Anthony no longer trusts Walmart. They guaranteed delivery of his gift for his nephew by December 24th. The problem with this guarantee is that if the store fails and breaks its promise, the solution is not that they travel back in time, make everything right, and make sure that you have a gift in hand for your nephew. They just give you a refund or something.

On December 17th, 2012 I noticed a very good price on a set of Marvel action figures on Walmart.com. It was $15 before tax for the set, which contained 8 figures that usually retail for $10 each. I purchased this for my nephew as I knew he’d love it. I wanted to make sure it’d arrive on time for Christmas, and it said it had “Guaranteed delivery before Christmas.” The date of arrival was stated as 12/24/12, Christmas Eve, which I was alright with.

Then comes Christmas Eve. I have to wait for an e-mail saying to pick up my order before I can go to the store. I refresh my e-mail constantly and nothing is in my inbox by 6pm. I get frustrated and check my order status on Walmart.com. My item had arrived very early in the morning at the store. I gave up and decide I’d pick it up on Christmas Day, surely the pick-up e-mail would be in my inbox. Only, I didn’t realize Walmart was closed on Christmas Day.

To top it off, Walmart sends me an e-mail Christmas day, lying and saying that my item has been delayed and is currently being shipped and in transit. My item is in the store, and because of their screw up I had to show-up to my families Christmas party without a gift for my nephew while having a gift for everyone else.

We should probably pause here and blame Anthony for assuming that Walmart would be open on Christmas. The way things have gone with retail holiday hours, though, we wouldn’t be all that surprised if they were.

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