To shop there or not to shop there seems to be the big question nowadays especially with all the places you have to choose from. Wal-mart constantly advertises two things on television which are low prices and friendly customer service but are these stated facts true?

Let's start by talking about their low prices. Now, I will grant you that I find many items lower at Wal-mart than at most others.....until you get to the checkout. The item is advertised with a big sign to be on sale but when you get to the register, it's another story.

In past months, I, too often, leave the store and head home without checking my receipt which is my fault but why should I have to constantly worry about getting ripped off where I shop. Between my husband being sick and having to handle five children, it's not the first thing on my mind.

So, when I get home and check my receipt only to find that I've been cheated once again, I'm outraged but rather than waste my gas, which is quite pricey, I chose to sit down and send them an email. Now, if I ever got a response, I'd be very grateful but as of yet, even after several emails to Wal-mart, I've yet to hear from them.

To make matters worse, I found out from a friend of mine that they have a policy that I was unaware of and that is, if your item scans incorrectly, you'll get $3.00 off or if it sells for less than $3.00, it's free. This must be a well kept secret because I've shopped there for years and was not aware of this and I wish I had known sooner.

To most people including myself, $3.00 is not a lot of money but if I added up all the times that I was charged incorrectly, I could go Christmas shopping for all my kids with that money...lol. To keep this injustice from happening again, I've been scanning each and every one of my items before going to the checkout.

Well, that's not going to happen at the Wal-mart in our area anymore because all the scanning machines have been taken out so if you are curious as to how much something is, you'll have to stay that way. I'm not sure why they pulled them but this does not make me happy at all which means, I'll once again, have to put my trust in them or shop elsewhere.

As far as customer service goes, I want to know where those friendly, helpful people are that they show on television because they sure as heck aren't at the Wal-mart in my hometown! I've recently had employees tell me or my husband that it is not their job or they're on break or they offer to help but never return. I don't think this is what customer service should be all about but it's something that I've come to expect when we do go there.

In most stores that I've been to, the store manager is usually out and about trying to assist people when needed and to make sure customers are satisfied with the service they've been getting. I know what the store manager looks like but he's never around when we're there and usually when we ask to speak to him, he's unavailable.

You know those friendly people that are supposed to greet you at the door and make you feel welcome? Well, they have them at this Wal-mart as well but here, they're not so friendly. My husband walks with a cane now so when we go anywhere that has motorized carts, he makes use of one but this is a difficult undertaking at this Wal-mart.

The carts are buried behind several shopping carts full of merchandise that should've gone back ages ago and do you think that any of the employees would offer to help? Not a chance! My husband mentioned this to the lady at the door before leaving and she said, "well, they are there for your convenience, you know" and "we're the only store around that offers them to our customers."

The keyword here is convenience and he tried to explain to her that they can't be considered a convenience if you can't get at them to use them. That's when she turned on my husband and started ranting about their store being the only one around that offers this convenience. I hate to burst her bubble but that's just not true and with all the money we've spent at that store, year in and year out, I thought her attitude wasn't right!

Also, it seems to be a constant thing at this store to change things around and while I like changes now and then, this happens all the time. Try to ask an employee where something is now located and they answer by saying, "well, it used to be here" and then they walk away. Added to that is the uphill battle of knowing which aisles to go down that aren't blocked so my husband doesn't break something in an attempt to turn around in those small aisles.

The whole point of this review was to show people how, at least, our Wal-mart has changed for the worse and why, I don't know. I do know that with the loss of places like Bradlee's and K-mart in our area, their store has been going downhill or maybe they just stopped caring because they have less competition to worry about.

Whatever their reasoning is, I will once again write them to tell them that I'm unhappy with their store and it's employees but I doubt it'll do any good. They haven't written me back yet and apparently, they don't know how to use the telephone because I've left several messages and no one has called me back. If I could give everyone a good piece of advice, it would be to watch the items as they're rung or check your receipt...or both!

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