Surprise at Sam's Club

I'm really not a fan of Wal Mart. Not specifically because of any globalization/taking over the world concerns, but more because of the crowded aisles, dirty floors, lack of selection, empty shelves, unhelpful employees, and lack of hygiene among the other shoppers. I do find myself going there a few times a year and I always leave unhappy and feeling a little bit unclean.

On the other hand, I really like Sam's Club. The only problem I have with Sam's Club is that when I leave, I've always spent at least $100. My disturbing lack of self control aside, I'm pleased with my shopping experience there. On the other hand, I have not ever been impressed with the service I've recieved from the employees. At least, not until last week.

I ran over to Sam's last week at lunch with a friend to look at flat panel TVs. His parents wanted a smallish flat panel HDTV and had asked him to do some research. (The HDTV topic is long and complicated and will not fit into this post, but it is coming, promise!)

So we arrived at Sam's. The big TVs are always right by the entrance. It's a painful pleasure for me on a normal trip to Sam's to have to walk by the big TVs on my way to buy enormous boxes of mini-wheats and multi-packs of ketchup.

This time I got to stop at the TVs and I started explaining to my friend the pluses and minuses of the large rear-projection HDTVs. I started there mostly because they were closest to the door. Suddenly a blue-vested, middle aged female Sam's Club employee sidled up to us. "Can I help you load one of these onto a cart?", she asked. I was shocked that an employee of a big box store had just approached me and asked me if I needed help! It was as if Nancy Pelosi had just announced tax cuts- I was blown away. "No", I said, "We're just browsing." What would this person know about HDTVs anyway, I thought. I hoped she'd just leave us be. However, she would not be deterred from helping us. She walked us around the TV section, showing off the various technologies. She was not only friendly and helpful, but very knowledgeable about what she was selling. She spent probably 20 minutes with us. I felt like I was at Ultimate Electronics, except that she didn't offer me a bottled water.

We ended up at the Vizio HDTVs, which was where I thought we would end up. These are inexpensive, yet nice, LCD and plasma HDTVs. I'd read a bit about them and was impressed, especially for the price. At Sam's a 32 inch widescreen LCD is about $680, and a 37 inch is about $900. They include the HD tuner, so you can pick up the free HD broadcasts and have 2 HDMI connectors. Now, these are not TVs that I'm interested in. But for my friend's parents, they're ideal.

I don't know what they will ultimately buy, but I couldn't recommend the television department at Sam's Club highly enough. I was pleasantly surprised at the level of service. Thanks, Sam Walton!