Something Random

Handruin

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I'll be curious if you get any push back from your credit card company with the fraudulent charges. I've read stories that some banks push back saying the charge was made without a chip and the burden is now on the company that allowed the non-chip swipe for the transaction to reimburse. I'm not saying this will happen to you but I'm curious if it might.
 

Stereodude

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I'll be curious if you get any push back from your credit card company with the fraudulent charges. I've read stories that some banks push back saying the charge was made without a chip and the burden is now on the company that allowed the non-chip swipe for the transaction to reimburse. I'm not saying this will happen to you but I'm curious if it might.
I'm pretty sure they were online purchases and they were stopped while the charge was still pending. What you're describing is only for in person transactions AFAIK.
 

snowhiker

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The last time I had fraudulent charges on my debit (not credit) card was when I purchased a 600 MHz slot-1 Pentium 3 processor several decades ago. Because it was a debit card I had to go into the bank and fill out and sign a bunch of paperwork. It was about $200 spread across 6 different purchases. Various downloadable software packages or something. I eventually got my money back but I was sweating it the whole time.

SD is probably going to be OK, beside the inconvenience of waiting for a new card to arrive in the mail.
 

Stereodude

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I added it up and it was $2544.76 in 9 purchases in total. $19.99 to Whitepages (1 purchase) and the other $2524.77 (8 purchases) to walmart.com
 

Handruin

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Wow, that's a decent haul from Walmart. I haven't bought anything from Walmart since 2004 or so...
 

LunarMist

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Maybe they are different in the northern zones, but I went into a Wal-Mart about 15-20 years ago. The customers were very strange. 😧.
 

Stereodude

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Wow, that's a decent haul from Walmart. I haven't bought anything from Walmart since 2004 or so...
I buy cheap Blu-ray / "4K" blu-ray movies from them in the Thanksgiving/BF sales, but that's largely the extent of my walmart purchases. I rarely shop there.
 

Handruin

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I only have a small collection of 4K UHD blu-rays right now that I'm slowly growing. I do look for deals but don't want to shop at Walmart even if they are a better price. The picture quality on some of the movies is notably sharper than the 1080P version on my screen. They aren't all that way but I know they all aren't true 4K either.
 

Stereodude

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I only have a small collection of 4K UHD blu-rays right now that I'm slowly growing. I do look for deals but don't want to shop at Walmart even if they are a better price. The picture quality on some of the movies is notably sharper than the 1080P version on my screen. They aren't all that way but I know they all aren't true 4K either.
Well, when they're selling "4K" movies for $7.96 or $9.96 that are normally $20 or more I'll endure the trip into the store.
 

Handruin

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Ah, yeah it's not the culture or the physicality of going to the store, I don't like the company.
 

snowhiker

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Ah, yeah it's not the culture or the physicality of going to the store, I don't like the company.

I feel the same way as well, mostly. However my dislike has softened somewhat. I still don't shop there on a regular basis as there are closer and more convenient stores where I can shop.

If you dislike Walmart because of the way they treat their workers you probably should stop shopping at Amazon as well. Because behind the scenes there is not much difference. In fact many of the Walmart distribution centers pay more and treat workers better than Amazon fulfillment centers.

If you dislike Walmart because they go into a town and wipe out local jobs and businesses, well, Amazon is doing the same thing. Walmart has their local stores you can point to and say "that place" took my job. Amazon effects are more spread out so it's less obvious.

As far as companies themselves, irrespective of their products or services, I think Costco is a vastly better company than either Walmart or Amazon.

I don't shop at Walmart or Amazon. I shop at Costco all the time.

Sorry for the mini-rant but I find it interesting when people --- not specifically anybody in this thread --- hate Walmart but love Amazon.
 

Handruin

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My original issues with Walmart may be long past their time and prime to complain. Originally my dislike and rejection from shopping and supporting Walmart had more to do with how poorly (at the time) they were treating merchants, more specifically someone I knew. Their approach to bullying smaller businesses that sell through them and basically treating them like garage as they tossed around their collective weight and buying power didn't sit well so i decided to no longer support them. I realize Walmart isn't alone in this type of behavior nor am I trying to convert anyone here in forgoing their shopping at Walmart; it was just more personal. Since giving up purchasing anything from Walmart, it's just been a thing that hasn't been a big deal to continue doing so I see no real reason to go back.

I like Costco as well but we don't have many close by my home. There is one near my work (16 miles or so away) that I should probably start using, I just haven't made it a priority.
 

Stereodude

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My beef with them is their crappy produce and substandard merchandise. They work with their vendors to make similar, but lower quality items that are hard to distinquish from the higher quality versions other stores sell.
 

snowhiker

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My original issues with Walmart may be long past their time and prime to complain. Originally my dislike and rejection from shopping and supporting Walmart had more to do with how poorly (at the time) they were treating merchants, more specifically someone I knew. Their approach to bullying smaller businesses that sell through them and basically treating them like garage as they tossed around their collective weight and buying power didn't sit well so i decided to no longer support them. I realize Walmart isn't alone in this type of behavior nor am I trying to convert anyone here in forgoing their shopping at Walmart; it was just more personal. Since giving up purchasing anything from Walmart, it's just been a thing that hasn't been a big deal to continue doing so I see no real reason to go back.

I like Costco as well but we don't have many close by my home. There is one near my work (16 miles or so away) that I should probably start using, I just haven't made it a priority.

If you need to buy non-perishables you might as well buy in bulk and save. Definitely google for "what to buy," and "what not to buy" at Costco as some of their bulk items aren't actually cheaper than your local store. Plus their food stand is awesome and cheap. Super cheap and super quality. Costco has always run their food stand as a loss leader with nearly 20 year old prices for food items. Cheap and great tasting lunch.

I remember all those reports of Walmart bullying vendors. You don't generally hear those reports today. Don't know if that is because the bullying has gone down or it's simply old news that's not worth reporting anymore.

With the rise of Ebay & Amazon, smaller vendors can sell directly to customers if Walmart gives them a hard time. Plus I think the proliferation of vendors setting up their own personal web presence allows them to sell directly to customers via their own web site. Possibly reducing the power of Walmart. I'm thinking the tiny startup businesses our going that route, while the larger and growing-in-size "small/less-small vendors" see the value of using Walmart and their logistics infrastructure if they outgrow selling out of their garage via Ebay/Amazon.

My beef with them is their crappy produce and substandard merchandise. They work with their vendors to make similar, but lower quality items that are hard to distinquish from the higher quality versions other stores sell.

For the most part Costco's, Kirkland "national brand equivalent," range of products are pretty good. Are Walmart's Great Value brand of products not even close to the "national brand equivalent" of products? Interesting. I did not know that.

Yeah I'd guess that produce in a Walmart would be lower quality. I'm guessing that Walmart's grocery store inside a department store setup is a near loss-leader to get people into the stores to buy their higher profit items.
 

Stereodude

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For the most part Costco's, Kirkland "national brand equivalent," range of products are pretty good. Are Walmart's Great Value brand of products not even close to the "national brand equivalent" of products? Interesting. I did not know that.
No, I don't mean their store brand, I mean real brands. Like they'll work with a company to make a very similar product that's slightly inferior. So like a cordless drill has a lower capacity battery than the version sold elsewhere at other retailers at a higher price. Or their Rain-X washer fluid that has a temperature range that's reduced by 5F compared to the version sold elsewhere.
 

Handruin

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Looks like the House will move forward with drafting impeachment charges. The US can start to make progress in draining their proverbial swamp.
 

Handruin

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Why does it mean nothing? The man is unhinged and a laughing stock of most nations. Gotta start somewhere.
 

LunarMist

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rarely have the opportunity to consume it. :(
I do quite like the Chinese food, but

MSG is great.
 

LunarMist

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It's like a virion is hacking my system. How do they know that network address? :(
 
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