SentraSE-R

No, they're not one and the same.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I drove my wife to Wal-Mart, and was sitting in my xB when "THUD." Some dimwit slammed their car door into my RS3.0's right rear fender, leaving a 2" long vertical crease.

The offender was a Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Express Service Manager, parking a customer vehicle. I guess he bangs everyone's cars when he opens doors, because he seemed genuinely surprised that he'd left a dent in my xB.

Anyway, I got the department manager out there, and they took photos of the damage, and said their insurance company would call me. No one did. A month and a half later, I'd called the assistant store manager half a dozen times, drove to the store twice, brought in a repair estimate (for $1398!), and still had not received a return call from anyone at Wal-Mart. They responded when I called them, but I felt like I was getting the run-around.

Finally, I demanded to talk to the store manager, explained my dissatisfaction, and left him a message that I was expecting a return call from him by the end of the day. At 5:30 p.m., no return call. I called back, and got an assistant manager who said he'd gone home for the day. That's when I lost my patience and threatened to go to corporate HQ in Benton, AR to complain that no one in the local store was responding to me. That got the Asst. Mgr's attention, and she became my contact person. I got a second estimate (for $883), and she filed the claim. Their insurance company contacted me, agreed to pay the $883, and my check is on its way.

Both body shops said they have to remove the whole body piece to repair it. The rear quarter panel runs up to the rear quarter window and along the roof trim as one piece. After the repair, there's the paint feathering, and clear coating, bringing up the repair cost. Dentless repair may or may not be possible, as there may be a double panel involved.

The idiot in the title happened yesterday afternoon. I was driving along and a car pulled out of an intersection from my left in front of me and made a left turn so I was behind him. Except the idiot then made a u-turn blocking the whole road, instead of continuing moving. I jammed on the brakes hard enough to skid the whole car (on a wet road), and barely missed hitting the fool by less than 6". I guess the antilock brakes work. First time I ever noticed my xB has them.

Big_Bird

I park waaaaaay in the back when I go to stores, especially walmart. Only time I park close to the door at walmart, when it is after 12am. People amaze me sometimes. Hope they fix it properly and you're actually compensated.

Also, the anti-lock brakes literally saved my life one day. I owe them a lot.

rswscion08

Also remember that accidents at Walmart are subject to being on Security Camera!!!!! I ahd one recently that was so unnoticeable the victim and the cops had to watch dvd 3 times to catch it!!

ScionSnowman

iTrader: (-1)

I got my car keyed at wal-mart and they couldnt do a damn thing about it. Had a video of the guy pulling in and getting out just to key my car then drove away. Hell they watched him do it but because I parked so far away they were unable to get a license number...

Jan06xB

I think if you hit them in the nose really hard and then apologize it would be ok too, just as long as you say you are sorry everything will be ok even if you shot them in the leg . . . just as long as you apologize you can get away with it.

Man Darrell I know how you feel . . . when the guy backed into my left rear quarter without looking in a parking lot, he said the body shop down the street can fix it right up like new. We both know they can't because it will not be factory finished anymore. Try to NOT let them blend in the paint to the door because you end up with a coat of paint on the door which you don't need and in my case they screwed the door finish up in the process. From a distance I can see the "blending" of the Polar White paint . . . geezzzz ya think they could paint a white car.

pno02

^x2 parking far away...people in wal mart do NOT care about other people's vehicles

rockbox27

I used to park far away from the door anywhere I went to avoid these types of mishaps, until one day... I was at Kmart and parked out as far as I could away from the door in an effort to keep all the broke ___ people that shopped there from hitting my car since I know they don't have insurance. I went into Kmart for about 10 minutes and came out to a crowd of people standing around my car. as I got closer I noticed that my car had been hit, and not just a little fender bender either, someone in a mid 70's Camaro had T-boned the ____ out of my car pushing it into the flowerbed that I parked next to. I went back into Kmart and asked for their security camera footage, unfortunetally they didn't have cameras out where I parked and so I had no info on the car other than what a bystander could tell me.

Since then, I park near the door, next to a curb when possible so that my car has one less side to get hit on. always in view of the cameras.

Hix

Yep I park up front next to a curb now. Always with the same side facing away from the curb. Used to park in the back and my car got broken in to and when I park up front I get door dings. Damned if you do damned if you don't.

ScionSnowman

iTrader: (-1)

Haha people suck! Jealousy and ignorance will conquer all unfortunately

ZOMGXB

Easy solution to this...don't go to Wal-Mart.

I mean, I realize it's a recession, but...c'mon.

This is a store whose motto is basically "You're poor! Shop HERE!" ...and people DO. They treat their customers like crap and their employees even worse. No, nobody gives a crap about your car, because it's the only one in the lot manufactured after 1998.

Your mileage may vary, but having lived in half a dozen different states... WM really is a different mindset, and it's an ENTIRELY different demographic.

So go to Target, FFS.

SentraSE-R

I don't have a choice. I go where my wife wants me to take her.

shortbus_8

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com


for a good giggle

Sciond

I always love that site
MISTAKE number ONE.... never ever take a car you care about to Walmart..

bB2NER

Exactly right! Walmart trip = beater car. Only time the box goes to Walmart is when I don't have to go inside. Plus I get to park in a wide handicap spot . Only thing I have to watch for are stay buggies.

ZOMGXB, chill out about Walmart. Small towns would be screwed without them. Plus all of them are not the same. We both work at a great store that is more often a target of poor people shoplifting. It's amazing how much product grows legs and walks out.
For us to shop at Target it's a 50 plus mile trip each way.

SentraSE-R

Well, my wife has a handicapped placard, so I have to park close for her. We drive my cars because W-M is a handy distance away on some great country roads for hypermiling. I can rack up 60 mpg trips in the xB, or 50 mpg trips in the SE-R, so I love to drive there.

At least I was in the car to catch the perp.

Oh yeah, I love that people of Wal-Mart site. I wonder if the clientele is any different at Macys, or Nieman-Marcus? My guess is you'll really see the freaks at 7-11 after midnight.

Sciond

I would guess by the microwave....

shortbus_8

YEA ! When i got to walmart ................... well mmm i drive the xb ... but i park
next to the LOL ...... LOL nicest car in the lot LOL

SentraSE-R

Yeah, I look for '89 Le Baron convertibles to park next to, too ;-)

I met a woman on a work trip to DC once. We were both from the west coast, working in the same office, and learned a co-worker's husband played in a band in a restaurant in Georgetown. So we went there one weekend, and had dinner, then went to the club where the co-worker's husband was playing.

When we first got there, it was about 7 p.m., and normal people were out, including families with children. Buses, taxis, passenger cars on the streets.

After dinner, about 9 p.m., there were large groups of college kids from Columbia, Georgetown, wherever, walking in the streets. Motorcycles, Porsches, Mustangs, M-Bs cruising.

After listening to the band, we walked back to the Metro Station to go back to our rooms in Rockville. It was about 11 p.m., and the strange ones were out. Guys with skunk stripes in their hair. Guys with Mohawks. Guys with reverse Mohawks. Citroens, unicycles, people on stilts. I'm not kidding.

Matthews_Lewis_Racing6226

the title of this thread speaks for itself..i take up parking spaces as much as possible.. anyway, i have had problems with workers at wal mart.....they give me a great big headache i finally gave up i only go there when i need to buy oil since its soo cheap... lol

SentraSE-R

Update. Wal-Mart's insurance company came through. I received a check for $883 last week.

All is well with the world. I got 47.6 mpg on my last tank in the xB when I fueled up Saturday, and I got 61.5 mpg driving 15 miles home from the gas station.