Walmart Now Allowing Employees to Deliver Packages On Their Way Home
How about this scenario, the boss asks you to take a package to a customer's house on your way home. He says you will have to use your car, using your gas. That's exactly the idea that retailing giant Walmart is tinkering with right now.
The Pros: It would be a chance for an employee to earn a little extra money. It would also be an added convenience to the customer not having to travel to the store to retrieve their online purchases. You'd never have to actually set foot inside a Walmart store.
The Cons: The package never arrives. The employee swears they left it on the doorstep. The employee is involved in a crash and merchandise is damaged. The employee doesn't treat the package with care. The employee uses the delivery opportunity to case the house for possible "visits" when the homeowner isn't home.
Based on my personal experience at Walmart stores I find customer service is not really a strong point. Granted there are a few employees that have gone above and beyond in helping me out. But for the most part, my questions and requests are answered with a shrug, a blank stare, and at best a general finger point in a general direction. This is often accompanied by an unintelligible grunt or guttural noise.
I realize that this plan is intended to be a cost saver for the company. Will those savings truly be passed on to me the customer? I doubt it. If Amazon can use the United States Postal Service or UPS or FedEx then Walmart needs to bite that bullet and come up with another cost saving method. Or really improve their customer service.
For me personally, it's worth the drive and the extra expense to drive to a locally owned proprietor and purchase what I need there. It helps the local economy. It helps my neighbors and my community. It ultimately helps me by increasing the local tax base that pays for roads, drainage, and police and fire protection.
I would say good luck Walmart with your grand experiment but I wouldn't really mean it.