WalMart Rant

[Wolf River]

Update on my complaint to WalMart

Well, no good news yet. I sent my email complaint to WalMart on 9 Nov 2025 and never heard back from them. I sent a follow up email on 13 Nov 2025, this time with a delivery and read receipt request on the email. I got confirmation that the email was delivered to the WalMart address, but it said that the WalMart server was not set up to acknowledge delivery. I got no read receipt or response on that follow up email, either.

Today, I had to go into town, so I printed out the email and hand delivered it to the Assistant Store Manager at our local WalMart. I asked him if they ever got my emails, and he told me that he suspected that if my email did not come from within WalMart or a known corporate business, it most likely got filter to the junk or spam inboxes. I suspect that is what happened.

At any rate, here in 2025, I guess you have to print out and hand deliver an email to WalMart if you want your complaint read. To be honest, I had a feeling that my email with @hotmail.com might just get filed in a spam or junk folder and never be seen. FWIW, I think I spend as much time deleting spam from my email inbox as I do reading the emails that I want. And, I have a pretty aggressive spam filter to start with.

It's not only emails, but I have started getting more and more calls on my cell phone that show up as "Potential Spam." I just decline to answer those calls. The people I know show up on the caller ID. That is another reason why I did not want WalMart to call me from an unknown number. No doubt it would show up as Potential Spam on my phone and I would decline to answer.

I hope to hear back from WalMart now that I know for sure they have my complaint in hand. I hope management attempts to look at that situation and make things better. No doubt, any service manager there at WalMart does not last very long. You don't see the same faces out in the service bays very long, either. In the past, I have had good service from WalMart, but if I have to go somewhere else, I will.

Ya, you cant send a email to Walmart but they can fill your inbox with theirs!

 

[gtaus]

Response from WalMart Management

I got a response from the store manager at WalMart....

*****************************
Dear Mr. XXXXXX,
Thank you for sharing the details of your recent experience with our Auto Service Center on November 8–9. I sincerely apologize for the incorrect mileage and oil information recorded on your service sticker, and for the way the issue was handled when you returned. That is not the level of care or service we expect our team to deliver.
To make this right, we’d like to:

• Provide you a complimentary oil change at your convenience, to ensure the correct oil and mileage are properly recorded in our system.
• Offer you a $50 Walmart gift card as a small gesture for the time and inconvenience this caused. Which can be picked up at the service desk.

Our Auto Service Manager will reach out to schedule your visit at a time that works best for you. You can also contact us directly at XXX-XXXX-XXXX or reply to this email to set an appointment.
We truly appreciate your patience and the opportunity to correct this. Thank you for bringing it to our attention and for being a valued Walmart customer.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXX
Store Manager

******************************

I don't think I was expecting any more than that. I will take the $50 Walmart gift card, but if that same service manager is running the department when I go back to Walmart, I'll pass on the complimentary oil change. The only reason that they would have to do another oil change is because, for some reason, they cannot update my actual mileage on their computer unless they complete another oil change!

I have lost trust in that service manager and don't want to give her a chance to make things worse for me by telling the service guys to do something less than correct on the follow up complimentary oil change. Am I paranoid? I have pretty much made up my mind that I'll just wait for her to rotate out of the Auto service department and someone else steps in. One thing for sure at Walmart, their managers don't last very long in those positions.

I think the store manager is trying to make things right. I hope they take my complaint and use it to improve their customer service for all of us. If not, it was really not worth my time and effort to file a complaint. It was never about the money for me.

 

[Sally PB]

I think the store manager is trying to make things right.

I hope your letter is read at the next store manager meeting.

We had a customer complain about sub-standard service. That letter was read to the entire company (small, about 18 people) at a company meeting.

 

[gtaus]

I hope your letter is read at the next store manager meeting.

We had a customer complain about sub-standard service. That letter was read to the entire company (small, about 18 people) at a company meeting.

I would like to think my complaint could be used as a learning tool to improve customer service. I was only asking for a simple 5-minute fix that ended up taking an hour in the store and a week and a half with filing the complaint and follow ups. In situations like that, everybody loses.

Well, I thought it worth my effort to file the complaint because I have a long history of getting my cars serviced at our local Walmart. In the past, they have always done a good job. I don't want one poor short term manager to break that long term relationship I have with the store.

I agree that a customer complaint is one of the best ways to look to ways to improve your service. If one person takes the time and effort to complain about something, how many other people just walk away and never return?