The Acidic Flip Flops of Doom!
Manolo says, below is the reason why you do not purchase the cheap Chinese-made flip-flops from from the Wal-Mart.
Hi all! For those of you who don’t know, I used to work at Walmart for a short time, but quit
Before I quit though I did buy a pair of cheepie flip flops to wear over a weekend trip to the beach, Long Boat Key April 20th to be exact.
I actually got the stupid shoes in Aprill with a picture in mind then in June I wore them a few times.
Well, after wearing them my feet would be red and sort of tingly, but I figured that it was just because it was first flip flops of the year so my feet need to get used to them. Blabity blabity… Well I have now had what appears to be a chemical burn for 11 days, (As of July 3rd) I really thought it would just go away on it’s own. It is absolutely not going away very well at all…this started on
June 22nd 2007 and has just gotten worse basically. I have only worn those shoes 15 minutes here, half an hour there, hour there…and so on, NOT enough time to burn my feet like this!
Please, go now and look at what the cheap shoes can do to your feets, but first allow the Manolo to warn you that the pictures are not pleasant.
Let this be the cautionary tale about the perils of the cheap shoes.
P.S. Many thanks to the Manolo’s internet friends the Rachel and the Lucia who sent the Manolo the link.
Wow! I’m amazed! Never seen anything like that from a flip flop. I guess someone missed out on the quality control part… terrible. I, personally, have always liked to “invest” in good flip flops, since I was little. Surf brands are the safest bet. They are prepared for hot weather and beach situations. My favourites, Reef (by far!!), both in design and materials used. And they are not as flat as most. they have a bit of an anatomic shape in the sole without them looking orthopedic.
that entry made me swear i’ll never wear any other brands of unknown flip flops again and i’m definitely sticking to my trusty old paif of havaianas *shudders*
and wal-mart totally deserves to be smashed for such horrendous service!
For the first time, I’m thankful I can’t wear flip-flops anymore. I briefly worked part-time at Wal-Mart (I’m sorry, I needed extra money. And yes, it was a bit like selling my soul to the devil) and I remember straightening the displays of those shoes, thinking I should pick up a pair or two for my daughter for the summer. SO glad I didn’t.
OUCH!!! I got a similar sort of a rash between my toes once from a pair of cheap flip-flops, but it never got so bad because I was terrified to wear them again, it was much too painful. As a result I had to spend my hawaiian vacation in a pair of orthopedic looking slip-ons because I couldn’t wear flipflops.
Thanks for the public service announcement!
To LL: I’m just curious why would you apologize for working at WalMart? Were you involved in anything unethical? I am not trying to antagonize you because personally, I don’t think there is any shame to it if you were doing an honest day’s work. Again, I’m just curious.
Just….Eeeewwww!!!
If a woman can win a lawsuit against Mickey D’s for hot coffee, she should definitely get something for the hot feets.
Oh no! I just got some free flip flops from victoria secret… do you think they will do the same thing to my feet?
OMG, you poor thing! I sincerely hope you get some satisfaction – this is absolutely horrible. I wear flip flops to and from my hot yoga class and complain every time I have to spend $20-25 on decent-looking ones from Adidas or Nike. I’ll gladly pay that and more from now on!
Buttercup, I think she felt like she had to apologize because Wal-Mart is considered evil by many. They have very questionable business practices. Do a google search on “walmart evil” and you’ll see why.
Crikey dangster, what a load. Go ahead and google “Walmart good” and maybe you’ll find a factual account of all the philanthropy Walmart does.
Polly wanna a cracker?
I am feeling so good about my 75.00 Clarks flip flops right now and more than convinced that Wal Mart is evil.
I totally agree with SAHMmy – WalMart is philanthropic. In much the same sense that Hitler was vegetarian.
Wal-mart doesn’t need to be philanthropic. The purpose of a business is to make money ethically, legally and morally. (Whether Wal-Mart is acting properly with respect to the flip-flops is debatable — based on what I read, they are not handling this situation well. Were it I, I would have sent a letter to the CEO and the head of corporate communications by now. There are always jerks at every level of every human organization. Doesn’t mean they are doing what they are supposed to be doing for the business.)
But Wal-Mart is under no obligation to donate to charity or engage in social engineering with its business practices. It is obligated to make money for its shareholders. Period. If the shareholders want to donate to charity with their Wal-Mart dividends, more power to them.
Dear Sweet Jesus. I never really liked flip flops all that much to begin with, but I will never again see a pair of them and not think of the feets of this poor girl. Ouch!
Sorry folks, but no business has the right to sell products that harm customers. Nor do they have the right to operate their business in such a way that harms employees. Period. The first is referred to as strict liability. Customers have the right to expect that the products they buy will not harm them. Period. Walmart is the largest retailer in the world. They have the greatest purchasing power out there. Therefore, they can command the price that they will pay the manufacturer for the products that they purchase to sell in their stores. Their goal is to get the product for the absolute minimum price. As we have seen about products from China, whether it is pet food, or indeed, flipflops, obviously, getting products to sell at the absolute minimum price means that the whole issue of quality control goes out the window. This young lady was harmed by a product that Walmart sells. She complained and was treated badly by the company. Walmart is lucky that this young lady does not seem to have the financial wherewithall to get herself a bulldog with a law degree who will sue the living whatevers out of them because, frankly, they deserve it. They may be making money for the shareholders, but they are a bad corporate citizen and dangerous to consumers. My two cents.
The apology was actually meant to be sort of silly. I don’t really feel all that bad about working for Wal-Mart. It taught me to appreciate my full-time job at a small, locally owned, extremely laid back company, it helped me pay down a couple of bills and buy some patio furniture (not from Wal-Mart, but from a local thrift store) and it reminded me why I never, ever want to work in retail again.
I found that a lot of the customers knew that Wal-Mart has a reputation for treating its employees badly and they were on my side – asking how *I* was doing (I worked as a cashier) and telling me I looked tired (I always look like this, so uh, thanks?) It was actually kind of sweet.
Maybe I also apologized because I didn’t want to be lumped in as part of the Wal-Mart problem – I’m appalled that this woman had this horrible thing happen to her and wasn’t taken seriously at all. It’s disgusting. And after dealing with a few other (much smaller, MUCH less serious) customer service issues it really doesn’t surprise me. Wal-Mart talks a big line about the customer always being right and being the most important asset that the the company has, etc etc, but in the end – it’s a load of crap. And for that, I’m sorry.
I’m so happy that you posted this. I had a similar problem years ago from bad, cheap rubber products that somehow snuck through the quality control. BRAVO Manolo, that poor, poor woman. Her feets are in such agony.
The operative word in that post is CHINESE. Poisoned wheat, now poisoned flip-flops. What’s next?
SAHMmy, Walmart’s philanthropy is merely a mask to cover its questionable business practices. While it is good for businesses to contribute to good causes, it’s not an excuse to treat their employees and customers poorly. When one has a lot of power and influence, one should wield it in a benevolent manner, not abuse it. This is why so many think Walmart is evil. I feel incredibly bad for this woman who suffered burns from the Walmart flip-flops. Walmart should have taken responsibility for what happened, but instead looked the other way. This isn’t acceptable.
I think it will only be a matter of time before outcry over the Walmart flip-flops catches the attention of Walmart execs and they issue some sort of recall/apology.
This is awful. The Walmart execs should be forced to wear a pair of those flip flops for a whole week.
First of all, Walmart is completely in the wrong for blowing off the victim of those poisonous flipflops. 100%. No question. She should sue.
But I’m curious as to when Walmart started putting a gun to peoples’ collective heads, forcing them to work for Bastards Inc. Anyone? Or has it been like that since the beginning?
If they treat you like sh*t, don’t work for them! Sheesh.
SAHMmy: “If they treat you like sh*t, don’t work for them! Sheesh.”
Really, it’s not that simple.
Sometimes it’s the only option. Since Wal Mart usually drives out smaller business when they move into town, there’s not many options for workers that aren’t specially trained in certain fields. It’s either work for Wal Mart or quit and risk not having a job, thus not being able to feed yourself or your family.
You should seek out the book “Nickle & Dimed”, it’s a nonfiction account of a writer who goes undercover working various minimum wage jobs. There’s a section on working at Wal Mart. A real eye opener.
Yeah, I get it. Walmart’s the Devil. Maybe they should destroy Walmart and put up more Starbucks, eh?
“Walmart is lucky that this young lady does not seem to have the financial wherewithall to get herself a bulldog with a law degree who will sue the living whatevers out of them”
She doesn’t need financial wherewithal, and she SHOULD sue. Most personal injury attorneys will work for a percentage of the final settlement. If she doesn’t know a good one, she should ask any lawyer for a referral–they’ll be glad to give her one because the referring atorney gets 10% of the PI attorney’s final cut. My mother is an attorney and once referred some people; her referral fee ended up being over $100K!
I think Walmart management should be forced to wear these shoes for an entire work day if they choose not to remove them from the shelves. I’m tempted to drop by my local store and tape up some pictures of the chemical burns they caused. Anyone want to make a guess about how long the pictures would be displayed?
Hello! I actually bought that same exact pair of flip flops this summer also. I took them to the beach with me b/c I figured if they got lost, they were only a couple of bucks. I put them on while gathering stuff in the hotel, before I even got out of the room, they were killing me feet. I ended up not ever wearing the flip flops and did get a refund for them. I am so thankful that I didn’t end up wearing them after all. They were cute and cheap, but not worth what you went through. I am so sorry for pain you had to go through. Wal-mart owes you big time!
I couldn’t have said it better myself! Thanks a lot!!!
show the picture of your foot it may get more people to thinik about it