Cheap and TOXIC CHINESE Thongs?
YET ANOTHER ONE OF MY FOOT STORIES
http://www.lamanaphotography.com/walmart.htm
Update July 22 2007, for the most part the response
has been (overwhelming) but It has been very positive, thank you! I had no
idea this page was in public view..
A few of you out there wondered why I would keep wearing the flip flops?
That is not what I said, what I said was I wore them here & there for a
little while at a time
My feet would be red but I just thought it was because the straps were
maybe tight, or they were new, or the first flip flops of the year, I
chalked it off to tender feet.
Let me make this perfectly clear, AS SOON AS I REALIZED THERE WAS A
PROBLEM I STOPPED WEARING THE SHOES.
In total I wore the shoes maybe 10 to 12 times.
I had to remove this voicemail due to the
high volume of traffic we have been receiving
(all it said was that CMI was passing the
buck to Chinese importer anyhow)
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
This is the picture I had in mind (I bought 2 pair that day)
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!
I apologize for you having to look at my feet, really.....
sorry!
this is the first picture I really thought to take, what
you can't really tell is how swollen the red part is...UUUGGGH! this was Jun
28, 2007 9:00 PM 6 days into it
These picts were taken July 1 2007 (Morningish)
this was taken the 2nd of July 2007
this was taken the 3rd of July 07
taken the 4th of July 07 (morning)
Both of these were taken around 11pm on July 4th, I had to
wear shoes & socks for a couple of hours so my feet are in bad shape now.
Those cheep flip flops weren't so cheep huh...
Taken July 5th around 9pm
this was taken July 6 2007 around 5pm
The 2 above were taken the 7th of July
this was taken Sunday Jul 8
this one was taken Monday July 9th
This was taken Monday 7-9-07 around 10 pm, I am in total
agony, my toes and left foot is SO swollen!
This should be going away now & here I am in total
agony....There is liquid seeping out of these apparent burns, it is so
gross.
I took this to show how swollen my feet
got, last night(7-09-07 around midnight) was very scary, I really thought I
was going to end up in the ER. (The blue color
you see is some soothig gel)
this was taken 7-10-07 Started my
steroids, and antibiotics, hopefully this will go away fast.
this was taken Wed. July 11 2007 around
noon.
My Doggie's worried about my feet. (He's
such a good boy) 7-11-07
I am so sick of looking at this... this is
7-12-07 they look pretty much the same, still hard to walk.
7-13-07 healing but they hurt so bad!!! I
am walking on the sides of my feet still, but now I can't wiggle my toes due
to the pain,
Update Today
(7-13-07)I called CMI to tell them that the manufacture did not call me,
they will not respond to me at all.
This is 7-14-07
7-15-07
7-16-07 still hurts, still walking funny, the skin
is super tight and when I try to put shoes on it is STILL very painful.
Update again today I
called CMI to tell them the manufacturer will not call me, I have not heard
back from CMI, is this how they treat ALL their customers??
This is 7-17-07
Before anyone asks, I guess I skipped the 18th for
pictures, sorry, I do graphic design & photography, I guess I let the day
get away from me.
This is 7-19-07
I have worked very hard to remove the scabs...I
know that is so gross, but it's a fact, anyhow, this is what my feet look
like today (Friday) as of 8pm. They still hurt, and I can still only
put on my old beat up tennis shoes, not my tennis
shoes that I like, I tried & it about made me cry! But the good news is that
this is finally getting so much better! It looks great huh?!
(sad part is, I am actually serious)
I will be updating this page as I need to but I
really will keep it updated.
I am wondering just how much this is going to scar?
I will be glad when this is over.
7-6-07 Under advisement of my attorney I
have boxed up the actual offending flip flops and tucked them away in a safe
place.
THE STORY
Like I said I got these stupid shoes for a picture, then ended up wearing
the yellow ones and got all these apparent burns on my feet from them.
7/2/07 I tried to alert Walmart to a possible
problem so that no little kids might end up with this (it hurts after all!)
The only reason I didn't buy MY OWN son a pair of these is because I
thought he would not be able to walk well in them, he is only 3 after all.
I called the home office and nicely explained that I used to be an
employee, and I bought the shoes, and I just want to make sure that no kids
were hurt...bla bla. IN MY OPINION,The home office
was pretty decent about the entire thing. Then the store in Summerfield
called, July 2nd 1:44 pm and left a voicemail, They told me I had to come
in. The GM (Richard) told me who to talk with the training manager (Mike
Sidel) and
when he would be in. He (Richard) seems to be a nice guy. I went in 15
minutes to a half an hour after getting the voicemail. I thought it was
important to go in there.
IN MY OPINION,I couldn't believe how rude and mean, and obnoxious Mike
was to me, he acted like I was making it all up, I tried to show him my
injuries so he would take it a bit more seriously
& he turned his head away It is my opinion so that he could say he
never saw it. Infact, It is my opinion that everyone in the office was
acting as if I were the "bad guy" I told him the details and he filled out a
report. He asked me,
"well, what do you want me to do about this?" I told him that "if there
was infact a problem with the shoes that I wanted to make sure someone knows
so this doesn't happen to anyone else" .
He told me "well, nothing will come of this because you bought them in
April and you are just now reporting this?"
When I tried to explain the timeline to him he didn't want to listen and
turned his back on me so I just quit talking.
I never used to think so but now I really feel like Walmart is a
horrible company. You would have to been there but it was almost as if since
I was a former employee, It is my opinion he was going out of his way to
try
and be mean to me. I have heard this is a common Walmart practice, but I
didn't really believe it til now. Now It is my opinion that is correct.
After he filled out the incident report I had to ask for a copy as he
didn't seem to want to give me one. I then took on the stance that I wasn't
leaving until I got a copy so he made me a copy.
I limped out of the store and went home, a bit shocked and a lot
disgusted.
All I wanted to do was let them know that there might be a problem
with some Chinese made shoes since I am not allergic to latex or rubber.
I have always worn rubber flip flops like this and never
had any type of problem. I am not a sue happy type person but
automatically he was defensive and basically acted like a complete jerk to
me.
So now I have decided to let every single person who will listen know
exactly what happened to my feet and how I feel a representative of Walmart
acted toward me.
We'll see what happens next.
I spent hours on the phone trying to get a doctor's appointment and
finally
7/3/07 I went to the doctor today, it was actually
a community clinic where the poor people go, I am fairly poor so this I
thought would be fine. After answering several very personal
and inappropriate questions and a five hour wait
she said it was "defiantly from the flip flops"
(but then you'd be hard pressed to think otherwise huh?)
She also said it may scar and gave me some cream that doesn't seem to be
doing alot for it.
Anyhow, while I was at the doctors The insurance company for Walmart
called and left a voicemail for me (You can play it on the
top of the Page)
this is my dog, he has nothing to do with this, but he's
cute huh?
Update July 9 2007
I just got an email from a girl saying that she had the
same problem
I took out her email addy to protect her, but otherwise I
just copied & pasted her email
From:
To: boxjockey68@
Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2007 12:42:37 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Flip Flop Burns
Dear BoxJockey,
My name is Holly and my feet have the same marks on them as yours. I have
had this problem for 5 weeks now.
My feet itch like they have a yeast infection. It is awful!!! I saw your
question on Yahoo Answers.
I paid $2.88 for my flip flops at Wal mart. They are rubber with a bright
pink strap, and a yellow bottom with white flowers on the base.
I would like to contact the FDA also; how do I do that?
Sincerely,
Holly XXXX
Click here for my original post, notice the LACK on info that I put
in the post about the flip flops? She emailed me and described perfectly the
flip flops.
She has described the flip flops to a T,
the ones that burnt my feet are yellow with pink straps. The very same
as she is describing so I am going to try to help this girl to.
7-9-07 9pm I talked
with Holly, it is like hearing me tell the story, her situation is nearly
identical to mine, she even bought her flip flops right around the same
time as me, mid to end of April.
(you have to wonder if it wasn't a bad
batch huh?)
I couldn't believe it, her story is the SAME, I posted
another question on yahoo answers hoping to find more people that this may
have happened to, I know Holly & I aren't the only ones out there.
7/9/07 I spent some more hours on
the phone today trying to get another doctor's appointment because my feet
are getting worse, It isn't a rash so that stupid cream is not doing
anything at all. I have been told no appointment til October, we don't even
see people who are uninsured, we are not taking any new patients at this
time...I have heard it all today.
But I finally found an urgent care place that is the low
low price of $135.00 I felt like I hit the lotto!
So I jumped in the car and went there, and will have her
final report later this week, she said that it is a reaction from the flip
flops, and she has never seen anything like that. I was given 10 days worth
of antibiotics, and a script for steroids which I will have filled tomorrow.
My feet are killing me, I am walking on the sides of them because the skin
rips open if I try to walk on them like normal. Holly pointed something
interesting out to me, This is not a rash, it is a burn, but if this were a
rash, it would have spread beyond the lines of the straps by now, so far,
the only skin affected by this "reaction" is exactly where the straps were.
A rash simply does not behave this way. Thank You Holly, I am for some
reason having a hard time getting people's attention to the fact that it is
not a rash, you worded it perfectly.
Now Holly and I are NOT doctors, but It is my opinion
something is UP with these flip flops!
This is the letter I got from Walmart so far
So what, I am supposed to call China?? Because the product
that Walmart sold me burnt or hurt my feet?!
Ya know, It is my opinion Walmart has the responsibility
to their consumers to sell stuff that, albeit cheep, is SAFE to their
consumers, but it almost looks like passing the buck.
But ya know, one could argue, at what point is Walmart
negligent? I think we have already crossed that line....
I absolutely can not believe it,
they never even checked into it.....I thought I would go in since I can kind
of walk now, but honestly,
I thought these shoes would not
still be on the shelves. WHY are they still on the shelves when
they can't be sure they are safe??
CONTACT ME!
If ANYONE has now or has had a problem with flip flops
purchased in April 2007
and have the pictures & documentation to prove it
contact me or The
consumer protection agency , and get a lawyer.
# FTC Organization Directory
# Phone number: 202-326-2222
# Phone: Toll-free: * 1-877-FTC-HELP
(382-4357)
# Mail: Federal Trade Commission
CRC-240
Washington, D.C. 20580
Consumer.gov
A guide to federal
consumer protection programs
Better Business Bureau
This is a
link someone sent me for the Consumer Product Safety Commission
Holy cow everyone! I have gotten so many nice emails, I
want to take a second to say thank you to all the people who have taken a
second from their day to email me,
I didn't know this page had really gotten out there until
I started getting so many emails.
That is really nice of everyone who has emailed me, and I
will respond to each & every email. Be patient because I have quite a few!
Thanks again everyone, I appreciate all your advice, tips,
hellos, and agencies that I might file a complaint with.
Thank you!
Hey! I decided to
do an experiment, lets see if I am allergic to latex! Just for fun by the
way. July 22nd
I have worn this latex glove for and hour and a
half so far,(last night) I am wearing it for another hour then a will post a
picture of any reactions I may or may not have.
The reaction from this glove will be right here...
Hey guys, it has been an hour, I decided to wear latex gloves on BOTH
hands just for fun, but nothing is happening...
I am going to wear them for another hour or so.
I was told to give them equal time to the shoes I wore, it is hard to
say, but I am gonna be up for awhile, I will wear them for 2 or 3 more
hours.
That is more time I am sure than I wore the stupid shoes. It is 11:09
July 22nd right now.
