Skin Injuries from Flip Flops Purchased at Wal-Mart-Truth!

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 with a picture in mind then I wore them a few times

these are the actual flip flops

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 this chemical burn for 11 days, (As of July 3rd) I really thought it would just go away on it's own. It is absolutely 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 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.

I know my feet are going to scar...you can tell.

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?? I run a business, my own business,

It is not good to just ignore someone...I can't believe they are just going to ignore me.



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 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. 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.

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 so that he could say he never saw it. Infact, 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, 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.

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 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.

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 my feet?!

I just found out that CMI is actually Sam's Club/Wal-mart's self-insurance company.

"Any reimbursement adversely affects Wal-mart's bottom line, and they have figured out that most people will not take the time to sue them " Go figure huh?

It looks as if Walmart has an agreement with the supplier that they are responsible for any stuff like this so I betchya both

Walmart and CMI have to be named on any legal action.

Ya know, 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!

Update July 22 2007 Today is my best friend Stacey's birthday! I have known her for about 20 years!

How cool huh!? Too bad I am here in Flofida & she is still in Michigan...

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