Service and Product Review: Wal-Mart's Meat Department in Farmville, VA

All of the Wal-Mart locations in this area are always so busy that grocery shopping in them can be a challenge. So, sometimes we use the one in Farmville. However, their meat selection isn't always the best. And neither is the customer service.

About a year ago, I noticed that whenever I eat Wal-Mart's chicken legs and thighs that the chicken smells funny no matter how it is cooked. It has this flower-scent to it that's hard to explain. It doesn't stink, the chicken isn't rotten. But that smell makes me not want to eat it.

When the problem wasn't fixed on its own, I contacted Wal-Mart about the smell of their chicken. This was about six months ago. I spoke with the manager of the meat department. He told me that it was probably the solution that is used on their chicken. And he went on to say that there was nothing they could do since they don't package the chicken themselves. This put the idea into my head that their chicken wasn't all that fresh, which made me want it even less.

About a month ago, I bought some chicken legs and they still had that smell. It's interesting that the breasts and wings don't have that smell, but the legs and thighs do. I have since stopped buying chicken from Wal-Mart.

I do still buy other kinds of meat and seafood at Wal-Mart though. I love those pork chops with the bone on the side. Wal-Mart has them, but they tend to slice their pork chops paper thin (probably to give the appearance that you're buying more than you are). Maybe some people like them that way, but I do not. It affects the taste because there is no middle to them. Sometimes I fry pork chops in seasoned flour, which is rather salty if the pork chops basically only have the outside that is covered in the flour.

Rarely, do I ever call in advance to see if Wal-Mart has something in stock. But sometimes it is necessary if I don't want to risk having to go elsewhere for a certain item. I would say that over the years, I've only called them three times. But every time I call them, I always get rudeness in return.

One time I called Wal-Mart looking for bay scallops and they told me that they didn't have them. It took some encouragement to have them look in the frozen section to see if they had them. Finally, it turned out that they did. But they made me feel like I was a bother.

More recently, I called to see if they had fresh salmon. Someone picked up the phone and then hung it back up. Calling back many times, I finally asked for a manager. The manager argued with me, saying that no one hung up on me. I had heard the phone click - it obviously wasn't a problem on my end. He eventually checked on the salmon, but I wasn't in the mood for it after that thirty minute long attempt to see if they even had it.

I understand that along with Wal-Mart's cheap prices comes a lack of customer service. They have to save money where they can to be able to offer those cheap prices. But at a minimum, they need to solve the mystery of the weird smelling chicken.