WalMart ripoff false promises Bentonville Arkansas

To All,
The history of late industrial Japan is very interesting. At the end of WWII, American engineers and business people were invited to Japan to help them rebuild.

One of the people who arrived was W. Edward Deming. His belief of what was required to improve quality in manufacturing was not accepted in America, but was taken up by the Japanese.

Before his arrival, as an example, the manufacturer of light bulbs though they were doing good if 40% of the bulbs built worked.

Before this, workers were never encouraged to make suggestions. They were considered just cogs in the process. Deming made them a valuable resource who used their observations and experience to improve the product and how it was built.

Openess to new ideas and taking what was best, regardless of nation of origin, has been benefical to the Japanese.

Sometimes this went a bit too far. American engineers opened up an intergrated circuit from Japan and found that it was a copy of theirs... even down to the mistakes that were accidently made in their original.

Probably the biggest advantage the Japanese had was their relationship between the government and Japanese companies.

The government had a very powerful department (JITI) that decided what would be developed. They also had a relationship between the banks, government and companies that eventually led to their downfall. If you are interested, you can do some research about how this house of cards all fell and they are just now, 10 years later, coming out of their recession.

I have worked on American manufacturing lines for a few years and eventually got my BA in Business Admin. It is my observation that American workers are the best. It is a fact that they are among the most productive. However, they can only build that which is designed by others... and the people in the offices are sometimes less than enthusiastic about listening to the person on the production floor.

The whole point being that all things being equal American's can easily compete. However, things are very rarely equal.

Unfortunately, many times people shopping are looking for lowest price. If the low price comes from governmental subsidies (such as JITI), prisoner labor (China?) or exploitation of poor 3rd world labor (Nike), retailers can only sell what people are buying... otherwise they would be out of business.

Just some thoughts.
Thanks,

To Kirk in CA. The hell with the rest of the
world?? With that comment you just sunk yourself
lower than shawangunk's level. The fact is japan
puts more time thinking and figuring out ways to
manufacture autos than the U.S. does. This is FACT. Not my personal opinion. It seems that there are a few racist rednecks typing in some of the reports. I hope I dont run into you on a bad day.By the way, I HATE that state you live in
called CA. ITs A RIPOFF all by itself. Have a nice day, cracker, and god bless EVERYONE.

Shawangunk, OK, I can give you some examples right off hand.

My 10 year old Chevrolet, with 128,000 miles, has never needed anything more than routine maintainence (oil changes, fluid flushes, filters, stuff that any car would need), a friend of mine had to shut down his KIA dealership cause he lost his ### cause too many people brought them back demanding warranty work on the transmissions and engines and the like.

My RCA TV, bought in 1985, built in Marion, Indiana and the casing in Bloomington, Indiana, all out of US parts, it still work dandy.

My Magic Chef microwave, circa 1975, works fine, built in the USA.

My dads 1976 Plymouth Grand Fury that he had til 1997, made in the USA.

Any foreign crap you buy at Walmart........busted before the week is out 90% of the time.

I could see the slave labors making those "Not a stitch wasted" Levi jeans "YOU WASTED A STITCH!!!!" "YOU WASTED ANOTHER ONE!!!!!!" B-)

Very Well Said Lori,
Shaw...is the epitomy of LOSER!
God Bless the US and the hell with the rest of the world!

I have sooooo had it with Shawangunk, that I am ready to leave the US and move over with Wally!!
Rumor has it that they have removed this person from this site until they learn some manners, i hope that is true, in the mean time, lets hope he gets hit by a bus or something equal to his intellectual level

You are so pathetic, once again spraying your evil ignorance anout the rip-off reports...

Glad to see that you miss me so much, you write of me... How cute...

You are a sick, twisted individual who sits at home all day jerking off and playing on the internet...

I guess we can all be thankful for that... We surely would buy any vehicle made in any other part of the world than your fantasy land home town... I am just glad to know that losers like you are at home, and not doing anything to further deteriorate US products...

People like you are the reson quality in goods and services are down the drain in the US...

So, why don't you get back to your Barbie World, you call Socksville, NE with your equally sick alter-ego PegLeg!!!

Looking forward to hearing from your other personalities here... Psycho.

Finally!! I am no longer the only person on this planet that Mr Shawangunk had not given a mouthful to. I have extricated my head from the sand, made a resolution not to fight any more crocs and simply continue living in the "hot steamy outback". I wish I was as well versed in Geography, manufacturing and all other matters as Mr Shawangunk but no, I am just a dumb Aussie.

Regards from Down Under,
Wally

Rick,

Dont quite know how to tell you this, but your Nissan Pathfinder was made in Smyrna, TN. Only the parts come from overseas and not many of them anymore, as Nissan expects its outsourcers to be available for truck shipment within 24 hours time. Most of the parts manufacturers are now in Tennessee also!

Thought you might want to know

YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND IN THAT HOT STEAMY AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK, OR HAVE GOTTEN BEATEN UP BY YET ANOTHER CROC, HAVEN'T YOU MATE? JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE ASSEMBLY PLANTS FOR FOREIGN VEHICLES IN THE US DOES NOT MEAN THAT SUDDENLY THOSE VEHICLES ARE EXCLUSIVELY AMERICAN VEHICLES. DID YOU EVER THINK TO CONSIDER THAT MAYBE THE JAPANESE HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO WITH THEIR TIME AND RESOURCES THAN BASIC BLUE COLLAR ASSEMBLY WORK? THEY WOULD MUCH RATHER SAVE MONEY BY SENDING THAT STUFF OFF TO THE US WHERE UNEDUCATED, SELF-PROCLAIMED "PROFESSIONALS" LIKE LORI AND SOME OTHERS CAN DO THEIR DIRTY WORK WHILE THEY FOCUS THEIR TIME AND ENERGY ON DEVELOPING NEW AUTOS AND STREAMLINING THEIR BUSINESS STRATEGIES. THE CARS ARE STILL FOREIGN-DESIGNED AND MUCH BETTER THAN YOUR 1981 FORD FESTIVA WHICH HAS PROBABLY BEEN SITTING ABANDONED IN YOUR FRONT YARD FOR THE PAST 15 YEARS OR SO, THE NEWFOUND HOME OF YOUR PET JACK-A-LOPE. WHY DON'T YOU TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE AND GO GET A CLUE!!!! WAAAH WAHHH WAAAAAHHHHH CRY ME A RIVER, YO' LOWLY PIECE O' HOGWASH!!!

Kirk,

Sam Walton is dead and his dream died with him. Its all about money now to feed the shareholders. Gotta' keep that profit margin way up high; foreign goods are often the best way to do that.

You are right, there has been a shift away from the original ideals of this company. The whole atmosphere has changed in the stores.

Don't look for a big comeback of the "Made in the USA" campaign. Under the pretense of "keeping prices low for you", foreign goods are the ticket. Actually, "keeping profits high for US" should be what is getting said!

As for alternatives: Wal-Mart has taken over everything! Most other discount chains were buried by Wal-Mart. Where would you suggest we shop? In many small towns there are no alternatives. And where would we go that is NOT filled with imported goods? Even products that say "Made in the USA" are usually only assembled here as pointed out by Rick. If one screw is put in in this country, a "Made in the US" label can be slapped on it.

I would rather pay a little more, too, and know that my neighbors had jobs and food on the table. Sweetie, you and I are just spitting into the wind here, crying in the wilderness. We are not likely to influence the buying decisions of this company unless a whole lot of people jump on this bandwagon; millions of people.

This is the way of Corporate America. When it becomes "all about the money", dreams die and ideals are trampled.

I miss Mr. Sam and his dream.

Thanks For The Kind Words Kirk - Mel Gibson left Australia because somebody told him that Shawangunk lives in the states but because he was a little hard of hearing he heard it as "Sure and gee hunks live in the states". So because he had proved himself to be a real "hunk" to all the Aussie Ladies he thought he better get over to your country.

When he arrived and someone corrected him and explained that no "Shawangunk" lives here he burst into laughter. After two weeks he finally stopped laughing and thought he wouldn't waste his plane fare. He simply proceeded to earn a few "lazy" 100 million Dollars doing what we Aussies love most - having fun and enjoying whatever it is that we are doing at the time.
I hope that clears it up for you!

On to more serious matters. We try to encourage our populace to 'Buy Australian Made' but we have similar problems to the USA. In season we can buy California Navel oranges cheaper than our home grown product. Likewise strawberries from the USA are generally cheaper than our local product.

Nobody can seriously blame the struggling single parent with a couple of kids for buying the most affordable goods available to her/him. When you have twenty dollars in your hand and you can buy imported goods for $19 or local goods for $25 to feed your family there is no argument and no thought of how your actions will affect your country in 10 or 20 years time - THEY ARE SIMPLY TRYING TO SURVIVE!
In a perfect world I would only buy Australian Made Goods but then I would never have had the pleasure of owning a '66 Mustang covertible in my youth. Hollywood would have been hidden from me and I would never have heard the wonderful, varying accents that US citizens speak with. All things considered I think it is a fair trade to buy some imported goods - it makes us a global community and hopefully one day the Shawangunk's of this world will come to realize that 'live and let live' is a great creed to aspire to. It doesn't matter what colour (no Shawangunk that is not a misspelt word - that is how we spell it in OZ), shape, size, religion or anything else we are the bottom line is if we treat each other the way we would like to be treated ourselves than 100% of the world's problems would disappear overnight.

Lighten up, have fun and make sure the person beside you is doing the same - it is infectious. Have a holiday in Australia and we'll teach you how! Take a look at www.caloundratourism.com.au and make a booking - the Crocodile Hunter (Steve Irwin) lives here so it's not a bad place to visit.

Kindest Wishes,

I'm sorry to say but I have to agree on the Japanese vehicles. I've owned American vehicles all my life, until 4 years ago. I bought a used Nissan Pathfinder with 135k miles on it. Today it has 250k on it. Since I have owned the only trouble I've had was a water pump start leaking, yes it was an expensive repair,$400. But I have NEVER owned an American vehicle that was as trouble free and dependable as my Nissan.

Why are the forgien auto makers building "assembly" plants in the US? Because its much cheaper to ship the parts here and then build the cars than it is to send a whole car to the US. They pay no where as much on import duties by importing the parts as they would pay on the whole car. Plus labor is actually cheaper here than in Japan or Germany.

I know, when I'm out of work and hungry I can eat my Nissan. I used to say the same thing, until I actually owned one.

I'm sorry to say but I have to agree on the Japanese vehicles. I've owned American vehicles all my life, until 4 years ago. I bought a used Nissan Pathfinder with 135k miles on it. Today it has 250k on it. Since I have owned the only trouble I've had was a water pump start leaking, yes it was an expensive repair,$400. But I have NEVER owned an American vehicle that was as trouble free and dependable as my Nissan.

Why are the forgien auto makers building "assembly" plants in the US? Because its much cheaper to ship the parts here and then build the cars than it is to send a whole car to the US. They pay no where as much on import duties by importing the parts as they would pay on the whole car. Plus labor is actually cheaper here than in Japan or Germany.

I know, when I'm out of work and hungry I can eat my Nissan. I used to say the same thing, until I actually owned one.

I'm sorry to say but I have to agree on the Japanese vehicles. I've owned American vehicles all my life, until 4 years ago. I bought a used Nissan Pathfinder with 135k miles on it. Today it has 250k on it. Since I have owned the only trouble I've had was a water pump start leaking, yes it was an expensive repair,$400. But I have NEVER owned an American vehicle that was as trouble free and dependable as my Nissan.

Why are the forgien auto makers building "assembly" plants in the US? Because its much cheaper to ship the parts here and then build the cars than it is to send a whole car to the US. They pay no where as much on import duties by importing the parts as they would pay on the whole car. Plus labor is actually cheaper here than in Japan or Germany.

I know, when I'm out of work and hungry I can eat my Nissan. I used to say the same thing, until I actually owned one.

Not only that, but also Honda makes cars here in the US in Merrysville, Ohio...

They now export back to Japan, how about that???

Also, let's not forget that if it were not for American's like Juran and Deming, Japan would have never gotten their start with Total Quality Management...

Very well said Wally. Shawangunk has "No Clue"!
Austrailia is a great country because of people like you! At least you folks won't let in the "dirt bags" of the world and let them run your country! Kudos again to you and your beautiful country of Austrailia.
Still can't figure out why Mel Gibson ever left!

Obviously, this individual is a foreigner him/herself or perhaps owns/operates an import company, etc. Be it true at one time that American auto's and perhaps televisions and radio's were not the quality as that of the Japaneese or Germans, that is certainly not quite true today. Why is it then that Toyota has assembly plants in Fremont, California and Kentucky? Why doe's Volkswagen have an assembly plant in Tennessee? Sony has a television assembly plant in San Diego, California. I am talking about, specifically things like crafts, housewares, clothing, tools, lawn & garden furniture, etc. These are just some items that are made here in the USA and are certainly better than anything made in Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, etc. Have you ever used a screwdriver made in China? The blade strips the first time you use it. Have you ever sat in a metal patio chair that was made in China? It is not as sturdy as one made by Austins here in the USA. The guage of steel used is much thinner than anything made in the USA. The Japaneese didn't invent the automobile.....they just did a better job copying it. The American automotive industry has been better at making products last longer, but I'll be the first to admit, they still have a way to go. My suggestion to this individual who wrote the rebuttal, putting American products down is if you don't like America or it's people or products...then get the hell out of the USA.

Wow! What a person!! You lucky people in the US have a lot of wonderful things going for you - but then there is Shawangunk. What an absolute expert on negativity. My parents taught me that civility costs nothing and it is a pretty good tenet to hold. Perhaps some of you could explain to Shawangunk what it means.

I expect Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss/Mystery Shawangunk to have a crack at me as well because I am just a no account hillbilly Aussie. If he does then at least I have achieved what I set out to do and expose Shawangunk as an International idiot that the whole world is laughing at.

As for Walmart I'm afraid all of the worlds icon Companies are having to 'go with the flow' and provide competitively priced goods because the consumer demands it. It happens in my country as well as yours - sad but unfortunately a reality.
Good luck to you all including Shawangunk

EVERYONE KNOWS THAT FOREIGN-MADE GOODS ARE FAR SUPERIOR TO ANYTHING "MADE IN AMERICA." IF WALMART IS TURNING AWAY FROM AMERICAN GOODS TO FOREIGN ONES, THEIR QUALITY WILL ONLY GET BETTER AND MORE PEOPLE WILL SHOP THERE. THINK ABOUT IT .... WHAT AMERICAN BRANDS OUT THERE HAVE PROVEN TO BE BETTER THAN FOREIGN BRANDS? CAN YOU NAME EVEN ONE??? LET'S SEE ... HONDA, PANASONIC, JVC, TOYOTA ... OH WAIT, THESE ARE *FOREIGN BRANDS* !!! ANYONE WHO REFUSES TO BUY FOREIGN PRODUCTS IN FAVOR OF STRICTLY AMERICAN PRODUCTS IS A TRUE LOSER INDEED! AND OWNS A HUGE HEAP O' WORTHLESS JUNK!

EVERYONE KNOWS THAT FOREIGN-MADE GOODS ARE FAR SUPERIOR TO ANYTHING "MADE IN AMERICA." IF WALMART IS TURNING AWAY FROM AMERICAN GOODS TO FOREIGN ONES, THEIR QUALITY WILL ONLY GET BETTER AND MORE PEOPLE WILL SHOP THERE. THINK ABOUT IT .... WHAT AMERICAN BRANDS OUT THERE HAVE PROVEN TO BE BETTER THAN FOREIGN BRANDS? CAN YOU NAME EVEN ONE??? LET'S SEE ... HONDA, PANASONIC, JVC, TOYOTA ... OH WAIT, THESE ARE *FOREIGN BRANDS* !!! ANYONE WHO REFUSES TO BUY FOREIGN PRODUCTS IN FAVOR OF STRICTLY AMERICAN PRODUCTS IS A TRUE LOSER INDEED! AND OWNS A HUGE HEAP O' WORTHLESS JUNK!

EVERYONE KNOWS THAT FOREIGN-MADE GOODS ARE FAR SUPERIOR TO ANYTHING "MADE IN AMERICA." IF WALMART IS TURNING AWAY FROM AMERICAN GOODS TO FOREIGN ONES, THEIR QUALITY WILL ONLY GET BETTER AND MORE PEOPLE WILL SHOP THERE. THINK ABOUT IT .... WHAT AMERICAN BRANDS OUT THERE HAVE PROVEN TO BE BETTER THAN FOREIGN BRANDS? CAN YOU NAME EVEN ONE??? LET'S SEE ... HONDA, PANASONIC, JVC, TOYOTA ... OH WAIT, THESE ARE *FOREIGN BRANDS* !!! ANYONE WHO REFUSES TO BUY FOREIGN PRODUCTS IN FAVOR OF STRICTLY AMERICAN PRODUCTS IS A TRUE LOSER INDEED! AND OWNS A HUGE HEAP O' WORTHLESS JUNK!