Gentlemen,

Comments on appropriate etiquette when your truck is hit by a "loose" shopping cart at Wal-Mart?

So I'm in Wisconsin Dells this week with family skiing...went to Wal-Mart last night shopping, parked far out to avoid other cars. Wouldn't you know it, but when i came back I found a shopping cart had been blown into my truck door from some lazy a****** who couldn't muster enough energy to put it in corral.

My question is, if I actually see this happen would it be appropriate etiquette to pick up said cart and throw it in their (above mentioned lazy a******) front windshield?

Brian

PS - I asked my wife...she said she would bail me out! I love that woman!!!

 

I believe the proper etiquette is to take said cart, place said lazy A** in cart, and obtain a running start and push said lazy A** into his own car.

 

Ask Wal-mart for the surveillance footage from the parking lot and find that ******* that did it....Not sure how willing Wal-mart will be but it doesn't hurt to ask. If nothing else it's proof for your insurance company.

 

Brian,
I do the same thing, park as far away as possible and check the wind direction, just the opposite of hunting, you want to be upwind.
As far as what to do to the a-hole, these are some of my high school favorites.

Super glue wipers.
Remove lug nuts from one wheel.
Potato in tailpipe.
WD40 front windshield.
Cable tie on drive shaft.
Fish entrails into passenger air intake (it's a gift that keeps on giving)
Silly putty on inner part of wheel.
Grease or dog dung under door handle.

 

Ya know, there are a few good people out there but mostly, people just suck. And at Walmart, the suck to good ratio is like 99:1

Walmart should have insurance for such a thing regardless how many parking lot signs they have and how many times a manager will tell you they are not responsible. It is their property, they are responsible for what happens on their property. But honestly, it will be easier to go through your insurance in the event you did incur damage from the loose cart and avoid the hassle you will go through dealing with Walmart to get them to pay.

I actually do corral loose carts. It can get very windy here and carts will go on the parking lot magical mystery tour.

 

Years ago saw someone open their door into the side of my Porsche as they were getting into their car, unfortunately they were on the receiving end of an unfinished Coke via their open window!

I also have a habit of saying "Lazy b****" just lond enough for the indivudual who rolls their cart in between vehicles and leaves it verses placing in the coral!

 

The laziness involved with shopping carts irritates me to no end.
Why can’t someone walk their lazy self over to one of the MANY returns and put in securely.
I have not had this happen to my truck but had this happen to my Explorer.
I park by myself with any vehicle and buggies are about the only remaining risk.

Here’s another one…
If you own a car, sometimes your trunk will be used as a temporary table while they open their trunk.
Then, said person slides their crap off your trunk leaving scratches.
Put your crap on the ground, bend over and pick it up when you have your vehicle unlocked!

 

I'm not shopping there after they refused to put two snow tires onthe front of a Nissan sentra. They said company policy only allows them to put two snow tires on the rear.

Don't park at the bottom of the lot park on the side partway downhill. The loose carts will pass you that way.

 

This is why I take the opportunity to seize the right moments and instill this. "the true measure of you're integrity is what you do when no one is looking."

It's a humbling statement when you catch your kid (or anyone else) doing something that lacks morality.

 

True story..........I use to work with a guy, years ago and he had dropped his wife off at the front door of their local K-Mart for her to pick up a couple of things. Mr. X parks his car out in the lot, away from most everybody and waits for her to get done shopping. So a car pulls in the parking space next to him and two very large women get out of the car. Of course, one of them has to open their door and hit Mr. X's car and then, get this, look over at him and start laughing......like it was funny that they did it. He waits until they go in and he goes to the trunk of his car and gets out a set of wire cutters and proceeds to snip the valve stems of all four of their tires. Next, out comes the tire tool/jack handle and he proceeds to not only break out both headlight and both taillights, he also destroys the sockets that are in there. Calmly, he gets back into his car and waits for his wife to come out and when she does, he drives off.

A little over the edge for me personally, but I would have to think that from that point on, the two women would be very careful about bumping someone else's car and especially laughing about it when they are done.

 

Not to hijack... but if you just put two snows on they should be on the rear to keep the back end from spinning out:

Michelin Safety Video - YouTube

 

Try parking next to the cart return, nobody puts any there. LOL

 

I delivered new motorhomes for a while. All damages that appear on the vehicle after the transport driver takes possession are charged to him...personally. I parked in a WalMart in Western Nebraska for the night. I was parked as far out in the lot as possible. The wind was blowing just a bit. While I was sitting there watching TV, I looked out the window and see a loose cart with a good head of steam heading right at the side of the coach. I could see several hundred dollars of damage headed my way. Out of nowhere, the local police car on patrol came across the lot at a high speed and used his push bar to punt that cart away from the coach.

He stopped by and after a thank you I offered to buy him dinner. He replied with no thanks, that was too much fun...

Regards

 

Never do that. You always put four snows on. No point in have the back end out-powering the steering end in snow, and even without power you need winter tires to maintain control on snow and ice.

I have two cars plus the truck and all of them get snow tires on all four corners. That's what you see on all cars around here (those that have the sense to put snows on), and is even the law in Quebec (four snows).

 

That's what the people selling tires tell you. If I give you a video from a proctologist saying you need a colonoscopy every year are you going to do that too?

I worked as an auto engineer and can tell you I know more about vehicle dynamics than the moron behind the counter at Wally World. And I say it's fine if you know what you are doing and know your limitations. That Quebec law is legislative folly - using stupid legislation to combat stupid drivers. If Quebec is as corrupt as the US I'm sure the tire industry paid some people off nicely to get that passed.

Neither situation in the video is optimal. A proper matching set is optimal but not always practical. The point the video is making is that they want the car to understeer. That's standard practice in the auto industry. Why? Understeer is easier to correct (just lift). Oversteer could be characterized as counter-intuitive since you would generally stay in the throttle or add more in an understeering front wheel drive.

I wouldn't recommend snows on front and all season on rear for all front wheel drive applications but for mine it's fine. The all seasons on the back have as much tread depth as the snows and are pretty aggressive as far as all seasons go. If the rear tires were summer tires with 5/32" of tread then yes that wouldn't work so well.

As for my feelings about Walmart, it was their inability to do what I wanted. Whether snows on front is dumb [in their opinion] or not they are there to do what the guy on the other side of the counter with money wants them to do. Fortunately for me there is a Mavis Tire center in the same plaza as Walmart. The manager told me Wally is his best customer since they inadvertently send people like me over because of wally's long waits, substandard help, and hassling people about using less than four new tires. And guess where the manager at Mavis Tire has the two snow tires on his front wheel drive car? The front!

I applaud those of you that buy a full set of snows. It's the best setup and it's good for the economy. I do have 4 snow tires on my 4x2 Ranger. Two 195/75/14 snows on the rear and two 205/65/15 snows on the front. I wonder how Walmart would like that?