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> This is great. Walmart has a reputation to protect so at the very least I can trust what they say. I've had a hard time getting a dentist I can trust. Do you

by ebg13 7y ago

> This is great. Walmart has a reputation to protect so at the very least I can trust what they say. I've had a hard time getting a dentist I can trust. Do you think that dentists don't also have a reputation to protect? What makes you take polar opposite views of the two?

WheelsAtLarge 7y ago
It's not the same. I think it's a matter of scale. Walmart, because of its size, will often have more checks and balances. They will not take a chance to mar their reputation. Walmart wants to keep people's trust. It's worth billions to the company. It's not 100% but I feel more comfortable if I'm not constantly being pushed additional services to buy. Most dentists I've dealt with run their practice as a small business. Usually, it's a few dentists. They need to constantly sell. I understand that they need to stay in business but it's so constant that you never know where you stand. I'm not saying that all dentists are like that it's just hard to find one that you can trust. Just like car mechanics.
- beambot 7y ago
  Size & reputation seem just as relevant to all the existing medical providers, but that seems to have little impact...
- fzeroracer 7y ago
  How does your scale argument apply to companies like Amazon which gleefully sell counterfeits and trash on their site, or allow scammers to run rampant? What makes you think that Walmart is different here?
turc1656 7y ago
I get what they're saying. Walmart is literally known by every single person in the country (and outside the country as well). It's much less effective to bitch about getting ripped off by the local DDS and have people see about it and also care about it. If a bunch of people went online and were talking about getting ripped off by Walmart, it could very easily get picked up by the media if the claims were legit and then could affect the stock price. I think people are also much more likely to talk to one another about the "shitty new Walmart healthcare service" because they know everyone knows Walmart and might use it. It's far less likely that you warn people about one single DDS office in your town unless perhaps that specific service provider came up in conversation.
agumonkey 7y ago
Not totally agreeing with op, but I can understand a few differences: you don't complain the same way with a doctor and with a company. people tend to just switch. a brand like Walmart may be subject to a global scrutiny and raise the level globally.
cosmie 7y ago
Local dentists have a reputation to maintain, but the impact of reputational damage is generally limited. If they end up with 10 Yelp reviews complaining about fillings not lasting as long as they should or being overcharged, it may negatively impact the volume of patients they have or prices they can get away with charging. Walmart, on the other hand, actively has a target on its back. And with $524bn in revenue last year and almost $33bn in EBITDA[1], it's one of the most deep pocketed targets around. Any minor issue has the potential to spin itself into a national news story, and malpractice lawyers would be giddy to nab a patient they can use to take a stab at Walmart's pursestrings. And just think of the stars in their eyes if they stumble upon enough complaints to get certified as a class action and be able to really dig into the clinical guidelines and operating procedures for deficiencies to exploit. Not to say the service they offer is likely to be world class. But between their existing institutional competencies in operations[2] and the potential liability concerns, it is likely to garner a reputation for being consistently and predictably acceptable[3]. [1] https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/revenue https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/revenu... [2] Walmart's operational standards are notoriously demanding and exacting across their supply chain network. They could easily bring that to bear in running their clinics and enforcing compliance with clinical guidelines and SOPs from their medical providers. [3] Walmart's reputation for mediocre product quality isn't an accident, it's a deliberate choice. And one that takes a considerable amount of effort to enforce and consistently maintain across the board for decades. They use their scale to get an incredibly detailed view of consumer behavior (because what people say rarely matches what people do). Then turn around and squeeze their suppliers to get a bill of material that minimizes return rates and maximizes consumer satisfaction within the constraints of price points determined by prior consumer behavior.

by ebg13 7y ago

WheelsAtLarge 7y ago

It's not the same. I think it's a matter of scale. Walmart, because of its size, will often have more checks and balances. They will not take a chance to mar their reputation. Walmart wants to keep people's trust. It's worth billions to the company. It's not 100% but I feel more comfortable if I'm not constantly being pushed additional services to buy. Most dentists I've dealt with run their practice as a small business. Usually, it's a few dentists. They need to constantly sell. I understand that they need to stay in business but it's so constant that you never know where you stand. I'm not saying that all dentists are like that it's just hard to find one that you can trust. Just like car mechanics.

beambot 7y ago
Size & reputation seem just as relevant to all the existing medical providers, but that seems to have little impact...
fzeroracer 7y ago
How does your scale argument apply to companies like Amazon which gleefully sell counterfeits and trash on their site, or allow scammers to run rampant? What makes you think that Walmart is different here?

turc1656 7y ago

I get what they're saying. Walmart is literally known by every single person in the country (and outside the country as well). It's much less effective to bitch about getting ripped off by the local DDS and have people see about it and also care about it. If a bunch of people went online and were talking about getting ripped off by Walmart, it could very easily get picked up by the media if the claims were legit and then could affect the stock price. I think people are also much more likely to talk to one another about the "shitty new Walmart healthcare service" because they know everyone knows Walmart and might use it. It's far less likely that you warn people about one single DDS office in your town unless perhaps that specific service provider came up in conversation.

agumonkey 7y ago

Not totally agreeing with op, but I can understand a few differences: you don't complain the same way with a doctor and with a company. people tend to just switch. a brand like Walmart may be subject to a global scrutiny and raise the level globally.

cosmie 7y ago

Local dentists have a reputation to maintain, but the impact of reputational damage is generally limited. If they end up with 10 Yelp reviews complaining about fillings not lasting as long as they should or being overcharged, it may negatively impact the volume of patients they have or prices they can get away with charging. Walmart, on the other hand, actively has a target on its back. And with $524bn in revenue last year and almost $33bn in EBITDA[1], it's one of the most deep pocketed targets around. Any minor issue has the potential to spin itself into a national news story, and malpractice lawyers would be giddy to nab a patient they can use to take a stab at Walmart's pursestrings. And just think of the stars in their eyes if they stumble upon enough complaints to get certified as a class action and be able to really dig into the clinical guidelines and operating procedures for deficiencies to exploit. Not to say the service they offer is likely to be world class. But between their existing institutional competencies in operations[2] and the potential liability concerns, it is likely to garner a reputation for being consistently and predictably acceptable[3]. [1] https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/revenue https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/revenu... [2] Walmart's operational standards are notoriously demanding and exacting across their supply chain network. They could easily bring that to bear in running their clinics and enforcing compliance with clinical guidelines and SOPs from their medical providers. [3] Walmart's reputation for mediocre product quality isn't an accident, it's a deliberate choice. And one that takes a considerable amount of effort to enforce and consistently maintain across the board for decades. They use their scale to get an incredibly detailed view of consumer behavior (because what people say rarely matches what people do). Then turn around and squeeze their suppliers to get a bill of material that minimizes return rates and maximizes consumer satisfaction within the constraints of price points determined by prior consumer behavior.