Walmart and safety personal experience

pcshme wrote:
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

never, ever open your door to a stranger especially in the middle of the night. if you feel you're in danger dial 9-1-1 and remain on the phone with the dispatcher until the officers arrive. if someone knocks claiming to be a police officer look thru the window first and, if in plain clothes, require a badge be produced. every legitimate badge will have the name of the police agency on it and not just something general like "police". do not open your door until you are convinced there is no threat.

some folks carry a shotgun just for the sound effect of the pump action racking a round. my buddy attaches a heavy chain with a spiked collar to the grab handle at his main entry door to give the impression that 'el diablo' the man-eating-dog-from-hell is inside. if you don't have an 'el diablo' then a realistic recording of a large, angry dog may convince a neer-do-well to retreat.

but the best course of action is not to put yourself in a bad spot to begin with. we no longer do overnites at Wally and other places but when we did we limited stops to rural or small town locations and avoided the medium and certainly the large urban area stores. we always oriented ourselves in such a way as to be able to leave with a minimum of hassle although that is not always possible if someone bent on harm has blocked your way. we always tried to park under a lamp to make us more visible and parked in such a way that our entry door was visible to the parking lot. to attract attention in an emergency those in a motorhome can turn on headlights and 4-way blinkers and lay on the vehicle horn to attract attention. otherwise activate the panic button on your tow/dinghy vehicle.

I had a 35-yr career in public safety most of which was in a regional 9-1-1 call center. mobile (cellular) 9-1-1 is essentially universal now but never, ever assume that the dispatcher answering your call will know where you are or that they're familiar with the WalMart, truck stops, etc. when the dispatcher answers you will likely be asked for your location. calmly and confidently provide the dispatcher with your location...the name of the business as well as the address including town name. something like this:

we're at the Walmart located at 1234 Main Street in Anytown, Illinois. we're in the south end of the parking lot in a 35-ft motorhome.

you will then be asked for the nature of the problem as well as some other things. try to answer the questions as directly as possible without rambling on and on. the goal is to gather as much information as possible as quickly as possible in order to get help rolling as fast as possible.

we never had any sort of issue at Wally, Flying J and other ONP locations for 20+ years. I credit that to being aware of our surroundings, paying attention to the hairs on the back of my neck, following the above suggestions and a smidgen of luck.