Dear Red Phone, I have a serious concern about the safety of our
local Wal-Mart. I believe the store is violating the law and
jeopardizing the safety of its customers.
Dear Red Phone, I have a serious concern about the safety of our local Wal-Mart. I believe the store is violating the law and jeopardizing the safety of its customers. I have talked to and complained to the store management, yet they still practice this unsafe and illegal activity. About 9 p.m. each night Wal-Mart does not allow customers to use the store’s traditional entrance. They redirect customers to enter through the exit doorway. They will post a sign on the exterior of the entrance door redirecting people to enter through the exit door. Wal-Mart then turns the power off to the door so it will not automatically slide open. Then on the interior side and exterior side of this entrance door they place shopping carts to block physical access to the door. This is done almost every night. The several times I have been in the store I check the entrance door and it is physically locked. The door is clearly marked as an emergency exit. My understanding is that during normal business hours all emergency exits shall be accessible, not locked or blocked. The sliding door should be able to be pushed open on a swinging hinge/pin to prevent people from being trampled if there is a rush to the door during an emergency. It should not be physically locked. Every time I have seen this I have talked to the manager in charge at the time and express my concern. While I am there they will correct the problem. But recently, on two different occasions, I have had to return within 30 minutes and I found the obstructions back in place. This store must have a policy (local or corporate) to take these illegal actions to block fire exits. I have complained to management numerous times, yet they do not care. It appears Wal-Mart does not care about the safety of their customers or employees. Until these problems are corrected my family will no longer shop at the store and we will spread the word in the community that Wal-Mart does not care. Please help to resolve this issue, before they truly get someone hurt. Thanks, Red Phone.
Red Phone: Dear Concerned Shopper, it took some time to get through to corporate to get an answer, but Red Phone eventually spoke with Wal-Mart spokeswoman Ashley Hardie in Bentonville, Ark., Wal-Mart’s headquarters. First, she thanked you for bringing it to her attention and that she spoke to the manager who told her it’s the first he heard of any complaints. Second, she said she was told that doorways are not blocked.
“It is my understanding that the store is in compliance with all regulations,” she said. “They are not blocked. If they are, they will not do it any longer. The store will make sure the doors are not blocked.”
Well good caller, it appears it’s a matter of ‘he said, she said,” at this point. Make a return visit. If you see the doors blocked, let Red Phone know. Red Phone has Hardie’s phone number.
At a local Walmart in Bloomington Indiana they still do this recently maybe just a week ago they had the car walking the door I told them that there was a sign on the door I said the doors are not to be locked during business hours. I believe the sign was put up because of planes prior to doors being locked and people entering and not be able to exit the same way they came in. Not only is it a safety concern and a health concern people that have disability and our wheelchairs and issues with their back have a hard time going from one side of the store to the other side of the store and a half a mile across the parking lot. As I did tonight when I was supposedly told I was going to get in trouble for a trespassing and kicked out because I asked an employee to open the door for me that I came in originally. The employee would not open the door unlock it or let me out then maybe go through the other side and told me that I was going to get in trouble for trespassing so I asked to employ her name. the employee refuse to give me her name three times in a row and then she called a guy up front named Patrick who told me to get out of the store or he was going to call the cops and get her trespassing, I then at that point SM what would I get in trouble for or what would I get arrested for what did I do I have not done nothing and he did not say nothing back. I’ll take you to say it was leave your trespassing I told him I’m not trespassing I did nothing wrong although I want to do was get out the doors and they would not let me out the doors I have disability and chronic pain which makes it hard to walk two and a half miles after being walking around the store for two and a half miles. I met several complaints about this which Walmart can continue to ignore and then the Walmart does not even put signs up on the door advising customers but the doors are locked. So the customers look like a bunch of black birds flying into the window trying to get outside cuz I can’t get outside because the doors locked so all they do is just smack the window over and over again I can’t get out until they realize I got to go to the other side. I do still have pictures and video of a car is blocking the doors more than once