Here’s a nice companion piece to this morning’s story about the Walmart employee who allegedly tore up two legitimate $100 bills claiming they were counterfeit. This afternoon’s tale is from a Walmart customer in Michigan who says the store gave her a bogus $100 bill and refused to take it back. [More]
walmart
Don't Get Your Hopes Up If You Live In New York City & Really Want A Walmart To Move In
By 9.17.12
Walmart just has the worst luck at trying to get set up in New York City. The mega-chain recently failed to come to economic terms for what would be its first store in the city, but it is refusing to give up the fight. Opponents of Walmart have been successful so far at keeping it out of the city, however, so that battle is going to be a tough one for biggest of big box stores. [More]
Customer Sues Walmart Because Cashiers Shouldn't Rip Up Two $100 Bills Without Making Sure They Are Real
By 9.17.12
Anyone who has paid for a purchase with a $100 bill is probably familiar with the various methods that stores have for validating the authenticity of the note. But one Texas woman says she was publicly humiliated at her local Walmart when a cashier ripped up two of her C-notes — and then detained her on allegations of trying to pass counterfeit bills — without properly checking to see if the money was the real deal. [More]
Walmart Self-Checkout Shorts Customer $40, Manager Insists It Didn't
By 9.12.12
If we can all learn anything from the experience of Joe’s wife, it’s this: don’t use self-checkout lanes if you’re planning to get cash back from your debit card. There’s a slim chance that anything will go wrong, but if it does, you have a witness to the transaction in the cashier. In the case of Mrs. Joe, she asked the self-checkout for $40 that she didn’t receive. She ultimately went to the manager on duty, who reviewed the security video and supposedly found no evidence that the self-checkout shorted her $40. [More]
Walmart Has An Incredibly Generous View Of What "Locally Grown" Means
By 9.6.12
Back in Oct. 2010, Walmart vowed to double the amount of locally grown produce it sells at its stores by 2015. But judging by these bags of “Locally Grown” apples, the retail behemoth appears to be embracing a very global view of the term “local.” [More]
Walmart Testing App That Allows Customers To Scan As They Shop Then Pay Quickly At Self Checkout
By 9.4.12
What’s the worst part about shopping? Well, besides not finding what you want on the shelf or having to pay more than you want to, many people would answer that long lines at the checkout are the bane of any retail experience. Walmart is trying to carve into those wait times with a new iPhone app it’s testing that would allow customers to scan their items in the aisles as they shop, and then simply pay at a self-checkout counter when they’re done. [More]
Target Overthrows Walmart For The Title Of The Cheapest In The Land This Month
By 8.23.12
We’ve been following the price tug-of-war between Target and Walmart as the two retail giants battle for the right to claim they’re the cheapest in the land. It seemed Target had the edge on Walmart last year, and now new research suggests you really will “pay less” at Target. [More]
A Look Back At Customer-On-Greeter Violence At Walmart
By 8.20.12
For most of us who shop at Walmart, the elderly greeters are merely something to smile at and say “hi” to as we enter the store — and to occasionally hand over your receipt for checking-over as you exit. But as any regular readers of Consumerist know, some folks out there seem to have a grudge against greeters and have opted for fisticuffs over anger management. [More]
Holiday Layaway Starting A Month Earlier This Year At Walmart, With A Few Changes
By 8.20.12
Walmart customers who rely on its layaway program to get all that holiday shopping done will surely be grateful for a little extra time this year to buy gifts and pay them off in time. The store announced that layaway will return a month earlier than it did last year, and tweaked a few of the program’s rules in the process. [More]
Straight Talk Plays Three-Card Monte With Customer's Phone Number
By 8.17.12
You might need to get a pen and paper out to help diagram the byzantine shell game that the folks at Straight Talk (the Tracfone prepaid phone service sold through Walmart) have been playing with Consumerist reader John’s phone number. [More]
Walmart Still Ignoring Customer Whose Engine Was Ruined In Botched Oil Change
By 8.17.12
It’s been three weeks since a California woman took her car into Walmart for an oil change, only to have a service tech accidentally put all the new oil in her transmission instead of her engine. And in spite of early indications that Walmart would move quickly to repair the customer’s vehicle, she tells Consumerist that the retailer is doing nothing while her car sits idle in a garage. [More]
Walmart, Target, 7-Eleven & Other Retailers Form New Mobile Payment System Alliance
By 8.15.12
These days, if you can’t use your phone to do something, it’s almost like, why do it at all? You should at least be able to buy a microwaveable burrito, if not a flat screen TV, with a magic wave of your smartphone. Big retailers like 7-Eleven, Walmart and Target are teaming up to create a new mobile payment network so you can buy almost anything your heart desires. [More]
Police: Walmart Worker Followed Suspected Shoplifter Out, Hit Him With Car
By 8.10.12
A month ago in Houston, a high school student briefly considered committing a crime. He grabbed some DVDs and headed for the door. He says that he changed his mind near the door and left almost-ill-gotten goods behind in the store. That didn’t stop a store employee from following him out of the store as he walked home, then intentionally hitting him with his car. The teen suffered back injuries, and the driver is longer employed at Walmart. He’s also in jail with a $30,000 bond, charged with aggravated assault. [More]
Walmart Oil Change Turns Into $3,000 Disaster And I Can't Even Get Store To Call Me Back
By 8.7.12
An oil change seems like a pretty simple procedure, at least as far as automotive maintenance is concerned. And yet, one Consumerist reader now faces nearly $3,000 in repairs to her SUV because someone at Walmart mucked up the all-important “refilling” part of the oil change. [More]
Walmart And Monsanto Team Up To Sell Genetically Modified Sweet Corn
By 8.3.12
Retail behemoth Walmart says it will soon be selling a new variety of genetically modified sweet corn developed by seed megacorp/frequent litigator Monsanto. This is the same corn that other big names like Whole Foods and General Mills have already said thanks but no thanks to. [More]
Your Fellow Walmart Shoppers Would Appreciate It If You Took The Lube Home Before Using It
By 8.1.12
Most shoplifters we’ve read about just can’t wait to get away from the scene of the crime — often leaving valuables like children behind in their haste — but this couple accused of thieving from a Walmart were so excited about boosting some sexual lubricant, they decided to try it out right in the store. [More]
All Of This Walmart’s Enfamil Baby Formula Is Expired
By 7.31.12
Vinny went to a Walmart somewhere in New England to pick up some baby formula. After the purchase, he noticed that the cans he had were expired. No big deal: he brought them back to the store for the easiest exchange he’s ever experienced at a Walmart. Not an exchange, though. That’s what he would have preferred, but he tells Consumerist that every container of formula on the shelf was expired. [More]
Comment Of The Day: Won't Someone Think Of The Big Box Stores?
Harry Greek: You know, it’s times like this, that I realize we need a president that stands up for the abused businesses. [More]