

Just over an hour later, I left Walmart with four new tires and a receipt for $76.00. When it came time to ring up the bill, the computer wasn't processing the discount on the tires. I was extremely patient and pleasant as the guy repeatedly voided and rerang up the order. I did not want to give him any reason to rethink his amazingly generous offer. Finally, he announced the total and I swiped the credit card. The total was even less than I had anticipated, so I nervously asked "Did that include the road hazard warranty on the tires?" "Yep", he answered, followed by "Where did you get that dog?" Wilson and I had spent the past hour sitting on a bench right outside the tire and lube center. Wilson's delightful mopey demeanor and amazing leashless manners had everyone charmed. He would graciously and calmly allow all passing Walmart customers to pet him, without getting at all worked up over their swooning and baby talk. So, I told the guy that we'd gotten Wilson from the county pound, the best $10 I'd ever spent, thanked him and drove away before the clock struck midnight and the magic ended.

Upon examining the receipt later, it appears that the guy (who was in fact the manager of the automotive section, so probably had the authority to do this) got tired of arguing with the computer about the price of the tires, erased them completely from the order and only charged me for the extras - the road hazard warranty and lifetime balance and rotation thing. Wow! As my sister said, God was definitely smiling down on me today, in the very ironic form of a giant yellow smiley face.

1 comment:

Kerri said...

Wow! That's wonderful! Only you Amanda... as I try to avoid Wally World at all costs. ;)