The biggest trend this holiday season appears to be people who have some money doing something nice for those who might need it by anonymously paying for layaway purchases. But when a woman in Houston attempted to do this at two of her local Walmarts, managers at both stores turned her away, citing a nonexistent company policy.

When KPRC-TV got a hold of the story, they spoke to a regional VP at the retail behemoth who confirmed that there is no policy preventing people from secretly paying for another person’s layaway purchases, and that Walmart has already accepted several similar anonymous donations this season, including one for $9,500.

“I was really disappointed that we didn’t handle it right,” the veep tells KPRC. “There’s no reason we don’t support this. It’s the customers in Houston taking care of the customers in Houston.”

The executive reached out to the woman and asked to her to come back to the store, where she was able to hand over her $300 to help pay for other shoppers’ items. To make up for the goof, Walmart matched that with $300 of its own.

“It just came at a time that I really needed it,” said one recipient of the woman’s generosity. “I had a tossup, you know? Pay the light bill or get these gifts and you know, I just had to get one thing and came here and ended up leaving with everything.”

Walmart turns away layaway donor [Click2Houston.com via Chron.com]

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