Has the end of Wal-Mart's layaway program affected you?

Pardon the pun, but I don't "buy" this argument at all. Walmart still has its credit card programs (through GE finance, I think), so there are still opportunities to creatively purchase items. In fact, I would think that more people would prefer to buy an item now, bring it home now, and pay for it later than to pay for an item now but not get the item until later.

I was planning on putting an LCD tv on layaway at walmart but since is not possible anymore I'm going to search the web for better prices. Thanks Walmart.

Nice try Mr Pincus. Unfortunately, The layaway shoppers us layaway simply because they do not qualify for a credit card. Also, a lot of the shopers never return for further payments, causing them to lose their original deposits. It also causes Wal Mart to eat the merchandise which now could be dated. Question: How many union shops have layway programs?

People who abused the layaway program are the problem....many of those sales on layaway were kept there until the item is "marked down" (mark downs are usually a result of excess inventory). Then the customer returns the item and re-purchases it at the discounted (mark-down) price. Don't think that happened time and time again? Wake up and smell the lost profits. It's about time they closed that loophole, which keeps the rest of us for paying for others trickery. (And yes, anyone can apply and receive a "courtesy" Walmart credit card, so they can still ineffect have their layaways.... just not at the expense of the rest od us1)

I think some people would complain about WalMart if they were given the items.
It seems to be the "in" thing.

The layaway program was a benefit for those of us who monitor our debt. If I am going to be forced to use a credit card it won't be one from Wlmart or at Walmart. That is the mainreason I shopped there.

Well I think it's just another way to get rid of customers, which they will loose alot. Everyone says just get a credit card ,well what if your not approved for one ,then what ? Well that's ok I don't need wal-mart for layaways K-MART is still doing theirs, guess they will be getting all my C'mas money . BAHHHHHUMBUGGG WALMART!!!

I didn't like the fact that wal-mart did away with layaway at first, and I won't use credit card because it is stupid to buy somthing on sale only to get the money you might of saved eat up by finance charge of a credit card. So what I do if I know I want somthig and can't afford it right now is put money on those cash cards they got, no finance charge and as soon as you load enough money on cards take them in and buy what yo want.

I didn't like the fact that wal-mart did away with layaway at first, and I won't use credit card because it is stupid to buy somthing on sale only to get the money you might of saved eat up by finance charge of a credit card. So what I do if I know I want somthig and can't afford it right now is put money on those cash cards they got, no finance charge and as soon as you load enough money on cards take them in and buy what yo want.

Now thats pretty smart Debbie, Way to go!!!

See that's the American ingenuity that makes this country great!!

Instead of whining about thinking you're getting screwed, You came up with a very viable alternative

TAKE A BOW Debbie, Good Job!!

I use Layaway so that I don't have to pay the interest charges on the credit cards. I have gotten rid of almost all my credit cards except two which I use for trips and when I don't have funds for an emergency. I have used layaway all my life. I see things I want and if I did not put them on layaway they would not be there when I could return with the funds to pay cash for them. I have WalMart Stock and as soon as it hits my sell price I will sell it and never buy WalMart again. I will just go back to KMart, they are closer to my home anyway!

Another thing is the gift cards. I have a collection of about a dozen of them and they don't work. I received them as gifts and as safety awards and only one of them works. I am so glad I never spend money on any of them. They just steal peoples money and give nothing in return.

I thought the whole purpose of being in business...is to provide service to customers? I'm not sure if they really get it at Walmart. In a one stop shop environment, some departments are real $$ makers...some are not. A SERVICE department does not generate revenue...it compliments your offerings by providing additional VALUE to customers. That is a cost to a business, not a customer. If I had my own business...I would open up layaway...and heavily advertise that fact. If layaway is being abused/misused, implement a few policy guidelines so it wont be taken advantage of...and everyone can enjoy this SERVICE.
Walmart customers have been speaking out very loudly for years....but Walmart just isnt listening. Maybe their competition is.?.??

The more customers that leave Wal Mart means more profits for other companies which is always good. Their lay-away program was simply set up poorly. People found ways to keep something on hold until the price went down. Nothing wrong with smart shoppers! There should have been a lay-away fee plus the guidelines that if something goes on sale, the price of the item on lay-away remains the same. It is on hold at a certain price. If you do not make your payments on time, the merchandise is returned to the shelf and you lose your money. Personally I don't care that they closed their lay-away. K-Mart now LOVES having the bulk of people who once used Wal Mart's lay-away. It all comes from China so what difference does it make?

I am an associate and I also hold stock with walmart and I have found out that we lose more profits from customers returning items that walmrt does not carry and through associates using products for instore use without proper authority of magement,layaway has little loss compared to these mentioned.I beleive it will be more los by closing layaway.

I have worked at Wal-mart for 5 years and have used there layaway programme for many more years. I used it every year for my kids christmas gifts and school clothes and birthday gifts etc. I am divorced, do not have good credit and do not qualify for a credit card unless it is secured with exhorbitant interest rates, setup fees and maintenance fees. Since I am not an idiot, I do not have one. I don't do the gift cards either since I lost one when my purse was stolen. I have spent less and less of my paycheck at wal-mart in the last year till now I even buy most of my groceries at a small store near my home. They cost a little more, but I don't mind cause I don't have to go all the way to the back of the store for a gallon of milk and walk all the way to the back of the parking lot carrying it.I used to like going to work and enjoyed the customers and there chatter and easy banter. Now I don't have time. I do what three people used to do and I have no time for getting to know my customers on a personal basis. I work hard, I work very hard, get no recognition for it, and resent the fact that I once gave excellent customer service and now can give only lip service. I also work in a store where I can not afford most of the goods. My tv finally quit last weekend and I can't put one on layaway. I have neither cable nor sattelite, just a video player, but I miss not having a movie to watch when I get home after working all day. I read a lot, but an empty house does not seem so empty when I can have voices to listen to. And by the way, I have the insurance, and pay very dearly for it cause I cannot afford to get sick and not have insurance, I have no other way to pay the bills and need my job. So far in 5 years I have missed one day of work. My life is bleak and I know it, but it would have been easier to bear if I could have put a tv on layaway!

Okay, I have read all of the sob stories, the bad grammar by people who claim to not be idiots, and the like. I realize that layaway was intended to be a service to customers. If Wal-Mart was losing money in the layaway department due to abuse by its customers, they, as a corporation, have the right to remove the service.

I do not see Wal-Mart losing a substantial amount of money by removing this service. The loss of their headache and the decreased need for additional manpower per store will more than likely make up for that. Additionally, they must pay inventory tax on the items that sit in layaway as well as providing storage space that could render them MORE money if used for more products to sell.

I read the sob story about the woman with bad credit and a divorce, and blah, blah, blah. I would like to give you my story and tell you that you are leaving yourself in this situation. You are no longer a victim by chance, you are staying a victim by choice.

I left my abusive husband with nothing more than a high school education. I had an 17 month old and a newborn and a job where I made 6.75 an hour. I had no Section 8 (they had no slots available) and paid $375 a month rent for a house in a bad neighborhood. It doesn't take much math to realize I didn't have much left over. I made it to where I had the state helping me with daycare. I had food stamps, some welfare, and my kids were on Medicaid. I had no health insurance.

Here is how I got out of it-- I GOT AN EDUCATION AND A CREDIT CARD! My ex left me with a foreclosure and a repossession on my credit. I filed bankrupcy. I got a card with high fees, and within a year, I had a REAL credit card without the high fees and cancelled the old card. The new one had high interest rates, but I charged very little, paid it off every month, and I didn't have to pay those! I went to school online at night after my kids went to bed and got my associates degree and a better job. I called around for a lawyer who would work on a payment plan, and I sued my ex for child support and got it.

So, don't go crying that you have worked at WAL-MART for 5 years, still have bad credit (when you refuse to create new credit for yourself-- the high fees will be necessary to rebuild it. I just call it just another cost of divorce), and you can't live without layaway. Go to K-Mart. They will have theirs this year and until some low-lifes abuse their system and they are forced to close theirs as well. Don't come crying here that you, by your own choice, don't have good credit.

I don't feel that I am an idiot because I paid high fees for a credit card. I was able to rebuild my credit, buy a new car, and get on with my life. I also no longer need to work for 6.75 an hour because I got an education and a life. I also don't need Wal-Mart layaway.

everyone has a story and some of us come out ok and some of us don't...this is not about individualism, this is about a service that helped lower income families out for holidays and birthdays. They have had the storage for a gazillion years lady...it's not THAT costly, and not having the extra man power, great just what the country needs, more people out of work. listen not everyone can get credit some people have no credit or bad credit and yeah that may be of thier own doing but try telling little children that on christmas morning. I have never recieved a gift card for christmas and have never given one because the people I know thinks it's highly impersonal. regardless, This company was built from the dollars of the lower income families. And yes I know some people who are well off shop at wal mart too, the majority of people who make more crowd the malls more than they crowd walmart. Now the company we have made so MEGA decides it wants to turn it's back on those who have supported it so long. It's a shame.

Oh and by the way I have worked in retail for 10 years, things on layaway for a few weeks or a few months don't make that much difference in price...so the people who don't finish paying for thier layaway or "let it go back" or people who "abuse" this service are not costing the walmart stroes as much as some of you think. this was a decision based on the fact that the consumer market is made up of a lot of instant gratification seekers and walmart is trying to change thier image and keep up with the rest of the industry by becoming more "department" store than "discount" store, much to the detrament of hundreds of thousands who depended on layaway.