Why Do Enthusiasts Hate Walmart Products?

[PandaBear]

I had to do a double take at Walmart over the weekend. I saw some adult bicycles that grabbed my attention so I stopped to take a look. These bikes were of some amazing looking quality compared to what I have seen there lately. Upon closer look, I found out why. These were actually real Schwinn bikes. I got excited for about all of one second when my nephew (a real bike rider for sport/hobby) said right away. "Sorry Uncle Sam, they are now made in Asia, not China but Taiwan. We LOSE again. I guess we are making history daily and will end up one of the first countries on the planet who will end up producing NOTHING at all. Not a thing at all. Not even medicines , etc...

Usually Mexican and Vietnamese products replace Chinese, Taiwan is a huge step up. I think you will be unlikely to get a US made anything unless it is 1) very heavy to ship and 2) can be automated in manufacturing without ANY labor involved.

 

[dlundblad]

Does your page have the profile photo with the gauge cluster or the 300k mile Volvo badge?

Many car enthusiasts don’t seem to know a thing about oil. I once read on a high performance car page that a 0w40 shouldn’t be ran in the summer.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I had to do a double take at Walmart over the weekend. I saw some adult bicycles that grabbed my attention so I stopped to take a look. These bikes were of some amazing looking quality compared to what I have seen there lately. Upon closer look, I found out why. These were actually real Schwinn bikes. I got excited for about all of one second when my nephew (a real bike rider for sport/hobby) said right away. "Sorry Uncle Sam, they are now made in Asia, not China but Taiwan. We LOSE again. I guess we are making history daily and will end up one of the first countries on the planet who will end up producing NOTHING at all. Not a thing at all. Not even medicines , etc...

You missed your window a few years back. There were 500 made in USA sold. I think they were $1000.

You can order a made in USA bike from several places, but get out your checkbook, several thousand bucks. Rivendell Cycles would be my choice.

Made in Taiwan is much, much, much better than bade by the CCP, you should have bought one.

https://bikerumor.com/125th-anniver...-be-us-made-by-detroit-bikes-sold-by-walmart/

 

[4WD]

Walmart hate is an obsession like Tesla hate but there is some truth to the accusations of lower quality.

Walmart has such enormous buying power that it can require products built, made, sewn etc to their specifications and their specs are not making a product better. Not just their brand name stuff but major brand names. In another lifetime I owned a photography store. People would come in and ask why the Minolta camera I had was more money than the same camera at Wamart. Had to explain that it was missing features that the one I was selling had. Not always the case but often. The camera reps would admit it. It was documented for many different products and it's likely worse today. If you think the Hanes tee shirt that's $6 is the same as the Hanes tee shirt at Kohl's for $13 you're sadly mistaken. Cloth weight, stitch count, etc are different. Is the $6 shirt good enough? For lots of people sure. Are Supertech oil and filters equal in every way to other brands costing more? Maybe but probably not. Are they good enough? Probably. Is every brand name product in WalMart lower quality than at other retailers? Maybe, maybe not. But it could be. Of course you stand a good chance of getting counterfeit products from Amazon.

No chance I will get a counterfeit from Amazon …

 

[4WD]

I am not sure what this post is about. If we are concerned about Walmart as a corporation squeezing out legacy businesses, or about the store being a place where an echelon of society shows up filthy, smelly and with children running around wild and unsupervised, then simply go elsewhere. If this is about Supertech oil and filter products, the record (the Bitog record) pretty clearly shows that they are uniformly excellent choices, often a great value. Same story for Kirkland) products. Some assert that there is a difference between, say Castrol from Walmart and Castrol from Autozone. There is not. For most of my cars, I am a value shopper, and get my stuff from Amazon or Walmart. Amazon usually wins.

There are certainly some filthy people walking around in our stores - they are vital blue collar workers - I don’t get near enough to smell - and if you see me in lawn & garden - well, I’m probably guilty that day too

 

[javacontour]

All retailers have their own brand of stuff and all play games. I had to buy trash bags at the grocery store and was unhappy because it was a few bucks more than Walmart but when I got home I realized the same bags in the same size box has 25 in it - not the 20 Walmart had. About the same price per bag. The same size box was the Walmart game.

Try to buy the same brand and size TV. Will look identical at every retailer but all have different SKU. What’s different? Who knows.

At least at Walmart there is no loyalty card and buy 1 buy 10 - same price, unlike most places now.

Not just a WalMart thing. I think back 25 years ago when I was in the market for a Video Camera.

Shopping Best Buy vs Circuit City. The "same" Sony camera had the same specs but one digit different in the model number.

My guess is it was so they could avoid price matching.

If there as specific Best Buy vs Circuit City vs other retailer model numbers, the store can claim the other camera is not the same.


Could also be for returns. Someone gets one from WalMart, but tries to return it at Target, to be told Target doesn't sell that model>

Just a few guesses on my part.

 

[Brons2]

I joined your group although I don't spend much time on FB anymore, prefer Insta where I can just see interesting pictures and ignore people's opinions.

 

[Starman2112]

One word - snobbery.

 

[Oldwolf]

For consumerism to be profitable to producers a lot of advertising money is spent convincing us that their products are superior and worth the extra cost.

 

[hrv]

Purchase all of my oil..air cabin and engine filters there along with other car related stuff and never has an issue...

 

[Eddie]

If the oil meets the manufactures specifications then who are the self appointed experts that think they know better?

 

[TomYoung]

There are certainly some filthy people walking around in our stores - they are vital blue collar workers - I don’t get near enough to smell - and if you see me in lawn & garden - well, I’m probably guilty that day too

I am definitely not talking about hard-working people coming in from the jobsite.

 

[andrewg]

I didn't say more. I am not one to judge others, like some others seem to want to do.

Making sound judgements about your surroundings....especially people....is a good way to stay alive.

 

[72C10]

I will take a stab at it and guess it's because marketing works. Wal-Mart is also a ruthless company so some of its reputation is deserved. I have no problem buying oil there. In fact, I recently picked up 2 jugs of Pennzoil for the rebate at WM because it has the best price locally.

 

[TomYoung]

That because the stuff they sell to WalMart is the stuff on the bottom of the "good"scale, and thats why its so cheap.
Beyond conveince, I see no reason to buy oil from the auto parts stores. @ 10-12 buck more per 5qt jug.

If it’s oil, it’s the same stuff. And if you around my area, five quarts of Quaker state is just under $23 at WM, and at least $35 at auto parts stores. Auto parts stores lately have these non-deals of, $40, for five quarts of mediocre oil, and a weak filter, whereas Walmart can get you there for under$30 in many cases. It’s the same story with cleaning chemicals. I appreciate and like auto parts stores, but my recent experience is of overpriced oils, having to eliminate cheap Chinese parts to find decent OEM stuff, and highly uninformed or misinformed individuals looking things up on the computer. Obviously, NAPA is not included in this commentary. Also props the Duralast folks. All this said, I will not go to any brick and mortar stores until I have checked Amazon, Rockauto, Pelican, FCP Euro and automaker sites.

 

[burbguy82]

If it’s oil, it’s the same stuff. And if you around my area, five quarts of Quaker state is just under $23 at WM, and at least $35 at auto parts stores. Auto parts stores lately have these non-deals of, $40, for five quarts of mediocre oil, and a weak filter, whereas Walmart can get you there for under$30 in many cases. It’s the same story with cleaning chemicals. I appreciate and like auto parts stores, but my recent experience is of overpriced oils, having to eliminate cheap Chinese parts to find decent OEM stuff, and highly uninformed or misinformed individuals looking things up on the computer. Obviously, NAPA is not included in this commentary. Also props the Duralast folks. All this said, I will not go to any brick and mortar stores until I have checked Amazon, Rockauto, Pelican, FCP Euro and automaker sites.

The my post you quoted was a joke. Walmart is the best place, or amongst the best place to by automotive stuff 100%. It was an attempt at levity. Napa stuff has cheapened out some as well.

 

[loneryder]

Walmart hate is an obsession like Tesla hate but there is some truth to the accusations of lower quality.

Walmart has such enormous buying power that it can require products built, made, sewn etc to their specifications and their specs are not making a product better. Not just their brand name stuff but major brand names. In another lifetime I owned a photography store. People would come in and ask why the Minolta camera I had was more money than the same camera at Wamart. Had to explain that it was missing features that the one I was selling had. Not always the case but often. The camera reps would admit it. It was documented for many different products and it's likely worse today. If you think the Hanes tee shirt that's $6 is the same as the Hanes tee shirt at Kohl's for $13 you're sadly mistaken. Cloth weight, stitch count, etc are different. Is the $6 shirt good enough? For lots of people sure. Are Supertech oil and filters equal in every way to other brands costing more? Maybe but probably not. Are they good enough? Probably. Is every brand name product in WalMart lower quality than at other retailers? Maybe, maybe not. But it could be. Of course you stand a good chance of getting counterfeit products from Amazon.

Think of how much Mobil 1 they must buy.

 

[burbguy82]

That because the stuff they sell to WalMart is the stuff on the bottom of the "good"scale, and thats why its so cheap.
Beyond conveince, I see no reason to buy oil from the auto parts stores. @ 10-12 buck more per 5qt jug.

I am not sure why this has happened, there was some near this comment. It was meant as a joke. The Stuff you buy at Walmart is no different than anything you buy at the parts store.

 

[Oldwolf]

We are brainwashed viewing advertisements to prefer a Branded product to keep profits up to generate a strong economy. Even now I buy Mobil 1 when I know that Supertech will protect my Toyota engines just as well.

 

[alarmguy]

I created a group on Facebook called Mileage Impossible which is supposed to feature cars with high miles (250k+ and beyond).

Sometimes we have to ban a few folks. But in general, the site is pretty good at regulating itself and keeping it civil. Except for one weird thing.

Mention Walmart products even once, and it's Looney Tunes time for all the Internet trolls to come out and start screaming like banshees.

People accuse you of abusing your car. Buying junk. Being an idiot or worse. It's like wearing a Dallas Cowboys jersey at a Philadelphia Eagles game. The hate gets thicker than raw honey.

I really don't get it. ...

Ignorance on their part is the answer. It's amazing how marketing gets into the human brain. It is a science, not kidding, REAL science and the internet is making it more easy.
I hope you bought Walmart stock 30 years ago. Walmart is an unstoppable machine, maybe because to this day it is mostly built from the ground up on employees that move up the ladder, so they know what they are doing.
The current CEO used to unload Walmart tractor trailers as a part time job.

With bonuses some of their store managers can now make up to 500k a year. For the first time just this week a known Wallstreet analyst is saying for the first time, the thinking needs to change on Walmart, its doing so well on internet sales that it needs to be looked at like an e-commerce company now.

Sadly I only jumped into the stock 5 years ago and I am up over 100% in my investment. During Covid it was one of the few well performing stocks. Thirty years ago if I did that, maybe I would have a luxury yacht moored on some tropical island right now with ... (never mind) LOL

Yeah, people dont get it, their lubricants are made by many of the same companies that have name brand items or associated with the manufactured product in some way. For instance, Warren oil that blends some of their oils (haven't checked recently) also makes the additive packages that many name brand companies buy from Warren to blend their oils ... and their buying power? really? immense! Stuff like that.

People talk in social media and sometimes takes on a life of it own, as truth.