As we noted in this earlier post, it’s technically not possible to cancel an order after you’ve placed it on Wal-Mart’s website. A helpful reader says there are a couple of ways around this, although neither option will immediately free up any hold on your funds.

Last year, I worked for Walmart.com as an inbound frontline agent, and was promoted to a resolutions agent several months later…so I know my stuff. This is my advice to the person with the issues with walmart.com.

I used to work for one of the walmart.com call centers a few months ago and have heard stories like this way too many times, especially with the Nintendo Wii bundles. That is part of the reason that they have removed the number from their website and require customers to send in emails now, that a good bit of the agents that are in the US instead of the Philippines barely read…which explains the reply you received. That experience is why I don’t even shop at walmart now.

In Walmart.com world, the charge “supposedly” does not clear until the order ships. Until then, it is placed as a hold on your account. If the item has not shipped by the date promised, it can be marked as “lost in transit”, even though it really isn’t lost, it can be placed in this category according to walmart.com policies told to us agents. Some company documents specify a time period of a week after the estimated arrival date to be considered lost in transit. Because of the price, a supervisor will have to mark the customers account so that they can be refunded. After this happens, the funds will take around a week to be credited (even though a supervisor will tell you 2-3 business days).

Another way to get refunded is to have your credit card/bank card issuer to contact walmart.com and verify that the order is technically “lost in transit”. This will verify to the bank that this item is not going to be shipped. By doing this, the bank can then lift the hold. Walmart.com agents can also contact your bank to have the hold removed.

These are the only two ways that I know of that walmart.com will be able to refund the money. Mind you, I did work there until late last year, so some policies may have changed. I hope that you will be able to resolve this soon. I know how hard it is dealing with walmart.com.

Sincerely,
A former Walmart.com Call Center Resolutions Agent

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