As a bargain hunter to the nth degree I would hate to see this happen. But,
not knowing the numbers I cannot say how foolish this is or not. I would
suspect this policy is just for people like me - to encourage them to buy
them at retail, rollback or even clearance and not wait for 'giveaway'
pricing, lest they be gone. I am a self employed printer. All jobs are
overprinted to allow for loss during the bindery stage. I used to always
include any extras left over (instead of trashing them) untill I realized
people would order less or less frequently counting on getting some 'for
free'. What goodwill or perceived discount this made in the buying decision
is very difficult to say. However the industry pretty much follows this
rule, apparently believing the more you give away the more you are taking
out of your own pocket.
On the other hand:
Enforcement or policies may be different but just the other day I was at
Lowe's and spotted 8 planters the water lilies had been in. Again being a
bargain hunter to the nth degree I thought these would be great for future
planting. They were rectangular but were fairly deep, nice construction,
lip to grab them with and probably would not require a weight training
program to be able to pull them back out of the pond. I asked what was
going to happen with them and was told "People like you carry them out.
Take all you want". Eight seemed like a nice round number:)
Happy Bargain Hunting!
Bill Brister

"Roy" wrote in message
...
Was at Wal MArt today and happened to see a heap of preformed ponds
setting on a pallet outside the garden section. (15 total preformed)
I looked at them and there were two sizes / shapes, both relatively
large in size, but no price on them..I inquired inside on how much
they were, (actually hoping they may be discounted for clearance) and
no one inside could tell me what the story was, so they called
management. Management came and I asked about the preformed ponds
outside and how much they were. I was promptly told they were not for
sale and were to be trashed.....and then.........She promptly
reminded the assocate there to make sure they were cut in two before
they got thrown in the large construction dumpster out
back...........

Only in America.......where excess bountiful materials and goods are
trashed before selling.
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

It seems to be the typical 'dog in the manger' attitude at WalMart /
Sams Club. I attribute it to the large number of MBAs currently
infesting American business.

15 years or so ago (shortly after Sam Walton gave up his hands-on
control of the company) there was a big outcry over a change in policy
at the Sams Club bakeries. Previously the bakery would give the
outdated baked goods to local shelters for distribution to the
residents. Obviously, this was appreciated by The Salvation Army,
Women in Distress, and countless homeless shelters. Then Sams Club
discontinued the practice. According to the newspaper article, they
now ran all outdated bakery goods through a $50,000 'blender' they
had installed in each store. I could only hope that if the shelters
then had to buy their baked goods, they went to Costco.

PlainBill

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 16:05:08 GMT, (Roy)
wrote:

Was at Wal MArt today and happened to see a heap of preformed ponds
setting on a pallet outside the garden section. (15 total preformed)
I looked at them and there were two sizes / shapes, both relatively
large in size, but no price on them..I inquired inside on how much
they were, (actually hoping they may be discounted for clearance) and
no one inside could tell me what the story was, so they called
management. Management came and I asked about the preformed ponds
outside and how much they were. I was promptly told they were not for
sale and were to be trashed.....and then.........She promptly
reminded the assocate there to make sure they were cut in two before
they got thrown in the large construction dumpster out
back...........

Only in America.......where excess bountiful materials and goods are
trashed before selling.
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression, for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.
-Thomas Paine

On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 01:23:16 GMT, "Crashj"
wrote:


"Lydia" wrote in message
...
I used to work at Barnes & Noble.
trim tale of evil rip off artist
Sure enough, this guy comes into our store, picks the books we had in
stock
that were on the receipt, off of our shelves and went up to the cashier to
ask for a refund. He ran away when we told him we knew what he had done.

By now you understand the cost of the book as an object is a minor part of
the expected revenue to the owners of the intellectual property, so I hope
that point is well made.
As for the rip off artists, Wal-mart is the target of the largest organized
group of thieves in the world, and it is not the mafia. The mafia stays in
one place, these are the travelers.

For s secnd there I thought you were going to say "they are the
IRS"...

Mike Patterson
Please remove the spamtrap to email me.
"I always wanted to be somebody...I should have been more specific..." - Lily Tomlin

"PlainBill" wrote in message
...
snip
15 years or so ago (shortly after Sam Walton gave up his hands-on
control of the company) there was a big outcry over a change in policy
at the Sams Club bakeries. Previously the bakery would give the
outdated baked goods to local shelters for distribution to the
residents. Obviously, this was appreciated by The Salvation Army,
Women in Distress, and countless homeless shelters. Then Sams Club
discontinued the practice. According to the newspaper article, they
now ran all outdated bakery goods through a $50,000 'blender' they
had installed in each store. I could only hope that if the shelters
then had to buy their baked goods, they went to Costco.
snip

The issue of food is more complicated. I speak from experience working for a
supermarket. We were donating food to homeless shelters and were told to
stop due to lawsuits experienced by other markets, when people ate the food
and got sick.

BV.

Without reading every post in this thread - so at the risk of duplication -
has anybody considered that the vendor might have credited Wal-Mart for
these liners...it would probably cost too much to send back a dozen
liners...more than they're worth..and if so Wal-Mart would have been
required to destroy them

There is a similar example in book stores. Paperbacks that don't sell
....management is instructed to tear off the covers and dispose of them.

Peter

"PlainBill" wrote in message
...
It seems to be the typical 'dog in the manger' attitude at WalMart /
Sams Club. I attribute it to the large number of MBAs currently
infesting American business.

15 years or so ago (shortly after Sam Walton gave up his hands-on
control of the company) there was a big outcry over a change in policy
at the Sams Club bakeries. Previously the bakery would give the
outdated baked goods to local shelters for distribution to the
residents. Obviously, this was appreciated by The Salvation Army,
Women in Distress, and countless homeless shelters. Then Sams Club
discontinued the practice. According to the newspaper article, they
now ran all outdated bakery goods through a $50,000 'blender' they
had installed in each store. I could only hope that if the shelters
then had to buy their baked goods, they went to Costco.

PlainBill

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 16:05:08 GMT, (Roy)
wrote:

Was at Wal MArt today and happened to see a heap of preformed ponds
setting on a pallet outside the garden section. (15 total preformed)
I looked at them and there were two sizes / shapes, both relatively
large in size, but no price on them..I inquired inside on how much
they were, (actually hoping they may be discounted for clearance) and
no one inside could tell me what the story was, so they called
management. Management came and I asked about the preformed ponds
outside and how much they were. I was promptly told they were not for
sale and were to be trashed.....and then.........She promptly
reminded the assocate there to make sure they were cut in two before
they got thrown in the large construction dumpster out
back...........

Only in America.......where excess bountiful materials and goods are
trashed before selling.
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from
oppression, for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that
will reach to himself.
-Thomas Paine

Well I have been keeping an eye on the Wal Mart dumpster for when they
dump those liners. They are not currently anywhere outside like they
used to be but have yet to be dumped. While I was waiting for the
manager to talk to about those liners the other day I had spotted a
Water Gardening book, but forgot to pick it up before I left. Anyway
today I was at the other Wal Mart on the other side of
town..........which I have to say is like being in a whole different
world compared to the one I was at first. There foks were busy cleanin
g up lawn and garden items, taking care of plants etc, unlike the
other store who is usually busy dumping cartons of dead wilted plants
etc. I spotted a preformed pond with a three tier cascade water fall
and pump and fountain and started to look at it. It was marked at $79.
They had 9 in stock full complete pond kits contaiing a 600gph pump,
filter, foutain and the two preforms with thre larger pond itself
being a 90 gal cap. Made by Marcote (SP?) Smae liner along sells for
over $120 at most home builder stores like HD and Lowes. I inquired
if they had the water gardeing book I was looking for, (they did not)
and I mentioned, that I was now forced to go back to the "other"
walmart and get it. I then asked the person who happened to be the
ast. mgr in the garden center how was it that they had complete pond
kits on the shelf there but the other store had a heap of just liners
fixing to get trashed.........or do you soon plan on trashing those
kits too. He laughed and said "Oh the pond liner fiasco"

What happened was the manager they had at this other store screwed up
and ordered more than he needed. He did not have place to display them
all so he got the bright idea to break all the kits down and stack
liners in side liners and all parts in the top liner........Well one
thing lead to another and soon most parts were scattered all over.
Since none of the items were intended to be sold individually those
that cropped up laying here and there were tossed as they were not on
inventory per se as a single type item (pump, filter etc etc) This
clown also did the same with his overstock of wheel
barrows..........put all the tubs in one pile and piled in the wheels
and attaching hardware etc to conserve shelf space. Anyhow he
"managed" (he was a manager wasn't he?) to cost the company a few
bucks of lost merchandise and is no longer employed at the store, due
to this and his inept ability to manage folks yet alone merchandise.
Also found out that store had the highest rate of returns on dead or
inferior plants. The plant supplier puts out a good product, and
warrants it, however they only warrant it one time to Wal MArt, plant
for plant, after that its Wal MArts loss on additional plants.
Needless to say plants and in general anything in the lawn and garden
department was not taken care of properly, right down to the lawn
tractors etc. They also trashed a heap of well used and abused lawn
furniture as well that was literally setup and set outside and foks
just used as casual gathering places, and suceeded in trashing most of
it......So anyhow since the pond liners were never intended to be sold
individually they had to be cut up and thrown out........As far as
this other manager that was telling me this knew Wal MArt took the hit
on that and a lot of other screwups this manager made, who in th end
sufficiently screwed up enough to cost him his job. This particular
store is in a not too good side of town and clientel are not the
worlds greatest, and evidently they hire managers and clerks that go
hand in hand with the clientel they serve.

So I can;t really find fault with Wally World on this issue to a
certain point, wrong as it may seem by destroying the liners. They
have a given policy and they try and hold to the policy and to
introduce items not normally stocked on on a location list would foul
up things overall.

Sorry for the rant!
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Thanks for the update, that was interesting and instructive ;-)


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

"Roy" wrote in message
...
......I think there is much more to be gained for donating or
giving items away to be used by those less fortunate or by those that
really appreciate it even in a state of dissrepair than filling a
landfill up and increasing the bank account.

## Amen. :o)

I sure did not intend for my original post to get so lengthy
especially when the only content about ponding was the fact they were
going to destroy and trash the liners..........

## It's been an interesting thread.
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"Do stars clean themselves with meteor showers?"
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have YOU ever worked retail?

Tell you what. Get a corporate DM on your boss's ass telling him that he has
to cut employees hours because of corporate budget cuts and maintain
customer service. This means an entire store with only 5 people on staff,
one of them a manager, one of them an operations officer three of them
minimum wage sales associates.

The three sales associates have to unload 6-11 pallets of stock every other
day, and put it up during the course if an 8 hour, or likely less, shift
because part timers do not get benefits.

Then give those 3 sales associates time to answer the phones, help
customers, tidy the shelves and displays, check to be sure there are no
empty spaces on the shelves and refill them and run the cash registers.

Then, there are the customers who let their children pull the price labels
off of the store shelves as entertainment while the parents are oblivious to
their child's actions. Prices that change daily and a list of several dozen
items that must be relabeled.. by those same three employees.

Try it sometime.
Retail is allot harder than it looks from the customer's side of the
counter. If you want to blame someone, blame the sorporation, not the
employees. The company is to blame 80% of the time.

Kate
__________________________________________________ __________

AMEN!!!!!

I am a manager of a convenience store. I am only allowed to have 1 or 2
employees on the clock per shift. The things that "customers" do is
outrageous!! I could tell you horror stories. Retail is a LOT harder than
it looks. My company starts all clerks out at min. wage, no matter how much
experience they have. And the only give me 2 days to train these employees.
That's not nearly long enough. They have installed cameras recently to help
cut down on employee theft. Employee theft counts for 80% of store losses.
That includes unintentional employee mistakes as well.

D.S.

"D.S." wrote in message
...
Have YOU ever worked retail?

Kate said:
Retail is allot harder than it looks from the customer's side of the
counter.

I am a manager of a convenience store.

Employee theft counts for 80% of store losses.

Boy, Howdy. I used to run a cell phone store selling prepaid service. Let me
tell you, employee theft was a big issue. One of the girls got stolen three
times in one week. Cute girl, too. Never did find her the last time.
--
Crashj