Complaint Review: Walmart Super Stores

After making many purchases in the past, from the "mark-down/special rack" at Walmart, which contains mostly grocery items that are marked down, my wife and I discovered for the first time, last month, that we, and likely thousands of other customers nationwide, are getting ripped off by a "slight-of hand" policy, which is innocently defended by Walmart's cashiers as being "the customer's responsibility".

In August, 2009, as usual, while shopping at Walmart, my wife stopped at the special rack and chose about 3 items from it, and placed them in our cart with the rest of our items.

When we checked out, and while the cashier was running our basket items through, my wife just happened to spot check some of the items being rung up on the register.

She noticed that a Juan Valdez bag of coffee from the special rack had been charged for at full price, approximately $6.72, when it had been clearly marked down to $3.00.

When my wife called the cashier's attention to the error, and after my wife checked through the "special" items that had already been rung up in the register, and she found two more items from the special rack that the cashier had also charged full price for, the cashier simply said a seemingly well-practiced statement: "well, the customer is always responsible for telling the cashier about specials that have been marked down".

OH REALLY!?

Since when does any large, computerized, carefully managed chain store, such as Walmart, require and rely upon the customer to make the cashier aware of prices on various items???  If this was true, wouldn't that mean that the customer could get away with simply placing his own stickers on the items???  Give me a break!

This is simply a big, well thought out, dishonest money making scheme that Walmart has been getting away with for years now! It is just one more simple way to rip off money from thousands of unsuspecting customers, most of whom, I am sure, assume that the cashier and/or the computers and registers readily pick up discounted prices on sale items.

To help you grasp the potential magnitude of this rip-off, just consider the great likelihood that hundreds of thousands (or millions) of shoppers, who have purchased items off Walmart's "special rack" over the years, have not caught this supposed "customer error", which is "failing to know that customers are required to inform the cashier of specials that have been marked down"!

If the above slight-of-hand tactic is not a purposeful, ongoing attempt to dishonestly extract extra cash out of unwary shoppers, then the simple question would have to be posed:

If Walmart intended to be honest in this instance, why would they not place a simple sign on the rack that explains their policy?  All it would have to say is something like: Please call the cashier's attention to the marked down prices on all items purchased from this rack, so that you may be given the proper discount. 

But NO, they do not offer any such simple notice!

I sent Walmart two emails regarding their obvious and purposeful rip-off, and they have not answered me or contacted me to either explain themselves, or to offer an apology or even a goodwill coupon.

Most noteworthy of all - since my letters to them, since they will not discontinue this dishonest practice BECAUSE THEY CAN LEGALLY GET AWAY WITH IT, they continue to sell marked down items on their "special rack", without informing customers of the "customer's responsibility to be alert and to inform the cashier".

Even $50 per year, per "special rack" shopper, of overcharges, likely represents millions of additional dollars in profits, albeit il-gotten profits.

At the same time, it appears to be a very easy thing for Walmart personel to innocently explain their "store policy", whenever they are caught in the act of stealing in this manner.

Walmart shoppers, beware! Watch them like a hawk, and don't trust them, and spread the word to everyone you know!  As my wife and I discovered too late, it's easy to make the mistake of trusting them to be honest in their dealings with customers. 

Who knows what other ways this great discount store rips people off?!

Following is a copy of both letters I emailed to their offices. Please note, my second letter is shown first, followed by my first letter to them:

September 1, 2009

Walmart Corporation, Walmart Email

Gentlemen,

Two weeks ago I wrote the following letter to you at this email contact, and I have not received any response to date.

Therefore, I feel it is necessary to expose this cheating on the internet, since apparently you have no defense or apology forthcoming.

However, I will hold off from doing so until one week from today, September 1, 2009.

(original letter to them follows)

August 16, 2009

TO: Walmart Corp.

Dear Sirs,

Today my wife and I were shopping at Walmart. As you know, you have a special rack in your store, at least in the store we shop at. As usual, we purchased a couple items from this rack. However, when we ran our items through the checkout, my wife noticed that the items had not been discounted according to their marked down prices.

This was the first time she (we) had noticed this. When my wife mentioned the error, the cashier said: well, you always have to tell us about these marked down items or theyll be priced according to their regular shelf prices.

This was news to us, as we have been buying items off this rack for a long time, without this important notice having been given to us.

It appears to be a dishonest store practice to charge full price for items that most people would not ordinarily buy if the items were not on sale, just because the customer places trust in your computers, cashiers, and practices.

Furthermore, if what the cashier says is correct, and your intentions were honorable, why would you not simply place a little sign on the sale rack that stated this very SIMPLE BUT IMPORTANT fact, instead of leaving it to chance that the customer would discover your practice?

We have wasted at least a hundred dollars, or more, over time, by not having been previously informed/advised of this store policy. We are both surprised and angry over this issue.

We will wait for your response before we take any action regarding this seemingly intentional, purposeful, slight-of-hand practice.

Sincerely, David