Ah. . . That's not true. As I have repeated over and over, if they would have just politely denied the exchange, I would have left. That was NOT what I was complaining about. The WHOLE POINT of this thread was to point out what I believed to be very rude and uncalled for treatment. Accusatory comments, anger, lame excuses, long waits, stares. I felt VERY uncomfortable -- like a criminal.

I mean, what's wrong with just smiling and saying. "Oh, I'm sorry sir. I wish we could exchange these games. But since you don't have a receipt and the games were problably not purchased here we will not be able to exchange them."

I felt I was treated inappropriately by their comments, anger, excuses, stares, etc. All this bickering over to exchange or not to exchange, profit or no profit, gift card or straight exchange is missing the whole point of this thread.

What about the "treatment" I received? My point is that Wal-mart exhibited unprofessional and inappropriate customer "service" and by doing so they have alienated me and will probably alienate other customers if this practice continues.

Uhm, I stated it in few words until some people started trying to show it wrong and I had to go into detail

Ric-

It seems like a pretty polite thing happened on your first trip to Wal-Mart. They said No, so you left.

You decided to try your luck again and try to return the products again. Now, I am not sure why you wouldn't try another store. The point is, you didn't take NO for an answer. That's fine, but you were asking for trouble again by going back.

The next closest Wal-mart is in a different city. It would have been a time consuming trip to travel there to exchange. But I probably wouldn't have tried again at the same store except when I asked some neighbors and friends if they knew a place I could exchange the games, many of them said Walmart. When I told them that they said no, they said, "Oh, just try again, you just got a grumpy manager. Some managers let you and others don't. Go at a different time."

So I thought "what the heck," it's worth a try. The next time I was going to that part of town (which was several days later), I took the games again. The staff WAS different. The CS rep I talked to on the second trip was a DIFFERENT person. The manager was a DIFFERENT manager. So I had a chance, I thought. In fact, the staff I talked to on my second trip had NO IDEA I was even tried to exchange them previously.

So I don't think I was "asking for trouble" going back a second time, when it was, actually, my first time with those particular employees. The experience was awful. The treatment was unprofessional and discourteous. I thought "forget them" I'll try another option.

As I turned to leave, I caught sight of the sign which had the smiling store manager and his phone number. Printed on the sign was something like I hope you're experience at Walmart was pleasant. If ever you have any comments or concerns, please contact me personally. -- or something like that.

I WAS concerned about the way I was treated and what I was told. So I called the manager when I got home. I told him what happened. He even chuckled at some of the comments his own employees made such as "the games are a 'high-ticket' item and, therefore can't be exchanged"; and "Maybe you could try another Walmart. Maybe they will let you." He was not pleased when I told him about the "it would be easy for you to rewrap the games" comment.

So, even the STORE MANAGER was upset over the way his employees handled the situation. I called to complain about the treatment, not to try to get them to exchange the games. I told the manager, "If you can't exchange the games, fine, but I felt the way your CS reps treated me was unacceptable." He agreed and then TOLD ME to come back and he would talk to the CS Rep and approve the exchange.

MY MISTAKE: I took the bait. I shouldn't have gone back. I should have said, "I'm sorry, I don't feel I can go back to your store after that experience. I'll try elsewhere. Thanks anyway." But, since there aren't a lot of options where I live for exchanging games, I relented and went back. Believe me, I didn't want to. And my fears became reality when my treatment on this third trip was very negative as you have read in my original post.

In hindsight, I should have just tried something else. But I made the mistake of trusting what others told me. I know better now. Maybe I was a little naive.

In actuality the logic here is wrong... you have to keep in mind there are 2 game sinvolved here... the original game and the exchanged game. Now, assuming they were both new games... Walmart would buy each at 10 and sell each at 20. So (20 + 20) - (10 + 10) = $20 profit

With the exchange, assuming Walmart sells the exchanged game at full price, they are still making the profit on the first game, but not when they sell the second game. They are losing $10 in profit, so it is not a truly even exchange. Furthermore, this will eventually cost them somewhere down the line, because it means one less $10-paid copy sold somewhere down the road no matter how you look at it.

What? Maybe I'm thinking shallowly but let's say Wal-mart has 10 games on the shelf. (Their cost $10 -- selling for $20) They would make a profit on each one, right? So I come along and want to trade. I take game A off the shelf and trade it for game B. How many games are on the shelf now? Still 10, right? So when they sell that game B I traded, they would still make the $10 profit.

I can't see it any other way. They are going to make a profit with an even exchange. They will not lose money.

The whole point is they would have made the SAME profit with you or without you. So why should they exchange it if they gain nothing by it

Because I'm a nice person and they want to keep me as a smiling shopping-happy customer.

Exactly. HAD the exchange gone through smoothly. said happy customer most likely would have kept browsing around checking thing out (and not neccesarily in the games section) maybe he would have gone into the hardware section, or thought "hey! i need deoderant" and since Wallmart seems to have a section for everything under the sun, perhaps he would have left with alot more than just an exchange. and you can be pretty sure that if he had have had a nice pleasant experience there, he would definatately go back.

I find that alot of times when I go into a convenience store the owners will watch every move I make. It drives me crazy. I am 31 although i do look young for my age I don't looks like a hoodlum (is that still a word these days?) but I feel like a little thief and usually end up leaving and not buying anything.

So what? If you aren't a crook, you aren't a crook. What the hell does it matter if some convenience guy gives you the good look at when you are shopping. That is their job and a lot of stuff gets ripped off by adults.

Stop worrying so much about what some underpaid convencience clerk is doing and you will feel a lot better...

I get your point.

I just dont like being watched like a hawk. I dont just mean I catch their eye, there is one place where the owners (there are three) they will actually go from isle to isle as you walk through the store. I think thats a little wacked.

But you are right. Its just a store and if I really hated it I could go somewhere else. I go there for convenience (and because I of course love the rip off prices)