2012 Wave 2 - Return of the Jedi Deleted Scenes

[JEDIpartner]

That doesn't make any sense. You could have asked to speak to a manager, but I've noticed that some Walmarts are like night and day when you compare their customer service with other Walmart stores.

Of course, it's also possible that the cashier wanted them for himself and saw this as his best opportunity to stash them away until his shift was over.

No, as evidenced by the purchase of two of the three figures that clearly made their way back to the toy aisle by the next morning, he didn't keep them for himself.

This Walmart is right outside of downtown and is full of section 8'ers and lower-class inner city folks. Customer service is NOT their priority-- you've gotta trust me on this one. It usually takes 20 minutes to get to a person at the CS/returns desk and there are about 20 carts of merchandise waiting to go back out just sitting in the expanse where customers don't/can't queue. It looks like a war zone. I should take a picture sometime.

[Jabbapalacespy]

I also had a similar experience. I found a mon calimari pilot and decided to get it and an extra wooof, which was on sale for $4. I noticed both rang up as $4. When I told the clerk one figure was full price she said it wouldn't scan so she just scanned the other figure twice. I told her I didn't want to cheat anyone and after scanning a second time she said "Don't worry about it, I'm not going to make you wait while we do a price check." Wow! if only that would happen more often! I thought my experience was unique but I guess not. I thought the figure may have been put out too soon and wasn't in the computers or something like that.

[JEDIpartner]

I got the Cracken at the same WM yesterday and they still didn't have the prices in the system (good job, corporate!). The guy let me run and get an Anakin padawan figure (no, they didn't have anymore on clearance and haven't for over a month), so he used that as the scannable one. Really nice guy. We Asians need to stick together.

[El Chuxter]

Guess what, JP?

I went to Wal-Mart to get cat food, and there was one lone Cracken. So I was going to get him.

He wasn't in the system.

The cashier snapped that she couldn't sell it. I told her this figure was brand new and how much he should be, and offered to go get another character for her to scan, since that's what they've always done at this very WM.

She actually told me that, if Cracken wasn't in the system, no Star Wars figure would be!

I kinda looked at her funny and told her that they clearly had sold the rest of the wave he'd come in (I may as well have been describing the mating habits of crickets), and that I buy figures there all the time, as recently as a week ago. (Okay, I lied there, since this particular WM hasn't had jacksquat in months.) This figure just wasn't in the system for some reason, but the rest were.

She told me she'd contacted a supervisor. I know from experience (since this is a store where anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) that they're slow as heck.

I waited a couple of minutes and told her to never mind, I'd just get the cat food.

"Are you sure?" she asked, suddenly acting like she gave a crap for whatever reason.

"Yeah, I don't want this long line of people waiting any longer since this store has issues with having enough lines open at any time. I'll get it next time I'm here, when he's in the system. Or I'll just go to Target and get him now." I wouldn't have been so snide, but this woman was a serious b**** even before the issue with Cracken came up.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

If I'd have been there in line behind you, I would've yelled "RELEASE THE CRACKEN TO HIM, LADY!" The awful nature of that over-used pun would've led her to sell you the thing at any cost/price.

It is sad that many employees either don't have the wits to think on their feet, or that employers don't have the confidence that they can do so, to keep customers happy. About simple things like this.

Oh, and I've seen none of these figures at any W*M, Target, TRU, or other store 'round here. Nor any evidence that someone had even cleaned out the wave there.

[LTBasker]

All three Wal-Marts around here have stocked the wave, and yet none of them have it in the system. I don't quite understand why this sort of thing is allowed to continue. You'd think a store lacking the capability of selling merchandise they've obviously paid for and are expecting to sell would want to actually be able to sell it. Otherwise it's very counter-productive.

Although it's not the first time I've seen this happen. Back when Johnny Lightning released Speed Racer cars in anticipation for the then-upcoming movie, they weren't in the system - at least at the local Wal-Mart. We tried to buy the Mach 5 a couple of different times but were told each time that it wasn't in the system because it was recalled, so they denied any sale. Sure enough, though, when we went back the next time after each try, the Mach 5 was back among the rest of the increasingly dusty inventory. They stayed there for a long while, until finally on a third try (I think nearly 2 months had gone by) the Mach 5 finally rang up.

I just wonder if this wave will eventually stockpile at several Wal-Marts and then get clearanced out due to lack of sales?

[El Chuxter]

Cracken was gone yesterday. They sold him somehow.

This seems like a system-wide issue this time. It seems like tidbits about upcoming toys or canceled releases in several different lines have a way of leaking from WM's computers. So how is it that a whole wave (and an anticipated one, at that--really, you can't tell me no one in WM's buying division knows SW and wouldn't recognize this) isn't in the system, and none of the cashiers seem to be smart enough to sell them.

Honestly, it clearly being company-wide (and still not dealt with), you'd think they could bring it up in their mandatory song-and-dance meetings. ("Probably not going to happen, but if someone brings up a Star Wars figure that isn't in the system, get someone to get an R2-D2 or something.")

[El Chuxter]

With Q&A down, is there some way we can ask either Hasbro or WM what's going on?

bobafrett, I don't suppose you have a direct line to Bentonville?

[Snowtrooper]

Found a lone Cracken at the WM today. It was the only one they had of this wave. I had a similiar experience when I went to the self check out. It didn't register a price and someone had to come over and enter that in. I was glad I didn't leave empty handed.

[JetsAndHeels]

I've seen this wave in various stores, but haven't been interested enough to buy any of them.