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Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Our Hostile Experience at the Walmart at Mason and Harmony; Service Dog/Handler Teams Are Not Welcome There

On the afternoon of February 28, 2018 my service dog Sophie and I were denied entry to the Ft Collins Walmart location on Mason Street and Harmony Road.

Interestingly the premise for denying me entry was that Sophie was required by store policy and Colorado State law to be on a leash. As an upper limb amputee this requirement made no sense, for holding a leash wouldn’t leave my hand free to do any actual shopping.

It’s been my experience that the reason some people behave in ways they know to be wrong and/or illegal is because they believe they can get away with it. This is one excellent example.

This experience took place at a Walmart where I know there to be a great disparity in leadership/management quality. Perhaps my only error is to have made the mistake of expecting too much from a low-cost retailer with a reputation for poor customer service.

However I was in a pinch and had no other place to go at the time. Plus I’d shopped there a number of times without being accosted at the door and had no reason to believe today would be different.

One of the people identifying himself as a manager acknowledged having seen Sophie and I in their store before. It’s where I get her pain prescriptions.

In an effort to avoid stepping on Sophie and to maintain some degree of discretion in this situation which had already begun drawing a great deal of unwanted attention to me I stepped around Sophie.

The young man, who behaved as if he were some knowledgeable crusader for preserving the sanctity of what he’d likely been told was an unquestionable state law and store policy that could never be broken. So I requested to speak to a store manager.

This person proved to be, as the saying goes, Useless as tits on a bull. Upon arriving she admonished me for what she perceived to be my disrespect for her “store associate,” speaking as if she were some dime store Gandh.

She echoed the young man’s blather about state law and store policy then said she needed to “go research the store policy.”

Clearly it wasn’t enough that I identified Sophie as my service dog and myself as her handler. Nor was it enough that another manager who knew me to be a previous customer did not say anything on my behalf. Since I didn’t yet know him to have seen me shopping there I didn’t know to ask him to speak up.

Still, I felt as if the assistant managers there did not speak for themselves out of fear and intimidation of the store’s manager. Again the tits on a bull metaphor applies.

So, in the absence of a better solution I called the police as recommended by a trusted advocate in Denver. The police said they would not come to the store and instead advised me to leave the store and to follow up my concerns with a report to the company. The same, tired “bull” metaphor once again fit.

I heeded the police recommendation and left for my next pit stop, Sam’s Club. As it happens Sophie and I are regular, welcome fixtures at that store. They respect Sophie’s and my working relationship and, because of that I relax my grip on her somewhat.

Sophie loves them and they her, so I let them visit while we all chat. It makes everyone’s day more pleasant as a result and is the polar opposite of the experience I had at the Walmart today.

Knowing that Sam’s Club is a Walmart brand I spoke to one the store manager there today. Though we’d never spoken he knew who we are and our positive association with his store. So I asked his feedback regarding what had happened at the Walmart an hour earlier.

He acknowledged that what had happened to us there was wrong and that my impression that the store management was inept was accurate, too. He confirmed a phone number I could call to make my complaint known directly to the company.

Later that evening as I researched the subject online I discovered a plethora of negative reviews about the company. It seems that the negative history of store employees’ and management’s disregard for their customers runs deep there.

It immediately became clear that the Walmart store culture actually promotes negative, even condescending behavior by store employees toward customers. And it begins at the top level at the store and the example filters downstream.

Again, I believe that people sometimes do things they know to be wrong for the simple reason they can get away with it. Apparently doing so fills a void that would otherwise remain open and bare.

Under these circumstances, perhaps they see a disabled man with a service dog as an easy target. It’s certainly how I felt when singled out at the store entrance today.

In essence I was given no choice but to follow through with a pushback I know to be legally as well as logically in my favor. But the law is what matters and I was left with no other choice.

However, my interpretation of this situation is that the store personnel couldn’t care less about my investment of time and energy in pursuing what I know to be legal and just.

Regardless, I’d never feel comfortable entering that store again. The pros of no longer frequenting that store are many, from its cramped aisles to its cramped and twisted parking lot to what I now know to be store employees that are not committed to creating positive customer experiences.

I’m therefore not going to waste time trying to secure an apology from anyone who wouldn’t genuinely offer one to begin with. Nor does it make sense to try to pursue any other sort of remedy, for my voice would be lost amidst the cacophony of other disgruntled consumers.

I will, however take every opportunity to dissuade others from frequenting that store for the reasons I’ve stated above. That store, by the way is not a Superstore but a “regular” Walmart location. Perhaps the employees, particularly management see themselves as second class citizens relative to their counterparts at the larger stores.

This doesn’t justify their poor performance but, if true it becomes more understandable.

Happily I can say that my experience at the Walmart today was merely a disappointment. Aside from that experience Sophie and I had a wonderful day, full of smiles and pleasant interaction with just about everyone we saw.

Sophie and I know we are special, just as we also know that everyone is special. Here in Ft Collins I’ve always found a certain friendliness that pervades this community. It’s a big reason why this town has become my adopted Colorado hometown; I really do like the people here because they seem to genuinely like each other.

Having lived in numerous big cities I have a pretty strong basis of comparison. They all have their pros and cons, of course but given my personal preferences, Ft Collins stands out among them all.

Perhaps I’d feel differently about further pursuing my disenchantment with the Walmart today if we were in the midst of a larger, anonymous community.

But what I saw at the Walmart here is not an accurate reflection of this community and, as such is best left alone. Now that I’m aware of its negative energy it only makes sense to never go there.

I’m committed to only frequenting places that have the best and friendliest people we know. It makes for the most mutually satisfying experiences possible and always leaves us with a good feeling.

That said, I highly encourage you to avoid shopping at the Walmart location on Mason Street and Harmony Road.

From one friendly person to another please beware that your pleasantness may not be reciprocated for reasons that will only leave you guessing, Like Sophie and I, you deserve better and you’ll likely find it elsewhere, as we have,


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