WALMART and Safety personal experience

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pcshme

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Jan 22, 2017
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On most forums EVERYONE says they never had a problem staying at walmart
I am looking for comments from those who have had a problem and how they dealt with itl

I wonder about those folks have HAVE HAD A PROBLEM AT WALMART,, I mean robbery attempts,,pan handlers, people parking for hours with engine running next to rv...

I would like to hear what you do to make yourself feel comfortable at Walmart.

My short story is pulled into Walmart around 1am and finally got to sleep around 4am, when at 5am a fellow in a white stealthy van (no windows etc) bangs on my door with a story about his mother in law, hospital and forgot wallet (get the idea).  I would have not responded but he banged a second time,,I looked through window, and I decided to give him a small amount of money hoping he would leave.  I gave him my smallest bill which was $10.00 and he left , saying he would be back in a hour to pay me back for the gas money.  Right,,,,

So now I am nervous,, what should I do,, not answer at all ,, what if someone or a group of people get violent and break a window or jump on my rv?

Here is what I think I can do,,
1. Since I have a small Class C, just get in the driver seat and pull away
or
2. Dont respond and see what happens
or
3. Respond and give them a small amount of money like $5.00, explaining that I am poor and don't have cash.
or
4. dial 911

what do you think, i really prefer boondocking and really don't like commercial campgrounds.

m
 
I have spent hundreds of nights in Walmart parking lots and the only problem I ever had was Walmart security telling me I could not stay there.
 
I never give panhandlers money - never. I would have called 911. This is for my personal safety and for the other people this guy will targeting the future. I might hit the panic button on my vehicle too. Nothing like loud noises to draw attention to a situation.
 
WalMart doesn't buy land and build stores in the best parts of town. There have been numerous reports of issues by folks who have done so, and we never stay overnight in WM parking lots. To the folks who say "we've never had a problem", I'd say "YET". Drive on to the next campground and sleep soundly.
 
I've never had a problem while overnighting in the RV at a Walmart or other parking area, but I have been approached by a panhandler with a similar sob story while in my car in a parking lot. I told the fellow I had no cash, but I would call 911 for him and have an officer come help him find an agency to assist him. He grumbled a bit and then left...
 
SeilerBird said:
Walmart is building a store right down the street from me in the best part of town. ;D

Yep, I've seen quite few Walmart stores in quite nice locations. The one closest to me now is across the road from The Villages in Florida. And I'm sure Tom can vouch for the kind of bucks it takes to buy a house there...  ::) ;D
 
Walmart is building a store right down the street from me in the best part of town. ;D

A trailer park in the best part of town  ???
 
robertusa123 said:
I can  guarantee that town with pass a local ornitaze banning overnight parking
They probably already have one. We have another Walmart downtown and I have never seen anyone parking there. Homes in my town start at about $250k and go up from there. Osceola County is one the fastest growing counties in the nation. Tenth fastest in 2014.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-home-construction-in-one-of-floridas-fastest-growing-counties-300346062.html

The KOA is an extremely nice one. Very beautiful right on a large lake.

  http://koa.com/campgrounds/orlando-se/
 
We've stayed in some Walmarts that were busy (and noisy) at night, whether open 24 hr or not. Lots of folks other than RVers use the parking lots as a rendezvous or temporary parking area. Big trucks come & go at al hours, shady looking characters meet up, and once we had a touring concert group show up next to us after their show was over. Two buses + 3 cars, repacking gear and noisily sorting themselves out and enjoying themselves after a nights work. All at 2 a.m. In another one located in a big mall, we happened to be there the night a crew cleaned up the parking lot and storefront areas, running a big sweeper washing down sidewalks, etc, from roughly 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. It happens occasionally, and is one of the reasons we did not often use Walmarts/Sam's/Kmarts/etc unless we had been there before and knew it was relatively peaceful. At one Walmart a security guard came to our door shortly after arrival and "suggested" we might be more comfortable if we used the other Walmart in a different part of town (we moved!).

The only time we felt a bit unsafe was a Sam's Club in Anchorage, AK.  Several rather unsavory types showed up and were pretty rowdy. Fortunately there was another coach with us that night, so we kept some lights on so it was evident we were awake & aware. And kept a cell phone handy to call for help.

I'm not anti-Walmart for overnights, but it's not something we did everywhere either. I came to rely on OvernightRVParking.com for info about the specific location and its environs for info about safety, noise, nearby restaurants and shopping, etc. The detailed first hand reports are excellent sources.
 
Today was the grand opening of the new Walmart so I went down there this morning. It is ten miles closer to me than the downtown Walmart so I went to change my prescriptions to the new store. Absolutely amazing Walmart. The largest and nicest Walmart I have ever been in and I have been in hundreds of them. They have a great new feature there called Pay and Go. You pick up a scanner as you enter the store and scan your items as you put them into the cart. Then when you check out there is no line and no waiting. Just scan and go and bag the stuff. Really simple and smooth. But the high point is that you have a running total of what is in your cart so there is never a surprize at checkout.
 
Might be time to move to the nice new WM parking lot  :)
 
John From Detroit said:
I hate to tell you this but you have given me yet another reason to NOT LIKE Wal*mart.

That said. Glad you like it.
I don't know why you hate Walmart. They have a giant selection, very low prices and a great return and exchange policy.
 

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