Yesterday I was at a Wal-Mart store to pick up a card table I had purchased in a Site-to-Store transaction. The store is almost 30 miles from our home, so my husband and I decided to make it an afternoon out, doing some other shopping, picking up the table, then going out to dinner.
This was my first experience with Site-to-Store transactions and I had no idea that getting the merchandise was harder than making a withdrawal from my bank. I went to the counter with my printed receipt and pick-up slip in hand and the clerk asked for a picture ID.
Oops, my drivers' license is in my car, which was still parked at home since we took the truck to pick up the table.
I didn't know I would need picture ID to pick up my table. And I will admit that that was my fault for not carefully reading the entire purchase agreement. But I still thought there had to be a way I would not be forced to drive 30 miles home, then 30 miles back to the story, then 30 miles back home again. And I had the paid receipt and order number in my hand. It's not like I just walked in and asked for the table that Maryann Miller had ordered. The clerk didn't even blink. I had to prove my identity.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, so I asked to talk to a manager, who likewise would not budge. She said it was store policy so they would know the right person was picking up what was ordered.
When I asked how the "wrong" person would have the receipt and pick-up slip, they went on about how someone could hack into my computer and print out the slip. Like that would really happen for a $39.00 card table.
I walked away so frustrated my husband offered to let me punch him. Since he had nothing to do with the mess, I passed.
What do you think? Is this a stupid policy or is it just my frustration making me think so?
7 comments:
It seems ridiculous to me, but typical for Wal-Mart.
I can see this being a firm policy even though I know how frustrating it was for you.
But I have a question. Why would you leave your driver's license inside your vehicle? That's begging for identity theft.
Carry it in your wallet. If something happened to your husband and you had to drive the truck, you would've needed it had you been stopped. It also carries valuable information about you in the event of an accident.
I'll get off my soapbox now :)
I love your husband! Mine would never offer to let me punch him 'cause I was angry.
I've bought things where I had to go to the store to pick it up, but can't remember if I had to show ID. It's probably a good policy, though. It would have been nice if they'd made an exception, but one of them might have gotten fired. I hope you eventually got the table and were happy with it!
I only bought one thing from sit-to-store and I tried to show my ID. The clerk said "What do I want that for?" Go figure Wal-Mart sure isn't consistent throughout the chain.
Mary
Giggles and Guns
I guess it's a good policy, but it looks like they would have accepted your husband's id since the address was the same. They could have made a copy of his id and keep it on file. My experience is service customer doesn't exit anymore.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Thanks for the comments. Carol, I never thought of the issue of identity theft because I leave my license in the car. Since I live in the country and don't often go to the big cities, I don't think of things like that.
I have to agree with Carol. My husband has a fit if I don't have my ID with me every time we go somewhere. He really objects when I say I don't want to carry a purse just to go down to the coffee shop.
I also think Mason has a good point. Given all the stuff we've been ordering for the house, changing all our utilities, new cell phones, etc., I've had plenty of experience with Customer Service (as reader of my blog probably know!) and it's usually the store that holds all the cards.
Tomorrow we're going to have to make a 40+ each way round trip to Home Depot to return the wrong doors that they gave us. We specifically asked for fiberglass; we got them home and they were steel. IMHO, they should have picked up the wrong ones and delivered the new--like THAT would happen. The manager made the salesman who screwed up call us and apologize--but that doesn't save us a trip back down the mountain tomorrow.
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