Walmart no more

Posted in: Forums > Living in Kunming • 37 posts • Newest

• • Danmairen
    May 21, 2009
    427 posts
  • Maybe it's because I've reached that magical point where things really start to piss me off here. Usually I am a fairly civil down-to-earth kinda guy adopting the shake of the head but accepting that weird stuff occasionally happens here.

    Went to Walmart today to buy a hat for my gf that I saw there last week. When I came in I walked through the food area and noticed one of the cleaning ladies picking something up from the pile of rubbish she just had broomed together. Out came 2 big shrimps that had fallen down from the ice table. She looked at them carefully then brushed them off a bit and put them back on the table. Uhm,, the dirt on the floor aside it doesn't take many braincells to know that shrimp can go bad pretty darn quick and there was no way to tell how long they had been on the floor.

    Anyway,, after having promised myself never to buy "fresh" seafood from Walmart again I walked up to the clothes department and discovered that the grey hats had sold out. There were plenty of other colours but my gf wanted the grey one so I dared to trouble the 3 fuwuyuans standing nearby disgussing last night's episode of "Ugly Mother". "Do you have any more of those hats but in grey somewhere?" I asked getting the usual up-n-down stare from half the staff on the floor. "Yes but we can't go and get them from storage right now since we have to stay here" is what she replied (roughly,, my Chinese isn't so good yet). So after once more having realised that service isn't a big deal here and having tried to argue that the other 600 fuwuyans could look after the clothes while she helped me out I decided to walk down to the soft drinks and stock up on diet cola.

    Since Pepsi stopped making Diet for Kunming it's been increasingly hard to find cola without sugar and Coca Cola is taking advantage of this by jacking the price of CC Zero up to 4.5-5 kuai a bottle. I wanted some but after having scoured the isles for 10 minutes coming up with nothing I again dared to ask a fuwuyuan. She repeated "cola without sugar" and took off to another isle where the no-sugar products were. No cola though so I asked her again if they had any cola without sugar and she said no.

    Then I asked specifically for the Coca Cola Zero (many people here haven't got a clue that you can get diet coke) but when she was about to answer me the top most annoying thing happened (again). Chinese guy walks over, taps her shoulder and starts asking her stuff completely ignorant that she is with another customer. I guess I could live with that if the salespeople would just tell them to wait a second but as usual she immediately turned her attention to him instead.

    Having tried that before I just kept talking ( a little bit louder ) to get her attention back,, when after 30 seconds it finally worked she turned and said "Look,, we don't sell coke or pepsi without sugar here at all". Nice,, a Walmart that sells imported dates from Algeria for 60 kuai a kilo and imported (crappy) cheese for 25 pr 200 gram doesn't even sell diet coke.

    Needless to say I am not going back to that place. I can ofcourse accept that things get sold out and that brands dissapear but the lack of service and the way that woman handled the shrimp just doesn't cut it. It's not the local noodleshop we are talking about where you don't expect hygiene is in the Michelin class but from a place like Walmart you would hopefully get better.

    You can bash me all you want for not robotlike chanting "This is China" and go on with my business but I don't really care :)

• • Danmairen
    May 21, 2009
    427 posts
  • Man this turned out long,, guess it could have been edited down by about 90 percent. Sorry about that.

• • sanyiseul
    May 21, 2009
    100 posts
  • Same Walmart where I saw a mother this morning holding her child while it was peeing in the seafood area on the floor?

    Yummi!

• • DanTheMan
    May 21, 2009
    235 posts
  • Your poor girlfriend will have to add lack of a grey hat to her list of woes--chief among which is that she is dating you.

• • atomic
    May 21, 2009
    64 posts
  • Never been impressed with wal-mart. On the rare occasions I've gone in, they've not had anything I couldn't get elsewhere for a better price and quality. Last two times I ate Chinese prawns, once in Sydney and once here, I ended up in hospital with food poisoning. Apart from anything else that may go on, the antibiotics they use in the farming process will do bad things to your stomachs bacterial balance. Needless to say I haven't touched them in years.

• • GBTEXDOC
    May 21, 2009
    105 posts
  • I always get a lot of un-intended exercise there. When I ask for a product on the first floor I'm told it's on the third floor. When I get there, I'm redirected to the second floor and so on until I finally give up. Never go there anymore. Awful place: a special ring of Dante's Hell.

• • timkunming
    May 22, 2009
    85 posts
  • I've always found the staff to be far more hospitable in Carrefour, and I typically do all of my shopping there. This is the downtown branch next to Nan Ping Jie.

    That Wal-Mart has gone from bad to worse in the past few years, unfortunately. Granted, it's a large place, but the organization is ridiculous, there are consistent bottlenecks in the same place on every floor (try getting around on a weekend there) and to top it off it's pretty filthy, by and large.

    I feel your pain with the lack of sugarless drinks...I consider myself a Pepsi man and was dismayed to find it's no longer distributed here in Kunming.

    I think for a lot of people living here for an extended period, the up days and down days are numerous. It's all part and parcel, and for the most part getting over the tiny annoyances is simply part of being "Chinafied."

• • stans
    May 22, 2009
    1 post
  • f**k walmart. I hate how they have a million special offers and set up temporary stalls to sell them in the MIDDLE of the isles. It causes congestion in an already insanely congested place. Also, the employees that sell them now have head sets and loud speakers through which they constantly scream shit like "CHECK OUT THESE NEW VITAMIN PILLS! THEY TASTE REALLY GREAT". Shut. the . fu...

    I went there with a hang over once. Never ever do this. I felt like michael douglas in falling down. All i wanted was to buy some grocerys, but i came close to serious violence. It's not what you want really.

• • nnoble
    May 22, 2009
    178 posts
  • I can't believe it wasn't a joke when I read: 'I feel your pain with the lack of sugarless drinks...' If it ain't the god squad it's the poor little dears who can't get their sugarless drinks. Sure we'll stop the world to cater for your hang-over. Next time you're drunk call the manager and we'll be sure to switch the silencers on for you next morning. Yikes!!!

• • tanfei
    May 22, 2009
    25 posts
  • there's a new walmart outside the 2nd ring road, SW from the city center. i went there the other day and was amazed. the place is great, it reminded me of being in the US. very few people, very well laid-out, with signs in chinese and english directing you where to go to find what you want. the aisles are so wide and spacious that i considered running down them with my arms spread out like a bird.

    something is wrong when walmart amazes you.

• • misseward
    May 23, 2009
    35 posts
  • TANFEI I DEMAND YOU TO VISIT WALMART IN SECOND RING ROAD FIRST THING TOMORROW MORNING AND RUN DOWN THE AISLES WITH YOUR ARMS SPREAD OUT LIKE A BIRD

• • misseward
    May 23, 2009
    35 posts
  • PS. plural of "grocery" is "groceries" not "grocerys". sorry i couldn't help myself.

• • bucko
    May 23, 2009
    246 posts
  • I never go to Walmart. Never did in the US and after 1 visit 4 years ago here....... I would never go back. Filthy, crowded, loud, smells bad (like the US).
    You'd have to be a poor desperate farmer type to waste time or money in Walmart.

• • timkunming
    May 23, 2009
    85 posts
  • Why would you be amazed when I mentioned feeling the pain of not having sugarless drinks? They used to sell them in tons of places, and now they don't. Not sure what the drama is all about...surely I can't be the only one who prefers a sugarless soft drink?

• • deary
    May 23, 2009
    1 post
  • misseward: "I DEMAND YOU TO VISIT WALMART IN SECOND RING ROAD" has two fairly obvious grammatical errors. If we're going to be reeeeeeally anal about it...

• • misseward
    May 23, 2009
    35 posts
  • Hahahahhahaa. I stand by my sentence in all it's drunken glory.

• • mike4g_air
    May 23, 2009
    171 posts
  • Wallmart and Carefour ?? I never go there anymore.
    Expensive without conveniance..
    Fresh bacteria fish/meat section.
    Checkout lineups are unreasonable, they pay the checkout workers pennies and they always have half the cashregisters closed.....

    I've seen other employees pick their nose while lineups of que cutting inbreads pile up at the checkouts.

• • bochi
    May 24, 2009
    11 posts
  • Well, if you have to go to Wallmart the new one on Xing Yuan Lu, maybe the one referred to in a previous post, is actually very clean and hospitable. #80 bus I think. I live walking distance and mostly go there to buy Chinese wine because their prices are much better than the local shops. I agree the downtown one sucks. Also, it's better to support the local merchants than these 'big box' stores whenever possible.

• • JonathanMiller
    March 25, 2011
    75 posts
  • Generally speaking chain stores are not the best places to find fresh food in China.

    I love Metro for the selection of 'comfort' food, but never buy the fruit there.

    JM

• • shadowave
    March 25, 2011
    8 posts
  • Metro is always my first choice.

    Cheers.

• • Texas Boy
    March 25, 2011
    53 posts
  • I talked with management folks at Walmart and they were absolutely dismayed that Danmairen will not shop there anymore because their entire marketing system is built on satisfying ex-pats! Oh Well!

• • Ocean
    March 25, 2011
    122 posts
  • Carrefour has a "press this button if the checkout queue has more than 5 people in it". I delighted in repeatedly pressing the button the other day until I checked around the back and found it had no connections to anything else. Duh!!

• • DanTheMan
    March 25, 2011
    235 posts
  • I used to go to Walmart and Carrefour to buy groceries. Then I discovered that I can get everything I need at local shops in my neighborhood. It's quicker and averages out to the same price. Now I limit myself to an occasional Metro run at an off-peak time to pick up spices and imported wine.

• • tigertiger
    March 25, 2011
    557 posts
  • I do the Metro run for stuff I cannot get in the local supermarket. And then I fill the freezer.

    Meat from the wet market, as long as you buy it in the morning it seems to be OK. Never had food poisoning from the wet market.

    Veg from the wet market or from farmers at the side of the road.

• • Encrypted
    March 26, 2011
    69 posts
  • I hate when I'm going to buy something and it turns out that the barcode is wrong or missing. At least in western supermarkets they call some fuwuyuan to go and get the same product with the correct barcode. But here they just say "can't buy, no barcode". If you really need it you have to go yourself and pick it up. A pain in the ass.
    So many fuwuyuan doing nothing and they can't even do that.

    I happened once with the same product 2 times. It was a present and I was leaving early next day. For the girl it was funny. The 3rd time I had to contain myself and luckily she managed to get it work.

    I also find Carrefour much better. But Wal-mart is very close. Luckily I don't need to go there often.

• • Anonymous Coward
    March 26, 2011
    34 posts
  • If it's difficult to find diet drinks in KM, and there is demand for it, why waste a good business opportunity?

    I haven't been to a Wally World in KM, but I used to go to the one in Dali a few years ago. That one seemed fairly well taken care of with nice staff. But I have to say I was pretty disappointed with the merchandise, which is not like what a north american walmart carries at all. The one in Dali just carries typical junk you could find anywhere else but with lousy products. In Dali it can be nice to have sometimes if you need something right away and can't wait for a Taobao purchase to arrive. But Dali is a small city and there are less choices. If I lived in KM I don't know if I'd bother with Walmart.

• • tigertiger
    March 26, 2011
    557 posts
  • Sugared drinks actually make you more thirsty, something to do with the way it is absorbed into the body. I learned this one in Africa, the hard way.

    It is not a diet thing for most people. And it is not unreasonable. I know there has been a fight with Coke due to the amount of fake product Kunming.

    I did learn that Metro (in my last city) would run out of Diet Coke for months at a time. And so when I did see it I would buy a couple of cases.

• • tigertiger
    March 26, 2011
    557 posts
  • Food hygiene.
    I think they are all as bad as each other.

• • AntoNomad
    March 30, 2011
    16 posts
  • I suggest than you watch that episode of "South Park" called "Something Walmart this way comes"....

• • dtedheshi
    March 30, 2011
    21 posts
  • What might be worse about reading a complaint about Wal-Mart in Kunming, China is that I clicked on the forum and read through the comments. I'm dumbstruck... Wal-Mart is a perfect example of how corporate crap vending is putting small businesses out of business...just like in America. To be a little over the top provocative, but, can't we laowai support smaller businesses here? Must we flock to the familiar? Is there another sugarless drink out there besides Coke zero or Diet Pepsi? Why did you come to China? Sheesh, I'm preaching. Sorry...I think...

• • tigertiger
    March 31, 2011
    557 posts
  • I live here.
    I NEED one meal a day that is not Chinese. I tried to eat only Chinese food and actually started to get depressed. I was somehow unbalanced.

    When in UK my Chinese wife, like most Chinese people abroad, sought out Chinese food. I fully understood and accepted this. My wife fully understands and accepts my need for familiar food.

    Why is it only some Lau Wai who don't get it. There is enough food fascism with some of the radical vegans, thank you very much.

• • Jiesi
    March 31, 2011
    12 posts
  • @Danmairen: "Maybe it's because I've reached that magical point where things really start to piss me off here"

    I feel for ya. It happens to most of us, I think. Maybe after about 3 months, then 6 etc ;)

    Anyway Walmart fruit and veg looks awful compared to what can be bought in the numerous wet markets. I literally only use Walmart for milk, cooking oil, some biscuits and Coke. Metro for cheap import wine, nice breads and various imported stuff. Wet markets for fresh stuff.

    @tigertiger: I also understand this need (I'm also a brit, I miss pie and chips for one and beer with flavour AND alcohol above 3% - paying 60kuai for a Guinness makes me choke (Moses bar, anyone?)) but surely you can go get a reasonable amount of familiar veg and cuts of meat at the markets and cook it your own way back home? I have a variety of European friends here who make wonderful dishes of an Italian, American, Brit, or Mediterranean style...

    (PS I know I'm going to end up buying a 60kuai Guinness at least once in the next 4 months I have left here... I can't help myself)

• • Jiesi
    March 31, 2011
    12 posts
  • PS buying products from the local markets also supports the locals' economy and gives less to Walmart, which, I believe, is a good thing.

• • tigertiger
    March 31, 2011
    557 posts
  • I usally do buy from the wet market.
    Most of us do need Metro/Wallmart/Carrefour occasionally.

    Yes I miss pie and chips too. I get bisto Gravy Granules sent from home as well.

• • Encrypted
    March 31, 2011
    69 posts
  • "Tigertiger", you complain about people not respecting your desire to eat western meal once in a while and then you call vegan people "fascists".
    Vegan people respect life, environment and eat healthy. If your brain is too small to get that, too bad for you.

    Cheers.

• • DanTheMan
    March 31, 2011
    235 posts
  • I doubt I'd be inclined to call a diet that didn't have at least a tiny bit of animal protein in it once in a while 'healthy,' but maybe there's some science on the subject that would disprove me. Of course if you're eating organic you're likely getting some bug meat, so maybe that's enough.

• • tigertiger
    April 1, 2011
    557 posts
  • I said "some of the radical vegans".

    Not all radical vegans.
    Not all vegans.

    Jeez! Demonstrate some tolerance.

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