At my local Wal-mart today....lines to the back of the store....PA comes on and announces that the scanners are down....waited for a while and finally they came on and the lines slowly moved..then the gal in front of me tried to use her debit card....no go....Cashier heard muttering "Y2K' under her breath....lady in front of me says time to go home and read some more simple living books!! Entertaining time had by all.

-- MUTTI (windance @train.missouri.org), May 04, 1999

Answers

If Wall Mart was doing any Y2K remediation tests, the cashiers would not be told about it.

-- don't care (good@question.com), May 04, 1999.

Mutti, nice report. I think you can sometimes tell how good a report is by how strong -- and unvalidated -- the attack is against it. I think we will see more of these kinds of attacks as the year progresses. Best of luck in your preparations

I stand

-- amazed (hello@who.ami), May 04, 1999.

On the other hand, if any store clerks know about y2k, it will be WalMart clerks!!!! They may not have been told about y2k remediation schedule, but they, like so many on this forum, figure all computer glitches are probably a result of the y2k problem.

Taz

-- Taz (Tassie @aol.com), May 04, 1999.

I'd like to consider myself a doomer - I really would. But then I read the lunatic ravings such as the ones above and can't in good conscience associate myself with them.

A strong report? Some overheard 3rd hand whispering at Wal Mart?

Strong reaction? Just simply pointing out that management does not make a rule of handing out schedules for remediation work?

You people are making it harder and harder to take this thing seriously...and I really want to!!

-- don't know (I@mevenmoreamazedthanyouattheparanoiaexhibitedonthisforum.com), May 04, 1999.

My wife is general merchandise recieving manager at a Wal-Mart supercenter. She has been there for I think eight years now. I have talked to her continuously about their automated ordering systems and computer logging of all incoming freight for the last six or seven months trying to determine if Y2K was having any effect on their operations, and yes she is a G.I. As best she can tell there have been no major Y2K related problems at their store. The telezons they use to scan incoming freight go down about once a month, but this has always been the case, as are routing breakdowns in the computer system. From what I can see Wal-Mart has a pretty good handle on Y2K so far.

-- Nikoli Krushev (doomsday@y2000.com), May 04, 1999.

What source directly links this to Y2K? What first hand knowledge is known that this was directly a Y2K rollover problem? Computer systems crash on a continual basis, and that has always been the case with any business. I worked in a video store, and our computer system crashed once every few months, its a fact of life, stuff doesn't work 100% of the time.

-- Pat (BAMECW@aol.com), May 04, 1999.

Wal-Mart spent $500 million on Star Wars toys. This is more than their Y2K budget. Do you really think they're worried about Y2K?

-- rumors really are dangerous (rumors@start.here), May 04, 1999.

We all know that all computer downtime in 1999 will be Y2K related. There have never, EVER been computer glitches before. EVER! This is totally new territory for all of us. Sure hope we can handle it....:-)

Too funny!!!

Deano

-- Deano (deano@luvthebeach.com), May 04, 1999.

We used to worry about the electronic grid failing. Should I assume that this is now no longer a worry...? Because if there's no electricity, or not enough of it, or not enough fuel available to power the grid -- then it won't matter if Wal-Mart's computers are in tip-top shape or not, because they still won't work, & the store will be mighty dark.

Did I miss something...?

-- stratching my (empty@little.head), May 04, 1999.

My experience is that when one of these retail companies is installing systems to fix its Y2K problems, the clerks generally do know about it. And they are always buggy in the beginning. Not saying this is a Y2K event, just has the earmarks of others I've observed.

-- noel (ngoyette@csc.com), May 04, 1999.

"What source directly links this to Y2K?"

Isn't that how things are going to be? I mean, things will work and then suddenly they won't. How will anyone who isn't digging into the works EVER really KNOW that it is Y2K related? I believe that as the year progresses we will just see more and more problems. Some may be related to Y2K, some may not. But I, for one, am interested in hearing about it.

-- winna (??@??.com), May 04, 1999.

So guessing that problems are connected to Y2K is just as good as actually having the evidence that "yes, the problems currently are associated with the Y2000 rollover."

Cause with guesses, you get rumors running around, and not the genuine news that is actually truthful.

-- Pat (BAMECW@aol.com), May 04, 1999.

And if the grid stays up and the media on, any rollover problems will be attributed to teenage hackers, or third world terrorists. I doubt there will ever (as in Never) be a true fess up to the truth moment in all of this clear on through the first five years of 2000. Imagine the historical account in high school history books of the future.

No, I don't think WalMart is having rollover problems; I'm just agreeing we would not be told if they or anyone else was.

-- Shelia (Shelia@active-stream.com), May 04, 1999.

My dog had a turd caught sideways today. Y2K ????

-- Meerak (Kareem@sunline.com), May 04, 1999.

Shelia, I agree with you this time. Six years from now, we *still* won't know what the effects of y2k were, because nobody will tell us. Good point.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), May 04, 1999.

Perhaps the clerk was upset because she thought there were so many customers because of y2k? Just a thought.

-- Will (sibola@hotmail.com), May 05, 1999.