OMG WALMART!!
59So I am on my way back home. 1100+ miles. Got a flat. On the highway. Oops. Car is full up with cats in a big wire cage, an ancient old style TV mom was getting rid of with a working vhs so I took it so the 2, 4 and 5 year old can watch old VHS’s I still have, other crap she was getting rid of that I could use… can barely see out. The fake mini spare is UNDER all that crap. UNDER IT and it took me over an hour to pack it all to figure out how to make it all fit and still be able to see out the windows.
Called my insurance which has road side assistance. 110 min they said and it is 6:05pm all tire places close at 7. A tow truck pulled up while I was still on the phone with them. Helped me unload the crap and changed my tire. Told me how to find the tire places (about 8 miles). Got to the nearest at 6:45. Nope they had closed down everything as the closed at 7. Called Goodyear. They said they’d stay open late. Got there. Didn’t have a tire for my car. Either noon or 4:30 tomorrow. The other 2 places were closed. Went back to walmart to sleep in the parking lot for when they were open at 7am.
AND THEN…drum roll please… the guy who turned me away pulled up and said they’d open back up and change my tire; they didn’t think I was serious that I’d sleep in the parking lot or had no other options (had called some cheap motels, no one would take pets - someone had said earlier they’d pay for a motel room for me on my trip to my mom’s which was sweet - you know who you are if you are reading this). By then it is like 8:15pm (they closed at 7). His manager opened everything back up and they helped me empty the car a second time and helped me load it back up. WHO WOULD HAVE THUNK!!! Walmart no less.
So I am writing a thank you letter to their general manager (sending them copies so that they have them for their next performance appraisal), calling corporate to let them know how wonderful these three folks were… Who would have though. Walmart!!! (and they have internet too). Seriously cool and totally unexpected being Walmart and all with their rigid system.
Oh goat (@pooltoywolf)- blame for the tire and expense, unblame for walmart in the end and for not wrecking my rim driving on it.
- 15 comments, 4 replies
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Well wow!
/giphy wow!
Sounds like a small town with everyone being so helpful. And good on you for writing the superiors. I really hope it helps them out.
People can be so great. I’m glad they helped you out. I bet that was a huge relief.
That restores my faith in humanity just a little! I’m glad someone was bbn looking out for you. Safe travels for the rest of your journey.
Thank you, more than you can know, for this gift. I’m very glad that things worked out, and I’m grateful to you for sharing it.
You could have just squeezed my air into the tire! All seriousness though, I’m glad everything turned out well, and my faith in humanity has been slightly restored.
Oh my goodness!! What an ordeal! So glad it worked out!
Unfortunately, they will probably be demoted or fired to hire even more desperate and RightToWork (for less) minimum wage workers for violating company policy either for performing unauthorized work after hours on the clock without prior written district manager approval or for unauthorized use of company resources and failing to lawfully report hours worked on company premises using company resources if they weren’t on the clock.
/s Stupid regulations. Slavery and indentured servitude was so much better for the American economy. MAGA
/giphy Debbie Downer
@mike808 Yikes that would be unanticipated. Maybe I need to figure out how to find out if this would be a problem. I asked the tire manager who to contact to let them know how they went above and beyond the call of duty. Hopefully she would not give me a contact that would then stab them in the back.
@Kidsandliz @mike808 Perhaps, if staying open late would be an issue, you could just leave that part out of your praise. I’m sure the manager you spoke to will let you know. Just mentioning that it was close to close and after a long day they were still willing to help, they helped unload your car (of giant and heavy items - plus stressed animals!) and made you feel welcome instead of a burden, etc. etc. Could lead to a lot of praise. I tend to think mike was being a little tongue in cheek - but it couldn’t hurt to check.
Wow. All that sucks big time that it happened but it’s also great how it turned out! Nice when things turn out ok.
And my catastrophes continue. Slept in a rest area starting at 3:15am. Accidentally dropped my keys in the car when I went to use the restroom. Got locked out of my car (if you open the passenger door without having first opened the driver door it automatically locks when you shut the passenger door. Did not know that. Had come back from the restroom, opened the passenger side to give cats meds. Shut the door Oops). Sheriff’s department popped the door with a jimmy thing. So easy and fasto get in I wonder why I even bother to lock it.
Now at Hooters - nope not inside, not applying for a job (umm do not fit the profile to work there LOL), listening to a required adjunct meeting on zoom (never mind I haven’t had a course with them since January and went all 2017 without any) in the parking lot so I can periodically run the car so the cats don’t bake.
That thing of bad luck running in 3’s - hope that superstition is wrong. LOL. I do wonder at what time I will eventually get home though. @pooltoywolf are you listening??? If you are giving me more bad luck please include a winning lottery ticket OK? Then I won’t blame you for anything else this month.
/image deal?
@Kidsandliz I’m sorry, I’m just an innocent squeaky wolf toy ;-;
I think you’re done with bad luck. Remember, people stretch the 3’s thing until they get the three they’re looking for. Seriously (ok, maybe not) shouldn’t there be a defined time frame for the “three”? Is it a day, a week, or is it 2.314 weeks because that’s when the “third” thing happened to hit?
I lost a lot of “faith” in superstitions when I found out that a black cat crossing your path is GOOD luck in England.
Shouldn’t it be universal?
Some one else remarked on this aspect:
/Small town thing.
People can be pretty caring and nice when the metro area isn’t so big that people start to feel they can’t afford to get involved or to try something unorthodox.
/youtube my hometown live
It is so easy to thank someone for going above and beyond. And not much more difficult to let their management know they were wonderful.
Even if they don’t end up getting something extra, the appreciation shown is a pleasant soft reward.
===
Recall several years ago getting a great deal on a laptop on Black Friday weekend. Put it in the middle row of the minivan and drove to Walmart daughter, Sam’s Club.
(Aside: it was a Town & Country with those mind of their own power side doors.)
Came out of Sam’s club to find one of the cart collecting guys standing very patiently by my wide open side door.
He had noticed the door open and the brand new still boxed laptop sitting there so he stood guard until I returned.
I happily handed him 20 bucks, thanked him profusely, and returned to the store to congratulate the manager on their hiring skills.
I’ve retold that story many times since, always mentioning it was a Sam’s Club. (In a large metro area.)
Glad you got help — so sorry this happened to you but glad Walmart guy had Heart and cared !