AJ's charity Iced by Wal Mart

[Htownsportsfan]

I have not seen this mentioned in local news but come on Wally World cant you spare some Ice for a good cause!

NFL superstar Andre Johnson claims his charity got stiffed by Wal-Mart and it all involves water and ice. Yes, ice.

Here's how it went down -- Johnson ordered 750 bicycles to be given to underprivileged kids at an event sponsored by the Andre Johnson Non Profit Foundation. In return for the purchase, Wal-Mart agreed to donate water and ice for the May 3 event.

But there was a problem.

Johnson had ordered the bikes in various sizes for both older and younger kids. But the bikes didn't comes as ordered (more small than large), so Johnson only purchased 677 -- at full retail price, mind you.

Well, Wal-Mart didn't take too kindly to this, so on the day of the event (it was 84 degrees out) they wouldn't fork over the water or the ice. AJ's people were told that Wal-Mart would not be donating the ice because they hadn't purchased the 73 remaining bikes. That's cold!

Wal-Mart is trying to rectify the situation. They tell TMZ, "We are reaching out to the Andre Johnson Foundation as we speak to rectify the situation. It's disappointing that this happened."

http://www.tmz.com/2008/05/14/wal-ma...ut-in-the-cold

[badboy]

Man, just when you think Wally has the PR thinggie fixed...

[Texan_Bill]

Old Sam is probably turning over in his grave..... I guess AJ will do his shopping elsewhere.

As much as this story sucks, it will be interesting to see how Wal-Mart makes things right. I'm not ready to completely condemn them yet. One bad person could have screwed this up.

[TexanSam]

I would donate water and ice if I could get AJ's autograph!

[El Tejano]

Originally Posted by Texan_Bill

One bad person could have screwed this up.

Friggin Vince Young fan!!!!

[disaacks3]

Lemme get this straight...

A.J. orders 750 bikes in a specific mix for a giveaway, but is willing to pay retail.

Wal-Mart agrees to supply (Tax Deductible mind you) Water & Ice for the giveaway event.

Wal-Mart messes up said order, so A.J. reduces purchase to (only) 677 bikes upon realization of screwup.

Wal-Mart stiffs him (without warning) the day of the event for the aforementioned (I say again Tax Deductible) water & Ice.

If this was a lone Manager-level decision, that Manager just made a rather large CLM (career-limiting move). If this was District Manager or above, Wal-Mart is skating on (pardon the pun) seriously thin ice PR-wise.

[badboy]

Headline could have read, "ProBowl WalMart teams with ProBowl Andre Johnson to bring fun and excitement to kids." A little different type of response from the community I imagine.

[Texan_Bill]

Originally Posted by El Tejano

Friggin Vince Young fan!!!!

Nicely done!!

[Texaninlild]

Let's flood Wally World's inbox with complaints.

[Hervoyel]

Wal Mart is what it is and that's just another corporation trying to make as much money as it can. I'm not going to go off on some kind of socialist rant against "the corporations" though because this is just the way the human race works. The bigger something gets (regardless of what it started out to be) the more likely it is to be a cold, heartless entity that will crap on an orphans head over a buck. Look at our government for a moment. Does anybody think that there's a direct correllation between how big it gets and how completley inept and just plain unfeeling it is?

This was probably decided by some lower level flunky who was damned if he did and damned if he didn't (in his mind) and he chose not to give away Wal Mart water and ice, probably out of fear that he'd get in trouble over it. Sure, he should have handed over the water and ice and explained to his dark masters why they didn't sell all the bikes at a later date but I have no doubt he (or she, could have been a woman) acted out of nothing more sinister than a desire to stay employed. It's ironic that they'll probably fire this person as a result of this when the people above him or her probably created the kind of environment where a person is afraid to make a decision without asking.

Ahh humanity, we're a sorry mess sometimes aren't we?

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

Wal Mart is what it is and that's just another corporation trying to make as much money as it can. I'm not going to go off on some kind of socialist rant against "the corporations" though because this is just the way the human race works. The bigger something gets (regardless of what it started out to be) the more likely it is to be a cold, heartless entity that will crap on an orphans head over a buck. Look at our government for a moment. Does anybody think that there's a direct correllation between how big it gets and how completley inept and just plain unfeeling it is?

This was probably decided by some lower level flunky who was damned if he did and damned if he didn't (in his mind) and he chose not to give away Wal Mart water and ice, probably out of fear that he'd get in trouble over it. Sure, he should have handed over the water and ice and explained to his dark masters why they didn't sell all the bikes at a later date but I have no doubt he (or she, could have been a woman) acted out of nothing more sinister than a desire to stay employed. It's ironic that they'll probably fire this person as a result of this when the people above him or her probably created the kind of environment where a person is afraid to make a decision without asking.

Ahh humanity, we're a sorry mess sometimes aren't we?

Once again, Herv hitting one out of the park on a rope.

[Texans_Chick]

Originally Posted by Htownsportsfan

I have not seen this mentioned in local news but come on Wally World cant you spare some Ice for a good cause!

NFL superstar Andre Johnson claims his charity got stiffed by Wal-Mart and it all involves water and ice. Yes, ice.

Here's how it went down -- Johnson ordered 750 bicycles to be given to underprivileged kids at an event sponsored by the Andre Johnson Non Profit Foundation. In return for the purchase, Wal-Mart agreed to donate water and ice for the May 3 event.

But there was a problem.

Johnson had ordered the bikes in various sizes for both older and younger kids. But the bikes didn't comes as ordered (more small than large), so Johnson only purchased 677 -- at full retail price, mind you.

Well, Wal-Mart didn't take too kindly to this, so on the day of the event (it was 84 degrees out) they wouldn't fork over the water or the ice. AJ's people were told that Wal-Mart would not be donating the ice because they hadn't purchased the 73 remaining bikes. That's cold!

Wal-Mart is trying to rectify the situation. They tell TMZ, "We are reaching out to the Andre Johnson Foundation as we speak to rectify the situation. It's disappointing that this happened."

http://www.tmz.com/2008/05/14/wal-ma...ut-in-the-cold

Interesting. The item has been changed since it was first posted by TMZ.

[Second Honeymoon]

looks like WalMart may be taking steps to make things right. Still doesn't change the fact that WalMart sucks for America. I go to Target just out of spite and because the prices are just as good and the stores are a lot nicer and not so trashy. Going to a Walmart on a weekend is pretty much a non-option....screw WalMart

[Malloy]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

Ahh humanity, we're a sorry mess sometimes aren't we?

Blaming society would probably be more fair.

[Texanmike02]

I will say this in walmart's defense. One year a friend of mine and I organized a blanket drive on base. We took cash donations and went to Walmart only 3 days in advance of christmas. They had some blankets that they had at like $9.00 and a manager got approval and they marked them down so that they cost us only 5 including tax (since I'm not a nontaxable charitable organization). we wound up buying 62 of them to pass out on Christmas Eve. Well the store manager saw me wheeling out all of these blankets to give away and asked what I was doing. When I told him he went back and got like 5 of the more hefty blankets and told me "If you see any kids out there, make sure they get the heavy blankets".

The moral of this story is that while we may tend to say Walmart did something its really the individual level.I'm not an employee or even a fan of walmart but so often people in leadership positions don't have the ability to make the right decision. I don't know if the manager paid for them out of pocket or just wrote them off. I do know that the 5 extra people that got them really appreciated it. It doesn't make any more sense to say "walmart sucks" in this situation than it does to say oklahoma sucks because some guy with an oklahoma license plate cuts you off. (and there are plenty of better reasons to hate okies).

Mike

[PapaL]

Originally Posted by Second Honeymoon

looks like WalMart may be taking steps to make things right. Still doesn't change the fact that WalMart sucks for America. I go to Target just out of spite and because the prices are just as good and the stores are a lot nicer and not so trashy. Going to a Walmart on a weekend is pretty much a non-option....screw WalMart

Bravo *clap*clap*clap*

That is the same reason WalMart has lost my business. Where I live we have WalMart and Target facing each other. WalMart, including the parking lot, is a freaking Zoo. Crap all over the place, pallets of stuff in aisles, lines out that stretch to eternity and not a single worker walking around looking to help.

Cross the street (literally) and the parking lot is clean, shopping carts aren't stacked up on top of each other, the store is clean, people are friendly and if there are more than a handful of folks in line you see registers opening up. What a concept! I'll pay the extra 10 cents per item for some tranquility.

[Texaninlild]

Originally Posted by Texanmike

The moral of this story is that while we may tend to say Walmart did something its really the individual level.I'm not an employee or even a fan of walmart but so often people in leadership positions don't have the ability to make the right decision. I don't know if the manager paid for them out of pocket or just wrote them off. I do know that the 5 extra people that got them really appreciated it. It doesn't make any more sense to say "walmart sucks" in this situation than it does to say oklahoma sucks because some guy with an oklahoma license plate cuts you off. (and there are plenty of better reasons to hate okies).

Mike

I don't know..I was thinking Oklahoma sucks....

[Texans_Chick]

Originally Posted by PapaL

Bravo *clap*clap*clap*

That is the same reason WalMart has lost my business. Where I live we have WalMart and Target facing each other. WalMart, including the parking lot, is a freaking Zoo. Crap all over the place, pallets of stuff in aisles, lines out that stretch to eternity and not a single worker walking around looking to help.

Cross the street (literally) and the parking lot is clean, shopping carts aren't stacked up on top of each other, the store is clean, people are friendly and if there are more than a handful of folks in line you see registers opening up. What a concept! I'll pay the extra 10 cents per item for some tranquility.

Agreed. Wal-Mart creeps me out. It's always a mishmash of stuff inside and I can't find what I'm looking for. I'm always afraid that some heavy item is going to fall off the top shelf on my head or something.

The only good thing Wal-Mart is good at is sometimes they have really jicky quality cheap Texans jerseys that I can cut up, and bling out.

[Cjeremy635]

Originally Posted by PapaL

Bravo *clap*clap*clap*

That is the same reason WalMart has lost my business. Where I live we have WalMart and Target facing each other. WalMart, including the parking lot, is a freaking Zoo. Crap all over the place, pallets of stuff in aisles, lines out that stretch to eternity and not a single worker walking around looking to help.

Cross the street (literally) and the parking lot is clean, shopping carts aren't stacked up on top of each other, the store is clean, people are friendly and if there are more than a handful of folks in line you see registers opening up. What a concept! I'll pay the extra 10 cents per item for some tranquility.

Isn't that the truth? WalMart has like 40 freakin' registers and 5 of them are open? Seriously? Why put all of those registers in there if nobody is going to man them? The lines can be to the center isle and they still don't open another one. They are building a Super Target in Atascocita and when it opens, I'll be switching my business over to them. I've always thought they were cleaner too. Have you guys/gals seen the WalMart in Porter? That place is like a scene from Deliverance. Nothing but barefoot, backwoods, people walking around. (yes, seriously they are walking around in there with no shoes on and the bottom of their feet stained black. It makes you want to puke) It really is an embarassment to the human race. There's no excuse for being dirty or sloppy. Doesn't matter how much money you have.

[Hardcore Texan]

Try being a vendor for Wal-Mart, we have been trying to get our magnets sold there, our "packet" for approval has been on some schmuck's desk going into year 2. Oh well, we have decided not to even pursue them anymore, we are working other angles.

Regardless of who made the decision it was clearly a lapse in judgement, if he or she had the power to make that decision you just got to make an executive decision and stand by it. Regardless of possible ramifications, especially given they are the ones who screwed up the order, they are the reason they didn't sell the last 70 bikes. There is no subsitute for doing what is right.