Working in retail often means employees are expected to put up with customers who are doing the absolute most to get the best bang for their buck.
From wishing customers would not insist on using their reusable bags during a rush to customers who choose to use self-checkout but end up needing help scanning their items anyway, employees of large grocery chains have had much to complain about online.
One Walmart employee says that he recently helped a customer who not only had a million questions about the Power Wheels car he purchased for his son while in-store—but he also wanted the employee and his co-workers to assemble it for him.
In a video posted to TikTok by user Louie (@skylouieee), who primarily creates content about his daily life and rants about working for national grocery chain Walmart, he says a customer purchasing a Power Wheels toy car was asking a lot of questions on the way to pay for the item. The video has garnered over 116,000 views over three days since it was first posted.
“These people giving me gray dreads,” he says in the video. “Why do y’all come up here expecting us to do everything?”
“This dad came into the store wanting one of them little Power Wheel cars that the toddlers be driving in, so we got one for him. He got the Spider-Man one; we put it in the cart, and we took it to the self-checkout so he could go pay for it,” he continues.
By the time the customer got to self-checkout, he wouldn’t stop asking Louie questions. “I went to go get the scanning gun to scan the Power Wheel, and when I was scanning, this guy was asking me questions like, ‘Oh, can my son ride it? Can my son do this to it? Can my son do this?’” he recalls. “And I was like, ‘Yes, yes, and yes.’”
Louie then helped the customer load the Power Wheel into his car. When they got the packaged toy out to the customer’s car, he learned that it did not come pre-assembled. The customer said he was really hoping that the store employees would be able to assemble it for him since they were able to put together the display model.
“As I was loading it into his car, he asked me, ‘Do I need to assemble it myself, or is it already assembled in the box?’ I was like, ‘No, you’ve got to assemble it yourself,” the employee says. “He looked at me and was like, ‘Why you didn’t tell me that when I was in the store? Why you didn’t tell me that you’ve got to put it together?’ I was like, sir, it says it on the back of the box, and it comes with a manual.”
“He talked back at me and asked me if there was any way I can take it back in the store and, ‘Y’all build it for me, and when it’s ready, I come back and pick it up? Because I don’t know how to assemble it together,’” Louie recalls the customer saying.
The customer questioned why the Walmart workers wouldn’t put together his purchase because they put together the store model. Louie replied, “Sir, that’s not how it works.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Louie via TikTok direct message and a comment on the video, as well as to Walmart via contact form.
@skylouieee I literally told him its a step by step guide on the box #foryoupage #storytime #fypシ゚viral #customer #customerservice #walmart #retailworker ♬ original sound – Pure👾
Does Walmart assemble toys for customers?
While Walmart does offer furniture assembly at some locations, it does not appear that the grocery chain has extended this service to include children’s toys. This service covers a variety of furniture, from bed frames to cabinets, per the company.
There are multiple third-party services that offer assembly for a variety of items, including toys, for customers who would really prefer to have someone else put things together.
Are Power Wheels hard to assemble?
According to Mattel, all you need to put together a Power Wheels toy is a hammer, a Phillips-head screwdriver, and safety scissors. However, these are not provided with the package commonly available at retailers like Walmart.
From there, the level of difficulty is heavily dependent on the individual, but it is generally recommended by the manufacturer that an adult put the toy vehicle together.
Anecdotally, a handful of viewers claimed that this was a service offered by Walmart at one point or that it is offered at some locations.
“So Wal-Mart doesn’t assemble stuff for customers anymore?” one commenter wrote. “I used to be an assembler and they would always tell me to put things together when a customer needed help.”
“Our Walmart is actually different on this one, we have a assembly guy that comes every Friday to build grills and bikes and sometimes we’ll have him build some for customers,” another claimed.
“There actually used to be a position for assembly,” a third added. “They built bikes, ride ons, furniture displays, furniture for the customers and new fixtures for the store.”
Some viewers shared their own odd experiences of working in customer-facing jobs.
“Bro when I worked at Target, a man asked me where the seat cushions were and I told him the exact aisle,” a commenter said. “He went out of his way to FIND ME to tell me I was wrong, to which I then lead him right back and pointed down to where they were. He then told me ‘Oh, I didn’t look down’ like are you for real right?”
“I worked at Walmart for 8 years, I was the meat department manager,” another commented. “I was out stocking steaks in the beef section, and a girl in her early twenties walks up to me and asked me where the steaks were.”
“Even at target, they believe that everything is a service,” a further user added. “Especially in electronics. Like no I can’t fix your cell service I only activate stuff. Or no I cannot let you open this iPad to test it.”
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