I was a victim of Walmart D2D customer abuse!

[Blurayfan]

Re: I was a victim of Walmart D2D customer abuse!

Walmart has some very arrogant people working for them. This is the second time this week I've read of a customer being treated wrongly by walmart employees.

[jonline]

Re: I was a victim of Walmart D2D customer abuse!

When things like this happen, unless you got caught red handed stealing something, you just leave. If they try to stop you you tell them you're going to call the police on them. In your situation, even if she was right (and she wasn't) there is no "theft" happening. It would be some kind of intellectual property suit, which not a single walmart employee has any authorization to physically retain people over.

It's too bad you willingly complied, because now you can't sue them for trying to stop you from leaving.

[BJoffe]

Re: I was a victim of Walmart D2D customer abuse!

Wow, that's a hell of a way to spend a Friday... I'd be LIVID! You should find out how you can lodge a complaint thru Walmart's website. Absolutely not your problem that they don't have a working stamp...

At the Walmart I usually go to, their stamp has been broken since the first month of the program and nobody wants to spend the money to order a new stamp... so the people I usually deal with just take a Sharpee and put a black dot on the ring, on the underside of the disc.

With all those Walmart employees around you, I amazed that not ONE of them could come up with a similar strategy.

[mike568]

Re: I was a victim of Walmart D2D customer abuse!

I would have left AFTER I paid for D2D. If they tried to arrest me I would sue Wal-mart for false arrest. It Walmart's fault their equipment was not working. Once Vudu gets home D2D Walmart should change the policy to not stamp the discs.

[teke184]

Re: I was a victim of Walmart D2D customer abuse!

I'd recommend hiring a lawyer and threatening Wal-Mart and Vudu with a lawsuit for false arrest.

The discs are YOUR property, YOU paid for them, and you were threatened with arrest for attempting to leave with YOUR property because they couldn't do their jobs properly.


Detaining you or your property for no good reason is false arrest and Wal-Mart won't want the bad publicity of a trial.

[Speedaddict81]

Re: I was a victim of Walmart D2D customer abuse!

I'd recommend a cheap external usb BD drive, they can be had for $50 or so and might save you future agony.

[nycomet]

The experience I had at Walmart today is so unbelievable that it sounds like a joke. But it isn't.

THIS IS A TRUE STORY. IT HAPPENED TODAY:

I was thrilled to see many new movies available for D2D. I created my D2D list in my Vudu account, printed the list, assembled my discs then got in my car for the 20 minute drive to Walmart in the Centereach Mall (Centereach, NY).

With my list and bag of blu-ray discs in hand, I headed for the Photo Center. A pleasant staffer by the name of John was eager to assist me with my D2D order. I handed him my discs and list with my email address written down so he could access my Vudu account. Up it popped on the screen. He went through the motions and as he was doing so, another worker by the name of RoseAnn wandered over, followed by three more Walmart workers.

The HDX files were transfered to my Vudu account and I paid for the order. Just as I was getting ready to leave, RoseAnn raised the RED FLAG saying that the discs needed to be stamped. I know it's policy so I was ready to allow her to proceed. She takes out the first blu-ray disc and tries to stamp it on center - the usual.

The stamp was dried out and it left no impression so she decided to move the stamp over to the main artwork area of the disc, then she POUNDED the rubber stamp very hard on my disc. I yelled out: "WHOA! What are you doing?!!! You're going to crack my disc and I paid good money for my blu-ray movies!"

RoseAnn went on to say that the discs MUST be stamped because after two years the Disc to Digital will expire and the stamp will show that I already used the D2D service so I cannot use it again. I didn't argue with her, but I asked her to only stamp on center and suggested that she needed to get a fresh stamp.

She did not have another fresh rubber stamp so she tells me she's going to write on my blu-ray discs with a Sharpie. I said that is unacceptable! I will not allow that. So then she decides to have another Walmart worker run to the Office Supply Department to get a rubber stamp pad and some ink.

I'm waiting. I'm waiting. I'm waiting.

She gets the stamp inkpad set up, tests it on paper and it leaves a giant solid black circle on the paper. I let her know I will not allow that sort of mark on my expensive blu-ray discs.

She said I cannot leave the store without my discs getting stamped. I let her know that I have done hundreds of D2D conversions and if the stamp was dry the Walmart worker just let me go, after all, I paid for the D2D already and if Walmart's stamp is dry it's not my responsibility.

She said, OH NO! You can't leave the store. Wait here in the Photo Department. I have to get a manager. A good 10 or 15 minutes pass, then an Assistant Manager comes to the Photo Center asking ME what the problem is. I explained the situation. She huddled with the rest of the staff while other Walmart workers began to gather around to watch the show.

The manager said she will refund my money and remove the D2D files from my Vudu account and asked me to drive to another Walmart to get my discs stamped. I said I am not driving to another Walmart. Next she has RoseAnn call three different Walmarts in the area asking if their Vudu stamp is working.

Time keeps slipping away and I was told NOT to leave the Photo Center nor the store or it would be considered theft (mind you, I already paid for the D2D). I was told to go sit on a stool in the Photo Center until they resolve the problem. RoseAnn chimes in saying to the Assistant Manager that they don't know if I'm gonna try to use my blu-ray discs again to convert them in the future so that is why they must be stamped.

I only had 15 blu-rays converted! I said to her that I am not a bootlegger or a criminal! I am a loyal Walmart customer and an avid Vudu user. I said I purchased my blu-rays at Best Buy, Walmart and amazon.com and Walmart just took my money for the D2D conversion so I am not a thief!

They have to be stamped before you can leave the store, RoseAnn proclaimed.

Then I asked her what's going to happen when Walmart and Vudu launches the new D2D at home service at the end of January? Who is going to stamp my discs then? She said she doesn't know.

The Assistant Manager then tells me again to sit on the stool and wait for her to come back. I waited. I waited. I waited. She didn't return. So I asked John, the first person to "help" me with my order, if I can leave. He said do not leave or security will arrest me. I WAS STUNNED!!!

45 minutes later and I am still sitting in the Photo Center on that stool. I kept asking, what's going on? How are you going to resolve this? I did nothing wrong. Can I go home? The Assistant Manager never came back so finally, RoseAnn storms off to find the head store manager. 15 minutes later, she breezes over to the Photo Center and says in a cold, icy tone: "you can leave."

I left Walmart feeling very upset after being treated like a piece of trash and a criminal.

All that -- more than an hour of wasted time -- all because they insisted that my discs get stamped before I would be allowed to leave the store. But their stamp was dried out. It was like no one there had any common sense. I felt abused to be FORCED to sit on a stool in the Photo Center under strict instructions that I am not allowed to leave the store. If I did try to leave, security was going to arrest me.

Needless to say, I am NEVER going to this Walmart ever again for D2D service. In fact, I am now more eager than ever for D2D at home service to commence. But it might not work for me because my computer does not have a blu-ray drive.

I will write a letter to Walmart and Vudu Corporate Headquarters to complain about this most unpleasant experience with the workers in the Centereach, NY Walmart. The staff in that store needs better training.