Walmart/"free trade"/China/lead alert

[mamagoose]

It angers me, but this story is true. DH's aunt was in Walmart and looking at mugs, bought some, brought them home and discovered along with the made in china sticker was a sticker that stated that the product contained lead. She brought the mugs back and ask one of the managers what was going to be done about it. The manager sent an employee back to remove them from the shelf. Auntie went back a couple weeks later and went back to the mug section. Yes, they were there, same mugs, but now with no warning labels!

My brief research tells me that it is unlawful to make lead dinnerware in the U.S. and to be concerned of older china and dinnerware. You know the rest of the argument...

[fordy]

Originally Posted by mamagoose

It angers me, but this story is true. DH's aunt was in Walmart and looking at mugs, bought some, brought them home and discovered along with the made in china sticker was a sticker that stated that the product contained lead. She brought the mugs back and ask one of the managers what was going to be done about it. The manager sent an employee back to remove them from the shelf. Auntie went back a couple weeks later and went back to the mug section. Yes, they were there, same mugs, but now with no warning labels!

My brief research tells me that it is unlawful to make lead dinnerware in the U.S. and to be concerned of older china and dinnerware. You know the rest of the argument...

.............Maybe , WM should have to display a Set of Chop Sticks above all cooking utensils , A Ricksha above all lawnmower\yard tools , etc. for ALL imported Inventory items imported from China . In Addition , They might want to change their Name ...to..."China Mart".....
............Just remember the famous words of "Hung Fu McGu"....Soooo Sollie Amerikan Charlie.....We got All the dollies($$).....Ah So !!! fordy..

[3girls]

I'm very bothered by this. I think the local WM should be reported to the Health Dept. I can just picture someone having their orange juice in their favorite cup each day and getting loonier by the day. I realize this would take time. I just can't believe removing the warning stickers could be legal.

[jack_c-ville]

Over the years we've grown accustomed to a level of safety in the mass-produced products that we buy in stores because traditionally most of those things were made in the USA where we have pretty high standards. But the truth is that China has some of the most lax safety and manufacturing laws in the world. That's a big part of why so many companies want to go there to do business - no one will hold them accountable.

A few months ago someone bought my daughter a set of water-filled teething rings. You're supposed to put them in the freezer. But my wife noticed that they were made in China. We started to think about it - our daughter is putting these things in her mouth that are filled with mysterious Chinese water. What's in that water? They don't have environmental laws to protect water quality. They don't have a consumer safety department that makes sure toys aren't poisonous. We threw the teething rings away.

Myself, I don't shop at Walmart. EVERYTHING there is made in China. Walmart is knowingly wiping out jobs across the country. Shopping at Walmart is the most convenient way possible for ordinary people to hurt America.

-Jack

[COUNTRY WISHES]

You should be wary of any inexspensive ceramic tableware, much of it is manufactured and shipped as "decorative", which means it doesn't have to be lead safe, but of course it is often marketed like it is for dinnerware and if you don't pay attention you can get sick. I used to work in The Bombay Co. a long time ago and much of their product was like that, they did always have the stickers though. There is a lead test kit you can buy, I believe if you are unsure of what you have at home.


Jack- I have noticed a deteriation in the quality of toys and baby items in many stores. My extended family is just starting a new generation and I have been buying those items and I have found that I have to be very careful about what I buy. I also notice some toys have no age designation and other toys that are developmentally meant for a baby are labled for 3 and up, which means part of the toy is a choking hazard for a toddler or baby. Both the buyer and receiver has to be aware.

[jack_c-ville]

Originally Posted by COUNTRY WISHES

Jack- I have noticed a deteriation in the quality of toys and baby items in many stores. My extended family is just starting a new generation and I have been buying those items and I have found that I have to be very careful about what I buy. I also notice some toys have no age designation and other toys that are developmentally meant for a baby are labled for 3 and up, which means part of the toy is a choking hazard for a toddler or baby. Both the buyer and receiver has to be aware.

You're right - I have noticed this, too. Honestly, it's happened over the last 4 years or so. The thinking in Washington nowadays seems to be that closely regulating safety in infants' toys is some kind of an attack on the rights of large corporations. Thus enforcement of those laws has been pretty lax with a wink and a nod to anyone that wants to fudge a little. Part of the excuse is that 75 years ago they didn't have any of these regulations and everything turned out ok. Except of course that infant mortality was waaaaaay higher and none of those dead babies are around today to speak in their own defense. For a society and government that's supposedly family-focused we have a lot of work ahead of us.

-Jack

[januaries]

Yeah, I bought a bowl and plate from wal-mart. Got home and discovered it had lead in it. I was rather annoyed, to say the least. It was in the dinnerware section along with all the other plates, not the decorative-dishes section. Maybe I'll bring home my enemies and feed them from my special bowl.

[kesoaps]

Funny these wally world threads have come up as lately I've been giving quite a bit of thought to where I do my shopping. With dh unemployed the past 15 months we really need to watch where our dollar is spent, and WM offers so much in terms of cutting the budget. Tombstone pizzas are less there, soda is less there, pet food is less, hanes underwear is less. There's no lead in any of it, it's made in the US.

But then again...my money isn't going to anyone local. Not really. I know hundreds of people are employed there, but let's face it, those people would be employed somewhere else if we were shopping local. If 100 shoppers began shopping at a locally owned business, then that business would have to hire someone to help.

I know, nothing to do with lead. Just another wally world gripe, I guess. Jack said it best here:

Shopping at Walmart is the most convenient way possible for ordinary people to hurt America.

[JanaKaye]

I know that a lot of good information has been posted here about the damage that Walmart has done and continues to do to our society. But I dont' think enough can be said about it. Following are two great articles that everyone should read if interested in understanding the problem better.
-----------
The True Cost of Things
"The day Wal-Mart came to town, the townsfolk were downright joyful about it. A huge, brand new, job-providing, property tax paying mega-store planting itself on the edge of the community. And did I mention huge? And amazingly low prices, too! Get the kids! Let's go shopping!" Read full article at: http://rense.com/general53/truec.htm

How Walmart is Remaking Our World
SNIP:
"Wal-Mart is now the world's biggest corporation, having passed ExxonMobil for the top slot. It hauls off a stunning $220 billion a year from We the People (more in revenues than the entire GDP of Israel and Ireland combined).

"Wal-Mart cultivates an aw-shucks, we're-just-folks-from-Arkansas image of neighborly small-town shopkeepers trying to sell stuff cheaply to you and yours. Behind its soft homespun ads, however, is what one union leader calls "this devouring beast" of a corporation that ruthlessly stomps on workers, neighborhoods, competitors, and suppliers." Read full article at:
http://www.rense.com/general24/rema.htm

[Quint]

I'm getting tired of the wal-mart bashing.
If they are so evil don't shop there.
If you are afraid of their products don't shop there.
If you think they aren't being good corporate citizens, whatever the h*ll that means, don't shop there.
Nobody is forcing anyone to shop at wal-mart. I don't shop there. I've never had men in black from Bentonville come and drag me to their store, pile cheap chinese crap in my cart, drag me kicking and screaming to the checkout and force me at gunpoint to swipe my credit card to pay for it.

If you don't like the way they do things then open your own store and put them out of business. It should be pretty easy since everyone claims to hate them so much and must be just dying to shop somewhere else.

I'm getting awfully tired of people whining about McDonald's, Big Tobacco, Big Alcohol, Big Oil, Big Food, Big Wal-Mart, Big Whatever. If they aren't doing anything illegal then leave them alone. If you don't like big macs or Sam's wares then don't do business with them. That is your god given right as an American.

It is just trendy to hate wal-mart nowadays just like it was/is to hate big tobacco and everyone wants to get on the bandwagon. Usually such bandwagons end up with a bunch of lawyers chasing them waving class action suits. I haven't heard of any yet but I'm sure that is coming.

[Mastiff]

Originally Posted by Quint

I'm getting tired of the wal-mart bashing.
If they are so evil don't shop there.
If you are afraid of their products don't shop there.
If you think they aren't being good corporate citizens, whatever the h*ll that means, don't shop there.
Nobody is forcing anyone to shop at wal-mart. I don't shop there. I've never had men in black from Bentonville come and drag me to their store, pile cheap chinese crap in my cart, drag me kicking and screaming to the checkout and force me at gunpoint to swipe my credit card to pay for it.

If you don't like the way they do things then open your own store and put them out of business. It should be pretty easy since everyone claims to hate them so much and must be just dying to shop somewhere else.

I'm getting awfully tired of people whining about McDonald's, Big Tobacco, Big Alcohol, Big Oil, Big Food, Big Wal-Mart, Big Whatever. If they aren't doing anything illegal then leave them alone. If you don't like big macs or Sam's wares then don't do business with them. That is your god given right as an American.

I have a sugestion so you won't get tired. If you see a Wal-Mart thread just don't read it.
Guess what no one is forcing you to read them
Everyone has a right to say what they feel. Even you to say you are tired of it.
None the less Wal-Mart sucks... and any people are not aware of the long term negative economic impact Wal-Mart's have on communities.

The fact that they mislabel products that contain lead is just another part of the way they do business.

Now remember Quint... no one forced you to read this... so you really have no excuse to whine about it...

[texastami]

One more warning.... be careful about the CANDLES you buy in Wal-Mart too.... Always buy MADE IN AMERICA... as the ones made in China also contain lead..... and burning that will make you very sick!! DH bought me some candles at Christmas and I couldn't figure out for the life of me why I was so sick with headaches for about 3 days after Christmas.... it was because the candles contained lead and once I stopped lighting them and threw them out, all was better...

[MorrisonCorner]

Originally Posted by Quint

I'm getting awfully tired of people whining about McDonald's, Big Tobacco, Big Alcohol, Big Oil, Big Food, Big Wal-Mart, Big Whatever. If they aren't doing anything illegal then leave them alone. If you don't like big macs or Sam's wares then don't do business with them. That is your god given right as an American.

Two issues Quint:

First, I don't see this as whining, I see this as disillusionment. We're talking a lot of people on this forum from the baby boomer generation. We grew up thinking that getting a job with a large company was a good thing, that companies existed to serve the general good, not to enrich a few top shareholders and CEO's, and that companies should not, and would not, crap in the wading pool so to speak... they had to live with the consequences too, since companies are supposed to be run by "people."

In the 90's we discovered that somewhere along the lines the rules changed. Companies became all about enriching a few at the expense of the many. And we're still shocked by it. We thought we had laws to protect us from robber barons. We found out they weren't adequate. We discovered we needed to sue companies to stop them from ruining the environment. We found out that companies knowingly sold products that can kill you. And these are companies that are in the business of selling cures... drug companies. Not tobacco or alcohol companies.

Second, I know this may come as a shock to you, but lying to sell your product, filing false financial documents, inflating your stock price to benefit your CEO... these things are illegal. Dumping waste in a stream is illegal. And when people hear of big companies doing this, since by and large they are playing by the rules, they feel, and rightly so, disillusioned and ripped off.

Going after American workers, behaving boorishly, bullying... those are things we learned not to do in pee wee baseball. So again, when people discover that businesses which they trusted to do the right thing, thought were, because of slickly manipulating advertising campagnes WERE doing the right thing, are in fact, not... they are upset and disillusioned and want to share that with others.

Boring though you may find it. I mean, it is nice that you caught cynicism early, but some people are just catching up to your level of sophistication. You've got to cut them some slack while they work through the shock of it all.

[JanaKaye]

Quint.... sadly, I think you have missed the point. Its not just "Walmart bashing." Its a commentary on all that has gone wrong with our society, and the reason why America has already begun a roller-coaster ride downward. A true love of our country DEMANDS that we take notice of these issues.

Originally Posted by Quint

I'm getting tired of the wal-mart bashing.
If they are so evil don't shop there.
If you are afraid of their products don't shop there.
If you think they aren't being good corporate citizens, whatever the h*ll that means, don't shop there.
Nobody is forcing anyone to shop at wal-mart. I don't shop there. I've never had men in black from Bentonville come and drag me to their store, pile cheap chinese crap in my cart, drag me kicking and screaming to the checkout and force me at gunpoint to swipe my credit card to pay for it.

If you don't like the way they do things then open your own store and put them out of business. It should be pretty easy since everyone claims to hate them so much and must be just dying to shop somewhere else.

I'm getting awfully tired of people whining about McDonald's, Big Tobacco, Big Alcohol, Big Oil, Big Food, Big Wal-Mart, Big Whatever. If they aren't doing anything illegal then leave them alone. If you don't like big macs or Sam's wares then don't do business with them. That is your god given right as an American.

It is just trendy to hate wal-mart nowadays just like it was/is to hate big tobacco and everyone wants to get on the bandwagon. Usually such bandwagons end up with a bunch of lawyers chasing them waving class action suits. I haven't heard of any yet but I'm sure that is coming.