Walmart To End Layaway Service This Year

[jlbenedict]

Walmart Scraps Tradition; Ends Layaway Service

"Wal-Mart said Thursday it will stop accepting layway items Nov. 19 with a pickup deadline of mid-December. In its layaway program, customers make a down payment to hold an item and then generally had up to 60 days to pay it off, with a shorter deadline in the peak Christmas season."

 

[MX2]

Well of course they are going to scrap it. It wasnt a money maker, so it has to go.

 

[mzkhadir]

Next headline would be, Walmart loses customers.

 

[LegendKiller]

Yaeh, screw people who can't pay anyway. They need to take out a 20% credit card and charge it!

 

[cKGunslinger]

Even the lowest income shoppers today can get a credit card, so layaway programs are next to useless.

 

[Drakkon]

http://www.walmartcreditcard.com/ - for all your now-defunct layaway needs!

 

[jlbenedict]

Originally posted by: MX2times
Well of course they are going to scrap it. It wasnt a money maker, so it has to go.

I guess it was more of a way to attract lower waged workers to make large purchases. The article I linked states that per Walmart store, 3 employees are working the layaway section. Thats alot of employees x hourly wage, that Walmart is wasting, and not getting any benefit from. Walmart does not charge interest or any sort of fees on layaways..

 

[MisterJackson]

This will devistate my local trailer park

 

[chambersc]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller
Yaeh, screw people who can't pay anyway. They need to take out a 20% credit card and charge it!

agreed.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller
Yaeh, screw people who can't pay anyway. They need to take out a 20% credit card and charge it!

You understand how layaway works, right? You pick out all your items, they hold them while you make regular (or sporatic) payments on it. When the entire bill is paid, you get your items.

Now, how is this any different than the same family putting the same amount of money they would normally pay Wal-Mart into a envelope in their sock drawer, then going to buy the stuff when they have enough money saved up?

Answer: None. There is no difference other that of self-control. So Wal-Mart disallowing layaways is nothing like "screwing people who can't pay." It is simply forcing people to do it themselves, instead of a setting up a huge time/money sink for a service that does it for them.

 

[waggy]

wow suprised so many are complaining against it. oh wait its because its wal-mart. thats right.


how is it any diffrent then a family putting money away for something they want? Why can't wal-mart cancel something that is not makeing them money? and how is this hurting anyone again?

 

[BoberFett]

Rabble, rabble, rabble! Wal Mart! Rabble, rabble, rabble!

 

[Evander]

Hardly seems like a big deal, if you waited until you had enough money to buy the item then you might find something better/cheaper later on (especially true on technology, as I'm sure everyone here knows.

Furthermore:
"Wal-Mart said it is working on ways to make other payment methods available to shoppers with limited credit, such as Wal-Mart-specific cards that offer zero interest for the first 6 to 12 months."
That means people w/o a regular credit card who were going to use layaway could now get the item up front. Though the caveat may be in the interest charged, not mentioned in this article.

As another poster already mentioned, there's no real purpose to layaway. The only situations I can think of are:
1) item is in limited supply and may not be available later on
2) you want to lock in at a sale price
3) you get a feeling of anticipation that a good will be yours (not a great reason, but probably enough for some people)

 

[nageov3t]

wtf is layaway?

why don't people just pay cash, charge their credit card, or not buy it?

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: loki8481
wtf is layaway?

why don't people just pay cash, charge their credit card, or not buy it?

its Americana.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: loki8481
wtf is layaway?

why don't people just pay cash, charge their credit card, or not buy it?

I always use layaway at Christmas... I can store my stuff at Walmart instead of taking up closet space.

 

[Dracos]

Most of the time people use layaway to hold onto on sale items that they may not have the cash for right now. I use to use layaway alot especially around christmas shopping time.

 

[Dracos]

Originally posted by: rudder

Originally posted by: loki8481
wtf is layaway?

why don't people just pay cash, charge their credit card, or not buy it?

I always use layaway at Christmas... I can store my stuff at Walmart instead of taking up closet space.

Bingo...

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Even the lowest income shoppers today can get a credit card, so layaway programs are next to useless.

I used to think layaway was just used by poor people who couldn't afford to buy the stuff, but I learned on another forum with more women that some people use it as a way to hide presents from their kids until Christmas. Of course that doesn't benefit Walmart much since those people will probably still buy the stuff at Walmart.

It's probably a little from collumn A and a little from collumn B. Maybe Walmart is going for a classier image.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: Dracos
Most of the time people use layaway to hold onto on sale items that they may not have the cash for right now. I use to use layaway alot especially around christmas shopping time.

yea especially for the day after thanksgiving sales. I dunno i think walmart will take a hit for this when Target and KMart still offer layaway.

 

[Dracos]

Target stopped offering layaway a long ass time ago. As for Kmart they have a 5.00 fee for every layaway thats what made Walmart's layaway better there was no non-refundable fee if u canceled ur layaway you received all your funds back. Be interesting to see if Kmart follows suit on getting rid of layaway

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Even the lowest income shoppers today can get a credit card, so layaway programs are next to useless.

I used to think layaway was just used by poor people who couldn't afford to buy the stuff, but I learned on another forum with more women that some people use it as a way to hide presents from their kids until Christmas. Of course that doesn't benefit Walmart much since those people will probably still buy the stuff at Walmart.

It's probably a little from collumn A and a little from collumn B. Maybe Walmart is going for a classier image.

Ahh.. good point. The only experience I had with layaway was my friend's family growing up. They'd always go back-to-school clothes shopping in May/June - putting everything on layaway. Then, they'd have it payed off right before school starts and it's be like a small Christmas.

 

[Dracos]

Another point is that it is hard for some people to save and having a layaway bill they can ensure that the money goes to what they want it to. Not saying its a good excuse but it does help those with poor money management skills.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

Originally posted by: LegendKiller
Yaeh, screw people who can't pay anyway. They need to take out a 20% credit card and charge it!

You understand how layaway works, right? You pick out all your items, they hold them while you make regular (or sporatic) payments on it. When the entire bill is paid, you get your items.

Now, how is this any different than the same family putting the same amount of money they would normally pay Wal-Mart into a envelope in their sock drawer, then going to buy the stuff when they have enough money saved up?

Answer: None. There is no difference other that of self-control. So Wal-Mart disallowing layaways is nothing like "screwing people who can't pay." It is simply forcing people to do it themselves, instead of a setting up a huge time/money sink for a service that does it for them.

No, I have no idea how layway works.

In saying "screw the people...", I didn't mean that WalMart was out to get them, I meant that Walmart was saying "forget them, let them take out CC's".

Personally, it's a bad strategy. lay-away was a decent program to get people to pay for things as they go. It kept them out of CC debt where they couldn't pay it off in the long-run and provided them good will.

To those who quoted Wal Mart saying they'd offer 0%. Usually the 0% ends if you are even 1 day late, then it's 30% plus a $39 late fee.

I guess I am the only one who thinks it's bad to get people hooked on CC when they obviously can't pay it all in the first place. Getting them hooked on 20% interest is not the way to go.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller
No, I have no idea how layway works.

In saying "screw the people...", I didn't mean that WalMart was out to get them, I meant that Walmart was saying "forget them, let them take out CC's".

Personally, it's a bad strategy. lay-away was a decent program to get people to pay for things as they go. It kept them out of CC debt where they couldn't pay it off in the long-run and provided them good will.

To those who quoted Wal Mart saying they'd offer 0%. Usually the 0% ends if you are even 1 day late, then it's 30% plus a $39 late fee.

I guess I am the only one who thinks it's bad to get people hooked on CC when they obviously can't pay it all in the first place. Getting them hooked on 20% interest is not the way to go.

and wal-mart is forcing anyone to get a CC and be late? wal0mart is not forcing anyone to get a CC.

Not to mention EVERY CC i have seen nail you with late fee's and usually will raise the rate if you are late.